Network Configuration Commands

What Are Networking Commands in Linux?

Networking commands in Linux allow users to manage network connections. These commands let users set up networks, fix connection issues, and view network traffic. Users can also check network status, change settings, and control network programs with these commands. The commands use basic words that are easy for beginners to understand....

Linux Networking Commands Cheat Sheet

This list of Linux networking commands will help you work with network connections. You can use these commands to set up the networks, fix connection problems, and see the information about the network. If you are an experienced network admin or just starting to learn the Linux networking commands this command list will be a useful tool for you....

Network Configuration Commands

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Network Connectivity Commands

Command Description Example arp Maps IP addresses to MAC addresses on a local network and manages the ARP cache. arp Shows the current ARP cache entries. arp -a Prints the ARP table entries. (Example covered in description) arp -a -d Removes all entries from the ARP table. arp -d 192.168.1.100 Deletes the ARP entry for IP 192.168.1.100. arp -s Adds a new entry to the ARP table. arp -s 192.168.1.10 00:11:22:33:44:55 Adds a static ARP entry for IP 192.168.1.10 and MAC 00:11:22:33:44:55. netstat Shows active network connections, routing information, and other network statistics. netstat -antp Lists all active network connections and the processes using them. netstat -r Prints the kernel’s routing table. (Example covered in description) ping Tests network connectivity between a host/client and server by sending data packets and measuring the response time. ping 8.8.8.8 Tests connectivity to the Google DNS server at 8.8.8.8. route Configures the kernel’s routing table entries. route add default gw 192.168.1.1 Sets the default gateway to 192.168.1.1. route flush Removes all routes from the routing table. (Example covered in description) traceroute Displays the path and hops that packets take to reach a remote server. traceroute www.example.com Traces the route taken to reach www.example.com. telnet Establishes the connection to the remote server or system through a TCP/IP network using the Telnet protocol. telnet 192.168.1.10 22 Connects to the SSH server on 192.168.1.10 via Telnet. w This will Shows the information about users currently logged into the system. (Example covered in description) mail Sends and receives email messages via the command line interface. mail -s "Hello" user@example.com Sends an email with subject “Hello” to user@example.com. ngrep Displays and filters network packet data based on a given regular expression pattern. ngrep -W byline "^GET" Captures and prints HTTP GET requests. iw Displays and configures wireless network interface settings. iw dev wlan0 scan Scans for available wireless networks on the wlan0 interface....

DNS and Name Resolution Commands

Command Description Example nslookup Performs DNS lookups to resolve hostnames, IP addresses, mappings, or any specific DNS record. nslookup example.com Resolves the IP address for example.com host Performs DNS lookups to resolve hostnames or IP addresses. host google.com Resolves the IP address for google.com dig Performs DNS lookups to query information about DNS name servers. dig @8.8.8.8 example.org Queries Google’s DNS server for information about example.org...

Network Information Commands

Command Description Example finger Displays user login information on a remote system. finger user@example.com Shows login information for user on example.com whois Retrieves information about domain ownership from various WHOIS servers. whois example.org Shows ownership details for example.org...

Network Testing and Monitoring Commands

Command Description Example hping Assembles and analyzes TCP/IP packets, sends packets to a remote host, and examines the responses. hping3 -S -p 80 example.com Sends SYN packets to port 80 on example.com mtr Combines functionalities of traceroute and ping commands, continuously sends packets and shows the ping time for each hop. mtr google.com Traces the route to google.com and shows ping times nc / netcat / ncat Allows reading and writing data across network connections. nc -l -p 8080 Listens on port 8080 for incoming connections smokeping Measures network latency and packet loss between two hosts, performs checks at set intervals. smokeping example.com Monitors latency and packet loss to example.com socat Facilitates data transfer between two bidirectional byte streams. socat TCP4-LISTEN:8080,fork EXEC:/bin/bash Opens a remote shell on port 8080 speedometer Displays bandwidth usage in real-time. speedometer eth0 Shows bandwidth usage on eth0 interface speedtest-cli Measures network performance by conducting a speed test. speedtest-cli Runs a speed test to measure download/upload speeds ss Shows active network connections, socket statistics, and other network-related information. ss -tulpn Lists all listening TCP/UDP sockets with process information tracepath Traces the route packets take, discovering the MTU along the path. tracepath example.net Traces the path to example.net, showing MTU...

Network Analysis and Monitoring Commands

Command Description Example tcpdump Captures and inspects network traffic in real-time for analysis. tcpdump -i eth0 port 80 Captures traffic on eth0 interface for port 80 nmap Discovers active hosts and services on a network, useful for security audits. nmap -sV example.com Scans example.com for open ports and services bmon Displays real-time bandwidth consumption for individual network interfaces. bmon Shows bandwidth usage per interface bwm-ng Monitors the current bandwidth utilization across multiple network interfaces. bwm-ng Displays bandwidth usage for all interfaces iftop Shows real-time bandwidth usage broken down by individual connections. lsof -i Lists all open network connections iperf Measures the network performance and throughput between two systems. iperf -c example.com Tests network performance to example.com iptraf-ng Monitors and displays network traffic flows in real-time. iptraf-ng Shows real-time network traffic statistics nethogs Tracks network traffic and bandwidth usage per process or application. nethogs Displays bandwidth usage per process/application vmstat Keeps historical records of network traffic statistics for selected interfaces, displaying hourly, daily, and monthly summaries. vnstat -i eth0 Shows traffic statistics for eth0 interface...

Remote Access Commands

Command Description Example ssh Establishes a secure encrypted shell session with a remote system over the SSH protocol. ssh user@example.com Opens an SSH session to example.com as user scp This will Securely copies files between the local and remote systems using the SSH protocol. scp file.txt user@example.com:/path/to/dir Copies file.txt to example.com sftp This will Securely transfers files between the hosts using the SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol). sftp user@example.com Opens an SFTP session to example.com as user...

Security Commands

Command Description Example iptables The firewall utility that manages the packet filtering and the Network Address Translation (NAT) rules. iptables -L Lists all current iptables rules snort An intrusion detection system that analyzes the network traffic for the suspicious activities. snort -dev Runs Snort in packet logging mode wireshark Captures and analyzes network traffic data in a formatted text output. wireshark Starts Wireshark for packet capturing and analysis ufw Manages the system’s firewall, allowing you to add, delete, modify, or reset packet filtering rules. ufw allow 22/tcp Allows incoming connections on port 22/TCP...

Utility Commands

Command Description Example curl Transfers data to or from a server over various protocols. curl https://example.com Fetches the website example.com aria2 Supports multiple protocols for downloading files from the internet. aria2c https://example.com/file.zip Downloads file.zip from example.com ethtool Modifies and queries settings of network interfaces, such as speed and other parameters. ethtool -s eth0 speed 1000 Sets eth0 interface speed to 1000Mbps wget A command-line utility for downloading files from the web. wget https://example.com/file.zip Downloads file.zip from example.com...

Conclusion

In summary, this shows important Linux commands for working with networks. These commands help you see and fix network problems. The commands let you check network traffic, bandwidth usage, security issues, and more. Beginners may gonna find this network commands list very helpful for learning the Linux networking basics....

Linux Network Commands Cheat Sheet – FAQs

How can I check if my internet connection is working on the Linux?...