What command can you use to display network configuration in Linux?

To display network configuration in Linux, using the command ifconfig is a fundamental approach. This command provides detailed information about network interfaces, including their IP addresses, subnet masks, and the status of the interfaces (up or down). Originally part of the net-tools package, ifconfig has been widely used in various Unix-like operating systems for years.

While modern distributions are moving towards the ip command from the iproute2 package, for many users and in numerous contexts, ifconfig remains a well-recognized and straightforward tool for basic network configuration tasks.

The other commands serve different purposes: netstat provides information about network connections and statistics, ip addr shows similar configuration details and is generally the more modern approach, and ping is used to test connectivity to other network devices rather than to display the network configuration. Understanding the specific roles these commands play is essential for effective networking management and troubleshooting in Linux environments.