How to identify a NIC

mclaborn

Is there a way in pfSense (GUI and/or command line) to blink the lights on a specific NIC so that it can be easily identified? I'm setting up a new configuration and the trial-and-error process is cumbersome. (And I haven't guessed correctly yet.)

dotdash

I generally plug a cable in and check which interface now has link. Multi-port cards should progress in a logical direction.

stephenw10

I think Intel NICs can do that via /dev/led.
https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=em&apropos=0&sektion=0&manpath=FreeBSD+10.1-RELEASE&arch=default&format=html#FILES

Steve

Derelict

That's awesome. Works great.

mclaborn

That worked for 2 of my 6 NICs.

regexaurus

Necropost here, but I found another option that worked well for me. I thought it might be helpful for others arriving by web search. Similar to the above solution by dotdash, but it works in a shell and is not limited to Intel nics.

Physically connect or disconnect the port in question, then at a shell prompt:

dmesg

or

dmesg | tail

At the end of the output, you should see something like:

emn: link state changed to UP

or

emn: link state changed to DOWN

Depending on whether you connected or disconnected the port.
For what it's worth...