Automatic configuration of network interfaces

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When a new network adapter is physically installed in the system, the operating system automatically adds the appropriate network interface for that adapter.

For example, if you install a token-ring adapter in your system, the operating system assigns it the name tok0 and add a token-ring network interface named tr0. If you install an Ethernet adapter in your system, the operating system assigns it the name ent0 and add both an Ethernet Version 2 and an IEEE 802.3 interface, named en0 and et0 respectively.

In most cases, there is a one-to-one correspondence between adapter names and network interface names. For example, token-ring adapter tok0 corresponds to interface tr0, adapter tok1 corresponds to interface tr1, and so on. Similarly, Ethernet adapter ent0 corresponds to interface en0 (for Ethernet Version 2) and et0 (for IEEE 802.3), and adapter ent1 corresponds to interface en1 (for Ethernet Version 2) and et1 (for IEEE 802.3).

Note: Under normal circumstances, you do not need to delete or add a network interface manually. However, some problem determination procedures might require you to do so. In this case, use the SMIT fast path, smit inet, to delete and re-add the appropriate interface.