a = """Settings for eth0: Supported ports: [ TP MII ] Supported link modes: 10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full 100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full 1000baseT/Half 1000baseT/Full Supported pause frame use: No Supports auto-negotiation: Yes Advertised link modes: 10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full 100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full 1000baseT/Half 1000baseT/Full Advertised pause frame use: Symmetric Receive-only Advertised auto-negotiation: Yes Speed: 10Mb/s Duplex: Half Port: MII PHYAD: 0 Transceiver: internal Auto-negotiation: on Supports Wake-on: pumbg Wake-on: g Current message level: 0x00000033 (51) drv probe ifdown ifup Link detected: no""" a = "" iface = "eth0" lines = a.split("\n") for line in lines: line = line.strip() if line.startswith("Link detected"): print line.split(":")[1].strip() == "yes" else: print "FAlse"