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IFCONFIG(8N)            COMMAND REFERENCE            IFCONFIG(8N)



NAME
     ifconfig - configure network interface parameters

SYNOPSIS
     /etc/ifconfig interface address_family [ address [
     dest_address ] ] [ parameters ]
     /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.

     For the DARPA-Internet family, the address is either a host
     name present in the host name data base, hosts(5n), 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 can 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



Printed 4/6/89                                                  1





IFCONFIG(8N)            COMMAND REFERENCE            IFCONFIG(8N)



                    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(4n); 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(8n)).  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



Printed 4/6/89                                                  2





IFCONFIG(8N)            COMMAND REFERENCE            IFCONFIG(8N)



                    table networks(5n).  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.

     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.

SEE ALSO
     netstat(1n), intro(4n), rc(8)
























Printed 4/6/89                                                  3





































































%%index%%
na:360,101;
sy:461,548;
de:1009,2808;4249,3095;7776,1385;
di:9161,310;
se:9471,173;
%%index%%000000000117

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