Linux Command Line Tutorial For Beginners 35 – ifconfig command

NAME
ifconfig – configure a network interface

SYNOPSIS
ifconfig [-v] [-a] [-s] [interface]
ifconfig [-v] interface [aftype] options | address …

DESCRIPTION
Ifconfig is used to configure the kernel-resident network interfaces.
It is used at boot time to set up interfaces as necessary. After that,
it is usually only needed when debugging or when system tuning is
needed.

If no arguments are given, ifconfig displays the status of the cur‐
rently active interfaces. If a single interface argument is given, it
displays the status of the given interface only; if a single -a argu‐
ment is given, it displays the status of all interfaces, even those
that are down. Otherwise, it configures an interface.

Address Families
If the first argument after the interface name is recognized as the
name of a supported address family, that address family is used for
decoding and displaying all protocol addresses. Currently supported
address families include inet (TCP/IP, default), inet6 (IPv6), ax25
(AMPR Packet Radio), ddp (Appletalk Phase 2), ipx (Novell IPX) and
netrom (AMPR Packet radio).