ManyWindows administrators are familiar with the ipconfig command line utility, which is used to get informationabout network interface configuration and make changes to it. Linux systems have a similar utility, ifconfig, which is a common part of the day-to-day tool belt ofmost Linux sysadmins. There are some distinct differences between ipconfig and ifconfig, however, such as the fact that the DOS/Windows ipconfig doesnot allow you to make changes to network configuration.

Ingeneral, you must be logged in as root or use sudo to make use of the ifconfigutility on a Linux machine. The ifconfigutility can be used either to simply get information about network interfaceconfiguration or to change configuration, depending on what options are usedwith the ifconfig command.

Simply specifying an address with an interface name, as in ifconfig eth0 192.168.2.103, will set that interface's IP address.

The ifconfig eth0 up command on most Linux systems can be abbreviated to ifup eth0.The same holds true for deactivating an interface, so that ifconfig eth0 down can be abbreviated as ifdown eth0. Some Linux systems will even havea further abbreviated command for cycling an interface's status called ifupdown, which quickly deactivates thenreactivates an interface, though this is less common than the individual ifup and ifdown abbreviated commands.

The"if" in ifconfig, and alsoin ifup, ifdown, and ifstatus, is anabbreviation of "interface". It is not related to the programmingconditional "if". You can get more information about this utility byaccessing its manpage, by entering man ifconfig at the command line.

Seethe manpages for any of these utilities to get moreinformation by entering "man utilityname"at the command line. For instance, the manpage forthe arputility is accessed by entering man arp. You can get more information aboutthe man utility by entering man man.

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