Sometimes you need to know what your external IP address is, for example when you need to make use of a protected service where they need to (temporarily) add your IP address to their firewall’s allow list to allow you to connect to said service.
If you have a broadband connection at home it is possible that you have a fixed external IP address and that you already know what it is. If you are however visiting elsewhere you likely do not know what it is, a quick solution in such cases is to open your browser and use a site such as https://www.whatismyip.com/ to see what your external IP address is. But what if you need to know this on a Unix-like server that only offers a command-line interface (or if you simply prefer to use your shell)?
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