ip

Overview

The ip command shows and manipulates routing, devices, policy routing, and tunnels. It’s a powerful tool for configuring network interfaces and routing.

Syntax

ip [options] OBJECT {COMMAND | help}

Common Objects

Object Description
link Network devices
address Protocol addresses
route Routing table entries
neigh ARP or NDISC cache
tunnel Tunnel over IP
maddr Multicast addresses
rule Routing policy
netns Network namespaces

Common Options

Option Description
-4 IPv4 only
-6 IPv6 only
-s Statistics
-d Details
-h Human readable
-br Brief output
-c Color output
-o Output format

Key Use Cases

  1. Network configuration
  2. Interface management
  3. Routing setup
  4. Address assignment
  5. Network troubleshooting

Examples with Explanations

Example 1: Show Interfaces

ip link show

Display network interfaces

Example 2: IP Addresses

ip addr show

Show IP addresses

Example 3: Routing Table

ip route show

Display routing table

Common Commands

  1. Link operations:

    ip link set dev eth0 up
ip link set dev eth0 down

  2. Address management:

    ip addr add 192.168.1.10/24 dev eth0
ip addr del 192.168.1.10/24 dev eth0

  3. Route management:

    ip route add default via 192.168.1.1
ip route del default

Performance Analysis

  • Interface statistics
  • Routing efficiency
  • Address configuration
  • Network namespace impact
  • Protocol overhead

Additional Resources

Best Practices

  1. Document changes
  2. Backup configurations
  3. Test changes
  4. Monitor impact
  5. Security awareness

Troubleshooting

  1. Interface status
  2. Address conflicts
  3. Routing issues
  4. DNS problems
  5. Network connectivity

Advanced Features

  1. Network namespaces
  2. Policy routing
  3. Tunneling
  4. VLANs
  5. Multicast