How do I set a static IP in Ubuntu?

I am a new with Linux, having years experience with Windows servers/desktops and am having issues setting a static IP. I am using a method used for previous versions of Ubuntu, which doesn't seem to work with 16.04

I have used the command sudo nano /etc/network/interface and added the following

iface enp0s25 inet static
address 10.10.8.2
netmask 255.255.0.0
gateway 10.10.1.1
dns-nameservers 8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4

I have rebooted the system and the Ethernet is pretty much dead, ping doesn't work at all. I have tried to modify /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf and made the following changes

#dns=dnsmasq (comment out the dnsmasq)
[ifupdown]
managed=true (changed from false)

With this I can get Ethernet to work sporadically, however it eventually fails.

I have tried this configuration on two other machines plus a virtual machine as well and all have the same results. I can confirm these settings work fine when I install Windows on any of these machines. As well when I let DHCP auto configure, everything works fine no issues.

I figure I am missing something here, setting up a static IP should not be difficult at all.

I had the same problem and this was my solution:

sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces

and paste (altering for your network) this under # The primary network interface:

auto enp0s25
iface enp0s25 inet static
address 192.168.0.16
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.0.1
dns-nameservers 8.8.4.4 8.8.8.8

You can get correct interface name using Terminal command ifconfig -a on ubuntu 16.04 or ip address on 18.04+

Shutdown your Virtual Machine and then!!! Go to network settings and click on refresh MAC address button a few times :)

and start your VM and you should get internet!

UPDATE 20.02.2019

For ubuntu 18.04+ you need to edit this file

/etc/netplan/50-cloud-init.yaml

network:
    ethernets:
        enp0s3:
            addresses: [192.168.0.55/24]
            gateway4: 192.168.0.1
            dhcp4: no
            nameservers:
              addresses: [1.1.1.1,8.8.8.8]
            optional: true
    version: 2

Setting the static IP address as above in the accepted answer here works, but one has to flush the old IP addr setting and then restart networking.service:

sudo ip addr flush enp0s25
sudo systemctl restart networking.service

Then verify it is correct:

ip add

# interfaces(5) file used by ifup(8) and ifdown(8)
# auto lo
# iface lo inet loopback
auto enp2s0 
iface enp2s0 inet static
    address 172.16.9.124
    netmask 255.255.240.0
    gateway 172.16.0.9
dns-nameservers 8.8.8.8

sudo vim /etc/network/interfaces

    auto lo
    iface lo inet loopback
    auto eth0
    iface eth0 inet static
    address 192.168.1.10
    gateway 192.168.1.1
    netmask 255.255.255.0
    dns-nameservers 8.8.8.8

sudo ifdown eth0 && sudo ifup eth0

I had the same problem and the solution "was" simply... for me, at least.

auto ens160
iface ens160 inet static
address 172.31.0.164/22
netmask 255.255.252.0
gateway 172.31.0.2
network 172.31.0.0
broadcast 172.31.3.255
dns-nameservers 172.31.0.21 172.31.0.18

#Add internal route
up route add -net 172.16.168.0/21 gw 172.31.0.20 dev ens160

And, create an empty file with the name of the network interface in:

~$ touch /etc/network/interfaces.d/ens160

It works...