/sbn/ifconfig or /sbin/ip

I've always used the /sbin/ifconfig command to list the configuration of my network interfaces. Recently I've upgraded a couple of RedHat 7.3 servers to SuSE 9.1 Pro. There are a couple virtual IP addresses (aliases) bound on this box and when I use the /sbin/ifconfig command it only shows eth0 and the "primary" address.

theword:~ # /sbin/ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:50:8B:C5:D2:E0
inet addr:1.1.1.1 Bcast:1.1.255.255 Mask:255.255.0.0
inet6 addr: fe80::250:8bff:fec5:d2e0/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:79100820 errors:0 dropped:4 overruns:4 frame:0
TX packets:73860649 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:3606724465 (3439.6 Mb) TX bytes:3651299255 (3482.1 Mb)

On RedHat it would show both eth0 and eth0:1 and the virtual IP bound to each. Now with the "/sbin/ip addr" command on the SuSE box I can see the virtual IPs.

theword:~ # /sbin/ip addr
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP> mtu 16436 qdisc noqueue
link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
inet 127.0.0.1/8 brd 127.255.255.255 scope host lo
inet6 ::1/128 scope host
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,PROMISC,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast qlen 1000
link/ether 00:50:8b:c5:d2:e0 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet 1.1.1.1/16 brd 1.1.255.255 scope global eth0
inet 1.1.1.2/16 brd 1.1.255.255 scope global secondary eth0
inet6 fe80::250:8bff:fec5:d2e0/64 scope link
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
3: sit0: <NOARP> mtu 1480 qdisc noqueue
link/sit 0.0.0.0 brd 0.0.0.0

So now the questions. What command does eveybody use, "ipconfig" or "ip"? Are there any other distros that exhibit this behavior?

So now the questions. What command does eveybody use, "ipconfig" or "ip"? Are there any other distros that exhibit this behavior?

On my Debian machines there is no "ip" command. /sbin/ifconfig spits out info for all of the IPs on my router's WAN interface (they're aliased in the eth0:x form like yours).

Good to know about Suse though, thanks ;-)

- Colleen

Chad,

What does ifconfig -a show?

What does ifconfig -a show?

Yea, I remeber that from the work I've done on some OpenBSD boxes. Let's see what it looks like on my SuSE box...

theword:~ # ifconfig -a
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:50:8B:C5:D2:E0
inet addr:1.1.1.1 Bcast:1.1.255.255 Mask:255.255.0.0
inet6 addr: fe80::250:8bff:fec5:d2e0/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:80811730 errors:0 dropped:4 overruns:4 frame:0
TX packets:75453546 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:3938732087 (3756.2 Mb) TX bytes:4204993913 (4010.1 Mb)

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:6700809 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:6700809 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:826189551 (787.9 Mb) TX bytes:826189551 (787.9 Mb)

sit0 Link encap:IPv6-in-IPv4
NOARP MTU:1480 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

I believe that ifconfig only will show interfaces that are configured and up. If not you have to use "-a" to see all interfaces. There might have been an alias set on ifconfig so that it always had the -a but I am not sure. :)

I believe that ifconfig only will show interfaces that are configured and up. If not you have to use "-a" to see all interfaces. There might have been an alias set on ifconfig so that it always had the -a but I am not sure. :)

The thing that strikes me as odd about what Chad's seeing is that he's not seeing the loopback interface with just "ifconfig" - it appears to be configured and up, right?

About the loopback interface. It seems that I didn't quite get that pasted into my "code" example.

Using "ifconfig -a" does show the loopback interface. However, it does NOT show the aliased or virtual IP. Oh well, guess this is one of those "SuSEisms" I've heard about. :?

maybe you'll get lucky and have multiple SuSEisms.

About the loopback interface. It seems that I didn't quite get that pasted into my "code" example.

Using "ifconfig -a" does show the loopback interface. However, it does NOT show the aliased or virtual IP. Oh well, guess this is one of those "SuSEisms" I've heard about. :?

you could always switch to Debian.... :idea:

you could always switch to Debian.... :idea:

Excellent idea! :D

I was waiting for a remark such as that. Actually, I figured it would come from wolfie first, with Gentoo. :)

Woo Hoo!! I win!

I'll help you with the switch! :lol:

you could always switch to Debian.... :idea:

I've got two words for you: 2.2 kernel

;)

And so let the games begin!

you could always switch to Debian.... :idea:

I've got two words for you: 2.2 kernel

;)

You've been able to install Debian with a 2.4 kernel since Woody was released - just give "bf24" as a parameter at the installer boot prompt. The Sarge installers (currently at pre-rc2) default to 2.4.27, but you can give "linux26" at the installer boot prompt to install 2.6.8. :P

heh heh, just trying to stir something up. this can't be a "real" linux users forum until it's got at least one distro war under its belt! but no need to jack this thread, I guess...