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IF_NAMETOINDEX

Section: Linux Programmer's Manual (3)
Updated: 2017-09-15
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NAME

if_nametoindex, if_indextoname - mappings between network interface names and indexes

SYNOPSIS

#include <net/if.h>

unsigned int if_nametoindex(const char *ifname);

char *if_indextoname(unsigned int ifindex, char *ifname);

DESCRIPTION

The if_nametoindex() function returns the index of the network interface corresponding to the name ifname.

The if_indextoname() function returns the name of the network interface corresponding to the interface index ifindex. The name is placed in the buffer pointed to by ifname. The buffer must allow for the storage of at least IF_NAMESIZE bytes.

RETURN VALUE

On success, if_nametoindex() returns the index number of the network interface; on error, 0 is returned and errno is set appropriately.

On success, if_indextoname() returns ifname; on error, NULL is returned and errno is set appropriately.

ERRORS

if_nametoindex() may fail and set errno if:

ENODEV: No interface found with given name.

if_indextoname() may fail and set errno if:

ENXIO: No interface found for the index.

if_nametoindex() and if_indextoname() may also fail for any of the errors specified for socket(2) or ioctl(2).

ATTRIBUTES

For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see attributes(7).

Interface	Attribute	Value
if_nametoindex(), if_indextoname()	Thread safety	MT-Safe

CONFORMING TO

POSIX.1-2001, POSIX.1-2008, RFC 3493.

This function first appeared in BSDi.

COLOPHON

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