How to Use the IP Command on Debian 10 Linux

The ip command is an incredibly useful tool for configuring network interfaces and routing on Linux systems. It replaces many of the old networking commands like ifconfig, route, arp and more with a single tool that‘s consistent across distributions.

In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the most common uses of ip on Debian 10 Buster to manage network interfaces, routing tables, and display network device information.

Getting Started with the IP Command

To get an overview of everything ip can do, run:

ip --help

This displays all the objects like link, address, neighbor, route etc. that can be configured with ip. You can also get command specific help with ip help COMMAND.

To find more detailed documentation, use:

man ip

Next, let‘s jump into some specifics on managing network interfaces and routing.

Manage Network Interfaces with ip link

The link object lets you configure network interfaces. Some common tasks include:

List Available Interfaces

To see all network interfaces recognized by your system:

ip link show

This provides the interface name, MAC address, MTU size, link state and more.

Enable/Disable Interfaces

To disable an interface like eth0:

sudo ip link set eth0 down

And to enable it again:

sudo ip link set eth0 up

View Interface Statistics

To troubleshoot connectivity issues, use -s to show detailed stats:

ip -s link show eth0

Change Interface MTU Size

Modify the maximum transmission unit size like this:

sudo ip link set eth0 mtu 1460

Manage Routing Tables with ip route

The routing table controls where packets are forwarded to.

Display Routing Table

View the current IPv4 routes with:

ip route show 

Or for IPv6:

ip -6 route show

Add Static Routes

To add a static route:

sudo ip route add 192.168.1.0/24 via 10.0.0.1 dev eth1

Delete Routes

Delete routes by changing add to del like so:

sudo ip route del 192.168.1.0/24 

Assign IP Addresses with ip addr

ip addr is used for managing IP addresses assigned to interfaces.

Display Interface Addresses

Show all interface IPs:

ip addr show

Or a specific interface:

ip addr show eth0

Assign Static IP Address

To assign a static IP address:

sudo ip addr add 192.168.1.100/24 broadcast 192.168.1.255 dev eth1

Note: This will be removed on reboot. To make permanent, edit /etc/network/interfaces.

Delete IP Addresses

Remove IPs with:

sudo ip addr del 192.168.1.100/24 dev eth1

So in summary, the ip command is very versatile for interacting with networks. It consolidates older utilities into one standardized tool while still offering advanced features for network administration.

Conclusion

In this guide, we explored some of the most essential uses of ip on Debian 10 – displaying network info, assigning IP addresses, managing routes and configuring interfaces.

With this foundation, you can administer the network layer on any Linux machine using consistent ip syntax rather than distro-specific commands.

The syntax works similarly on Debian, RedHat, Arch, and more. Refer to the initial ip --help and man ip for even more advanced capabilities.