nmcli command: NetworkManager Command Line Interface (nmcli) is a powerful command-line tool designed to manage and control network connections and devices in Linux-based systems. It serves as a versatile alternative to graphical network management tools and offers administrators and users direct access to NetworkManager’s functionalities through the terminal.
With nmcli, users can efficiently interact with NetworkManager, making it a valuable tool for both experienced administrators and those comfortable working with command-line interfaces. This utility enables a wide range of tasks related to network configuration and monitoring.
Table of Contents
- The basic syntax of a nmcli command is as follows:
- Viewing all connections cusing nmcli command
- To view only currently active connections using nmcli command
- To view only devices recognized by NetworkManager and their state using nmcli command
- How to start and stop a Network Interface Using nmcli command.
- Configuring static IP using nmcli command.
The basic syntax of a nmcli command is as follows:
# nmcli [OPTIONS] OBJECT { COMMAND | help }
Viewing all connections cusing nmcli command
[root@TechArticles ~]# nmcli connection show OR [root@TechArticles ~]# nmcli con sh
To view only currently active connections using nmcli command
[root@TechArticles ~]# nmcli connection show --active NAME UUID TYPE DEVICE enp0s3 b972dea7-b72d-4e48-a838-bda20615e189 ethernet enp0s3 virbr0 58bed60d-b638-4e39-978d-5417bee137dc bridge virbr0
To view only devices recognized by NetworkManager and their state using nmcli command
[root@TechArticles ~]# nmcli device status DEVICE TYPE STATE CONNECTION enp0s3 ethernet connected enp0s3 virbr0 bridge connected (externally) virbr0 enp0s8 ethernet disconnected -- enp0s9 ethernet disconnected -- lo loopback unmanaged -- [root@TechArticles ~]#
How to start and stop a Network Interface Using nmcli command.
We can use nmcli tool to start and stop any network interface, including controllers.
# nmcli con up id bond0 # nmcli con up id port0 # nmcli dev disconnect bond0 # nmcli dev disconnect enp0s3
Example:
[root@TechArticles ~]# nmcli con up enp0s3 Connection successfully activated (D-Bus active path: /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/ActiveConnection/5) [root@TechArticles ~]# [root@TechArticles ~]# nmcli dev disconnect enp0s3 Device 'enp0s3' successfully disconnected.
Configuring static IP using nmcli command.
Let’s check the current active IP address of system.
[root@TechArticles ~]# ip a
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000
link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
inet6 ::1/128 scope host
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: enp0s3: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UP group default qlen 1000
link/ether 08:00:27:e5:4f:ea brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet 192.168.111.77/24 brd 192.168.111.255 scope global dynamic noprefixroute enp0s3
valid_lft 3491sec preferred_lft 3491sec
inet6 2409:4089:8214:b7e0:a00:27ff:fee5:4fea/64 scope global dynamic noprefixroute
valid_lft 3548sec preferred_lft 3548sec
inet6 fe80::a00:27ff:fee5:4fea/64 scope link noprefixroute
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
3: enp0s8: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UP group default qlen 1000
link/ether 08:00:27:c2:15:90 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
4: enp0s9: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UP group default qlen 1000
link/ether 08:00:27:77:43:28 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
5: virbr0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP>mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state DOWN group default qlen 1000
link/ether 52:54:00:8b:26:aa brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet 192.168.122.1/24 brd 192.168.122.255 scope global virbr0
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
As per above Interface details, I am going to configure IP on enp0s8 interface. In your case it may be different device name, configure accordingly.
For demonstration purpose I am taking below IPs. Please Note: In your case IP will be diffrent.
IP address: 192.168.111.100/24 Default gateway: 192.168.111.100 Preferred DNS: 8.8.8.8 IP addressing static
Let’s configre first IP address for device enp0s8.
[root@TechArticles ~]# nmcli con mod enps08 ipv4.addresses 192.168.111.100/24 Error: unknown connection 'enps08'. [root@TechArticles ~]#
Oops its says unknown connection, but in below command output you can see that device is there but disconnected and there is no connection created till now.
[root@TechArticles ~]# nmcli device status DEVICE TYPE STATE CONNECTION enp0s3 ethernet connected enp0s3 virbr0 bridge connected (externally) virbr0 enp0s8 ethernet disconnected -- enp0s9 ethernet disconnected -- lo loopback unmanaged --
You can check for connection by running below command.
[root@TechArticles ~]# nmcli con show NAME UUID TYPE DEVICE enp0s3 b972dea7-b72d-4e48-a838-bda20615e189 ethernet enp0s3 virbr0 58bed60d-b638-4e39-978d-5417bee137dc bridge virbr0
As per above command output there is no connection created, So we have to create the connection first for enp0s8.
[root@TechArticles ~]# nmcli connection add type ethernet connection.interface-name enp0s8 con-name enp0s8 Connection 'enp0s8' (14cb1621-2a4a-47f6-8092-3323e7cb4e65) successfully added. [root@TechArticles ~]# nmcli con show NAME UUID TYPE DEVICE enp0s3 b972dea7-b72d-4e48-a838-bda20615e189 ethernet enp0s3 enp0s8 14cb1621-2a4a-47f6-8092-3323e7cb4e65 ethernet enp0s8 virbr0 58bed60d-b638-4e39-978d-5417bee137dc bridge virbr0
As you can see that device enp0s8 is now available in connecion list. Let’s move further to configure the IP.
[root@TechArticles ~]# nmcli connection modify enp0s8 ipv4.addresses 192.168.111.77/24
Assign the gateway.
[root@TechArticles ~]# nmcli connection modify enp0s8 ipv4.gateway 192.168.111.1
Assign the DNS server IP.
[root@TechArticles ~]# nmcli con mod enp0s8 ipv4.dns "8.8.8.8"
Then change the connection status from auto to manual and enable the interface at boot.
[root@TechArticles ~]# nmcli con mod enp0s8 ipv4.method manual [root@TechArticles ~]# nmcli con mod enp0s8 autoconnect yes
To save the changes, run the command.
[root@TechArticles ~]# nmcli con up enp0s8
Then verify if the IP is configured or not to interface
[root@TechArticles ~]# ip addr show dev enp0s8
3: enp0s8: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UP group default qlen 1000
link/ether 08:00:27:c2:15:90 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet 192.168.111.100/24 brd 192.168.111.255 scope global dynamic noprefixroute enp0s8
valid_lft 560sec preferred_lft 560sec
inet6 fe80::6618:b371:6916:184b/64 scope link noprefixroute
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
All above changed will be wrriten in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-enp0s8 file.
You can view the details of /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-enp0s8 by running below command.
[root@TechArticles ~]# cat /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-enp0s8 TYPE=Ethernet PROXY_METHOD=none BROWSER_ONLY=no BOOTPROTO=none DEFROUTE=yes IPV4_FAILURE_FATAL=no IPV6INIT=yes IPV6_AUTOCONF=yes IPV6_DEFROUTE=yes IPV6_FAILURE_FATAL=no IPV6_ADDR_GEN_MODE=stable-privacy NAME=enp0s8 UUID=14cb1621-2a4a-47f6-8092-3323e7cb4e65 DEVICE=enp0s8 ONBOOT=yes IPADDR=192.168.111.100 PREFIX=24 GATEWAY=192.168.111.1 DNS1=8.8.8.8
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