The
utility is used to assign an address
to a network interface and/or configure
network interface parameters.
The
utility must be used at boot time to define the network address
of each interface present on a machine; it may also be used at
a later time to redefine an interface's address
or other operating parameters.
The following options are available:
address
For the
DARPA -Internet
family,
the address is either a host name present in the host name data
base,
hosts(5),
or a
DARPA
Internet address expressed in the Internet standard
``dot notation''
It is also possible to use the CIDR notation (also known as the
slash notation) to include the netmask.
That is, one can specify an address like
192.168.0.1/16
For
``inet6''
family, it is also possible to specify the prefix length using the slash
notation, like
::1/128
See the
prefixlen
parameter below for more information.
The link-level
(``link''
)
address
is specified as a series of colon-separated hex digits.
This can be used to
e.g. set a new MAC address on an ethernet interface, though the
mechanism used is not ethernet-specific.
If the interface is already
up when this option is used, it will be briefly brought down and
then brought back up again in order to ensure that the receive
filter in the underlying ethernet hardware is properly reprogrammed.
address_family
Specify the
address family
which affects interpretation of the remaining parameters.
Since an interface can receive transmissions in differing protocols
with different naming schemes, specifying the address family is recommended.
The address or protocol families currently
supported are
``inet''
``inet6''
``atalk''
``ipx''
and
``link''
The default is
``inet''
``ether''
and
``lladdr''
are synonyms for
``link''
dest_address
Specify the address of the correspondent on the other end
of a point to point link.
interface
This
parameter is a string of the form
``name unit''
for example,
``ed0
''
groupname
List the interfaces in the given group.
The following parameters may be set with
:
add
Another name for the
alias
parameter.
Introduced for compatibility
with
Bs x .
alias
Establish an additional network address for this interface.
This is sometimes useful when changing network numbers, and
one wishes to accept packets addressed to the old interface.
If the address is on the same subnet as the first network address
for this interface, a non-conflicting netmask must be given.
Usually
0xffffffff
is most appropriate.
-alias
Remove the network address specified.
This would be used if you incorrectly specified an alias, or it
was no longer needed.
If you have incorrectly set an NS address having the side effect
of specifying the host portion, removing all NS addresses will
allow you to respecify the host portion.
anycast
(Inet6 only.)
Specify that the address configured is an anycast address.
Based on the current specification,
only routers may configure anycast addresses.
Anycast address will not be used as source address of any of outgoing
IPv6 packets.
arp
Enable the use of the Address Resolution Protocol
(arp(4)
)
in mapping
between network level addresses and link level addresses (default).
This is currently implemented for mapping between
DARPA
Internet
addresses and
IEEE
802 48-bit MAC addresses (Ethernet, FDDI, and Token Ring addresses).
-arp
Disable the use of the Address Resolution Protocol
(arp(4)
)
staticarp
If the Address Resolution Protocol is enabled,
the host will only reply to requests for its addresses,
and will never send any requests.
-staticarp
If the Address Resolution Protocol is enabled,
the host will perform normally,
sending out requests and listening for replies.
broadcast
(Inet only.)
Specify the address to use to represent broadcasts to the
network.
The default broadcast address is the address with a host part of all 1's.
debug
Enable driver dependent debugging code; usually, this turns on
extra console error logging.
-debug
Disable driver dependent debugging code.
promisc
Put interface into permanently promiscuous mode.
-promisc
Disable permanently promiscuous mode.
delete
Another name for the
-alias
parameter.
down
Mark an interface
``down''
When an interface is marked
``down''
the system will not attempt to
transmit messages through that interface.
If possible, the interface will be reset to disable reception as well.
This action does not automatically disable routes using the interface.
group group-name
Assign the interface to a
``group''
Any interface can be in multiple groups.
Cloned interfaces are members of their interface family group by default.
For example, a PPP interface such as
ppp0
is a member of the PPP interface family group,
ppp
-group group-name
Remove the interface from the given
``group''
eui64
(Inet6 only.)
Fill interface index
(lowermost 64bit of an IPv6 address)
automatically.
ipdst
This is used to specify an Internet host who is willing to receive
IP packets encapsulating IPX packets bound for a remote network.
An apparent point to point link is constructed, and
the address specified will be taken as the IPX address and network
of the destination.
maclabel label
If Mandatory Access Control support is enabled in the kernel,
set the MAC label to
label
media type
If the driver supports the media selection system, set the media type
of the interface to
type
Some interfaces support the mutually exclusive use of one of several
different physical media connectors.
For example, a 10Mbit/s Ethernet
interface might support the use of either
AUI
or twisted pair connectors.
Setting the media type to
10base5/AUI
would change the currently active connector to the AUI port.
Setting it to
10baseT/UTP
would activate twisted pair.
Refer to the interfaces' driver
specific documentation or man page for a complete list of the
available types.
mediaopt opts
If the driver supports the media selection system, set the specified
media options on the interface.
The
opts
argument
is a comma delimited list of options to apply to the interface.
Refer to the interfaces' driver specific man page for a complete
list of available options.
-mediaopt opts
If the driver supports the media selection system, disable the
specified media options on the interface.
mode mode
If the driver supports the media selection system, set the specified
operating mode on the interface to
mode
For IEEE 802.11 wireless interfaces that support multiple operating modes
this directive is used to select between 802.11a
(11a
)
802.11b
(11b
)
and 802.11g
(11g
)
operating modes.
inst minst , instance minst
Set the media instance to
minst
This is useful for devices which have multiple physical layer interfaces
(PHYs
)
name name
Set the interface name to
name
rxcsum , txcsum
If the driver supports user-configurable checksum offloading,
enable receive (or transmit) checksum offloading on the interface.
Some drivers may not be able to enable these flags independently
of each other, so setting one may also set the other.
The driver will offload as much checksum work as it can reliably
support, the exact level of offloading varies between drivers.
-rxcsum , txcsum
If the driver supports user-configurable checksum offloading,
disable receive (or transmit) checksum offloading on the interface.
These settings may not always be independent of each other.
tso
If the driver supports
tcp(4)
segmentation offloading, enable TSO on the interface.
Some drivers may not be able to support TSO for
ip(4)
and
ip6(4)
packets, so they may enable only one of them.
-tso
If the driver supports
tcp(4)
segmentation offloading, disable TSO on the interface.
It will always disable TSO for
ip(4)
and
ip6(4).
lro
If the driver supports
tcp(4)
large receive offloading, enable LRO on the interface.
-lro
If the driver supports
tcp(4)
large receive offloading, disable LRO on the interface.
wol , wol_ucast , wol_mcast , wol_magic
Enable Wake On Lan (WOL) support, if available.
WOL is a facility whereby a machine in a low power state may be woken
in response to a received packet.
There are three types of packets that may wake a system:
ucast (directed solely to the machine's mac address),
mcast (directed to a broadcast or multicast address),
or
magic (unicast or multicast frames with a ``magic contents'').
Not all devices support WOL, those that do indicate the mechanisms
they support in their capabilities.
wol
is a synonym for enabling all available WOL mechanisms.
To disable WOL use
-wol
vlanmtu , vlanhwtag
If the driver offers user-configurable VLAN support, enable
reception of extended frames or tag processing in hardware,
respectively.
Note that this must be issued on a physical interface associated with
vlan(4),
not on a
vlan(4)
interface itself.
-vlanmtu , vlanhwtag
If the driver offers user-configurable VLAN support, disable
reception of extended frames or tag processing in hardware,
respectively.
polling
Turn on
polling(4)
feature and disable interrupts on the interface, if driver supports
this mode.
-polling
Turn off
polling(4)
feature and enable interrupt mode on the interface.
create
Create the specified network pseudo-device.
If the interface is given without a unit number, try to create a new
device with an arbitrary unit number.
If creation of an arbitrary device is successful, the new device name is
printed to standard output unless the interface is renamed or destroyed
in the same
invocation.
destroy
Destroy the specified network pseudo-device.
plumb
Another name for the
create
parameter.
Included for
Solaris
compatibility.
unplumb
Another name for the
destroy
parameter.
Included for
Solaris
compatibility.
metric n
Set the routing metric of the interface to
n
default 0.
The routing metric is used by the routing protocol
(routed(8)
)
Higher metrics have the effect of making a route
less favorable; metrics are counted as additional hops
to the destination network or host.
mtu n
Set the maximum transmission unit of the interface to
n
default is interface specific.
The MTU is used to limit the size of packets that are transmitted on an
interface.
Not all interfaces support setting the MTU, and some interfaces have
range restrictions.
netmask mask
(Inet only.)
Specify how much of the address to reserve for subdividing
networks into sub-networks.
The mask includes the network part of the local address
and the subnet part, which is taken from the host field of the address.
The mask can be specified as a single hexadecimal number
with a leading
`0x'
,
with a dot-notation Internet address,
or with a pseudo-network name listed in the network table
networks(5).
The mask contains 1's for the bit positions in the 32-bit address
which are to be used for the network and subnet parts,
and 0's for the host part.
The mask should contain at least the standard network portion,
and the subnet field should be contiguous with the network
portion.
The netmask can also be specified in CIDR notation after the address.
See the
address
option above for more information.
prefixlen len
(Inet6 only.)
Specify that
len
bits are reserved for subdividing networks into sub-networks.
The
len
must be integer, and for syntactical reason it must be between 0 to 128.
It is almost always 64 under the current IPv6 assignment rule.
If the parameter is omitted, 64 is used.
The prefix can also be specified using the slash notation after the address.
See the
address
option above for more information.
range netrange
Under appletalk, set the interface to respond to a
netrange
of the form
startnet - endnet
Appletalk uses this scheme instead of
netmasks though
Fx implements it internally as a set of netmasks.
remove
Another name for the
-alias
parameter.
Introduced for compatibility
with
Bs x .
phase
The argument following this specifies the version (phase) of the
Appletalk network attached to the interface.
Values of 1 or 2 are permitted.
link [0 - 2
]
Enable special processing of the link level of the interface.
These three options are interface specific in actual effect, however,
they are in general used to select special modes of operation.
An example
of this is to enable SLIP compression, or to select the connector type
for some Ethernet cards.
Refer to the man page for the specific driver
for more information.
-link [0 - 2
]
Disable special processing at the link level with the specified interface.
monitor
Put the interface in monitor mode.
No packets are transmitted, and received packets are discarded after
bpf(4)
processing.
-monitor
Take the interface out of monitor mode.
up
Mark an interface
``up''
This may be used to enable an interface after an
``down
''
It happens automatically when setting the first address on an interface.
If the interface was reset when previously marked down,
the hardware will be re-initialized.
The following parameters are specific to IEEE 802.11 wireless interfaces:
apbridge
When operating as an access point, pass packets between
wireless clients directly (default).
To instead let them pass up through the
system and be forwarded using some other mechanism, use
-apbridge
Disabling the internal bridging
is useful when traffic is to be processed with
packet filtering.
authmode mode
Set the desired authentication mode in infrastructure mode.
Not all adaptors support all modes.
The set of
valid modes is
none , open , shared
(shared key),
8021x
(IEEE 802.1x),
and
wpa
(IEEE WPA/WPA2/802.11i).
The
8021x
and
wpa
modes are only useful when using an authentication service
(a supplicant for client operation or an authenticator when
operating as an access point).
Modes are case insensitive.
bgscan
Enable background scanning when operating as a station.
Background scanning is a technique whereby a station associated to
an access point will temporarily leave the channel to scan for
neighboring stations.
This allows a station to maintain a cache of nearby access points
so that roaming between access points can be done without
a lengthy scan operation.
Background scanning is done only when a station is not busy and
any outbound traffic will cancel a scan operation.
Background scanning should never cause packets to be lost though
there may be some small latency if outbound traffic interrupts a
scan operation.
By default background scanning is enabled if the device is capable.
To disable background scanning, use
-bgscan
Background scanning is controlled by the
bgscanidle
and
bgscanintvl
parameters.
Background scanning must be enabled for roaming; this is an artifact
of the current implementation and may not be required in the future.
bgscanidle idletime
Set the minimum time a station must be idle (not transmitting or
receiving frames) before a background scan is initiated.
The
idletime
parameter is specified in milliseconds.
By default a station must be idle at least 250 milliseconds before
a background scan is initiated.
The idle time may not be set to less than 100 milliseconds.
bgscanintvl interval
Set the interval at which background scanning is attempted.
The
interval
parameter is specified in seconds.
By default a background scan is considered every 300 seconds (5 minutes).
The
interval
may not be set to less than 15 seconds.
bintval interval
Set the interval at which beacon frames are sent when operating in
ad-hoc or ap mode.
The
interval
parameter is specified in TU's (1024 usecs).
By default beacon frames are transmitted every 100 TU's.
bmissthreshold count
Set the number of consecutive missed beacons at which the station
will attempt to roam (i.e., search for a new access point).
The
count
parameter must be in the range 1 to 255; though the
upper bound may be reduced according to device capabilities.
The default threshold is 7 consecutive missed beacons; but
this may be overridden by the device driver.
Another name for the
bmissthreshold
parameter is
bmiss
bssid address
Specify the MAC address of the access point to use when operating
as a station in a BSS network.
This overrides any automatic selection done by the system.
To disable a previously selected access point, supply
any , none
or
-
for the address.
This option is useful when more than one access point uses the same SSID.
Another name for the
bssid
parameter is
ap
burst
Enable packet bursting.
Packet bursting is a transmission technique whereby the wireless
medium is acquired once to send multiple frames and the interframe
spacing is reduced.
This technique can significantly increase throughput by reducing
transmission overhead.
Packet bursting is supported by the 802.11e QoS specification
and some devices that do not support QoS may still be capable.
By default packet bursting is enabled if a device is capable
of doing it.
To disable packet bursting, use
-burst
chanlist channels
Set the desired channels to use when scanning for access
points, neighbors in an IBSS network, or looking for unoccupied
channels when operating as an access point.
The set of channels is specified as a comma-separated list with
each element in the list representing either a single channel number or a range
of the form
``a-b
''
Channel numbers must be in the range 1 to 255 and be permissible
according to the operating characteristics of the device.
channel number
Set a single desired channel.
Channels range from 1 to 255, but the exact selection available
depends on the region your adaptor was manufactured for.
Setting
the channel to
0any
or
-
will give you the default for your adaptor.
Some
adaptors ignore this setting unless you are in ad-hoc mode.
Alternatively the frequency, in megahertz, may be specified
instead of the channel number.
When there are several ways to use a channel the channel
number/frequency may be appended with attributes to clarify.
For example, if a device is capable of operating on channel 6
with 802.11n and 802.11g then one can specify that g-only use
should be used by specifying ``6:g''.
Similarly the channel width can be specified by appending it
with ``/''; e.g. ``6/40'' specifies a 40MHz wide channel,
These attributes can be combined as in: ``6:ht/40''.
The full set of flags specified following a `:'' are:
a
(802.11a),
b
(802.11b),
d
(Atheros Dynamic Turbo mode),
g
(802.11g),
h
or
n
(802.11n aka HT),
s
(Atheros Static Turbo mode),
and
t
(Atheros Dynamic Turbo mode, or appended to ``st'' and ``dt'').
The full set of channel widths following a '/' are:
5
(5MHz aka quarter-rate channel),
10
(10MHz aka half-rate channel),
20
(20MHz mostly for use in specifying ht20),
and
40
(40MHz mostly for use in specifying ht40),
In addition,
a 40MHz HT channel specification may include the location
of the extension channel by appending ``+'' or ``-'' for above and below,
respectively; e.g. ``2437:ht/40+'' specifies 40MHz wide HT operation
with the center channel at frequency 2437 and the extension channel above.
doth
Enable inclusion of an 802.11h country information element in beacon
frames transmitted when operating as an access point.
By default 802.11h is enabled if the device is capable.
To disable 802.11h use
-doth
deftxkey index
Set the default key to use for transmission.
Typically this is only set when using WEP encryption.
Note that you must set a default transmit key
for the system to know which key to use in encrypting outbound traffic.
The
weptxkey
is an alias for this request; it is provided for backwards compatibility.
dtimperiod period
Set the
DTIM
period for transmitting buffered multicast data frames when
operating in ap mode.
The
period
specifies the number of beacon intervals between DTIM
and must be in the range 1 to 15.
By default DTIM is 1 (i.e., DTIM occurs at each beacon).
dturbo
Enable the use of Atheros Dynamic Turbo mode when communicating with
another Dynamic Turbo-capable station.
Dynamic Turbo mode is an Atheros-specific mechanism by which
stations switch between normal 802.11 operation and a ``boosted''
mode in which a 40MHz wide channel is used for communication.
Stations using Dynamic Turbo mode operate boosted only when the
channel is free of non-dturbo stations; when a non-dturbo station
is identified on the channel all stations will automatically drop
back to normal operation.
By default, Dynamic Turbo mode is not enabled, even if the device is capable.
Note that turbo mode (dynamic or static) is only allowed on some
channels depending on the regulatory constraints; use the
list chan
command to identify the channels where turbo mode may be used.
To disable Dynamic Turbo mode use
-dturbo
fragthreshold length
Set the threshold for which transmitted frames are broken into fragments.
The
length
argument is the frame size in bytes and must be in the range 256 to 2346.
Setting
length
to
2346any
or
-
disables transmit fragmentation.
Not all adaptors honor the fragmentation threshold.
hidessid
When operating as an access point, do not broadcast the SSID
in beacon frames or respond to probe request frames unless
they are directed to the ap (i.e., they include the ap's SSID).
By default, the SSID is included in beacon frames and
undirected probe request frames are answered.
To re-enable the broadcast of the SSID etc., use
-hidessid
ff
Enable the use of Atheros Fast Frames when communicating with
another Fast Frames-capable station.
Fast Frames are an encapsulation technique by which two 802.3
frames are transmitted in a single 802.11 frame.
This can noticeably improve throughput but requires that the
receiving station understand how to decapsulate the frame.
Fast frame use is negotiated using the Atheros 802.11 vendor-specific
protocol extension so enabling use is safe when communicating with
non-Atheros devices.
By default, use of fast frames is enabled if the device is capable.
To explicitly disable fast frames, use
-ff
list active
Display the list of channels available for use taking into account
any restrictions set with the
chanlist
directive.
See the description of
list chan
for more information.
list caps
Display the adaptor's capabilities, including the operating
modes supported.
list chan
Display the list of channels available for use.
Channels are shown with their IEEE channel number, equivalent
frequency, and usage modes.
Channels identified as
`11g'
are also usable in
`11b'
mode.
Channels identified as
`11a'
Turbo
may be used only for Atheros' Static Turbo mode
(specified with
mediaopt turbo )
Channels marked with a
`*'
have a regulatory constraint that they be passively scanned.
This means a station is not permitted to transmit on the channel until
it identifies the channel is being used for 802.11 communication;
typically by hearing a beacon frame from an access point operating
on the channel.
list freq
is another way of requesting this information.
By default a compacted list of channels is displayed; if the
-v
option is specified then all channels are shown.
list mac
Display the current MAC Access Control List state.
Each address is prefixed with a character that indicates the
current policy applied to it:
`+'
indicates the address is allowed access,
`-'
indicates the address is denied access,
`*'
indicates the address is present but the current policy open
(so the ACL is not consulted).
list scan
Display the access points and/or ad-hoc neighbors
located in the vicinity.
The
-v
flag may be used to display long SSIDs.
-v
also causes received information elements to be displayed symbolicaly.
This information may be updated automatically by the adaptor
and/or with a
scan
request or through background scanning.
list ap
is another way of requesting this information.
list sta
When operating as an access point display the stations that are
currently associated.
When operating in ad-hoc mode display stations identified as
neighbors in the IBSS.
When operating in station mode display the access point.
Capabilities advertised by the stations are described under
the
scan
request.
Depending on the capabilities of the stations the following
flags can be included in the output:
A
Authorized.
Indicates that the station is permitted to send/receive data frames.
E
Extended Rate Phy (ERP).
Indicates that the station is operating in an 802.11g network
using extended transmit rates.
H
High Throughput (HT).
Indicates that the station is using MCS to send/receive frames.
P
Power Save.
Indicates that the station is operating in power save mode.
Q
Quality of Service (QoS).
Indicates that the station is using QoS encapsulation for
data frame.
QoS encapsulation is enabled only when WME mode is enabled.
By default information elements received from associated stations
are displayed in a short form; the
-v
flag causes this information to be displayed symbolicaly.
list wme
Display the current parameters to use when operating in WME mode.
When WME mode is enabled for an adaptor this information will be
displayed with the regular status; this command is mostly useful
for examining parameters when WME mode is disabled.
See the description of the
wme
directive for information on the various parameters.
mcastrate rate
Set the rate for transmitting multicast/broadcast frames.
Rates are specified as megabits/second in decimal; e.g. 5.5 for 5.5 Mb/s.
This rate should be valid for the current operating conditions;
if an invalid rate is specified drivers are free to chose an
appropriate rate.
powersave
Enable powersave operation.
When operating as a client, the station will conserve power by
periodically turning off the radio and listening for
messages from the access point telling it there are packets waiting.
The station must then retrieve the packets.
Not all devices support power save operation as a client.
The 802.11 specification requires that all access points support
power save but some drivers do not.
Use
-powersave
to disable powersave operation when operating as a client.
powersavesleep sleep
Set the desired max powersave sleep time in TU's (1024 usecs).
By default the max powersave sleep time is 100 TU's.
protmode technique
For interfaces operating in 802.11g, use the specified
technique
for protecting OFDM frames in a mixed 11b/11g network.
The set of valid techniques is
off , cts
(CTS to self),
and
rtscts
(RTS/CTS).
Technique names are case insensitive.
Not all devices support
cts
as a protection technique.
pureg
When operating as an access point in 802.11g mode allow only
11g-capable stations to associate (11b-only stations are not
permitted to associate).
To allow both 11g and 11b-only stations to associate, use
-pureg
roaming mode
When operating as a station, control how the system will
behave when communication with the current access point
is broken.
The
mode
argument may be one of
device
(leave it to the hardware device to decide),
auto
(handle either in the device or the operating system[em]as appropriate),
manual
(do nothing until explicitly instructed).
By default, the device is left to handle this if it is
capable; otherwise, the operating system will automatically
attempt to reestablish communication.
Manual mode is used by applications such as
wpa_supplicant8
that want to control the selection of an access point.
roam:rssi11a rssi
Set the threshold for controlling roaming when operating in an
802.11a BSS.
The
rssi
parameter specifies the receive signal strength in dBm units
at which roaming should be considered.
If the current rssi drops below this setting and background scanning
is enabled, then the system will check if a more desirable access point is
available and switch over to it.
The current scan cache contents are used if they are considered
valid according to the
scanvalid
parameter; otherwise a background scan operation is triggered before
any selection occurs.
By default
rssi
is set to 7 dBm.
roam:rssi11b rssi
Set the threshold for controlling roaming when operating in an
802.11b-only BSS.
See
roam:rssi11a
for a description of this parameter.
By default
rssi
is set to 7 dBm.
roam:rssi11g rssi
Set the threshold for controlling roaming when operating in a
(mixed) 802.11g BSS.
See
roam:rssi11a
for a description of this parameter.
By default
rssi
is set to 7 dBm.
roam:rate11a rate
Set the threshold for controlling roaming when operating in an
802.11a BSS.
The
rate
parameter specifies the transmit rate in megabits
at which roaming should be considered.
If the current transmit rate drops below this setting and background scanning
is enabled, then the system will check if a more desirable access point is
available and switch over to it.
The current scan cache contents are used if they are considered
valid according to the
scanvalid
parameter; otherwise a background scan operation is triggered before
any selection occurs.
By default
rate
is set to 12 Mb/s.
roam:rate11b rate
Set the threshold for controlling roaming when operating in an
802.11b-only BSS.
See
roam:rate11a
for a description of this parameter.
By default
rate
is set to 1 Mb/s.
roam:rate11g rate
Set the threshold for controlling roaming when operating in a
(mixed) 802.11g BSS.
See
roam:rate11a
for a description of this parameter.
By default
rate
is set to 5 Mb/s.
rtsthreshold length
Set the threshold for which
transmitted frames are preceded by transmission of an
RTS
control frame.
The
length
argument
is the frame size in bytes and must be in the range 1 to 2346.
Setting
length
to
2346any
or
-
disables transmission of RTS frames.
Not all adaptors support setting the RTS threshold.
ssid ssid
Set the desired Service Set Identifier (aka network name).
The SSID is a string up to 32 characters
in length and may be specified as either a normal string or in
hexadecimal when preceded by
`0x'
Additionally, the SSID may be cleared by setting it to
`-'
scan
Initiate a scan of neighboring stations, wait for it to complete, and
display all stations found.
Only the super-user can initiate a scan.
Depending on the capabilities of the APs, the following
flags can be included in the output:
A
Channel Agility.
Indicates that the station support channel hopping as described by the
IEEE 802.11b specification.
B
Packet Binary Convolution Code (PBCC).
A modulation alternative to the standard OFDM method.
C
Pollreq
c
Pollable
D
Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSSOFDM).
Indicates the the station supports DSSS modulation.
E
Extended Service Set (ESS).
Indicates that the station is part of an infrastructure network
(in contrast to an IBSS/ad-hoc network).
I
IBSS/ad-hoc network.
Indicates that the station is part of an ad-hoc network
(in contrast to an ESS network).
P
Privacy.
Data confidentiality is required for all data frames
exchanged within the BSS.
This means that this BSS requires the station to
use cryptographic means such as WEP, TKIP or AES-CCMP to
encrypt/decrypt data frames being exchanged with others.
R
Robust Security Network (RSN).
Indicates that the station supports the IEEE 802.11i authentication
and key management protocol.
S
Short Preamble.
Indicates that the network is using short preambles (defined
in 802.11b High Rate/DSSS PHY, short preamble utilizes a
56 bit sync field in contrast to a 128 bit field used in long
preamble mode).
s
Short slot time.
Indicates that the network is using a short slot time.
Interesting information elements captured from the neighboring
stations are displayed at the end of each row.
Possible elements are:
WME
(station supports WME),
WPA
(station supports WPA),
WPS
(station supports WPS),
RSN
(station supports 802.11i/RSN),
HT
(station supports 802.11n/HT communication),
ATH
(station supoprts Atheros protocol extensions),
VEN
(station supports unknown vendor-specific extensions).
If the
-v
flag is used the information element contents will be shown.
The
list scan
request can be used to show recent scan results without
initiating a new scan.
The
-v
flag may be used to prevent the shortening of long SSIDs.
scanvalid threshold
Set the maximum time the scan cache contents are considered valid;
i.e. will be used without first triggering a scan operation to
refresh the data.
The
threshold
parameter is specified in seconds and defaults to 60 seconds.
The minimum setting for
threshold
is 10 seconds.
One should take care setting this threshold; if it is set too low
then attempts to roam to another access point may trigger unnecessary
background scan operations.
stationname name
Set the name of this station.
The station name is not part of the IEEE 802.11
protocol though some interfaces support it.
As such it only
seems to be meaningful to identical or virtually identical equipment.
Setting the station name is identical in syntax to setting the SSID.
txpower power
Set the power used to transmit frames.
The
power
argument is specified in .5 dBm units.
Out of range values are truncated.
Typically only a few discreet power settings are available and
the driver will use the setting closest to the specified value.
Not all adaptors support changing the transmit power.
wepmode mode
Set the desired WEP mode.
Not all adaptors support all modes.
The set of valid modes is
off , on
and
mixed
The
mixed
mode explicitly tells the adaptor to allow association with access
points which allow both encrypted and unencrypted traffic.
On these adaptors,
on
means that the access point must only allow encrypted connections.
On other adaptors,
on
is generally another name for
mixed
Modes are case insensitive.
weptxkey index
Set the WEP key to be used for transmission.
This is the same as setting the default transmission key with
deftxkey
wepkey key | index : key
Set the selected WEP key.
If an
index
is not given, key 1 is set.
A WEP key will be either 5 or 13
characters (40 or 104 bits) depending of the local network and the
capabilities of the adaptor.
It may be specified either as a plain
string or as a string of hexadecimal digits preceded by
`0x'
For maximum portability, hex keys are recommended;
the mapping of text keys to WEP encryption is usually driver-specific.
In particular, the
Windows
drivers do this mapping differently to
Fx .
A key may be cleared by setting it to
`-'
If WEP is supported then there are at least four keys.
Some adaptors support more than four keys.
If that is the case, then the first four keys
(1-4) will be the standard temporary keys and any others will be adaptor
specific keys such as permanent keys stored in NVRAM.
Note that you must set a default transmit key with
deftxkey
for the system to know which key to use in encrypting outbound traffic.
wme
Enable Wireless Multimedia Extensions (WME) support, if available,
for the specified interface.
WME is a subset of the IEEE 802.11e standard to support the
efficient communication of realtime and multimedia data.
To disable WME support, use
-wme
The following parameters are meaningful only when WME support is in use.
Parameters are specified per-AC (Access Category) and
split into those that are used by a station when acting
as an access point and those for client stations in the BSS.
The latter are received from the access point and may not be changed
(at the station).
The following Access Categories are recognized:
AC_BE
(or
BE
best effort delivery,
AC_BK
(or
BK
background traffic,
AC_VI
(or
VI
video traffic,
AC_VO
(or
VO
voice traffic.
AC parameters are case-insensitive.
Traffic classification is done in the operating system using the
vlan priority associated with data frames or the
ToS (Type of Service) indication in IP-encapsulated frames.
If neither information is present, traffic is assigned to the
Best Effort (BE) category.
ack ac
Set the ACK policy for QoS transmissions by the local station;
this controls whether or not data frames transmitted by a station
require an ACK response from the receiving station.
To disable waiting for an ACK use
-ack
This parameter is applied only to the local station.
acm ac
Enable the Admission Control Mandatory (ACM) mechanism
for transmissions by the local station.
To disable the ACM use
-acm
On stations in a BSS this parameter is read-only and indicates
the setting received from the access point.
NB: ACM is not supported right now.
aifs ac count
Set the Arbitration Inter Frame Spacing (AIFS)
channel access parameter to use for transmissions
by the local station.
On stations in a BSS this parameter is read-only and indicates
the setting received from the access point.
cwmin ac count
Set the CWmin channel access parameter to use for transmissions
by the local station.
On stations in a BSS this parameter is read-only and indicates
the setting received from the access point.
cwmax ac count
Set the CWmax channel access parameter to use for transmissions
by the local station.
On stations in a BSS this parameter is read-only and indicates
the setting received from the access point.
txoplimit ac limit
Set the Transmission Opportunity Limit channel access parameter
to use for transmissions by the local station.
This parameter defines an interval of time when a WME station
has the right to initiate transmissions onto the wireless medium.
On stations in a BSS this parameter is read-only and indicates
the setting received from the access point.
bss:aifs ac count
Set the AIFS channel access parameter to send to stations in a BSS.
This parameter is meaningful only when operating in ap mode.
bss:cwmin ac count
Set the CWmin channel access parameter to send to stations in a BSS.
This parameter is meaningful only when operating in ap mode.
bss:cwmax ac count
Set the CWmax channel access parameter to send to stations in a BSS.
This parameter is meaningful only when operating in ap mode.
bss:txoplimit ac limit
Set the TxOpLimit channel access parameter to send to stations in a BSS.
This parameter is meaningful only when operating in ap mode.
The following parameters support an optional access control list
feature available with some adaptors when operating in ap mode; see
wlan_acl4.
This facility allows an access point to accept/deny association
requests based on the MAC address of the station.
Note that this feature does not significantly enhance security
as MAC address spoofing is easy to do.
mac:add address
Add the specified MAC address to the database.
Depending on the policy setting association requests from the
specified station will be allowed or denied.
mac:allow
Set the ACL policy to permit association only by
stations registered in the database.
mac:del address
Delete the specified MAC address from the database.
mac:deny
Set the ACL policy to deny association only by
stations registered in the database.
mac:kick address
Force the specified station to be deauthenticated.
This typically is done to block a station after updating the
address database.
mac:open
Set the ACL policy to allow all stations to associate.
mac:flush
Delete all entries in the database.
The following parameters are for compatibility with other systems:
nwid ssid
Another name for the
ssid
parameter.
Included for
Nx compatibility.
station name
Another name for the
stationname
parameter.
Included for
Bs x
compatibility.
wep
Another way of saying
wepmode on
Included for
Bs x
compatibility.
-wep
Another way of saying
wepmode off
Included for
Bs x
compatibility.
nwkey key
Another way of saying:
``wepmode on weptxkey 1 wepkey 1:key wepkey 2:- wepkey 3:- wepkey 4:-
''
Included for
Nx compatibility.
nwkey
n : k1 , k2 , k3 , k4
Another way of saying
``wepmode on weptxkey n wepkey 1:k1 wepkey 2:k2 wepkey 3:k3 wepkey 4:k4
''
Included for
Nx compatibility.
-nwkey
Another way of saying
wepmode off
Included for
Nx compatibility.
The following parameters are specific to bridge interfaces:
addm interface
Add the interface named by
interface
as a member of the bridge.
The interface is put into promiscuous mode
so that it can receive every packet sent on the network.
deletem interface
Remove the interface named by
interface
from the bridge.
Promiscuous mode is disabled on the interface when
it is removed from the bridge.
maxaddr size
Set the size of the bridge address cache to
size
The default is 100 entries.
timeout seconds
Set the timeout of address cache entries to
seconds
seconds.
If
seconds
is zero, then address cache entries will not be expired.
The default is 240 seconds.
addr
Display the addresses that have been learned by the bridge.
static interface-name address
Add a static entry into the address cache pointing to
interface-name
Static entries are never aged out of the cache or re-placed, even if the
address is seen on a different interface.
deladdr address
Delete
address
from the address cache.
flush
Delete all dynamically-learned addresses from the address cache.
flushall
Delete all addresses, including static addresses, from the address cache.
discover interface
Mark an interface as a
``discovering''
interface.
When the bridge has no address cache entry
(either dynamic or static)
for the destination address of a packet,
the bridge will forward the packet to all
member interfaces marked as
``discovering''
This is the default for all interfaces added to a bridge.
-discover interface
Clear the
``discovering''
attribute on a member interface.
For packets without the
``discovering''
attribute, the only packets forwarded on the interface are broadcast
or multicast packets and packets for which the destination address
is known to be on the interface's segment.
learn interface
Mark an interface as a
``learning''
interface.
When a packet arrives on such an interface, the source
address of the packet is entered into the address cache as being a
destination address on the interface's segment.
This is the default for all interfaces added to a bridge.
-learn interface
Clear the
``learning''
attribute on a member interface.
sticky interface
Mark an interface as a
``sticky''
interface.
Dynamically learned address entries are treated at static once entered into
the cache.
Sticky entries are never aged out of the cache or replaced, even if the
address is seen on a different interface.
-sticky interface
Clear the
``sticky''
attribute on a member interface.
private interface
Mark an interface as a
``private''
interface.
A private interface does not forward any traffic to any other port that is also
a private interface.
-private interface
Clear the
``private''
attribute on a member interface.
span interface
Add the interface named by
interface
as a span port on the bridge.
Span ports transmit a copy of every frame received by the bridge.
This is most useful for snooping a bridged network passively on
another host connected to one of the span ports of the bridge.
-span interface
Delete the interface named by
interface
from the list of span ports of the bridge.
stp interface
Enable Spanning Tree protocol on
interface
The
if_bridge4
driver has support for the IEEE 802.1D Spanning Tree protocol (STP).
Spanning Tree is used to detect and remove loops in a network topology.
-stp interface
Disable Spanning Tree protocol on
interface
This is the default for all interfaces added to a bridge.
edge interface
Set
interface
as an edge port.
An edge port connects directly to end stations cannot create bridging
loops in the network, this allows it to transition straight to forwarding.
-edge interface
Disable edge status on
interface
autoedge interface
Allow
interface
to automatically detect edge status.
This is the default for all interfaces added to a bridge.
-autoedge interface
Disable automatic edge status on
interface
ptp interface
Set the
interface
as a point to point link.
This is required for straight transitions to forwarding and
should be enabled on a direct link to another RSTP capable switch.
-ptp interface
Disable point to point link status on
interface
This should be disabled for a half duplex link and for an interface
connected to a shared network segment,
like a hub or a wireless network.
autoptp interface
Automatically detect the point to point status on
interface
by checking the full duplex link status.
This is the default for interfaces added to the bridge.
-autoptp interface
Disable automatic point to point link detection on
interface
maxage seconds
Set the time that a Spanning Tree protocol configuration is valid.
The default is 20 seconds.
The minimum is 6 seconds and the maximum is 40 seconds.
fwddelay seconds
Set the time that must pass before an interface begins forwarding
packets when Spanning Tree is enabled.
The default is 15 seconds.
The minimum is 4 seconds and the maximum is 30 seconds.
hellotime seconds
Set the time between broadcasting of Spanning Tree protocol
configuration messages.
The hello time may only be changed when operating in legacy stp mode.
The default is 2 seconds.
The minimum is 1 second and the maximum is 2 seconds.
priority value
Set the bridge priority for Spanning Tree.
The default is 32768.
The minimum is 0 and the maximum is 61440.
proto value
Set the Spanning Tree protocol.
The default is rstp.
The available options are stp and rstp.
holdcnt value
Set the transmit hold count for Spanning Tree.
This is the number of packets transmitted before being rate limited.
The default is 6.
The minimum is 1 and the maximum is 10.
ifpriority interface value
Set the Spanning Tree priority of
interface
to
value
The default is 128.
The minimum is 0 and the maximum is 240.
ifpathcost interface value
Set the Spanning Tree path cost of
interface
to
value
The default is calculated from the link speed.
To change a previously selected path cost back to automatic, set the
cost to 0.
The minimum is 1 and the maximum is 200000000.
ifmaxaddr interface size
Set the maximum number of hosts allowed from an interface, packets with unknown
source addresses are dropped until an existing host cache entry expires or is
removed.
Set to 0 to disable.
The following parameters are specific to lagg interfaces:
laggport interface
Add the interface named by
interface
as a port of the aggregation interface.
-laggport interface
Remove the interface named by
interface
from the aggregation interface.
laggproto proto
Set the aggregation protocol.
The default is failover.
The available options are failover, fec, lacp, loadbalance, roundrobin and
none.
The following parameters are specific to IP tunnel interfaces,
gif(4):
tunnel src_addr dest_addr
Configure the physical source and destination address for IP tunnel
interfaces.
The arguments
src_addr
and
dest_addr
are interpreted as the outer source/destination for the encapsulating
IPv4/IPv6 header.
-tunnel
Unconfigure the physical source and destination address for IP tunnel
interfaces previously configured with
tunnel
deletetunnel
Another name for the
-tunnel
parameter.
The following parameters are specific to GRE tunnel interfaces,
gre(4):
grekey key
Configure the GRE key to be used for outgoing packets.
Note that
gre(4)willalwaysacceptGREpacketswithinvalidorabsentkeys.
This command will result in a four byte MTU reduction on the interface.
The following parameters are specific to
pfsync(4)
interfaces:
maxupd n
Set the maximum number of updates for a single state which
can be collapsed into one.
This is an 8-bit number; the default value is 128.
The following parameters are specific to
vlan(4)
interfaces:
vlan vlan_tag
Set the VLAN tag value to
vlan_tag
This value is a 16-bit number which is used to create an 802.1Q
VLAN header for packets sent from the
vlan(4)
interface.
Note that
vlan
and
vlandev
must both be set at the same time.
vlandev iface
Associate the physical interface
iface
with a
vlan(4)
interface.
Packets transmitted through the
vlan(4)
interface will be
diverted to the specified physical interface
iface
with 802.1Q VLAN encapsulation.
Packets with 802.1Q encapsulation received
by the parent interface with the correct VLAN tag will be diverted to
the associated
vlan(4)
pseudo-interface.
The
vlan(4)
interface is assigned a
copy of the parent interface's flags and the parent's ethernet address.
The
vlandev
and
vlan
must both be set at the same time.
If the
vlan(4)
interface already has
a physical interface associated with it, this command will fail.
To
change the association to another physical interface, the existing
association must be cleared first.
Note: if the hardware tagging capability
is set on the parent interface, the
vlan(4)
pseudo
interface's behavior changes:
the
vlan(4)
interface recognizes that the
parent interface supports insertion and extraction of VLAN tags on its
own (usually in firmware) and that it should pass packets to and from
the parent unaltered.
-vlandev [iface
]
If the driver is a
vlan(4)
pseudo device, disassociate the parent interface from it.
This breaks the link between the
vlan(4)
interface and its parent,
clears its VLAN tag, flags and its link address and shuts the interface down.
The
iface
argument is useless and hence deprecated.
The following parameters are specific to
carp(4)
interfaces:
advbase seconds
Specifies the base of the advertisement interval in seconds.
The acceptable values are 1 to 255.
The default value is 1.
advskew interval
Specifies the skew to add to the base advertisement interval to
make one host advertise slower than another host.
It is specified in 1/256 of seconds.
The acceptable values are 1 to 254.
The default value is 0.
pass phrase
Set the authentication key to
phrase
vhid n
Set the virtual host ID.
This is a required setting.
Acceptable values are 1 to 255.
The
utility displays the current configuration for a network interface
when no optional parameters are supplied.
If a protocol family is specified,
will report only the details specific to that protocol family.
If the
-m
flag is passed before an interface name,
will display the capability list and all
of the supported media for the specified interface.
If
-L
flag is supplied, address lifetime is displayed for IPv6 addresses,
as time offset string.
Optionally, the
-a
flag may be used instead of an interface name.
This flag instructs
to display information about all interfaces in the system.
The
-d
flag limits this to interfaces that are down, and
-u
limits this to interfaces that are up.
When no arguments are given,
-a
is implied.
The
-l
flag may be used to list all available interfaces on the system, with
no other additional information.
Use of this flag is mutually exclusive
with all other flags and commands, except for
-d
(only list interfaces that are down)
and
-u
(only list interfaces that are up).
The
-v
flag may be used to get more verbose status for an interface.
The
-C
flag may be used to list all of the interface cloners available on
the system, with no additional information.
Use of this flag is mutually exclusive with all other flags and commands.
The
-k
flag causes keying information for the interface, if available, to be
printed.
For example, the values of 802.11 WEP keys will be printed, if accessible to
the current user.
This information is not printed by default, as it may be considered
sensitive.
If the network interface driver is not present in the kernel then
will attempt to load it.
The
-n
flag disables this behavior.
Only the super-user may modify the configuration of a network interface.
NOTES
The media selection system is relatively new and only some drivers support
it (or have need for it).
EXAMPLES
Assign the IPv4 address
192.0.2.10
with a network mask of
255.255.255.0
to the interface
fxp0
Add the IPv4 address
192.0.2.45
with the CIDR network prefix
/28
to the interface
ed0
using
add
as a synonym for the canonical form of the option
alias
# ifconfig ed0 inet 192.0.2.45/28 add
Remove the IPv4 address
192.0.2.45
from the interface
ed0
# ifconfig ed0 inet 192.0.2.45 -alias
Add the IPv6 address
2001:DB8:DBDB::123/48
to the interface
em0
# ifconfig em0 inet6 2001:db8:bdbd::123 prefixlen 48 alias
Note that lower case hexadecimal IPv6 addresses are acceptable.
Remove the IPv6 address added in the above example,
using the
/
character as shorthand for the network prefix,
and using
delete
as a synonym for the canonical form of the option
-alias
# ifconfig em0 inet6 2001:db8:bdbd::123/48 delete
Configure the interface
xl0
to use 100baseTX, full duplex Ethernet media options:
# ifconfig xl0 media 100baseTX mediaopt full-duplex
Create the software network interface
gif1
# ifconfig gif1 create
Destroy the software network interface
gif1
# ifconfig gif1 destroy
DIAGNOSTICS
Messages indicating the specified interface does not exist, the
requested address is unknown, or the user is not privileged and
tried to alter an interface's configuration.
Basic IPv6 node operation requires a link-local address on each
interface configured for IPv6.
Normally, such an address is automatically configured by the
kernel on each interface added to the system; this behaviour may
be disabled by setting the sysctl MIB variable
net.inet6.ip6.auto_linklocal
to 0.
If you delete such an address using
,
the kernel may act very odd.
Do this at your own risk.
