Linux network interfaces are referenced by name. Use Linux utility ifconfig to determine the names of interfaces on your host. By default, Toolkit programs communicate with powerline devices on interface eth1 but another interface can be specified on the command line with the -i option:
In the previous example, int6k will send and receive frames on interface eth3 instead of the default interface. Having to specify the interface can become become tedious when entering commands manually. An alternative method involves setting environment variable PLC to your preferred Ethernet interfaces, as follows:
In the previous example, environment variable PLC is defined and exported, making it available to all programs running under the current console session. This command can be included in ~/.profile or /etc/profile or in /etc/environment on Debian ™ and Ubuntu™ systems.
Example 5.3. Finding Interfaces on Linux
# ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:60:97:05:97:0C
inet addr:192.168.170.179 Bcast:192.168.170.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::260:97ff:fe05:970c/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:52130758 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:59629414 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:43781526 (41.7 MiB) TX bytes:4226651392 (3.9 GiB)
Interrupt:209 Base address:0xe000
eth1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:0F:EA:10:D5:1C
inet addr:192.168.99.1 Bcast:192.168.99.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::20f:eaff:fe10:d51c/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:68711621 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:70059644 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:3449044517 (3.2 GiB) TX bytes:1328494982 (1.2 GiB)
Interrupt:217
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:177789 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:177789 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:599522176 (571.7 MiB) TX bytes:599522176 (571.7 MiB)
The previous example demonstrates the use of Linux ifconfig utility to identify available network interfaces by name and MAC address.
If your computer has multiple Ethernet interface cards installed, you can connect each card to a different Atheros powerline device and communicate with each device, independently, from one console session (window) by specifying the appropriate interface card with each command. It is also possible to open multiple console sessions (windows), each having a unique enviroment, and assign a different value for PLC in each enviroment.