configuring a nic from the command line
 

how do I configure the nic from the command line? Will need to set a static ip, mask, gateway, and dns servers.

What distro are you using? This matters when editing the config files.

To set up the DNS severs, edit the /etc/resolv.conf file.

You can change the setting til the next reboot buy issuing the command:
ifconfig eth0 10.10.10.1 netmask 255.255.255.0
and
route add default gw 10.10.10.254

I believe in Red Hat and other distros based on it, edit the config file /ect/sysconfig/network-scripts/eth0 (or something like that). There should be lines in that file that let you set the IP, netmask and default gateway.

FC4