enp3s0

enp3s0 is a modern Linux network interface name assigned to a specific Ethernet device using the predictable network interface naming scheme implemented by udev/systemd. This naming approach replaces older names like eth0 and is designed to reflect the hardware location of the device on the PCI Express bus, providing persistent identification across reboots and re-enumerations.

The name enp3s0 encodes the PCI location as follows: enp indicates an Ethernet device on the PCI bus; the number after p denotes the PCI bus (for example, 3); the s denotes the slot or device number, and the trailing 0 represents the function number (function 0 in most single-function devices). In practice, enp3s0 will typically correspond to the Ethernet interface located at PCI bus 3, device 0, function 0, though the exact mapping depends on the system’s PCI topology.

This naming is assigned at boot time by the system’s udev rules and can vary between systems or after hardware changes. On some systems, the same hardware may appear as a different enpXsY name if PCI topology changes or if firmware updates alter device enumeration. Conversely, some user configurations or distributions may revert to legacy names (such as eth0) by disabling predictable names or applying specific kernel parameters like net.ifnames=0 or biosdevname=0.

To identify or manage enp3s0, administrators commonly use commands such as ip link show enp3s0, ethtool enp3s0, and lspci -nnk | grep -A3 -i ethernet. Network configuration can be performed with Netplan, NetworkManager, or systemd-networkd, depending on the distribution.