What does RUNNING in ifconfig output mean?

Question

Does anyone know what the RUNNING flag in ifconfig output means? (I don't know that it matters much, but this is on a Solaris 10 box.)

The only thing I've been able to find on it so far is this forum post.

Even assuming that's accurate, I'd greatly appreciate a more technical explanation, as well as instructions on how to change the RUNNING state of an interface.

Mike Fiedler · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-03T14:03:34.580

5

The running state is typically associated with the UP state of the interface, i.e. is the interface turned on, and is there a link over that interface (ip address, etc)

A good way to word it:

RUNNING

     Indicates that the required resources for  an  interface
     are  allocated.  For some interfaces this also indicates
     that the link is up.

One way to change the running state is to stop it, i.e. down the interface.

Full page here

edited May 03 '12 at 14:03

answered May 03 '12 at 12:51

Mike Fiedler

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This isnt true, on solaris, if you down an interface it wont effect the running state. – Sirch May 03 '12 at 13:50

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered May 03 '12 at 12:43

3

It means there is a network link to a switch, ie its plugged in.

answered May 03 '12 at 12:43

Sirch

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The selected answer is **incomplete** and **incorrect** without this answer. – Seamus Sep 06 '20 at 22:13

What does RUNNING in ifconfig output mean?

2 Answers2