NETSTART(8)

📦 in nixpkgs unstable

NETSTART(8) — network startup script, from the System Manager's Manual, bestie 🦋

✨ NAME ✨

netstart — network startup script. It's giving "the script that gets your network online," and I'm obsessed. 💖

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

sh /etc/netstart [-n] [interface ...]

That's the whole summoning circle: sh, then /etc/netstart, then optional -n and optional interface names. 🫶

🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

Okay so netstart is a sh(1) script. It gets invoked by rc(8) during an automatic reboot and after single-user mode is exited; it performs network initialization. No cap, that's its whole main-character job. 💅

It can also be used to start newly created interfaces. Its behaviour is controlled to some extent by variables defined in rc.conf(8) — "to some extent" is doing a lot of work there, so don't forget it. 😌

During the system boot, netstart is executed. It performs the following operations, in the sequence given — order matters, bestie:

  • Configure the loopback interface. ✨
  • Configure all physical interfaces. 🔥
  • Configure non-physical interfaces that can provide the default gateway, such as aggr(4), trunk(4), svlan(4), vlan(4), carp(4), and pppoe(4). 👑
  • Initialize the routing table and set up the default routes. 🌈
  • Configure tunnel interfaces that require a working network to reach the other end of the tunnel, such as tun(4), tap(4), gif(4), etherip(4), gre(4), egre(4), pflow(4), and wg(4). 🚇

After the system is completely initialized, it is possible to start newly created interfaces or apply configuration from hostname.if(5) files to an existing interface. So yes, it can pop off after boot too. 💖

The options are as follows — and honestly there is exactly one, she's iconic:

  • -n — Reports the steps that would be taken, without actually configuring anything. You get the whole plan and zero config changes. ☕👀

💜 SEE ALSO 💜

Go read these next, bestie — the supporting cast:

🦋 HISTORY 🦋

The netstart command first appeared in 4.0BSD. Ancient icon behaviour, honestly. 🫶

Okay bestie, that's the whole manual page. This one is from the Debian edition, dated October 25, 2022, and the manual entry is NETSTART(8). Stay configured, stay slay. 💅✨

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