---
title: How to enable IP identification in Chatwoot?
description: Guide to enabling IP address geocoding and location identification in Chatwoot
sidebarTitle: Enable IP Logging
---

Chatwoot lets you identify the user's location by geocoding the IP address. For IP Address geocoding, we support MaxmindDB services. This lookup provides methods for geocoding IP addresses without calling a remote API every time. You can follow the steps below to set up your self-hosted instance with the geocoding.

## Step 1: Create MaxmindDB Account

Create an account at [MaxmindDB](https://www.maxmind.com) and create an API key.

## Step 2: Add Environment Variables

Add the following environment variables.

```bash
IP_LOOKUP_API_KEY=your-api-key
```

With this step, Chatwoot would automatically download the [MaxmindDB downloadable databases](https://dev.maxmind.com/geoip/geoip2/downloadable/) and cache it locally.

## Step 3: Enable IP Lookup

Enable IP Lookup on your account. You can do this in two ways.

### Method 1: Via Superadmin Console UI

Log into the super admin and select accounts. Select your account, click edit, and toggle the `ip_lookup` feature.

### Method 2: Via Rails Console

```bash
RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rails console
```

```rb
account_id = 1 // Please fill your account id instead of 1
account = Account.find(account_id)
account.enable_features('ip_lookup')
account.save!
```