linux version

ifconfig

configure network interface parameters
Mac os version

Many of the settings depend on implementation of the specific hardware.
       ifconfig command
ifconfig [-C] [-L] interface address_family [address [dest_address]] [parameters] ifconfig interface create ifconfig -a [-C] [-L] [-d] [-m] [-u] [-v] [address_family] ifconfig [-C] [-L] [-d] [-m] [-u] [-v] ifconfig -l [-d] [-u] [address_family]
waitall
getifaddr if
ifcount
1
 
getoption
getpacket
ipconfig getpacket en0 # returns 
op = BOOTREPLY
htype = 1
flags = 0
hlen = 6
hops = 0
xid = 0xfbc90c39
secs = 2
ciaddr = 0.0.0.0
yiaddr = 192.168.1.45
siaddr = 0.0.0.0
giaddr = 0.0.0.0
chaddr = 4c:32:75:97:3b:ad
sname = 
file = 

options:
Options count is 9
dhcp_message_type (uint8): ACK 0x5
server_identifier (ip): 192.168.1.1
lease_time (uint32): 0xd5c
subnet_mask (ip): 255.255.255.0
router (ip_mult): {192.168.1.1}
domain_name_server (ip_mult): {192.168.1.1}
domain_name (string): germans
domain_search (dns_namelist): {germans}
end (none): 

 
getv6packet
set
setverbose
ifconfig [-L] [-m] [-r] interface [create] [address_family] [address [dest_address]] [parameters] ifconfig interface destroy ifconfig -a [-L] [-d] [-m] [-r] [-u] [-v] [address_family] ifconfig -l [-d] [-u] [address_family] ifconfig [-L] [-d] [-m] [-r] [-u] [-v] [-C] ifconfig interface vlan vlan-tag vlandev iface ifconfig interface bonddev iface ifconfig interface bondmode lacp | static > ifconfig en1 # smackerpro's ethernet interface en1: flags=8863 mtu 1500 ether f8:1e:df:d9:47:88 inet6 fe80::fa1e:dfff:fed9:4788%en1 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x5 inet 192.168.1.5 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255 nd6 options=1 media: autoselect status: active
Displays configuration for an interface when no parameters are supplied.
If a protocol family is specified, reports only the details specific to that protocol family.

-a all interfaces, default
ifconfig -a 
lo0: flags=8049 mtu 16384
    options=1203
    inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000 
    inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128 
    inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1 
    nd6 options=201
gif0: flags=8010 mtu 1280
stf0: flags=0<> mtu 1280
XHC20: flags=0<> mtu 0
en0: flags=8863 mtu 1500
    ether 4c:32:75:97:3b:ad 
    inet6 fe80::83:450c:4ea2:c5ce%en0 prefixlen 64 secured scopeid 0x5 
    inet 192.168.1.11 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
    nd6 options=201
    media: autoselect
    status: active
p2p0: flags=8843 mtu 2304
    ether 0e:32:75:97:3b:ad 
    media: autoselect
    status: inactive
awdl0: flags=8943 mtu 1484
    ether ce:17:e6:a7:e0:6c 
    inet6 fe80::cc17:e6ff:fea7:e06c%awdl0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x7 
    nd6 options=201
    media: autoselect
    status: active
en1: flags=8963 mtu 1500
    options=60
    ether 4a:00:07:f6:fa:80 
    media: autoselect 
    status: inactive
en2: flags=8963 mtu 1500
    options=60
    ether 4a:00:07:f6:fa:81 
    media: autoselect 
    status: inactive
bridge0: flags=8863 mtu 1500
    options=63
    ether 4a:00:07:f6:fa:80 
    Configuration:
        id 0:0:0:0:0:0 priority 0 hellotime 0 fwddelay 0
        maxage 0 holdcnt 0 proto stp maxaddr 100 timeout 1200
        root id 0:0:0:0:0:0 priority 0 ifcost 0 port 0
        ipfilter disabled flags 0x2
    member: en1 flags=3
            ifmaxaddr 0 port 8 priority 0 path cost 0
    member: en2 flags=3
            ifmaxaddr 0 port 9 priority 0 path cost 0
    nd6 options=201
    media: 
    status: inactive
utun0: flags=8051 mtu 1380
    inet6 fe80::ddda:4645:bc50:fd3c%utun0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0xb 
    inet6 fdf6:9a52:c33:9624:ddda:4645:bc50:fd3c prefixlen 64 
    nd6 options=201
utun1: flags=8051 mtu 2000
    inet6 fe80::cf71:edcb:93dc:fe52%utun1 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0xc 
    nd6 options=201
utun2: flags=8051 mtu 1380
    inet6 fe80::361f:fabc:da15:5a2c%utun2 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0xd 
    nd6 options=201
-v verbose status
 ifconfig -v en0
en0: flags=8863 mtu 1500 index 5
    eflags=412008c0
    ether 4c:32:75:97:3b:ad 
    inet6 fe80::83:450c:4ea2:c5ce%en0 prefixlen 64 secured scopeid 0x5 
    inet 192.168.1.11 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
    nd6 options=201
    media: autoselect
    status: active
    type: Wi-Fi
    link quality: 100 (good)
    state availability: 0 (true)
    scheduler: FQ_CODEL (driver managed)
    uplink rate: 8.76 Mbps [eff] / 53.95 Mbps
    downlink rate: 8.76 Mbps [eff] / 53.95 Mbps [max]
    qosmarking enabled: yes mode: none
-d only down interfaces
ifconfig -d   
gif0: flags=8010 mtu 1280
stf0: flags=0<> mtu 1280
XHC20: flags=0<> mtu 0
-u only up interfaces
-m display the capability list and all of the supported media for the specified interface.
DATA/dgerman >ifconfig  -m
lo0: flags=8049 mtu 16384
    options=1203
    capabilities=1203
    inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000 
    inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128 
    inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1 
    nd6 options=201
gif0: flags=8010 mtu 1280
stf0: flags=0<> mtu 1280
XHC20: flags=0<> mtu 0
en0: flags=8863 mtu 1500
    ether 4c:32:75:97:3b:ad 
    inet6 fe80::83:450c:4ea2:c5ce%en0 prefixlen 64 secured scopeid 0x5 
    inet 192.168.1.11 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
    nd6 options=201
    media: autoselect
    status: active
    supported media:
        media autoselect
p2p0: flags=8843 mtu 2304
    ether 0e:32:75:97:3b:ad 
    media: autoselect
    status: inactive
    supported media:
        media autoselect
awdl0: flags=8943 mtu 1484
    ether ce:17:e6:a7:e0:6c 
    inet6 fe80::cc17:e6ff:fea7:e06c%awdl0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x7 
    nd6 options=201
    media: autoselect
    status: active
    supported media:
        media autoselect
en1: flags=8963 mtu 1500
    options=60
    capabilities=60
    ether 4a:00:07:f6:fa:80 
    media: autoselect 
    status: inactive
    supported media:
        media autoselect mediaopt full-duplex
en2: flags=8963 mtu 1500
    options=60
    capabilities=60
    ether 4a:00:07:f6:fa:81 
    media: autoselect 
    status: inactive
    supported media:
        media autoselect mediaopt full-duplex
bridge0: flags=8863 mtu 1500
    options=63
    capabilities=63
    ether 4a:00:07:f6:fa:80 
    Configuration:
        id 0:0:0:0:0:0 priority 0 hellotime 0 fwddelay 0
        maxage 0 holdcnt 0 proto stp maxaddr 100 timeout 1200
        root id 0:0:0:0:0:0 priority 0 ifcost 0 port 0
        ipfilter disabled flags 0x2
    member: en1 flags=3
            ifmaxaddr 0 port 8 priority 0 path cost 0
    member: en2 flags=3
            ifmaxaddr 0 port 9 priority 0 path cost 0
    nd6 options=201
    media: 
    status: inactive
    supported media:
        
utun0: flags=8051 mtu 1380
    inet6 fe80::ddda:4645:bc50:fd3c%utun0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0xb 
    inet6 fdf6:9a52:c33:9624:ddda:4645:bc50:fd3c prefixlen 64 
    nd6 options=201
utun1: flags=8051 mtu 2000
    inet6 fe80::cf71:edcb:93dc:fe52%utun1 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0xc 
    nd6 options=201
utun2: flags=8051 mtu 1380
    inet6 fe80::361f:fabc:da15:5a2c%utun2 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0xd 
    nd6 options=201
DATA/dgerman >
-L lifetime is displayed for IPv6 addresses, as time offset string.
-l list all available interfaces on the system, with no other additional information.
mutually exclusive with all other flags and commands, except -u and -d.
-C list interface cloners mutually exclusive with all other flags and commands.
-r information related to the count of route references on the network interface.

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

Assign an address to a network interface and/or configure parameters.

interface name unit, for example, en0.
up Mark an interface up. Happens automatically when setting the first address on an interface.
If the interface was reset when previously marked down, the hardware will be initialized.
down Mark an interface down. the system will not attempt to transmit messages through that interface.
The interface will be reset to disable reception as well.
address host name,
Internet address: dot notation
CIDR notation to include the netmask. (eample: 192.168.0.1/26.)
For the inet6 the prefix length using the slash notation, ( example: ::1/128.
link-level (link) address: series of colon-separated hex digits. to set a new MAC address on an ethernet interface, if the interface is up, it will be brought down and then back up.
address_family affects interpretation of the remaining parameters.
Since an interface can receive transmissions in differing protocols with different naming schemes, specifying the address family is recommended.
Families are inet, inet6, and link (aka ether and lladdr ) Default inet.
broadcast (Inet only.) the address to use to broadcasts to the network. Default: address with a host part of all 1's. For example 192.168.45.255 (ie. 255 =11111111)
prefixlen len (Inet6 only.) bits for subdividing networks into sub-networks. between 0 to 128. almost always 64
 arp
-arp
Enable/disable Address Resolution Protocol to map network level addresses and link level addresses (default). mapping between Internet and MAC addresses
dest_address other end of a point-to-point link.
mtu n maximum transmission unit size in bytes
netmask mask (Inet only.) Define portion of address 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 example: 0xFFFFFF00, dot-notation (example: 255.255.255.0) , or CIDR notation after the address (example: 192.168.1.1/24 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.
metric n Set the routing metric, default 0, used by the routing protocol (routed(8)). Higher metrics have the effect of making a route less favorable; metrics are counted as additional hops to the destination network or host.
 alias
  add
Establish an additional network address for this interface.
Useful when changing network address while still accepting packets addressed to the old interface.
If the address is on the same subnet as the first network address for this interface, a non-conflicting netmask must be given, Usually 0xffffffff is most appropriate.

-alias
delete
remove

Remove the address specified.
anycast (Inet6 only.) address configured is an anycast address.
Only routers may configure anycast addresses.
 debug
-debug
Enable/disable driver dependent debugging code;
lladdr addr
etherr
link-level address on an interface. New MAC address on an ethernet interface, addr is a series of colon separated hex digits.
If the interface is up it will be briefly brought down and back up
media type Some interfaces support the mutually exclusive use of different physical media connectors.
For example, a 10Mbit/s Ethernet interface might support either AUI or twisted pair connectors. Setting the media type to 10base5/AUI would change the currently active connector to the AUI port. Setting it to 10baseT/UTP would activate twisted pair.
 mediaopt
-mediaopt optsi
opts is a comma delimited list of options.
offload functions to the NIC (Network INterface Card ) vs performing then in the driver software.
 rxcsum
-rxcsum
 txcsum
-txcsum
enable/disable receive / transmit checksuming
 tso
-tso
enable/disable Tcp Segmentation Offloading
 lro
-lro
enable/disable large receive offloading,
 av
-av
enable/disable 802.1 AVB
 vlanmtu
-vlanmtu
 vlanhwtag
-vlanhwtag
enable/disable VLAN support, and reception of extended frames or hardwate tag processing , must be issued on a physical interface associated with vlan(4), not on a vlan(4) interface itself.
create d Create network pseudo-device.
If the interface is given without a unit number, create a new device with an arbitrary unit number.
If creation of an arbitrary device is successful, the new device name is output to standard output
link
0link[0-2]
Enable/disable special processing of the link level. in general used to select special modes of operation.
An example: enable SLIP (Serial Line INterface Protocol) compression, or to select the connector type for some Ethernet cards.
parameters for ICMPv6 Neighbor Discovery Protocol. Note that the address family keyword inet6 is needed for them:
 nud
-nud
Perform/don't perform network unreachability detection (NUD).
 ifdisabled
-ifdisable
Disable all IPv6 communication
 insecure
-insecure
Disable/do not disable the processing of Secure Neighbor Discovery (SEND).
parameters specific to link aggregate interfaces:
 bonddev
-bondiface
If the interface is a bond pseudo device, associate physical interface iface with it. Default: in LACP (Link Aggregation Control Protocol) mode (see bondmode below). In this mode, the device conforms to the IEEE 802.3ad Link Aggregation specification.

If this is the first physical interface to be associated with the bond interface, it inherits the ethernet address from the physical interface. Physical interfaces that are added to the bond have their ethernet address programmed so that all members of the bond have the same ethernet address.
If the physical interface is removed using -bonddev, a new ethernet address is chosen from the remaining interfaces, and all interfaces are programmed with the new ethernet address.
If no remaining interfaces exist, the bond interface's ethernet address is cleared.

Once the physical interface is successfully associated with the bond interface, all received packets are diverted to the bond interface. The physical interface is no longer useable on its own, and remains that way until it is removed from the bond using -bonddev.

The link status of the bond interface depends on the state of link aggregation. If no active partner is detected, the link status will remain inactive.

To monitor the 802.3ad Link Aggregation state, use -b

A physical interface that is associated with a vlan pseudo device cannot at the same time be associated with a bond pseudo device. A physical interface cannot be associated with more than one bond pseudo device at the same time.

It is not possible to associate a bond with pseudo interfaces such as vlan. Only physical ethernet interfaces may be associated with a bond. -bonddev iface disassociate the physical interface iface from it. If the physical iface is the last interface in the bond, the bond interface clears its link address.

bondmode lacp | static default lacp. static mode, a member interface is made an active part of the link aggregate as long as the link status is active.
The following parameters are specific to IP tunnel interfaces, gif(4):
 tunnel src_addr dest_addr
-tunnel
deletetunnel
Configure/unconfigure the physical source and destination address for IP tunnel interfaces. The arguments are the outer source/destination for the encapsulating IPv4/IPv6 header.
specific to bridge interfaces:
addm interface Add the interface named by interface as a member of the bridge. The interface is put into promiscuous mode so that it can receive every packet sent on the network.
deletem interface
cache options
maxaddr size bridge address cache to size, default: 100 .
timeout seconds of address cache . zero: don't expired. default :240 seconds.
addr Display the addresses that have been learned
static interface-name address Add a static entry into the address cache pointing to interface-name.
deladdr address Delete address from cache.
flush Delete dynamically-learned addresses from cache.
flushall Delete all addresses
 discover interface -discover Mark/unMark interface as discovering . When the bridge has no address for the destination of a packet, the bridge will forward the packet to all member interfaces marked as discovering. This is the default for all interfaces added to a bridge.
 learn
-learninterface
Mark/clear an interface as learning . When a packet arrives on such an interface, the source of the packet is entered into the address cache as being a destination on the interface's segment. default for all interfaces added to a bridge.
Spanning Tree Protocol used to detect and remove loops in a network topology.
 stp
-stp interface
Enable/disable STP
maxage seconds time that a STP configuration is valid. default: 20 , minimum 6 , maximum is 40 .
fwddelay seconds time until an interface begins forwarding packets when STP is enabled. default 15 minimum 4 and maximum 30 .
hellotime seconds time between broadcasting of STP configuration messages. may only be changed when operating in legacy STP mode. default 2 . minimum 1 maximum 2 .
priority value default 32768. minimum 0 and maximum 61440.
ifpriority interface value STP priority default: 128, minimum: 0, maximum: 240.
ifpathcost interface value STP path cost default calculated from the link speed.
0 (zero) sets cost to automatic, . minimum 1 maximum 200000000.
ifmaxaddr interface size maximum number of hosts allowed from an interface, packets with unknown source addresses are dropped until an existing host cache entry expires or is removed. Set to 0 to disable.
hostfilter interface address accept incoming packet only if they match the given MAC address and IP address -- use the command twice to set both type of addresses. Other filtering restrictions apply.
-hostfilter interface Allow traffic from any host on that interface.
vlan interfaces:
vlan vlan_tag 16-bit number which is used to create an 802.1Q VLAN header for packets sent from the vlan(4) interface. Note that vlan and vlandev must both be set at the same time.
 vlandev
-landev iface
Associate/disassociate the physical interface iface with a vlan(4) interface. Packets transmitted through the vlan(4) interface will be diverted to the specified physical interface iface with 802.1Q VLAN encapsulation. Packets with 802.1Q encapsulation received by the parent interface with the correct VLAN tag will be diverted to the associated vlan pseudo-interface.
The vlan interface is assigned a copy of the parent interface's flags and the parent's ethernet address.
vlandev and vlan must both be set at the same time.
If the vlan interface already has a physical interface associated with it, this command will fail.
To change the association to another physical interface, the existing association must be cleared first.
If the hardware tagging capability is set on the parent interface, the vlan pseudo interface's behavior changes: the vlan interface recognizes that the parent interface supports insertion and extraction of VLAN tags on its own (usually in firmware) and that it should pass packets to and from the parent unaltered.

For bridge interfaces, the list of addresses learned by the bridge is not shown when displaying information about all interfaces except when the -v flag is used.

EXAMPLES
Assign the IPv4 address 192.0.2.10, with a network mask of 255.255.255.0, to the interface en0:

 # ifconfig en0 inet 192.0.2.10 netmask 255.255.255.0
Add the IPv4 address 192.0.2.45, with the CIDR network prefix /28, to the interface en0, using add as a synonym for the canonical form of the option alias:
# ifconfig en0 inet 192.0.2.45/28 add
Remove the IPv4 address 192.0.2.45 from the interface en0:
# ifconfig en0 inet 192.0.2.45 -alias
Add the IPv6 address 2001:DB8:DBDB::123/48 to the interface en0:
# ifconfig en0 inet6 2001:db8:bdbd::123 prefixlen 48 alias
Remove the IPv6 address added in the above example, using the / character as shorthand for the network prefix
# ifconfig en0 inet6 2001:db8:bdbd::123/48 delete
Configure the interface en1, to use 100baseTX, full duplex Ethernet media options:
# ifconfig en1 media 100baseTX mediaopt full-duplex
Create the software network interface gif1:
# ifconfig gif1 create
Destroy the software network interface gif1:
# ifconfig gif1 destroy

See

netstat(1), netintro(4), sysctl(8)

BUGS

Basic IPv6 node operation requires a link-local address on each interface configured for IPv6. Normally, such an address is automatically configured by the kernel on each interface added to the system; this behaviour may be disabled by setting the sysctl MIB variable net.inet6.ip6.auto_linklocal to 0. Don't delete such an address. June 20, 2008 BSD