Restarting the network interface using command lines in Linux is a straight-forward procedure. While the GUI for Linux network configuration is more graphical and visually appeasing, it may take longer to restart the network interface by using it. In operating systems such as Linux, generally, the command line operations accomplish the task faster than the GUI interface. Restarting the network interface by using command lines will require the user to have certain privileges and get logged in as the root user, or via the Sudo. There are separate commands to restart the network services and to restart a particular network interface.

[Linux]Restarting the network interface using command lines

Issue

When setting up a network, especially if you need to verify that a DHCP server assigns IP addresses correctly, the process can be quite lengthy.

Solution

Restarting the network interface using command lines rather than the GUI may be quicker.

These commands should be executed as root or via sudo. The following commands are specific to debian (Ubuntu or Xandros)

• Stop the network interface eth0:

  • ifdown eth0 

• Start the network interface eth0:

  • ifup eth0 

• Don't confuse with the following command, which restarts all the networks services :

  • /etc/init.d/networking restart

• To see your various network interfaces, use the command:

  • /sbin/ifconfig -a

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