Master Linux ‘ip’ Command: Essential Network Management Operations

Overview

The ip utility, part of the iproute2 suite, replaces the older ifconfig tool and offers fine‑grained control over network interfaces, addresses, routes, ARP tables, and VLANs in Linux.

Basic Syntax

The general form is:

ip [OPTIONS] OBJECT COMMAND

OBJECT

can be link, addr, route, etc., and COMMAND specifies the action such as add, del, show, or set.

Viewing Interface Information

Show all interfaces: ip link show Show a specific interface (e.g., eth0):

ip link show dev eth0

Enabling and Disabling Interfaces

ip link set dev eth0 up

ip link set dev eth0 down

Configuring IP Addresses

ip addr add 192.168.1.10/24 dev eth0

ip addr del 192.168.1.10/24 dev eth0

Display all addresses: ip addr show Display addresses for a specific device:

ip addr show dev eth0

Managing Routes

ip route show

ip route add 192.168.1.0/24 via 192.168.1.1

ip route del 192.168.1.0/24

ip route add default via 192.168.1.1

Network Interface Aliases

ip addr add 192.168.1.20/24 dev eth0 label eth0:1

ip addr show dev eth0

ARP Cache Management

ip neigh show

ip neigh add 192.168.1.10 lladdr 00:11:22:33:44:55 dev eth0

ip neigh del 192.168.1.10 dev eth0

VLAN Configuration

ip link add link eth0 name eth0.100 type vlan id 100

ip link delete eth0.100

Conclusion

The ip command is a powerful, flexible tool for Linux network management, covering everything from basic interface queries to advanced routing and VLAN handling; mastering these operations greatly simplifies daily administration and troubleshooting tasks.