NAME

ipconfig view and control IP configuration state

SYNOPSIS
ipconfig waitall
ipconfig getifaddr interface-name
ipconfig ifcount
ipconfig getoption interface-name (option-name | option-code)
ipconfig getpacket interface-name
ipconfig getv6packet interface-name
ipconfig setverbose level
ipconfig set interface-name NONE
ipconfig set interface-name (DHCP | BOOTP)
ipconfig set interface-name (MANUAL | INFORM) ip-address subnet-mask
ipconfig set interface-name NONE-V6
ipconfig set interface-name AUTOMATIC-V6
ipconfig set interface-name MANUAL-V6 ipv6-address prefix-length
ipconfig set interface-name 6TO4
DESCRIPTION
ipconfig is a utility that communicates with the IPConfiguration agent to retrieve and set IP configuration
parameters. It should only be used in a test and debug context. Using it for any other purpose is strongly
discouraged. Public APIs in the SystemConfiguration framework are currently the only supported way to
access and control the state of IPConfiguration.
The IPConfiguration agent is responsible for configuring and managing the IP addresses on direct, connectionless interfaces such as IEEE 802.3 Ethernet and IEEE 1394 FireWire. The IPConfiguration agent is a
program bundle that is loaded and executed by the configd(8) process.
The IPConfiguration agent implements the client side of the DHCP and BOOTP protocols described in
RFC951, RFC1542, RFC2131, and RFC2132. It also assigns and maintains static IP addresses. It may also
allocate and assign a link-local IP address if DHCP fails to acquire an IP address.
In all cases, the IPConfiguration agent performs IP address conflict detection before assigning an IP address
to an interface.
COMMANDS
The ipconfig utility provides several commands:
waitall

Blocks until all network services have completed configuring, or have timed out in the process
of configuring. This is only useful for initial system start-up time synchronization for legacy
network services that are incapable of dealing with dynamic network configuration changes.

getifaddr interface-name
Prints to standard output the IP address for the first network service associated with the given
interface. The output will be empty if no service is currently configured or active on the interface.
ifcount

Prints the number of interfaces that IPConfiguration is capable of configuring. The value thats
printed will not change unless relevant network interfaces are either added to or removed from
the system.

getoption interface-name (option-name | option-code)

Prints the BOOTP/DHCP option with the given name or option code integer value. See
bootpd(8) for option code names. If an option has multiple values e.g.
domain_name_server, only the first value is printed.
getpacket interface-name
Prints to standard output the DHCP/BOOTP packet that the client accepted from the
DHCP/BOOTP server. This command is useful to check what the server provided, and whether
the values are sensible. This command outputs nothing if DHCP/BOOTP is not active on the

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interface, or the attempt to acquire an IP address was unsuccessful.

getv6packet interface-name
Prints to standard output the latest DHCPv6 packet that the client accepted from the DHCPv6
server. In the case of stateful DHCPv6, it corresponds to the last packet from the server that
contained addressing information. This command is useful to check what the server provided,
and whether the values are sensible. This command outputs nothing if DHCPv6 is not active
on the interface.
set
set
set
set
set
set
set

interface-name NONE
interface-name (DHCP | BOOTP)
interface-name (MANUAL | INFORM) ip-address subnet-mask
interface-name NONE-V6
interface-name AUTOMATIC-V6
interface-name MANUAL-V6 ipv6-address prefix-length
interface-name 6TO4
Sets the interface to have a new temporary network service of the given type. Any existing services on the interface for the particular protocol (IPv4 or IPv6) are first de-configured before
the new service is instantiated.
If NONE is specified, all existing IPv4 services are de-configured. If NONE-V6 is specified,
all existing IPv6 services are de-configured.
DHCP and BOOTP require no additional arguments. The IP address, subnet mask, router, and
DNS information are retrieved automatically.
Both MANUAL and INFORM require the specification of an IP address ip-address and a
subnet mask subnet-mask.
The INFORM service configures the IP address statically like MANUAL, but then broadcasts
DHCP INFORM packets to retrieve DHCP option information. If the DHCP server responds
and supplies a subnet mask, that subnet mask is used instead of the specified subnet-mask.
AUTOMATIC-V6 requires no additional arguments. The IPv6 address, prefix length and
router are retrieved automatically.
MANUAL-V6 requires the specification of the IPv6 address ipv6-address and a prefix
length prefix-length.
6TO4 only works on Six To Four (IFT_STF) interfaces e.g. stf0. If it is specified on a nonIFT_STF interface, it has the same effect as specifying NONE-V6.
The set command requires root privileges.
Note: The set command is very useful for debugging, but it cant be used to configure a persistent service. The temporary services that are created only remain until the next network configuration change occurs. See scselect(8).

setverbose level
Enables or disables verbose mode logging in the IPConfiguration agent. Specify a level
value of 0 to disable verbose logging, the default. Specify a value of 1 to enable verbose logging. This setting is persistent across boots of the operating system.
When enabled, verbose log files are generated in the directory /Library/Logs/CrashReporter.
The filenames follow the naming convention com.apple.networking.IPConfiguration.log.<timestamp>.

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The setverbose command requires root privileges.

EXAMPLES
# ipconfig getpacket en0
op = BOOTREPLY
htype = 1
dp_flags = 0
hlen = 6
hops = 0
xid = 1956115059
secs = 0
ciaddr = 0.0.0.0
yiaddr = 192.168.4.10
siaddr = 192.168.4.1
giaddr = 0.0.0.0
chaddr = 0:3:93:7a:d7:5c
sname = dhcp.mycompany.net
file =
options:
Options count is 10
dhcp_message_type (uint8): ACK 0x5
server_identifier (ip): 192.168.4.1
lease_time (uint32): 0x164a
subnet_mask (ip): 255.255.255.0
router (ip_mult): {192.168.4.1}
domain_name_server (ip_mult): {192.168.4.1}
domain_name (string): mycompany.net
end (none):
# ipconfig getoption en0 router
192.168.4.1
SEE ALSO
configd(8), bootpd(8), scselect(8)
HISTORY
The ipconfig command first appeared in Mac OS X Version 10.0 Public Beta.

Mac OS X

March 27, 2013