Use ip neigh and ARP for network debugging on Slackware

1. When to use it

This is the right guide when a machine responds intermittently or changes MAC after failover, switch changes, or hardware replacement.

ip neigh | arp | arping | gateway | L2 cache

ip neigh show
arping -I eth0 192.168.1.1
ip neigh flush dev eth0

Adjust host names, IPs, interfaces, paths, and versions to the real system before making the change persistent.

ip neigh show dev eth0
ip route get 192.168.1.1
arping -I eth0 192.168.1.1

Confirm that the output matches the expected state before considering the intervention complete.

A stale ARP cache is easy to overlook, but it can waste hours of troubleshooting if you do not check it early.

[ ] Steps completed\n[ ] Config updated\n[ ] Tests executed\n[ ] Rollback ready\n[ ] Logs checked