FreeBSD: HowTo Change IP Address / Setup New IP Address For Existing Interface

in Categories FreeBSD last updated December 1, 2004

In this quick post I will explain how to add and configuring a network card under FreeBSD operating system using command line options.

To display the current configuration for the network interfaces on your FreeBSD server, type the following command:
# ifconfig

How Do I Configure the Network Card Under FreeBSD?

You need to use the ifconfig command as follows to assign an IP address:
# ifconfig interfaceName inet IPAddress

To assign an ip to lnc0 interface, enter:
# ifconfig lnc0 inet 202.54.1.22

Please note that lnc0 is an ethernet interface name. It can be Obtained by tying the following command:
# ifconfig -a

FreeBSD Ntwork Card’s Configuration

To setup up ip address permanently open a file called /etc/rc.conf and append/modify network entries as follows:
# vi /etc/rc.conf
Setup values as follows:
hostname="fbsdx.test.com"
ifconfig_lnc0="inet 192.168.0.6 netmask 255.255.255.0"
### Default gateway ###
defaultrouter="192.168.0.254"

Save and close the file. Please note that ifconfig_lnc0 is Ethernet interface name. It can be Obtained using ifconfig -a command.

You can restart networking service using the following command:
# /etc/rc.d/netif restart && /etc/rc.d/routing restart

Posted by: Vivek Gite

The author is the creator of nixCraft and a seasoned sysadmin, DevOps engineer, and a trainer for the Linux operating system/Unix shell scripting. Get the latest tutorials on SysAdmin, Linux/Unix and open source topics via RSS/XML feed or weekly email newsletter.

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11 comment

  2. Could you please set up an .exe file to do the above procedure
    I think making a .exe file with the above commands will make the job easier for repeatedly changing ip addresses

  7. Friggen windows nerds with your exe and bat files. However can you create a vbs script perhaps. I like the idea of changing the IP address easily from script. vbs would be nice.

  8. I’m VERY much a beginner with *nix of ANY form [including FreeBSD] AND I can’t spell, but….

    .EXE and .BAT are NOT from Windows. They are from the days of DOS, which was usable within Windows….

    He is using a term he [and you] understood from his DOS [Windows] experience…

  11. making a binary for this seems a little overkill.
    try
    alias setnet ‘ee /etc/rc.conf’
    alias restartnet ‘/etc/rc.d/netif restart && /etc/rc.d/routing restart’

    (I know, ee; I just do not want to relearn vi at my age.)

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