krzysiek
krzysiek Author of itreset.github.io, a site dedicated to IT issues: virtualization, network configuration. This is a public notebook of instructions and problems encountered by the author of the blog.

How to Check Which Names Are Assigned to NICs in Linux

How to Check Which Names Are Assigned to NICs in Linux

In Linux systems—especially when configuring servers, virtualization environments, or advanced networking setups—you often need to find out which physical network interfaces correspond to which system-assigned names, such as eth0, eno1, enp3s0, etc. The lshw tool is perfect for this task.

🔍 lshw – Get to Know Your Hardware

lshw is a powerful utility that displays detailed information about the hardware in your Linux system. It can be used to find out the exact model of a network card, its assigned interface name, manufacturer, MAC address, and more.

To get a concise list of network interfaces and their assigned names, simply run:

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lshw -class network -short
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📋 Sample Output

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H/W path       Device     Class          Description
====================================================
/0/100/1f.6    eno1       network        Ethernet Connection (7) I219-V
/0/100/1c.4/0  enp4s0     network        RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
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🧠 What Do These Columns Mean?

  • H/W path – The physical hardware path of the device in the system’s structure.
  • Device – The interface name assigned by the system (e.g., eno1, enp4s0).
  • Class – The device class; in this case, network.
  • Description – A brief description of the hardware, often including the model and vendor.

✅ When Is This Useful?

  • When mapping interfaces in tools like netplan, systemd-networkd, or NetworkManager.
  • When configuring bridges, VLANs, or firewall rules.
  • When your system has multiple NICs and you need to identify which is which.

🛠️ Installing lshw

If you don’t have lshw installed yet, you can easily add it with your package manager:

  • On Debian/Ubuntu: 
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sudo apt update
sudo apt install lshw
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  • On RHEL/CentOS/Fedora: 
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sudo dnf install lshw
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  • On Alpine Linux: 
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sudo apk add lshw
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🔧✨ Have multiple interfaces and not sure which is which? Now you know how to find out in seconds! ✨🔧

Got questions or want more quick tips? Drop a comment below!