One ip tool to rule them all
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.
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