Setting up the network

Before digging through recipes based on networking, it is essential to have a basic understanding of setting up a network, terminologies, and commands for assigning IP address, adding routes, and so on. This recipe provides an overview of commands used in GNU/Linux networks.

Getting ready

A network interface physically connects a machine to a network, either with a wire or a Wi-Fi link. Linux denotes network interfaces using names such as eth0, eth1, or enp0s25 (referring to Ethernet interfaces). Other interfaces, namely usb0, wlan0, and tun0, are available for USB network interfaces, wireless LAN, and tunnels, respectively.

In this recipe, we will use these commands: ifconfig, route, nslookup, and host.

The ifconfig command is used to configure and display details about network interfaces, subnet mask, and so on. It should be available at /sbin/ifconfig.

How to do it...

1. List the current network interface configuration:

        $ ifconfig
        lo        Link encap:Local...