Show active interfaces in terminal

Question

I am trying to list network interface that I am currently using. I need to know how to do this in terminal, and in script.

ifconfig | grep $(networksetup -listnetworkserviceorder | grep 'Ethernet, Device' | sed -E "s/.*(en[0-9]).*/\1/")

What am i getting: enter image description here

What do I want to get: Only the name of active interface

This commands that appear higher, are these that I tried to use, but they didnt work. — Szymon Korbel, Feb 14 '19 at 12:28
What was wrong with them? I tried them on my Mac, I just had to change `Ethernet` to `Wi-Fi`. — Barmar, Feb 14 '19 at 12:30
Please explain the problem in more detail. Say what result you're trying to get, and what you got instead. Edit the question, don't put it in comments. — Barmar, Feb 14 '19 at 12:32
How can I modify them, so they only show the name of active interface? — Szymon Korbel, Feb 14 '19 at 12:34
Show the result you're getting, then show what you want instead. PLEASE. — Barmar, Feb 14 '19 at 12:38

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited Nov 15 '21 at 08:04

1

Use your second command, but put everything after the interface name into a lookahead, so it's not printed as part of the match.

ifconfig | pcregrep -M -o '^[^\t:]+(?=:([^\n]|\n\t)*status: active)'

When I do this, the output is:

en0
awdl0

See What is AWDL (Apple Wireless Direct Link) and how does it work? for what awdl0 is.

Your first command should work if just print the result of the networksetup pipeline, without using ifconfig. This works for me:

networksetup -listnetworkserviceorder | grep 'Wi-Fi, Device' | sed -E "s/.*(en[0-9]).*/\1/"

I have Wi-Fi rather than Ethernet.

edited Nov 15 '21 at 08:04

Per Quested Aronsson

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answered Feb 14 '19 at 12:40

Barmar

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Second command doesn't work. It says: -bash: pcregrep: command not found – Szymon Korbel Feb 14 '19 at 12:42
I'm not sure how I got it, but see https://superuser.com/questions/301435/is-there-a-command-in-mac-os-x-that-can-perform-multiline-regex-searching – Barmar Feb 14 '19 at 12:44
This command from link also doesn't work. It says: -bash: brew: command not found – Szymon Korbel Feb 14 '19 at 12:47
[How to install Homebrew](http://osxdaily.com/2018/03/07/how-install-homebrew-mac-os/) – Barmar Feb 14 '19 at 12:47
1

I just find these things with google, can't you do that yourself? – Barmar Feb 14 '19 at 12:48
Nvm, I got it now. – Szymon Korbel Feb 14 '19 at 12:48
Why this command: `networksetup -listnetworkserviceorder | grep 'Wi-Fi, Device' | sed -E "s/.*(en[0-9]).*/\1/"` shows only interface `en1` when this command: `ifconfig | pcregrep -M -o '^[^\t:]+(?=:([^\n]|\n\t)*status: active)' ` shows this: `en1 p2p0` – Szymon Korbel Feb 14 '19 at 13:02
What's wrong with that? You only have one Wi-Fi card. – Barmar Feb 14 '19 at 13:05
`p2p0` is used for AirDrop. It's not a network interface, it's a virtual network. – Barmar Feb 14 '19 at 13:06
Yes, but why the second one shows me this p2p0 interface? I assume it's AirDrop. But why first command doesn't show it? They're supposed to show the same result... – Szymon Korbel Feb 14 '19 at 13:07
`networksetup` only shows hardware devices, not virtual networks. – Barmar Feb 14 '19 at 13:08
`networksetup` shows the same things you see in the Network system preference. – Barmar Feb 14 '19 at 13:09

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered May 19 '22 at 16:37

0

You can also use the scutil command to show active interfaces and their IPv4/6 addresses (though it doesn't show the AWDL interfaces):

scutil --nwi

answered May 19 '22 at 16:37

Pierz

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Show active interfaces in terminal

2 Answers2