<s>
ifconfig	B-Protocol
(	O
short	O
for	O
interface	O
config	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
system	O
administration	O
utility	O
in	O
Unix-like	B-Operating_System
operating	I-Operating_System
systems	I-Operating_System
for	O
network	B-Protocol
interface	I-Protocol
configuration	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
utility	O
is	O
a	O
command-line	B-Application
interface	I-Application
tool	O
and	O
is	O
also	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
system	O
startup	O
scripts	O
of	O
many	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
has	O
features	O
for	O
configuring	O
,	O
controlling	O
,	O
and	O
querying	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
network	I-Protocol
interface	O
parameters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ifconfig	B-Protocol
originally	O
appeared	O
in	O
4.2BSD	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
BSD	B-Operating_System
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
suite	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Common	O
uses	O
for	O
ifconfig	B-Protocol
include	O
setting	O
the	O
IP	B-Protocol
address	I-Protocol
and	O
netmask	B-Protocol
of	O
a	O
network	B-Protocol
interface	I-Protocol
and	O
disabling	O
or	O
enabling	O
an	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
boot	O
time	O
,	O
many	O
Unix-like	B-Operating_System
operating	I-Operating_System
systems	I-Operating_System
initialize	O
their	O
network	O
interfaces	O
with	O
shell	B-Language
scripts	I-Language
that	O
call	O
ifconfig	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
an	O
interactive	O
tool	O
,	O
system	O
administrators	O
routinely	O
use	O
the	O
utility	O
to	O
display	O
and	O
analyze	O
network	B-Protocol
interface	I-Protocol
parameters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
following	O
two	O
examples	O
show	O
the	O
output	O
of	O
the	O
tool	O
when	O
querying	O
the	O
state	O
of	O
a	O
single	O
active	O
interface	O
each	O
on	O
a	O
Linux-based	O
host	O
(	O
interface	O
eth0	O
)	O
and	O
the	O
ural0	O
interface	O
on	O
an	O
OpenBSD	B-Operating_System
installation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
parameter	O
txqueuelen	O
is	O
measured	O
in	O
number	O
of	O
Ethernet	B-Protocol
frames	I-Protocol
and	O
is	O
the	O
size	O
of	O
the	O
buffer	O
that	O
is	O
being	O
managed	O
by	O
the	O
network	B-Application
scheduler	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
ifconfig	B-Protocol
is	O
also	O
commonly	O
used	O
to	O
change	O
the	O
medium	B-Protocol
access	I-Protocol
control	I-Protocol
(	O
MAC	O
)	O
address	O
of	O
an	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
this	O
process	O
,	O
the	O
network	B-Protocol
interface	I-Protocol
is	O
first	O
disabled	O
(	O
set	O
down	O
)	O
with	O
the	O
ifconfig	B-Protocol
command	B-Application
,	O
followed	O
by	O
a	O
MAC	O
change	O
command	B-Application
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Berkeley	B-Operating_System
Software	I-Operating_System
Distribution	I-Operating_System
UNIX	B-Application
operating	I-Application
systems	I-Application
(	O
e.g.	O
,	O
NetBSD	B-Device
,	O
OpenBSD	B-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
FreeBSD	B-Operating_System
)	O
continue	O
active	O
development	O
of	O
ifconfig	B-Protocol
and	O
extension	O
of	O
its	O
functionality	O
to	O
cover	O
the	O
configuration	O
of	O
wireless	B-General_Concept
networking	I-General_Concept
interfaces	O
,	O
VLAN	B-General_Concept
trunking	O
,	O
controlling	O
hardware	O
features	O
such	O
as	O
TSO	O
or	O
hardware	O
checksumming	O
or	O
setting	O
up	O
bridge	O
and	O
tunnel	O
interfaces	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Solaris	B-Application
has	O
historically	O
used	O
ifconfig	B-Protocol
for	O
all	O
network	B-Protocol
interface	I-Protocol
configuration	O
,	O
but	O
as	O
of	O
Solaris	B-Application
10	I-Application
introduced	O
dladm	O
to	O
perform	O
data-link	O
(	O
OSI	O
model	O
layer	O
2	O
)	O
configuration	O
,	O
reducing	O
ifconfig	B-Protocol
's	O
purview	O
to	O
IP	B-Protocol
configuration	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
older	O
Linux	B-Application
distributions	I-Application
,	O
ifconfig	B-Protocol
,	O
in	O
conjunction	O
with	O
the	O
utility	O
route	B-Protocol
,	O
was	O
used	O
to	O
connect	O
a	O
computer	O
to	O
a	O
network	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
define	O
routes	O
between	O
networks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ifconfig	B-Protocol
for	O
Linux	B-Application
is	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
package	O
net-tools	O
,	O
released	O
as	O
the	O
latest	O
version	O
2.10	O
on	O
7	O
January	O
2021	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
Linux	B-Application
distributions	I-Application
have	O
deprecated	B-General_Concept
the	O
use	O
of	O
ifconfig	B-Protocol
and	O
route	B-Protocol
in	O
favor	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
suite	O
iproute2	B-Protocol
,	O
such	O
as	O
ArchLinux	O
or	O
RHEL	O
since	O
version	O
7	O
,	O
which	O
has	O
been	O
available	O
since	O
1999	O
for	O
Linux	B-Application
2.2	O
.	O
iproute2	B-Protocol
includes	O
support	O
for	O
all	O
common	O
functions	O
of	O
ifconfig(8 )	O
,	O
route(8 )	O
,	O
arp(8 )	O
and	O
netstat(1 )	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
higher-level	O
Linux	B-Application
command	B-Application
line	I-Application
tool	I-Application
is	O
ifup	O
(	O
including	O
ifdown	O
and	O
ifquery	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
controlling	O
the	O
interfaces	O
,	O
it	O
also	O
provides	O
control	O
of	O
other	O
aspects	O
of	O
the	O
network	O
such	O
as	O
specifying	O
the	O
DNS	B-Protocol
servers	I-Protocol
to	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
command	B-Application
is	O
configured	O
using	O
the	O
file	O
/etc/network/interfaces	O
,	O
which	O
contains	O
"	O
stanzas	O
"	O
for	O
each	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NetworkManager	B-Protocol
is	O
a	O
Linux	B-Application
daemon	O
that	O
automatically	O
reconfigures	O
the	O
network	O
in	O
dynamic	O
environments	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
moving	O
between	O
WiFi	O
hotspots	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
usually	O
used	O
in	O
conjunction	O
with	O
a	O
graphical	O
front-end	O
such	O
as	O
GNOME	B-Language
Shell	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Versions	O
of	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
from	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
to	O
Windows	B-Device
Me	I-Device
used	O
winipcfg	O
to	O
give	O
a	O
graphical	O
display	O
of	O
current	O
IP	B-Protocol
information	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ipconfig	O
,	O
a	O
command	B-Application
similar	O
to	O
ifconfig	B-Protocol
,	O
comes	O
with	O
Microsoft	O
operating-systems	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
Windows	B-Device
NT	I-Device
kernel	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
ipconfig	O
also	O
controls	O
the	O
Windows	O
DHCP	B-Protocol
client	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
macOS	B-Application
,	O
the	O
ifconfig	B-Protocol
command	B-Application
functions	O
as	O
a	O
wrapper	O
to	O
the	O
IPConfiguration	O
agent	O
,	O
and	O
can	O
control	O
the	O
BootP	B-Device
and	O
DHCP	B-Protocol
clients	O
from	O
the	O
command-line	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Use	O
of	O
ifconfig	B-Protocol
to	O
modify	O
network	O
settings	O
in	O
Mac	B-Application
OS	I-Application
X	O
is	O
discouraged	O
,	O
because	O
ifconfig	B-Protocol
operates	O
below	O
the	O
level	O
of	O
the	O
system	O
frameworks	O
which	O
help	O
manage	O
network	O
configuration	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
iwconfig	B-Protocol
,	O
a	O
component	O
of	O
Wireless	B-Protocol
tools	I-Protocol
for	I-Protocol
Linux	I-Protocol
,	O
which	O
took	O
its	O
name	O
from	O
ifconfig	B-Protocol
,	O
manages	O
wireless	B-General_Concept
network	I-General_Concept
interfaces	O
outside	O
the	O
original	O
scope	O
of	O
Linux	B-Application
's	O
ifconfig	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
iwconfig	B-Protocol
sets	O
such	O
specialized	O
settings	O
as	O
a	O
wireless	B-General_Concept
network	I-General_Concept
's	O
SSID	O
and	O
WEP	B-Protocol
keys	I-Protocol
,	O
and	O
functions	O
in	O
tandem	O
with	O
iwlist	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Linux	B-Application
also	O
features	O
iwspy	B-Protocol
,	O
to	O
read	O
the	O
signal	O
,	O
noise	O
and	O
quality	O
of	O
a	O
wireless	B-General_Concept
connection	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
related	O
tools	O
for	O
configuring	O
Ethernet	B-Protocol
adapters	I-Protocol
are	O
:	O
ethtool	B-Application
,	O
mii-tool	B-Protocol
,	O
and	O
mii-diag	O
in	O
Linux	B-Application
and	O
the	O
command	B-Application
dladm	O
show-link	O
in	O
Solaris	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ip	B-Protocol
suite	I-Protocol
has	O
a	O
similar	O
purpose	O
and	O
is	O
meant	O
to	O
replace	O
the	O
deprecated	B-General_Concept
ifconfig	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
