In Ruby on Linux, how can I check for the existence of a named network interface like eth0?

Question

In ruby 1.8.5, how can I check for the existence of a named network interface like eth0 or wan0 under linux? Even checking the existence would be a start. I'm aware that I could wrap a shell command to use ifconfig or somesuch, but would rather have a pure ruby solution.

Another way of phrasing the question might be "If I was implementing ifconfig in ruby, what API would I use?"

Answer 1

This may be helpful:

Sockets Programming in Ruby

Answer 2

ifconfig opens /proc/net/dev and reads the interfaces out of there.

Answer 3

I think you should look into the sysfs tree, specifically in /sys/class/net/.

Answer 4

%x[ifconfig eth0]

Check this out.