<s>
ethtool	B-Application
is	O
the	O
primary	O
means	O
in	O
Linux	B-Application
kernel-based	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
(	O
primarily	O
Linux	B-Application
and	O
Android	B-Application
)	O
for	O
displaying	O
and	O
modifying	O
the	O
parameters	O
of	O
network	B-Protocol
interface	I-Protocol
controllers	I-Protocol
(	O
NICs	O
)	O
and	O
their	O
associated	O
device	B-Application
driver	I-Application
software	O
from	O
application	O
programs	O
running	O
in	O
userspace	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
ethtool	B-Application
consists	O
of	O
two	O
components	O
,	O
an	O
API	B-General_Concept
within	O
the	O
Linux	B-Operating_System
kernel	I-Operating_System
through	O
which	O
NICs	O
can	O
send	O
and	O
receive	O
parameters	O
through	O
their	O
device	B-Application
driver	I-Application
software	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
userspace	B-Operating_System
API	B-General_Concept
based	O
on	O
the	O
Linux	B-Application
SIOCETHTOOL	O
ioctl	B-Operating_System
mechanism	O
through	O
which	O
application	O
programs	O
can	O
communicate	O
with	O
the	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
to	O
send	O
and	O
receive	O
NIC	O
and	O
NIC	O
driver	O
parameters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
Linux	B-Application
distributions	I-Application
provide	O
a	O
standard	O
utility	B-Application
program	I-Application
called	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
from	O
a	O
shell	B-Operating_System
to	O
control	O
,	O
or	O
gather	O
information	O
from	O
NICs	O
using	O
the	O
ethtool	B-Application
userspace	B-Operating_System
API	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
Information	B-General_Concept
technology	I-General_Concept
community	O
,	O
the	O
term	O
ethtool	B-Application
is	O
usually	O
used	O
to	O
refer	O
to	O
this	O
utility	B-Application
program	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ethtool	B-Application
userspace	B-Operating_System
API	B-General_Concept
can	O
be	O
accessed	O
from	O
programs	O
written	O
in	O
the	O
C	B-Language
and	O
C++	B-Language
programming	I-Language
languages	I-Language
through	O
the	B-Language
C	I-Language
standard	I-Language
library	I-Language
or	O
C++	B-Language
standard	I-Language
library	I-Language
respectively	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Several	O
scripting	B-Language
languages	I-Language
such	O
as	O
Perl	B-Language
and	O
Python	B-Language
provide	O
ethtool	B-Application
API	B-General_Concept
bindings	O
that	O
allow	O
programmers	O
using	O
these	O
languages	O
to	O
write	O
scripts	O
that	O
can	O
control	O
NIC	O
's	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
macOS	B-Application
and	O
FreeBSD	B-Operating_System
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
provide	O
utility	B-Application
programs	I-Application
that	O
have	O
a	O
user	O
interface	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
Linux	B-Application
ethtool	B-Application
utility	O
,	O
but	O
that	O
use	O
fundamentally	O
different	O
APIs	B-General_Concept
to	O
communicate	O
with	O
their	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
kernels	B-Operating_System
and	O
NIC	O
's	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
mii-tool	O
is	O
an	O
older	O
program	O
performing	O
a	O
similar	O
function	O
to	O
ethtool	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
2003	O
,	O
it	O
's	O
considered	O
obsolete	O
and	O
replaced	O
by	O
ethtool	B-Application
.	O
</s>
