Which command can display the status of network interfaces and routing tables in a summary format?

The command that can display the status of network interfaces and routing tables in a summary format is "ip -s link." This command is part of the iproute2 suite, which provides a more modern and rich set of features for network management compared to traditional commands.

When using "ip -s link," the option '-s' stands for "summary," and it provides statistics for each network interface, offering a detailed view of the states of those interfaces, such as whether they are up or down, and other important metrics like packet transmission and reception counts. This makes it particularly useful for administrators needing a quick yet comprehensive overview of the network status.

The other commands, while useful in their own right, do not provide a comprehensive summary format covering both network interface status and routing tables as effectively as "ip -s link." For instance, ifconfig mainly focuses on the status of network interfaces but lacks details on routing tables. "ip route" specifically deals with routing table information without providing interface statistics, and "netstat" does not summarize the interface status in the same way and is more focused on active connections and routing statistics. Hence, the choice of "ip -s link" is particularly relevant for summarizing both aspects of network management.