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How to Find the Network Adapter Names for a Vultr Cloud Server

LinuxNetwork AdapterCloud Server
Updated on November 21, 2023
How to Find the Network Adapter Names for a Vultr Cloud Server header image

Overview

When editing the network configuration for a cloud server, you may need to identify the network adapter names currently in use. For example, you might be faced with this task when:

For Linux systems, the ip utility is the best way to find the adapter names. FreeBSD and OpenBSD systems can use ifconfig, and you'll find those instructions toward the end of this guide.

You may need to perform these steps via the Vultr Web Console instead of SSH if your public network adapter isn't configured.

Find the Adapter Name on Linux

To query the network adapter information, connect as root and run:

# ip addr show

If you have a public network adapter, and no private networks attached, your output may look similar to this:

1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
2: enp1s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:00:5e:00:53:10 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

This output shows your public network adapter name is enp1s0, and its MAC address is 00:00:5e:00:53:10. You can ignore the lo loopback adapter.

Here's another example of a machine with a public network and two private networks.

1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
2: enp1s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:00:5e:00:53:20 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
3: enp6s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:00:5e:00:53:fe brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
4: enp7s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:00:5e:00:53:ff brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
  • The public adapter is enp1s0 with a MAC address of 00:00:5e:00:53:20
  • Private adapter 1 is enp6s0 with a MAC address of 00:00:5e:00:53:fe
  • Private adapter 2 is enp7s0 with a MAC address of 00:00:5e:00:53:ff

Find the Adapter Name on FreeBSD

On FreeBSD, run the ifconfig utility as root.

# ifconfig

The output looks similar to this:

vtnet0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
    options=6c07bb<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,JUMBO_MTU,VLAN_HWCSUM,TSO4,TSO6,LRO,VLAN_HWTSO,LINKSTATE,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6>
    ether 56:00:03:71:b0:2b
    inet 149.28.59.190 netmask 0xfffffe00 broadcast 149.28.59.255
    media: Ethernet 10Gbase-T <full-duplex>
    status: active
    nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
vtnet1: flags=8802<BROADCAST,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
    options=6800bb<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,JUMBO_MTU,VLAN_HWCSUM,LINKSTATE,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6>
    ether 5a:00:03:71:b0:2b
    media: Ethernet 10Gbase-T <full-duplex>
    status: active
    nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
lo0: flags=8049<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 16384
    options=680003<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,LINKSTATE,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6>
    inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128
    inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x3
    inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000
    groups: lo
    nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>

In this example, vtnet0 is the public adapter, and vtnet1 is the private adapter.

Find the Adapter Name on OpenBSD

On OpenBSD, run the ifconfig utility as root.

# ifconfig

The output looks similar to this:

lo0: flags=8049<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 32768
    index 4 priority 0 llprio 3
    groups: lo
    inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128
    inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x4
    inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000
vio0: flags=808843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST,AUTOCONF4> mtu 1500
    lladdr 56:00:03:71:b0:3b
    index 1 priority 0 llprio 3
    groups: egress
    media: Ethernet autoselect
    status: active
    inet 104.238.135.166 netmask 0xfffffe00 broadcast 104.238.135.255
vio1: flags=8802<BROADCAST,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
    lladdr 5a:00:03:71:b0:3b
    index 2 priority 0 llprio 3
    media: Ethernet autoselect
    status: no carrier
enc0: flags=0<>
    index 3 priority 0 llprio 3
    groups: enc
    status: active
pflog0: flags=141<UP,RUNNING,PROMISC> mtu 33136
    index 5 priority 0 llprio 3
    groups: pflog

In this example, vio0 is the public adapter, and vio1 is the private adapter.

You can safely ignore lo0, which is the local loopback, as well as enc0 and pflog0, which are used for packet filtering.

More Information

Now that you've identified your network adapter names, you have the information needed to modify your network configuration. See our guides to: