IFCONFIG

Section: Maintenance Commands (8C)
Updated: May 22, 1986
Index Return to Main Contents

NAME

ifconfig - configure network interface parameters

SYNOPSIS

/usr/etc/ifconfig interface address_family [ address [ dest_address ] ] [ parameters ]
/usr/etc/ifconfig interface [ protocol_family ]

DESCRIPTION

Ifconfig is used to assign an address to a network interface and/or configure network interface parameters. Ifconfig must be used at boot time to define the network address of each interface present on a machine; it may also be used at a later time to redefine an interface's address or other operating parameters. The interface parameter is a string of the form ``name unit'', e.g. ``en0''.

Since an interface may receive transmissions in differing protocols, each of which may require separate naming schemes, it is necessary to specify the address_family, which may change the interpretation of the remaining parameters. The address families currently supported are ``inet'' and ``ns''.

For the DARPA-Internet family, the address is either a host name present in the host name data base, hosts(5), or a DARPA Internet address expressed in the Internet standard ``dot notation''. For the Xerox Network Systems(tm) family, addresses are net:a.b.c.d.e.f, where net is the assigned network number (in decimal), and each of the six bytes of the host number, a through f, are specified in hexadecimal. The host number may be omitted on 10Mb/s Ethernet interfaces, which use the hardware physical address, and on interfaces other than the first.

The following parameters may be set with ifconfig:

up: Mark an interface ``up''. This may be used to enable an interface after an ``ifconfig down.'' It happens automatically when setting the first address on an interface. If the interface was reset when previously marked down, the hardware will be re-initialized.
down: Mark an interface ``down''. When an interface is marked ``down'', the system will not attempt to transmit messages through that interface. If possible, the interface will be reset to disable reception as well. This action does not automatically disable routes using the interface.
trailers: Request the use of a ``trailer'' link level encapsulation when sending (default). If a network interface supports trailers, the system will, when possible, encapsulate outgoing messages in a manner which minimizes the number of memory to memory copy operations performed by the receiver. On networks that support the Address Resolution Protocol (see arp(4P); currently, only 10 Mb/s Ethernet), this flag indicates that the system should request that other systems use trailers when sending to this host. Similarly, trailer encapsulations will be sent to other hosts that have made such requests. Currently used by Internet protocols only.
-trailers: Disable the use of a ``trailer'' link level encapsulation.
arp: Enable the use of the Address Resolution Protocol in mapping between network level addresses and link level addresses (default). This is currently implemented for mapping between DARPA Internet addresses and 10Mb/s Ethernet addresses.
-arp: Disable the use of the Address Resolution Protocol.
metric n: Set the routing metric of the interface to n, default 0. The routing metric is used by the routing protocol (routed(8c)). Higher metrics have the effect of making a route less favorable; metrics are counted as addition hops to the destination network or host.
debug: Enable driver dependent debugging code; usually, this turns on extra console error logging.
-debug: Disable driver dependent debugging code.
netmask mask: (Inet only) Specify how much of the address to reserve for subdividing networks into sub-networks. The mask includes the network part of the local address and the subnet part, which is taken from the host field of the address. The mask can be specified as a single hexadecimal number with a leading 0x, with a dot-notation Internet address, or with a pseudo-network name listed in the network table networks(5). The mask contains 1's for the bit positions in the 32-bit address which are to be used for the network and subnet parts, and 0's for the host part. The mask should contain at least the standard network portion, and the subnet field should be contiguous with the network portion.
dstaddr: Specify the address of the correspondent on the other end of a point to point link.
broadcast: (Inet only) Specify the address to use to represent broadcasts to the network. The default broadcast address is the address with a host part of all 1's.
ipdst: (NS only) This is used to specify an Internet host who is willing to receive ip packets encapsulating NS packets bound for a remote network. In this case, an apparent point to point link is constructed, and the address specified will be taken as the NS address and network of the destinee.

Ifconfig displays the current configuration for a network interface when no optional parameters are supplied. If a protocol family is specified, Ifconfig will report only the details specific to that protocol family.

Only the super-user may modify the configuration of a network interface.

DIAGNOSTICS

Messages indicating the specified interface does not exit, the requested address is unknown, or the user is not privileged and tried to alter an interface's configuration.