Linux provides tons of command-line utilities to perform various tasks. However, with the passage of time, some of these tools have become outdated and replaced by other alternative command-line tools.

In this guide, we will highlight 6 deprecated Linux commands and alternative tools that you should be using instead. Most of these commands are networking utilities that are provided by the net-tools package which has not been under active maintenance for quite a while now.

1. ifconfig Command

The Linux ifconfig command is a networking command that views and changes the configuration of a network interface. It displays details about the network interface such as the interface name, ip address configuration, MTU, and hardware address to mention a few. It can also be used to bring down or activate an interface.

The ifconfig command has since been replaced by the ip command, which takes the following forms.

$ ip address
OR 
$ ip addr 
OR 
$ ip a
OR
$ ip link

[ You might also like: How to Use IP Command in Linux [24 Useful Examples] ]

2. netstat Command

The Linux netstat command is a command-line tool for monitoring a wide array of network statistics. It monitors active network connections, incoming and outgoing connections, routing tables, and listening ports alongside the PIDs of services associated with the listening ports.

The command has since been replaced by the ss command which performs similar tasks.

$ ss -t
OR
$ ss -l

[ You might also like: 12 ss Command Examples to Monitor Network Connections ]

3. scp Command

The scp command, short for secure copy, has long been used to securely transfer files from one Linux system to another. However, the scp has since been deprecated by RHEL 9 due to a myriad of security challenges. In fact, modern Red Hat distributions are not shipping with scp anymore.

In its place, scp has been replaced by other alternatives such as rsync and sftp.

$ rsync -zvh backup.tar.bz2 /tmp/backups/
OR
$ sftp [email?protected]

4. route Command

The route command-line tool allows you to view and make changes to the routing table of your Linux system.

The tool has since been replaced by the ip route command.

$ ip route show

5. egrep and fgrep Commands

The egrep and fgrep commands belong to the family of grep functions.

Here is a brief expression of what each command does.

• The egrep command is a pattern-searching utility that prints out lines in a file that match a specific string or pattern.
• The fgrep command searches for fixed character strings in a file or multiple files.

The egrep command has since been replaced by grep -E while fgrep has been replaced by grep -F.

6. arp, route, iptunnel, and nameif Commands

Nearly all the networking command-line tools in the net-tools package have been deprecated or replaced by new ones. The arp, route, iptunnel, and nameif have been deprecated and better tools have taken their place.

The commands have been replaced as follows.

• arp – Has been replaced by the ip neighbor (ip n) command.
• route – Relaced by the ip route (ip r) command.
• iptunnel – Replaced by ip tunnel command.
• nameif – Replaced by ip link command.

Conclusion

That was a round-up of some of the commands that have been deprecated and replaced by modern alternatives. It’s worth pointing out that although some of these commands have been deprecated, or are considered outdated, they still work when executed.

Deprecated networking tools such as ifconfig, route, and netstat still provide the desired information when executed. Ultimately, the decision on which command-line tool to use entirely rests with the user.

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