Network interfaces

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2 LPAR mode z/VM guest KVM guest

The Linux® kernel representation of a network device is an interface.

This graphic shows an interface in the kernel pointing to a device in a device driver and the device pointing to a network adapter — Figure 1. Interfaces

When a network device is defined, it is associated with a real or virtual network adapter (see Figure 1). You can configure the adapter properties for a particular network device through the device representation as a directory in sysfs.

You activate or deactivate a connection by addressing the interface with ip or an equivalent command. All interfaces that are provided by the IBM Z® specific network device drivers are interfaces for the Internet Protocol (IP).

On Red Hat® Enterprise Linux, you configure network interfaces through the NetworkManager. Use the nmcli command line tool to interact with the NetworkManager.