3.2.3.2. ...renaming a network interface, or configuring a "wlan" interface using the GUI configuration tool?

The ifrename utility can be used to rename a network interface. The -i option specifies the old interface name, and -n sets the new name. To rename wlan0 to eth1 , for example:

# ifrename -i wlan0 -n eth1

eth1

# ifconfig wlan0

wlan0: error fetching interface information: Device not found

# ifconfig eth1

eth1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:0C:2D:00:2B:DB

       BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1

       RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0

       TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0

       collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000

       RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

The GUI network configuration program ( system-config-network ) will sometimes refuse to configure interfaces that start with wlan ; after renaming the interface, you can use the GUI configuration tool to permanently set up the interface.