nameif — name network interfaces based on MAC addresses
Synopsis
nameif [-c configfile] [-s]
nameif [-c configfile] [-s] {interface macaddress}
Note
This program is obsolete. For replacement check ip link. This functionality is also much better provided by udev methods.
Description
nameif renames network interfaces based on mac addresses. When no arguments are given /etc/mactab is read. Each line of it contains an interface name and a Ethernet MAC address. Comments are allowed starting with #. Otherwise the interfaces specified on the command line are processed. nameif looks for the interface with the given MAC address and renames it to the name given.
When the -s argument is given all error messages go to the syslog.
When the -c argument is given with a file name that file is read instead of /etc/mactab.
Notes
nameif should be run before the interface is up, otherwise it'll fail.
Files
/etc/mactab
See Also
Bugs
Only works for Ethernet currently.