debian man page for nameif

NAMEIF(8)						  Linux's Administrator's Manual						 NAMEIF(8)

NAME
       nameif - name network interfaces based on MAC addresses

SYNOPSIS
       nameif [-c configfile] [-s]
       nameif [-c configfile] [-s] {interface macaddress}

DESCRIPTION
       nameif  renames	network  interfaces  based on mac addresses. When no arguments are given /etc/mactab is read. Each line  of it contains an
       interface name and a Ethernet MAC address. Comments are allowed starting with #.  Otherwise the interfaces specified on	the  command  line
       are processed.  nameif looks for the interface with the given MAC address and renames it to the name given.

       When the -s argument is given all error messages go to the syslog.

       When the -c argument is given with a file name that file is read instead of /etc/mactab.

NOTES
       nameif should be run before the interface is up, otherwise it'll fail.

FILES
       /etc/mactab

BUGS
       Only works for Ethernet currently.

net-tools							    18 Oct 2000 							 NAMEIF(8)