One ip tool to rule them all
Core Technology

© Valentine Sinitsyn develops high-loaded services and teaches students completely unrelated subjects. He also has a KDE developer account that he's never really used.
Prise the back off Linux and find out what really makes it tick.
When it comes to network configuration, Linux has several utilities collected in net-tools. Users learn to manage addresses with ifconfig
, routes with route
, and MAC addresses and the local network segment (the neighborhood) with arp
. A single tool, ip
of the iproute2 tool collection, replaces several of the classic network tools with one utility.
Making Links
The ip
tool operates on objects, which could be links, network layer addresses, routes, rules, and a few others. I'll start with Layer 2 objects (i.e., links) and advance to upper layers.
The ip
utility should already be in your Linux system. If not, install the iproute2 package. The ip(8)
man page provides generic instructions on using the command, whereas ip-link(8) and friends provide the specifics. If you have ever used Git, you understand this split. Basically, you provide ip
an object on which to operate; a command, such as add
or del
; and some options. The command ip <object> help
lists the details in each case.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.
-
Plasma Ends LTS Releases
The KDE Plasma development team is doing away with the LTS releases for a good reason.
-
Arch Linux Available for Windows Subsystem for Linux
If you've ever wanted to use a rolling release distribution with WSL, now's your chance.
-
System76 Releases COSMIC Alpha 7
With scores of bug fixes and a really cool workspaces feature, COSMIC is looking to soon migrate from alpha to beta.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.