Howto Red hat enterprise Linux 5 configure the network card
Q. I’ve installed Red Hat enterprise Linux 5 and now added one more LAN card (NIC). How do I configure the network card from the command line? I can see 2nd my network card detected while booting the IBM server.
A. Red hat Linux provides following tools to make changes to Network configuration such as add new card, assign IP address, change DNS server etc.
[a] GUI tool (X Windows required) - system-config-network
[b] Command line text based GUI tool (No X Windows required) - system-config-network
[c] Edit configuration files stored in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ directory.
Following instructions are compatible with
(1) Cent OS Linux
(2) Fedora Core Linux
(3) Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 3/4/5
Note: If you are using Debian or Ubuntu Linux, please see this configuration howto.
Method # 1: GUI tool system-config-network
Type the following command at shell prompt (open x terminal):
$ system-config-network &

You will see Window as above. Now select your Ethernet card (eth0 or eth1) and click on Edit button. You can now setup IP address, netmask, default gateway and other properties.

You can obtain IP address using DHCP or setup manually. Once IP address assigned, click on Ok button to save the changes. You can activate card by clicking on Activate button.
Method # 2: Command line tool system-config-network-tui
If you don’t have X windows GUI installed type the following command at shell prompt:
# system-config-network-tui &
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(click to enlarge image)
You will see text based GUI as above. Select your Ethernet card (eth0 or eth1) and hit [Enter] or [F12] special key.
You can obtain IP address using DHCP or setup manually. Once IP address assigned, click on Ok button to save the changes
Method #3: Edit configuration files stored in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/
You can configure network card by editing text files stored in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ directory. First change directory to /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/:
# cd /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/
You need to edit / create files as follows:
- /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 : First Ethernet card configuration file
- /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth1 : Second Ethernet card configuration file
To edit/create first NIC file, type command:
# vi ifcfg-eth0
Append/modify as follows:
# Intel Corporation 82573E Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Copper)
DEVICE=eth0
BOOTPROTO=static
DHCPCLASS=
HWADDR=00:30:48:56:A6:2E
IPADDR=10.10.29.66
NETMASK=255.255.255.192
ONBOOT=yes
Save and close the file. Define default gateway (router IP) and hostname in /etc/sysconfig//network file:
# vi /etc/sysconfig/network
Append/modify configuration as follows:
NETWORKING=yes
HOSTNAME=www1.nixcraft.in
GATEWAY=10.10.29.65
Save and close the file. Restart networking:
# /etc/init.d/network restart
Make sure you have correct DNS server defined in /etc/resolv.conf file:
# vi /etc/resolv.conf
Setup DNS Server as follows:
nameserver 10.0.80.11
nameserver 10.0.80.12
nameserver 202.67.222.222
Save and close the file. Now you can ping the gateway/other hosts:
$ ping 10.0.80.12
Output:
PING 10.0.80.12 (10.0.80.12) 56(84) bytes of data. 64 bytes from 10.0.80.12: icmp_seq=1 ttl=251 time=0.972 ms 64 bytes from 10.0.80.12: icmp_seq=2 ttl=251 time=1.11 ms
You can also check for Internet connectivity with nslookup or host command:
$ nslookup cyberciti.biz
Output:
Server: 10.0.80.11 Address: 10.0.80.11#53 Non-authoritative answer: Name: cyberciti.biz Address: 75.126.43.232
You can also use host command:
$ host nixcraft.in
Output:
nixcraft.in has address 75.126.43.232 nixcraft.in mail is handled by 10 mail.nixcraft.in.
See also
=> Howto configure Ubuntu Linux/Debian Linux network configuration
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Tags: assign ip address, change dns, enterprise linux, gui tool, ifcfg-eth0_file, ip address change, network_file, red hat enterprise, red hat linux, rhel, system-config-network-tui_command, system-config-network_command



April 17th, 2007 at 6:08 pm
hi i want to create whole dns with master and slaves so i want entire steps for this please do send it to me.
Thanks & Regards
May 26th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
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June 30th, 2007 at 9:08 pm
Very useful info. Thanks!
August 28th, 2007 at 8:20 am
hi,
I want to install the wireless land card on machine with access point of d-link
my wireless is d-link Airplus gdwl g510 pci adapter.plz help me out of this.
December 11th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
i want to know about rhce exam.
February 2nd, 2008 at 7:43 am
how to configure master and slave dnd server in redhat version 5 and understanding if each and every file in configuration of dns.
Diffrent types of dns available
Kindly send the reply of this on my mail id
February 11th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Hey, somone chomped down on the text for the commandline tool and listed it as system-config-network, when it should be system-config-network-tui.
All is explained farther down but for those thhat only read what they want, you oughta fix this.
February 21st, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Could you please send me the manual book about linux networking
April 5th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Dns Configaration file send
May 11th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Very usefull
May 17th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I made a user in my system and i am login with that user and i want to access neat from that user desktop ,what process should i do ?