ip

Display or manipulate routing, network devices, interfaces, and tunnels.

Description

The ip command is a powerful tool for network configuration on Linux. It replaces older utilities like ifconfig and route and provides more comprehensive management of the network stack.

Syntax

ip [OPTIONS] OBJECT { COMMAND | help }
ip [ -force ] -batch filename

Objects

OBJECT := { link | address | addrlabel | route | rule | neigh | ntable |
       tunnel | tuntap | maddress | mroute | mrule | monitor | xfrm |
       netns | l2tp | macsec | tcp_metrics | token }

Options

-V : Print version information.
-s : Print more detailed statistics.
-f : Force the use of a specific protocol family (inet, inet6, etc.).
-4 : Use IPv4.
-6 : Use IPv6.
-0 : Output each record on a single line.
-r : Resolve IP addresses to hostnames.
-h : Print human-readable statistics.
-o : Output each record on a single line (useful for scripting).

Examples

Manage Interfaces:

ip link show                    # Show network interface information
ip link set eth0 up             # Activate an interface
ip link set eth0 down           # Deactivate an interface
ip link set eth0 promisc on     # Enable promiscuous mode
ip link set eth0 mtu 1400       # Set MTU

Manage IP Addresses:

ip addr show                    # Show IP address information
ip addr add 192.168.0.1/24 dev eth0 # Add an IP address
ip addr del 192.168.0.1/24 dev eth0 # Delete an IP address

Manage Routing:

ip route show                   # Show the routing table
ip route add default via 192.168.1.254 # Add a default gateway
ip route add 192.168.4.0/24 via 192.168.0.254 dev eth0 # Add a static route
ip route del 192.168.4.0/24     # Delete a route

Show Detailed Statistics:

ip -s link list

Show Neighbors (ARP table):

ip neigh list

Get All Interface Names:

ip link | grep -E '^[0-9]' | awk -F: '{print $2}'