> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.rafftechnologies.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Auto-assign a public IP
> Give a VM that has no public IP a free address from the regional pool — IPv4 or IPv6, no commitment, returns to the pool when detached
Updated May 8, 2026
When a VM doesn't have a public IP — usually because someone deleted it earlier, or the VM was created without one — the fastest way to give it one is **Auto-assign**. Raff picks an available address from the regional pool and attaches it. It's free while the VM holds it; if you detach it later, the IP goes back to the pool.
This is the right path for "I just need this VM to be reachable from the internet, I don't care which IP it gets." If you need a stable address that doesn't change across VM rebuilds, [reserve an IP](/products/network/public-ips/quickstart-guides/reserve-ip) instead.
## Open the Public IPs tab
In the left sidebar, click **Networking** → switch to the **Public IPs** tab. The list shows every IP currently associated with your account (attached to VMs, attached to gateways, or reserved/unattached).
The four stats cards across the top are worth knowing:
| Stat | What it counts |
| --------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Public IPv4** | Total IPv4 addresses in your account — attached + reserved-unattached |
| **Public IPv6** | Same, for IPv6 |
| **Reserved** | IPs you've explicitly reserved that are currently **unattached** (still billing) |
| **Available in pool** | IPs in the regional pool that the auto-assigner could hand out next. Zero means the pool is empty for that region; auto-assign falls through and returns an error |
## Open the Auto-assign dialog
Click **Auto-assign IP** (the outlined button with the globe icon, immediately left of the orange Reserve IP button).
The dialog has two fields and an explainer.
## 1. Pick IP Type — IPv4 or IPv6
Default is **IPv4**. Switch to **IPv6** if you want to enable dual-stack (or IPv6-only) on this VM.
A few rules:
* **A VM can hold at most one IPv4 and one IPv6 from the dashboard.** Need more? Contact [support](mailto:support@rafftechnologies.com) — they can attach additional IPs at \$3/month each for IPv4, \$1/month each for IPv6.
* IPv4 and IPv6 are **independent allocations** — auto-assign one or both, in any order.
* If you already have a public IP of this type on the chosen VM, the dialog blocks the assignment with "VM already has an IPv4/IPv6". To replace it, remove the existing one first from the [VM detail Network tab](/products/network/public-ips/quickstart-guides/manage-from-vm).
## 2. Select VM
The dropdown lists every VM in the dashboard's selected region that **doesn't already have a public IP of the chosen type**. VMs with an existing IP are filtered out so you can't double-assign.
If the dropdown is empty:
* All your VMs already have a public IP of that type — nothing to assign to
* All your VMs are in another region — switch the region selector at the top of the dashboard
* The VM is in a transient state (`creating`, `deleting`) — wait for it to settle
## 3. Click Assign IP
The IP is allocated from the pool, attached to the VM, and the VM picks it up immediately. You don't need to do anything inside the guest — Raff configures the new interface via cloud-init / DHCP.
The dialog closes and the Public IPs list refreshes with the new IP under the VM's row. The dialog's footer note — *"A free IP will be assigned from the pool. This is an auto-assigned IP — if you detach it later, it returns to the pool."* — is the important behavior:
* **While attached** — free, no billing
* **When you detach or delete the VM** — the IP returns to the pool, *not* to your account. You won't get the same IP back if you auto-assign again.
## When the pool is empty
The "Available in pool" stat at the top of the Public IPs tab is a **per-region** count of free addresses the auto-assigner can hand out. If it shows **0** for your selected region:
* The dialog will still open, but clicking **Assign IP** returns an error like *"No public IPs available in `us-east`. Please try again later or contact support."*
* The IP type matters — IPv4 and IPv6 pools are tracked separately. Try the other type if your workload supports it (most modern OS images come up dual-stack on a fresh IPv6).
* A pool can refill at any time as other tenants release IPs. The fastest practical recovery is to wait a few minutes and retry; failing that, [reserve an IP](/products/network/public-ips/quickstart-guides/reserve-ip) — reserved addresses come from a separate allocation path.
* For sustained allocations (large fleets, scale-out events), email [support@rafftechnologies.com](mailto:support@rafftechnologies.com) — pool capacity in `us-east` is monitored and expanded on demand.
Because pools are region-scoped, switching the dashboard's region selector to a different region (when other regions launch) will show a different pool count and resolve the issue if a different region has capacity.
## When to use Auto-assign vs Reserve
| Scenario | Use |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| New VM, internet access without DNS commitments | **Auto-assign** |
| You just removed an IP and want a fresh one back on the same VM | **Auto-assign** |
| You want the IP to survive VM rebuilds, partner whitelisting, DNS records pointing at it | [**Reserve**](/products/network/public-ips/quickstart-guides/reserve-ip) |
| Multi-region failover where the IP must be the same across rebuilds | **Reserve** |
| Cost-sensitive workload that doesn't care about address stability | **Auto-assign** |
You can also **upgrade an auto-assigned IP to reserved** if you change your mind — see [Reserve a static IP → "Convert an auto-assigned IP to reserved"](/products/network/public-ips/quickstart-guides/reserve-ip#convert-an-auto-assigned-ip-to-reserved).
## Related
Hold an IP across rebuilds, \$3/mo.
Same operations from the VM detail page.
The lifecycle difference in depth.