Resetting the Network Interface (NIC)

Turning the network adapter off and on again clears its current IP addresses, routes, and reloads the connection.

The Old Way

You would use ifconfig to disable and enable the interface:

ifconfig eth0 down
ifconfig eth0 up

Alternatively, the ifdown and ifup scripts could be used for the same purpose.

The Modern Way

Because ifconfig is now deprecated, the modern equivalent uses the ip command:

ip link set eth0 down
ip link set eth0 up

The Systemd Way

Rather than targeting a specific NIC, you can restart the background service that manages all network interfaces. Depending on your Linux distribution, use one of the following:

sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager

Or, if your system uses systemd-networkd instead:

sudo systemctl restart systemd-networkd