Interface communication in Linux
Hi, How are you !! Hope you doing good....
I got introduced to Cloud initially. As I went ahead learning what is cloud and how it works, then got to know a field which is DevOps that makes Cloud model more effective.
So, as I started working & got good experience on AWS. I have been learning the DevOps tool and technologies on how to use it with the Cloud, which will give me good understanding on how Cloud and DevOps go hand in hand to deploy my applications.
Last Blog Review →
In the last blog we understood, How do we configure a hostname for some other system on your network. There are two ways either systemwide or single user.
A. ifconfig - View and configure network interfaces.
List the interface on the machines
ifconfig -a
List the details of the particular interface
Syntax -
ifconfig <interface>
Ex.
ifconfig eth0
Limitations:
Doesn’t support all modern networking features .
Might not show interfaces unless they are up.
B. ip - Its a modern replacement for ifconfig.
Syntax -
ip [ link | …. | route | addr ]
List network interface
ip link show
Renaming interface
ip link set dev 'interface-a' name 'interface-b'
Bringing an interface up
ip link set dev <interface1> up
List address for interface
ip addr show
To add an IP address to an existing interface
ip addr add 1.3.0.1 dev eth0
Advantages:
Comprehensive control over networking.
Supports advanced features
C. Ethtool - Query and control Ethernet device settings
Check Ethernet Interface Settings
ethtool eth0
Test Network Interface
ethtool -t eth0
Show Statistics
ethtool -S eth0
Summary of ifconfig - ip - ethtool
🔹 ifconfig
An older tool used for viewing and configuring network interfaces.
Can assign IP addresses, bring interfaces up or down, and view basic interface stats.
Lacks support for modern networking features (like IPv6).
Still available on some systems, but outdated.
🔹 ip
Modern and versatile tool, part of the
iproute2suite.Replaces several older tools (
ifconfig,route,arp, etc.).Can manage IP addresses, routes, network interfaces, neighbors (ARP), and more.
Fully supports IPv6 and is preferred for scripting due to consistent output.
🔹 ethtool
A specialized utility for interacting with Ethernet hardware settings.
Used to check or change NIC settings like speed, duplex mode, offloading, and Wake-on-LAN.
Provides detailed link and driver information not available in
iporifconfig.
Conclusion →
In this blog we understood, the importance of network interface multiple tools used in linux to query the network configuration.
