How to add new Network Adapter in Linux Ubuntu 16.04

This is the blog, how to add new network interface in Linux Ubuntu 16.04 TLS.

For a System Administrator, It is a common task which is required on demand to add additional Network Interface. It may be required for different purpose i.e. Setup Bridge Interface, Setting up VLAN etc.

1 - Requirement :- In my scenario, I am using Ubuntu 16.04 TLS box running on the Virtual box.

2 - Check Current Interfaces :-

We can check current available Network interfaces using below method.

A- Using command ifconfig -a

root@U16:~# ifconfig -a
enp0s3    Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 08:00:27:ae:86:3c
          inet addr:10.0.0.161  Bcast:10.0.1.255  Mask:255.255.254.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::a00:27ff:feae:863c/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:1906 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:894 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:1646594 (1.6 MB)  TX bytes:73845 (73.8 KB)

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:65536  Metric:1
          RX packets:160 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:160 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1
          RX bytes:11840 (11.8 KB)  TX bytes:11840 (11.8 KB)

B- Using command ip link

root@U16:~# ip link
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
2: enp0s3: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UP mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 08:00:27:ae:86:3c brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
root@U16:~#

3- Now Add new network interface from Virtual Box.

- Shutdown your VM first

- Select (1) VM Go to VM (2) setting  

- Select (1) Network from left side menu, Choose (2) Network adapter 2 , select check box (3) enable network Adapter and Select (4) Bridge Adapter from drop down list Attached to option.

- Click Ok  And Start the VM.

4- Check newly added interface :-

root@U16:~# ifconfig -a
enp0s3    Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 08:00:27:ae:86:3c
          inet addr:10.0.0.161  Bcast:10.0.1.255  Mask:255.255.254.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::a00:27ff:feae:863c/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:723 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:114 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:67371 (67.3 KB)  TX bytes:16991 (16.9 KB)

enp0s8    Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 08:00:27:98:ec:88
          BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

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:65536  Metric:1
          RX packets:160 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:160 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1
          RX bytes:11840 (11.8 KB)  TX bytes:11840 (11.8 KB)

Newly available interface is enp0s8

5- Let's configure enp0s8 interface and activate this adapter:-

Open interfaces from /etc/network location using vi editor. And append below line.

auto enp0s8

iface enp0s8 inet dhcp

root@U16:~# vi /etc/network/interfaces

auto enp0s8
iface enp0s8 inet dhcp

Save and Exit form file.

6- Restart Networking service to apply changes :-

root@U16:~# service networking restart

7- Let's check for IP address :-

Use command ifconfig or ip addr to check assigned IP address.

root@U16:~# ifconfig
enp0s3    Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 08:00:27:ae:86:3c
          inet addr:10.0.0.161  Bcast:10.0.1.255  Mask:255.255.254.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::a00:27ff:feae:863c/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:6811 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:381 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:627377 (627.3 KB)  TX bytes:80855 (80.8 KB)

enp0s8    Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 08:00:27:98:ec:88
          inet addr:10.0.0.81  Bcast:10.0.1.255  Mask:255.255.254.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::a00:27ff:fe98:ec88/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:2246 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:8 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:209378 (209.3 KB)  TX bytes:1192 (1.1 KB)

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:65536  Metric:1
          RX packets:160 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:160 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1
          RX bytes:11840 (11.8 KB)  TX bytes:11840 (11.8 KB)

We have successfully added newly Interface and getting IP address.

That's All

!!!Cheers!!!