IFTAB

Section: Linux Programmer's Manual (5)
Updated: 01 March 2004
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NAME

iftab - static information about the network interfaces

DESCRIPTION

The file /etc/iftab contains descriptive information about the various network interfaces. iftab is only used by the program ifrename(8) to assign a consistent network interface name to each network interface.

/etc/iftab defines a set of mappings. Each mapping contains an interface name and a set of selectors. The selectors allow ifrename to identify each network interface on the system. If a network interface matches all descriptors of a mapping, ifrename attempt to change the name of the interface to the interface name given by the mapping.

MAPPINGS

Each mapping is described on a separate line, it starts with an interface name, and contains a set of descriptors, separated by space or tabs.

The relationship between descriptors of a mapping is a logical and. A mapping matches a network interface only is all the descriptors match. If a network interface doesn't support a specific descriptor, it won't match any mappings using this descriptor.

If you want to use alternate descriptors for an interface name (logical or), specify two different mappings with the same interface name (one on each line). Ifrename always use the first matching mapping starting from the end of iftab, therefore more restrictive mapping should be specified last.

INTERFACE NAME

The first part of each mapping is an interface name. If a network interface matches all descriptors of a mapping, ifrename attempt to change the name of the interface to the interface name given by the mapping.

The interface name of a mapping is either a plain interface name (such as eth2 or wlan0) or a interface name pattern containing a single wildcard (such as eth* or wlan*). In case of wildcard, the kernel replace the '*' with the lowest available integer making this interface name unique.

DESCRIPTORS

Each descriptor is composed of a descriptor name and descriptor value. Descriptors specify a static attribute of a network interface, the goal is to uniquely identify each piece of hardware.

Most users will only use the mac selector, other selectors are for more specialised setup.

mac mac address: Matches the MAC Address of the interface with the specified MAC address. The MAC address of the interface can be shown using ifconfig(8) or ip(8). The specified MAC address may contain a '*' for wilcard matching.
This is the most common selector, as most interfaces have a unique MAC address allowing to identify network interfaces without ambiguity. However, some interfaces don't have a valid MAC address until they are brought up, in such case using this selector is tricky.
arp arp type: Matches the ARP Type (also called Link Type) of the interface with the specified ARP type. The ARP Type of the interface can be shown using ifconfig(8) or ip(8).
This selector is useful when a driver create multiple network interfaces for a single network card.
driver driver name: Matches the Driver Name of the interface with the specified driver name. The Driver Name of the interface can be shown using ethtool -i(8).
businfo bus information: Matches the Bus Information of the interface with the specified bus information. The Bus Information of the interface can be shown using ethtool -i(8).
firmware firmware revision: Matches the Firmware Revision of the interface with the firmware revision information. The Firmware Revision of the interface can be shown using ethtool -i(8).
baseaddress base address: Matches the Base Address of the interface with the specified base address. The Base Address of the interface can be shown using ifconfig(8).
Because most cards use dynamic allocation of the Base Address, this selector is only useful for ISA and EISA cards.
irq irq line: Matches the IRQ Line (interrupt) of the interface with the specified IRQ line. The IRQ Line of the interface can be shown using ifconfig(8).
Because there are IRQ Lines may be shared, this selector is usually not sufficient to uniquely identify an interface.
iwproto wireless protocol: Matches the Wireless Protocol of the interface with the specified wireless protocol. The Wireless Protocol of the interface can be shown using iwconfig(8).
This selector is only supported on wireless interfaces and is not sufficient to uniquely identify an interface.
pcmciaslot pcmcia slot: Matches the Pcmcia Socket number of the interface with the specified slot number. Pcmcia Socket number of the interface can be shown using cardctl ident(8).
This selector is usually only supported on 16 bits cards, for 32 bits cards it is advised to use the selector businfo.

EXAMPLE

# This is a comment
eth2           mac 08:00:09:DE:82:0E

eth3           driver wavelan interrupt 15 baseaddress 0x390

eth4           driver pcnet32 businfo 0000:02:05.0

air*           mac 00:07:0E:* arp 1

AUTHOR

Jean Tourrilhes - jt@hpl.hp.com

FILES

/etc/iftab

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