What is the command to flash a NIC link light?

Question

I remember using a command line tool to flash a NIC's link light to identify it. I can't remember for the life of me what it was.

score 42 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 16 '11 at 13:29

42

Yeah it was ethtool I was looking for but specifically this will flash the link light for two minutes:

ethtool -p eth0 120

answered Oct 16 '11 at 13:29

rjmoggach

it will blink activity led ( orange) or link light (green)? – Alok Prasad Jul 09 '20 at 10:40
may vary based on NIC but for the ones I tested it flashed the link light – rjmoggach May 26 '22 at 17:18

score 34 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 16 '11 at 13:26

34

Is ethtool what you're looking for

ethtool --identify eth0

answered Oct 16 '11 at 13:26

user9517

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 18 '17 at 09:46

3

Ethtool also works with vmware ESXi with -p parameter:

Example: ethtool -p vmnic0 15

vmnic0 will blink for 15 seconds

Here is a video that shows how it works (at 2:50 shows blink):

answered Jun 18 '17 at 09:46

Roger Murtaugh

3 Answers3