NAME

iftab − network interface configuration file

SYNOPSIS

/etc/ftab

DESCRIPTION

/etc/rc.net reads /etc/iftab to determine what configuration commands are to be applied to the machine’s network interfaces.  Each line in /etc/iftab is a rule that begins with an interface pattern, followed by a protocol/address family and then by a set of parameters passed either to /etc/ifconfig, or to the command line for execution.  Each interface present on the machine will be matched against the interface patterns in this file and the first one found for each unique protocol/address familiy will be executed. 

The interface name can use asterisks (∗) to match any substring.  The protocol/address family can be any string.  The rest of the line will be passed to /etc/ifconfig unless it is preceeded by an exclamation point (!). An excalmation point indicates that the rest of line will be executed as a command, and the variable $if refers to the interface name to be configured. 

An interface name of “-1-” will match the primary interface. 

An argument string of “-HOSTCONFIG-” will redirect /etc/rc.net to get the network configuration from the /etc/hostconfig file. 

To disable an interface, enter a line with the name of the interface and an action of “!false” (or any command that is a no-op). 

SEE ALSO

hostconfig(8), ifconfig(8C), rc(8)
 

NeXT Computer, Inc.  —  September 9, 1994