Linux IP Commands (ip / ss / netstat — Old vs New)
The classic ifconfig and netstat belong to net-tools, which is deprecated or not installed on many distributions. The modern standard is iproute2 (ip and ss).
Mapping Table
| Task | Old (net-tools) | New (iproute2) |
|---|---|---|
| Show addresses | ifconfig |
ip addr (ip a) |
| Bring interface up | ifconfig eth0 up |
ip link set eth0 up |
| Show routes | route -n |
ip route (ip r) |
| Show ARP/neighbors | arp -a |
ip neigh |
| Sockets / ports | netstat -tunlp |
ss -tunlp |
Common Examples
# All addresses (IPv4/IPv6)
ip addr show
# Default gateway
ip route | grep default
# Listening TCP ports with process
ss -tlnp
Find Your Public IP from the Shell
curl -s https://show-ip-addr.com/api/myip
# or
curl ifconfig.me