The command service network restart is used to restart the network services on a
Linux system. This can be necessary after making changes to network configurations,
such as updating IP addresses, modifying DNS settings, or changing network interfaces.
Running the Command
To execute the command, you typically need superuser privileges. Here’s how you can
do it:
1. Open a terminal.
2. Run the command with sudo for root privileges:
bash
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sudo service network restart
Notes on Different Systems
Red Hat/CentOS/Fedora: These distributions use systemd, so the equivalent
command would be:
bash
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sudo systemctl restart network
Debian/Ubuntu: For these distributions, you might use:
bash
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sudo systemctl restart networking
Older Systems: On older systems that do not use systemd, the service
command as shown above is appropriate.
Potential Impact
Restarting the network service will temporarily disrupt network connectivity. This can
affect all network-related activities and services running on the machine. Ensure that
this action will not disrupt critical services or active connections unnecessarily.
Troubleshooting
If the network does not come back up properly after restarting, you can:
Check the status of the network service:
bash
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sudo systemctl status network
Review network configuration files for errors (e.g., /etc/network/interfaces
on Debian/Ubuntu or /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-* on Red
Hat-based systems).
Look at relevant logs, such as /var/log/syslog or /var/log/messages, for
clues on what might have gone wrong.
Alternative Approaches
For changes that require minimal disruption, you can sometimes apply configurations to
individual interfaces without restarting the entire network service. For example, using
ifup and ifdown commands on Debian-based systems:
bash
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sudo ifdown eth0 && sudo ifup eth0
Or using nmcli for NetworkManager-managed connections:
bash
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sudo nmcli connection down <connection_name>
sudo nmcli connection up <connection_name>
This approach can help isolate changes to specific interfaces, reducing overall
downtime.