How to install missing ifconfig command on Debian Linux

Objective

The ifconfig command has been deprecated and thus missing by default on Debian Linux, starting from Debian stretch.

# ifconfig
-bash: ifconfig: command not found

The new and recommended alternative for examining a network configuration on Debian Linux is ip command. For example to use ip command to display a network configuration run the following:

# ip address

The above ip command can be abbreviated to:

# ip a

If you still prefer to use ifconfig as part of your daily sys admin routine, you can easily install it as part of the net-tools package.

Requirements

Privileged access to your Debian Linux system is required.

Difficulty

EASY

Conventions

• # - requires given linux commands to be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of sudo command
• $ - requires given linux commands to be executed as a regular non-privileged user

Instructions

Install ifconfig Command

Using apt-get command install net-tools package:

# apt-get install net-tools

The ifconfig command is now available.