What are the interface prefix meanings in ifconfig?
Solution 1
From the ASUS RT-N56U
wiki page:
What are the existing network interfaces (transcript naming interfaces)?
br0 = LAN + WLAN + AP-Client + WDS
eth2 = Ethernet interface GMAC1, that connected to the switch (trunk port).
eth2.1 = LAN (VLAN VID1)
eth2.2 = WAN (VLAN VID2)
ra0 = WLAN 5GHz
ra1 = WLAN 5GHz Guest
rai0 = WLAN 2.4GHz
rai1 = WLAN 2.4GHz Guest
apcli0 = AP-Client 5GHz
apclii0 = AP-Client 2.4GHz
wds0-wds3 = WDS 5GHz
wdsi0-wdsi3 = WDS 2.4GHz
In the no-VLAN firmware
eth2 = LAN
eth3 = WAN
Solution 2
They mean whatever the driver designer wanted them to mean. There are many many others too, like ib0 for Infiband devices. But I am not aware of anywhere that has a complete list as again it depends on who develops the driver as to what the name of the device is. Usually it gives some clue as to the type of board but that is about it. The number after the device designation is generally used to indicate which of several ports/devices the device is.
Solution 3
You can see all interfaces using ifconfig -a
or ip address show
; It will show them even they are down.
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Updated on September 18, 2022Comments
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Ehryk about 1 year
I'm not sure if these have a name, but on most computers I use the interface prefixes are usually:
- eth- : Ethernet/Wired
- wlan- : Wireless/WiFi
However, on my ASUS RT-N56U, I have the following:
- br0 : 'Ethernet' - Bridge?
- eth2 : 'Ethernet', IPv6 (where are 0 and 1?)
- eth3 : 'Ethernet', IPv4 (the one with my WAN IP)
- lo : 'Local Loopback' - What's this for?
- ra0 : 'Ethernet' - ?
- rai0 : 'Ethernet' - ?
Are there others? What do they mean?
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Ehryk over 10 yearsAny insight into br, lo, ra and rai?
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text over 10 yearshave you googled around? You might find the answer. lo is the loopback driver (handler for 127.0.0.1 ethernet address).
-
tripleee over 10 yearsConfirm that
lo
is loopback (connecting to your own computer doesn't require a real Ethernet interface, so the kernel has a special fake interface for this) andbr
is bridge (you create one withbrctl
). -
tripleee over 10 yearsI've seen both
wlan
andwifi
for wireless. On Ubuntu the bare interface comes up aswlan0
but MDNS and what not creates some wrappers and you see the virtual interfacewifi0
instead. -
tripleee over 10 yearsSome hardware gets a specific
ethX
number byudev
rules. You might have rules in place which assign youreth3
andeth4
cards so that you know which is which (different speed, different hardware, different drivers, whatever). -
Ehryk over 10 yearsOn my particular machine, yes. That's not what I'm interested in - I'm asking what the prefixes mean across all machines, I.E. eth- usually means ethernet, wlan- or wifi- usually mean wireless, and I'm asking what the rest are.
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Ehryk over 10 yearsThanks for the list, I was really hoping there was some 'standard', but in lieu of one, this explains my particular case.