Why is ifconfig command missing in Debian Linux?

The ifconfig command has been deprecated and thus missing by default on Debian Linux 10.

# ifconfig
-bash: ifconfig: command not found

The new and recommended alternative for examining a network configuration on Debian Linux is ip command. For example to use ip command to display a network configuration run the following:

# ip address

The above ip command can be abbreviated to:

# ip a

If you still prefer to use ifconfig as part of your daily sys admin routine, you can easily install it as part of the net-tools package.

Requirements

Privileged access to your Debian Linux system is required.