Portable Network Interface Information (Fork)

0.0.22 · active · verified Fri Apr 17

netifaces2 is a Python library providing portable access to network interface information. It is a fork of the original `netifaces` library, offering improved support, particularly for Windows, and is actively maintained. The current version is 0.0.22, with recent updates focusing on stability and new features like listing interfaces by name and index, enhancing Windows compatibility.

Common errors

```
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'netifaces2'
```
cause The netifaces2 package is not installed in the active Python environment.

fix Run `pip install netifaces2` in your active Python environment.
```
AttributeError: module 'netifaces' has no attribute 'interfaces'
```
cause You intended to use `netifaces2` but imported the original `netifaces` package, which might not be installed or has an incompatible API.

fix Ensure you have `netifaces2` installed (`pip install netifaces2`) and are importing it correctly: `import netifaces2`.
```
KeyError: 2 (or other address family constants like 17 or 18) when accessing `addrs[netifaces2.AF_INET]`
```
cause The specified network interface does not have an address configured for the requested address family (e.g., no IPv4 address for AF_INET).

fix Always check if the address family exists in the returned dictionary before accessing it, e.g., `if netifaces2.AF_INET in addrs:`.
```
Memory allocation issues on Windows (application uses excessive RAM or crashes)
```
cause Older versions of netifaces2 on Windows had known memory management issues, particularly with complex network configurations.

fix Upgrade to netifaces2 version 0.0.22 or newer (`pip install --upgrade netifaces2`) which includes several Windows memory fixes.

Warnings

gotcha Users migrating from the original `netifaces` library might mistakenly install or import `netifaces` instead of `netifaces2`. These are distinct packages, and `netifaces2` is the actively maintained fork.
Fix: Always use `pip install netifaces2` and `import netifaces2` in your code.
gotcha On Windows, prior to version 0.0.22, users might encounter stability issues, including potential unbounded memory allocations, particularly on complex network setups.
Fix: Ensure you are running netifaces2 version 0.0.22 or newer for improved Windows stability by running `pip install --upgrade netifaces2`. Report specific issues to the GitHub repository.
gotcha Network interface names can vary significantly across operating systems (e.g., 'eth0', 'en0', 'Local Area Connection'). Hardcoding interface names can lead to non-portable code.
Fix: Use `netifaces2.interfaces()` to dynamically get a list of available interfaces and iterate through them, or use platform-specific logic to resolve common interface names.

Install

pip install netifaces2 Install latest version

Imports

interfaces
wrong:
```
import netifaces
netifaces.interfaces()
```
correct:
```
import netifaces2
netifaces2.interfaces()
```
netifaces2 is a distinct, actively maintained fork of the original netifaces package. Ensure you import the correct package.
ifaddresses
wrong:
```
import netifaces
netifaces.ifaddresses('eth0')
```
correct:
```
import netifaces2
netifaces2.ifaddresses('eth0')
```
Ensure you are importing from the 'netifaces2' package for current features and fixes.
AF_INET
wrong:
```
from netifaces import AF_INET
```
correct:
```
from netifaces2 import AF_INET
```
Constants like AF_INET are re-exported by netifaces2. Always import from the 'netifaces2' package.

Quickstart

This example demonstrates how to list all network interfaces and retrieve their IPv4, IPv6, and MAC addresses using `netifaces2`.

import netifaces2

print(f"All interfaces: {netifaces2.interfaces()}")

for i in netifaces2.interfaces():
    print(f"\nInterface: {i}")
    addrs = netifaces2.ifaddresses(i)
    if netifaces2.AF_INET in addrs:
        for link in addrs[netifaces2.AF_INET]:
            print(f"  IPv4: {link.get('addr')}")
    if netifaces2.AF_INET6 in addrs:
        for link in addrs[netifaces2.AF_INET6]:
            print(f"  IPv6: {link.get('addr')}")
    if netifaces2.AF_LINK in addrs:
        for link in addrs[netifaces2.AF_LINK]:
            print(f"  MAC: {link.get('addr')}")

view raw JSON →