Exhaustive phpIPAM Terraform Automation, Installation & Use

Penny Warren Published on October 21, 2026GPS Location7-min reading

As a network grows, organizing, tracking, and managing IP addresses manually can be difficult. Spreadsheets work well for small organizations, but tracking subnets, VLANs, and network devices can become complicated in a large infrastructure. phpIPAM is an IP address management solution that can centralize this information and make network administration more organized. This review explains what it does, how to install and use it, and ways to update the platform. We'll also cover how Terraform can automate IPAM tasks and several alternatives.

Part 1. What is phpIPAM?

phpIPAM is a free, web-based IP address management (IPAM) project. It tracks, manages, and organizes network infrastructure from a centralized interface. Instead of relying on spreadsheets, administrators can use the service to manage IP addresses, subnets, VLANs, and connected devices.

Features:

• Monitor the allocations of IPv4 and IPv6, subnet ranges, and the status of individual IPs.
• Automatically ping network ranges to check IP status, discover active devices, and reconcile documented records.
• Organize network segments using VLAN and VRF management tools.
• Include an IPv4/IPv6 calculator, PowerDNS integration, NAT support, and a REST API.
• Allow bulk data management through XLS and CSV file imports and exports.

Important Note: The service functions as an IP address tracker. But unlike a basic IP tracker, it tracks IP addresses while also organizing the entire network infrastructure.

Part 2. How to Install phpIPAM: A Complete phpIPAM Tutorial

Method 1: Standard Install on Linux (Ubuntu/Debian/CentOS)

This method covers how to install phpIPAM on Ubuntu Server 26.04 LTS using nginx as a web server. This guide used a fresh Ubuntu Server 26.04 LTS server with no installed packages.

Method 2: phpIPAM Docker Deployment

When installing phpIPAM with Docker containers, the setup requires a web server with PHP. The service needs a scheduling task to scan networks and check device statuses. Most importantly, it requires a database to store all information (MariaDB).

Part 3. How to Use phpIPAM: Step-by-Step Guide

After installation, the next step is to learn how to use phpIPAM. You can start using the service by deploying it through Docker or a web server. Then, run the automated database installation and log in with your admin credentials.

Part 4. How to Update phpIPAM

Updating the service requires three important steps: backing up data, updating the application code, and updating the database. It is recommended to back up the SQL database and config.php before starting. Below are the quick steps on how to update phpIPAM:

• Git on the master branch: Pull new code and update all submodules.
• Git on a specific branch: Switch to your preferred branch and update all submodules.
• Manual release upgrade: Download the latest release archive from GitHub Releases.

• Automatic database upgrade: Open a web browser and follow the upgrade procedure.
• Manually query import: View the differential upgrade queries by running php functions/upgrade_queries.php 1.5.

Part 5. phpIPAM Terraform: Automating Infrastructure

The community phpIPAM Terraform Provider enables you to automate IP address allocation and manage network resources as code. You can automate IP allocation, update usage status, and log hostname by integrating the API into your provisioning scripts.

Part 6. phpIPAM Alternatives

1. NetBox

NetBox is an infrastructure resource modeling tool that combines IPAM and DCIM. You can change the IP address by finding an existing IP address record, modifying its attributes, and saving the changes. The service also tracks IPv4/IPv6 prefixes, individual IP addresses, VLANs, and VRFs.

2. Infoblox

Infoblox provides enterprise network services featuring integrated DNS, DHCP, and IP address management. It is a phpIPAM alternative that automatically scans physical and virtual networks to pull MAC addresses, switch port names, and VM tenant IDs without manual input.

3. SolarWinds IP Address Manager

SolarWinds IP Address Manager provides IP tracking, subnet discovery, address conflict detection, and DNS/DHCP management features. It can bring information from supported network services into a centralized interface.

4. GestioIP

GestioIP is a web-based IP address management application that can organize and manage the network address space. It eliminates manual spreadsheets, replacing them with automated network discovery and status tracking. It also helps you plan subnets and manage VLAN assignments.

Bonus: Useful Tools for Network Admins

Network administrators need more than an IP address management platform like phpIPAM. Depending on the task, additional utilities can help with network testing, troubleshooting, device management, and location-based testing.

imyPass iLocaGo is a location changer utility that can modify the GPS location. The software does not manage IP addresses, subnets, or network resources. Instead, you can use it as a complementary utility when testing apps or services that depend on a device's geographic location. With it, you can simulate different locations when checking location-based apps. It can fake a GPS location from map apps, LBS games, dating apps, and social media apps. iLocaGo can also plan routes or simulate movement between locations using One-stop Mode, Multi-stop Mode, and Joystick Mode.

Conclusion

phpIPAM helps network administrators ease IP address management. It provides a centralized way to organize IP addresses, subnets, VLANs, devices, and network resources. Beyond IP address management, network administrators may also need utilities for location-based testing and device management. imyPass iLocaGo can complement a network administration toolkit by changing or simulating a device's GPS location.