if_nameindex(3)

1IF_NAMEINDEX(3)            Linux Programmer's Manual           IF_NAMEINDEX(3)
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NAME

6       if_nameindex,  if_freenameindex  -  get  network  interface  names  and
7       indexes
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SYNOPSIS

10       #include <net/if.h>
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12       struct if_nameindex *if_nameindex(void);
13       void if_freenameindex(struct if_nameindex *ptr);
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DESCRIPTION

16       The if_nameindex() function returns an  array  of  if_nameindex  struc‐
17       tures,  each containing information about one of the network interfaces
18       on the local system.  The if_nameindex structure contains at least  the
19       following entries:
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21               unsigned int if_index; /* Index of interface (1, 2, ...) */
22               char        *if_name;  /* Null-terminated name ("eth0", etc.) */
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24       The  if_index  field  contains the interface index.  The ifa_name field
25       points to the null-terminated interface name.  The end of the array  is
26       indicated by entry with if_index set to zero and ifa_name set to NULL.
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28       The  data structure returned by if_nameindex() is dynamically allocated
29       and should be freed using if_freenameindex() when no longer needed.
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RETURN VALUE

32       On success, if_nameindex() returns pointer to the array;  on  error,  a
33       NULL pointer is returned, and errno is set appropriately.
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ERRORS

36       if_nameindex() may fail and set errno if:
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38       ENOBUFS
39              Insufficient resources available.
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41       if_nameindex()  may  also  fail  for  any  of  the errors specified for
42       socket(2), bind(2), ioctl(2), getsockname(2), recvmsg(2), sendto(2), or
43       malloc(3).
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VERSIONS

46       The  if_nameindex()  function  first  appeared in glibc 2.1, but before
47       glibc 2.3.4, the implementation supported  only  interfaces  with  IPv4
48       addresses.   Support  of  interfaces  that don't have IPv4 addresses is
49       available only on kernels that support netlink.
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CONFORMING TO

52       RFC 3493, POSIX.1-2001.
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54       This function first appeared in BSDi.
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EXAMPLE

57       The program below demonstrates the use of the  functions  described  on
58       this  page.  An example of the output this program might produce is the
59       following:
60           $ ./a.out
61           1: lo
62           2: wlan0
63           3: em1
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65   Program source
66       #include <net/if.h>
67       #include <stdio.h>
68       #include <stdlib.h>
69       #include <unistd.h>
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71       int
72       main(int argc, char *argv[])
73       {
74           struct if_nameindex *if_ni, *i;
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76           if_ni = if_nameindex();
77           if (if_ni == NULL) {
78               perror("if_nameindex");
79               exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
80           }
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82           for (i = if_ni; ! (i->if_index == 0 && i->if_name == NULL); i++)
83               printf("%u: %s\n", i->if_index, i->if_name);
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85           if_freenameindex(if_ni);
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87           exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
88       }
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COLOPHON

95       This  page  is  part of release 3.53 of the Linux man-pages project.  A
96       description of the project, and information about reporting  bugs,  can
97       be found at http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.
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101GNU                               2012-11-21                   IF_NAMEINDEX(3)