ipconfig / ifconfig
Commands that display and manage a host's IP configuration, including address, mask, and gateway.
On Windows, ipconfig displays a host’s IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway for each active adapter. The /all switch adds the MAC address, DHCP server, DNS servers, lease obtained/expires timestamps, and whether DHCP is enabled — critical when chasing addressing or name-resolution failures. A 169.254.x.x (APIPA) address signals that DHCP failed. On Linux and macOS the equivalent is ip addr (modern) or the older ifconfig. Use ipconfig /release and /renew to force a DHCP cycle on Windows; Linux uses dhclient. Do not confuse ipconfig, which reads local interface state, with nslookup, which queries DNS.
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