Managing Network Configuration in Linux Systems

Network Configuraton Management in Linux

Working with NetworkManager

NetworkManager serves as a dynamic network controller and configuration system that maintains device connectivity and activation when network resources become available.

To start the NetworkManager service:

  • Device - The physical network interface (e.g., enp3s0, virbr0, team0, eth0)
  • Connection - A logical configuration profile that defines how a device should operate

Important: A single device can have multiple connection profiles, but only one can be active at any given time.

Example scenarios: A network interface might have configuration profiles such as "office-dhcp" for dynamic IP assignment and "server-static" for static IP configuration.

Basic NetworkManager Commands

NAME UUID TYPE DEVICE ens37 a73e4d29-6012-3b67-c234-9876a2bc8914 ethernet ens37


</div>To inspect detailed information for a specific device:

<div>```
[root@server-01 ~]# nmcli device show ens37

Creating a New Connection Profile

Parameters explained:

autoconnect yes - Automatically activate when the primary connection fails con-name - Name identifier for this connection profile ifname - Physical device to which this profile applies type - Device type specification


</div>#### Activating a Connection Profile

<div>```
[root@server-01 ~]# nmcli connection                         # Verify created profiles
[root@server-01 ~]# nmcli connection up office-dhcp      # Activate the profile

# Before activation: IP=192.168.10.100, Netmask=255.255.255.0, Gateway=192.168.10.1
# After activation:  IP=10.10.10.50,   Netmask=255.255.255.0, Gateway=10.10.10.254

Locating the Configuration Directory

Disabling NetworkManager for Manual Control

Stopping and Disabling NetworkManager

Checking the Current Hostname

Temporary Hostname Modification

The /etc/hosts file provides static IP-to-hostname resolution for local name queries.

Example entries:

127.0.0.1 localhost localhost.localdomain 192.168.10.50 webserver.example.org webserver 10.10.10.25 database.internal dbserver


</div>

Tags: Linux networkmanager nmcli network-configuration ip-address

Posted on Thu, 14 May 2026 01:09:04 +0000 by phpchamps