While there is a function to change the IP address in the console GUI, it is easier to use PuTTY or another telnet client to accomplish the task.

 Instructions

Open the terminal program and connect via Telnet to the console’s current IP address. Your computer must be in the same subnet.

If the console isn't connected to a Blade, it will appear on the LCD displays at boot. The default address is 192.168.87.201. You can also find the console IP in Navigator's Locator tab.

You will be prompted to log in. The username is knockknock and the password is whosthere.

The syntax is IP [address] [netmask] [gateway]. All three values are required. Example:

ip 192.168.87.203 255.255.255.0 192.168.87.1

Hit enter. You will see the information that the console received. If this is correct, reboot the console and it will come up on the new IP address. If you made a mistake, enter the IP command again to fix it. It is very important that you check your work and correct if necessary before rebooting because you don't want to save an invalid address.

One caution: when updating your IP address use care with the Subnet Mask entry. We recently has someone set it as: 255.255.255.255 instead of 255.255.255.0. This puts that Surface on a subnet that has one IP address, which means you would not longer be able to communicate with it until the Surface Host board is returned to the factory so it can be reflashed to return it to factory default settings.