Get USB tethering from Android device to work on Debian 8

Ok, it appears I have figured it out. These commands made it work:

ip link set usb0 up
dhclient usb0

Strangely enough, ifup usb0 still tells me that this interface is unknown, and: before running dhclient, not even a ping 8.8.8.8 works.

I'd still be interested to know how I can automate this, or why this does happen automatically on another Debian 8 install.

Add this to /etc/network/interfaces config file:

auto usb0
allow-hotplug usb0
iface usb0 inet dhcp

and after reboot

sudo ifconfig usb0 up

if you system is ubuntu after 16.04 you might need to change the name of the interface:

auto enusb01
allow-hotplug enusb01
iface enusb01 inet dhcp

and after reboot

sudo ifconfig enusb01 up

If none works try to see list with ifconfig -a | grep Link and and then try to mount the relevant one up or do the steps above an then mount that up.