Linux: Show / Display Available Network Interfaces

How do I display all available network interfaces names under Linux operating systems using bash shell prompt?

You can use the following commands to see all network interfaces under Linux operating systems:

• ip command - It is used to show or manipulate routing, devices, policy routing and tunnels.
• netstat command - It is used to display network connections, routing tables, interface statistics, masquerade connections, and multicast memberships.
• ifconfig command - It is used to display or configure a network interface.

List Network Interfaces Using ip Command

Type the following command, enter:
$ ip link show
Sample outputs:

$ 1: lo:  mtu 16436 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
2: eth0:  mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP qlen 1000
    link/ether b8:ac:6f:65:31:e5 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
3: wlan0:  mtu 1500 qdisc mq state DOWN qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:21:6a:ca:9b:10 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
4: vboxnet0:  mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN qlen 1000
    link/ether 0a:00:27:00:00:00 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
5: pan0:  mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN
    link/ether c2:10:fa:55:8e:32 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
6: vmnet1:  mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UNKNOWN qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:50:56:c0:00:01 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
7: vmnet8:  mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UNKNOWN qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:50:56:c0:00:08 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
11: ppp0:  mtu 1496 qdisc pfifo_fast state UNKNOWN qlen 3
    link/ppp

Where,

1. lo - Loopback interface.
2. eth0 - First Ethernet network interface.
3. wlan0 - First Wireless network interface.
4. ppp0 - First Point to Point Protocol network interface which can be used by dial up modem, PPTP vpn connection, or 3G wireless USB modem./li>
5. vboxnet0, vmnet1, vmnet8 - Virtual machine interface working in bridge mode or NAT mode.

Show a Table Of All Network Interfaces Using netstat Command

Type the following command:
$ netstat -i
Sample outputs:

Kernel Interface table
Iface   MTU Met   RX-OK RX-ERR RX-DRP RX-OVR    TX-OK TX-ERR TX-DRP TX-OVR Flg
eth0       1500 0   2697347      0      0 0       2630262      0      0      0 BMRU
lo        16436 0      2840      0      0 0          2840      0      0      0 LRU
ppp0       1496 0    102800      0      0 0         63437      0      0      0 MOPRU
vmnet1     1500 0         0      0      0 0            49      0      0      0 BMRU
vmnet8     1500 0         0      0      0 0            49      0      0      0 BMRU

ifconfig Command Example

Type the following command:
$ /sbin/ifconfig -a
Sample outputs:

eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr b8:ac:6f:65:31:e5
          inet addr:192.168.2.100  Bcast:192.168.2.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::baac:6fff:fe65:31e5/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:2697529 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:2630541 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:2159382827 (2.0 GiB)  TX bytes:1389552776 (1.2 GiB)
          Interrupt:17
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:2849 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:2849 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:2778290 (2.6 MiB)  TX bytes:2778290 (2.6 MiB)
ppp0      Link encap:Point-to-Point Protocol
          inet addr:10.1.3.105  P-t-P:10.0.31.18  Mask:255.255.255.255
          UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST  MTU:1496  Metric:1
          RX packets:102800 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:63437 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:3
          RX bytes:148532544 (141.6 MiB)  TX bytes:4425518 (4.2 MiB)
vmnet1    Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:50:56:c0:00:01
          inet addr:192.168.47.1  Bcast:192.168.47.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::250:56ff:fec0:1/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:49 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
vmnet8    Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:50:56:c0:00:08
          inet addr:172.16.232.1  Bcast:172.16.232.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::250:56ff:fec0:8/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:49 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)