The Unix command ifconfig is a tool used to configure a network interface for TCP/IP. It was originally released as part of the BSD TCP/IP suite - so in effect, it s part of the original internet toolkit. The ifconfig command first appeared in 4.2BSD.

Common uses for ifconfig are to set an interface s IP address and netmask, and to bring an interface up or down. Ifconfig can also be used to tweak several other settings on the interface.

The ifconfig command is thus used in conjunction with other tools to set up and control all kinds of networks, including local area network, WAN, and Internet in general.

The route command is used on Unix-like systems to set up network routes.

Firewall (networking) are not set up with ifconfig; rather, they are implemented separately. On Linux, the tools used are ipchains and Netfilter.

The ifconfig has been largely superseded on newer Linux systems by the iproute package that includes support for all that ifconfig(8) and route(8) do as well as traffic control (such as bandwidth shaping).

Ifconfig can be used to virtually a machine, that is, disconnect it from a network.

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