Listing network hardware¶
sudo lshw -short -class network
H/W path Device Class Description
==============================================================
/0/100/1c/0 wlan0 network Wireless Network Adapter
/0/100/1c.3/0 eth0 network Gigabit Ethernet PCIe
/1 virbr0 network Ethernet interface
/2 docker0 network Ethernet interface
-short gives a compact one-line-per-device summary; drop it for the full detail (driver, firmware version, bus info) on each device.
Listing just the interfaces¶
ip link show # all interfaces, state, MAC address
ip -br link show # brief, one line each
Driver and firmware detail on a specific interface¶
sudo ethtool -i eth0
driver: e1000e
version: 5.15.0
firmware-version: 0.9-4
bus-info: 0000:00:1f.6
Matching a device to its kernel driver¶
basename "$(readlink /sys/class/net/eth0/device/driver)"
Finding virtual/software interfaces (bridges, veth, tun/tap)¶
lshw and ethtool are built for physical hardware and give thin or misleading output on virtual interfaces — for bridges, veths, tunnels, and containers' virtual NICs, use:
ip -d link show # -d (detail) shows the interface type: bridge, veth, tun, vlan, etc.
bridge link show # bridge-specific membership view
Cheat sheet¶
lshw -short -class network # inventory of network hardware
ip -br link show # quick interface list
ethtool -i <iface> # driver/firmware for one interface
ip -d link show # interface type detail (bridge/veth/vlan/tun)