Enable network wake-ups from Linux and control remote power with simple commands. 28.12.2025 | reading time: 3 min Wake a powered-off PC over the network by enabling Wake-on-LAN on the NIC and sending a magic packet; this guide shows the exact commands and a persistence trick to keep WOL across boots. Check and enable the NIC Demonstration: inspect the interface, enable WOL, and verify the change with these commands and outputs shown as an example; use your interface name instead of "eth0" and run as root if needed: ```bash $ sudo ethtool eth0 Settings for eth0: Supported ports: [ TP ] Supported link modes: 1000baseT/Full Supports Wake-on: pumbg Wake-on: d $ sudo ethtool -s eth0 wol g $ sudo ethtool eth0 Settings for eth0: Supports Wake-on: pumbg Wake-on: g ``` Make it survive boot WOL settings can be lost on shutdown or driver reload, so persist them with a small systemd oneshot unit or a network manager hook; example service to run at boot: ```ini [Unit] Description=Enable Wake-on-LAN on eth0 After=network.target [Service] Type=oneshot ExecStart=/sbin/ethtool -s eth0 wol g RemainAfterExit=yes [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target ``` enable with `systemctl enable enable-wol.service` and test by reboot. Parameters and deployment notes Remember to enable Wake-on-LAN in the BIOS/UEFI and ensure the switch or router keeps link power for the NIC; common `ethtool` flags are "p" "u" "m" "b" "a" "g" and "s" where "g" is MagicPacket and "s" is SecureOn, and be aware some laptops or virtual NICs do not support WOL or require special vendor drivers. Send the magic packet After enabling WOL on the target, send a magic packet from any machine on the same layer-2 network with tools like `wakeonlan` or `etherwake` or with smartphone apps; example: `wakeonlan 00:11:22:33:44:55` will wake the NIC whose MAC address is given, and if you use SecureOn you must provide the password supported by your sender tool. Conclusion and next steps You now know how to check NIC capabilities, enable Wake-on-LAN, make the setting persistent, and trigger wake-ups remotely; explore integrating WOL into maintenance scripts, monitoring systems, and remote boot workflows and consider deepening Linux skills for certification with focused training like bitsandbytes.academy for CompTIA Linux+ or LPIC-1 preparation. Join Bits & Bytes Academy First class LINUX exam preparation. network boot-process utilities
