If you are unfamiliar with the ifconfig tool it is used by your computer to check your network configuration at startup. You can also use it to display your network information from the command line or just make changes.
More Functions For Ifconfig
The ifconfig command is useful for debugging problems or just finding your IP address. Also this tool is fairly easy to use so if your network is giving you problems don’t be afraid to give it a try.
To see your basic network information just type ifconfig into your command line with no options.
Standard Syntax
This is how the ifconfig command is commonly used from the command line.
$ ifconfig option interface address
Use Specified Interface
Specify the interface when you want to send options to a specific device. The interface can be selected by choosing the network interface you want to use to access the internet. The interface will usually look like wlan1 or eth1 depending on the device that you want to use.
$ ifconfig interface
Activate Specified Device
This will activate the network interface device that you specify.
$ ifconfig up
Disable Specified Device
Use this to disable your network interface device.
$ ifconfig down
Set Maximum Transfer Rate
Set the maximum transfer units of an interface device. The default is 1500.
$ ifconfig mtu #
Set Netmask Address
Set the IP address for a network mask used in subnets.
$ ifconfig netmask address
Set IP Address
Allows you to set the protocol broadcast IP address for the selected interface device.
$ ifconfig broadcast address
Set Point To Point Address
This will create a direct link between your interface device and the given IP address of another machine.
$ ifconfig pointtopoint address
Set Hardware Address
With this you can change the hardware address of your internet device if it is supported.
$ ifconfig hw
Query Address Or Hostname
Substitute the address for the hostname or IP address of a given device or system on the network to see more information about that resource.
$ ifconfig address
Tags: IP, network, settings | Posted in Command Line
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