rtnetlink man page on Debian

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RTNETLINK(7)		   Linux Programmer's Manual		  RTNETLINK(7)

NAME
       rtnetlink, NETLINK_ROUTE - Linux IPv4 routing socket

SYNOPSIS
       #include <asm/types.h>
       #include <linux/netlink.h>
       #include <linux/rtnetlink.h>
       #include <sys/socket.h>

       rtnetlink_socket = socket(AF_NETLINK, int socket_type, NETLINK_ROUTE);

DESCRIPTION
       Rtnetlink  allows  the  kernel's routing tables to be read and altered.
       It is used within the kernel to communicate between various subsystems,
       though  this  usage  is not documented here, and for communication with
       user-space programs.  Network routes, IP	 addresses,  link  parameters,
       neighbor setups, queueing disciplines, traffic classes and packet clas‐
       sifiers may all be controlled through  NETLINK_ROUTE  sockets.	It  is
       based on netlink messages; see netlink(7) for more information.

   Routing Attributes
       Some  rtnetlink	messages  have	optional  attributes after the initial
       header:

	   struct rtattr {
	       unsigned short rta_len;	  /* Length of option */
	       unsigned short rta_type;	  /* Type of option */
	       /* Data follows */
	   };

       These attributes should be only manipulated using the RTA_*  macros  or
       libnetlink, see rtnetlink(3).

   Messages
       Rtnetlink  consists  of	these  message	types (in addition to standard
       netlink messages):

       RTM_NEWLINK, RTM_DELLINK, RTM_GETLINK
	      Create, remove or	 get  information  about  a  specific  network
	      interface.   These  messages contain an ifinfomsg structure fol‐
	      lowed by a series of rtattr structures.

	      struct ifinfomsg {
		  unsigned char	 ifi_family; /* AF_UNSPEC */
		  unsigned short ifi_type;   /* Device type */
		  int		 ifi_index;  /* Interface index */
		  unsigned int	 ifi_flags;  /* Device flags  */
		  unsigned int	 ifi_change; /* change mask */
	      };

	      ifi_flags contains the device flags, see netdevice(7); ifi_index
	      is the unique interface index, ifi_change is reserved for future
	      use and should be always set to 0xFFFFFFFF.

	      Routing attributes
	      rta_type		   value type	      description
	      ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
	      IFLA_UNSPEC	   -		      unspecified.
	      IFLA_ADDRESS	   hardware address   interface L2 address
	      IFLA_BROADCAST	   hardware address   L2 broadcast address.
	      IFLA_IFNAME	   asciiz string      Device name.

	      IFLA_MTU		   unsigned int	      MTU of the device.
	      IFLA_LINK		   int		      Link type.
	      IFLA_QDISC	   asciiz string      Queueing discipline.
	      IFLA_STATS	   see below	      Interface Statistics.

	      The value type for IFLA_STATS is struct net_device_stats.

       RTM_NEWADDR, RTM_DELADDR, RTM_GETADDR
	      Add, remove or receive information about an IP  address  associ‐
	      ated  with  an  interface.  In Linux 2.2, an interface can carry
	      multiple IP addresses, this replaces the alias device concept in
	      2.0.   In	 Linux	2.2,  these  messages  support	IPv4  and IPv6
	      addresses.  They contain an ifaddrmsg structure, optionally fol‐
	      lowed by rtattr routing attributes.

	      struct ifaddrmsg {
		  unsigned char ifa_family;    /* Address type */
		  unsigned char ifa_prefixlen; /* Prefixlength of address */
		  unsigned char ifa_flags;     /* Address flags */
		  unsigned char ifa_scope;     /* Address scope */
		  int		ifa_index;     /* Interface index */
	      };

	      ifa_family  is  the  address  family  type (currently AF_INET or
	      AF_INET6), ifa_prefixlen is the length of the  address  mask  of
	      the address if defined for the family (like for IPv4), ifa_scope
	      is the address scope, ifa_index is the interface	index  of  the
	      interface	 the  address is associated with.  ifa_flags is a flag
	      word of IFA_F_SECONDARY for secondary address (old alias	inter‐
	      face),  IFA_F_PERMANENT  for a permanent address set by the user
	      and other undocumented flags.

	       Attributes
	      rta_type	      value type	     description
	      ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
	      IFA_UNSPEC      -			     unspecified.
	      IFA_ADDRESS     raw protocol address   interface address
	      IFA_LOCAL	      raw protocol address   local address
	      IFA_LABEL	      asciiz string	     name of the interface
	      IFA_BROADCAST   raw protocol address   broadcast address.
	      IFA_ANYCAST     raw protocol address   anycast address
	      IFA_CACHEINFO   struct ifa_cacheinfo   Address information.

       RTM_NEWROUTE, RTM_DELROUTE, RTM_GETROUTE
	      Create, remove or receive information  about  a  network	route.
	      These  messages  contain	an  rtmsg  structure  with an optional
	      sequence of rtattr structures following.	For RTM_GETROUTE, set‐
	      ting  rtm_dst_len and rtm_src_len to 0 means you get all entries
	      for the specified routing table.	For the other  fields,	except
	      rtm_table and rtm_protocol, 0 is the wildcard.

	      struct rtmsg {
		  unsigned char rtm_family;   /* Address family of route */
		  unsigned char rtm_dst_len;  /* Length of destination */
		  unsigned char rtm_src_len;  /* Length of source */
		  unsigned char rtm_tos;      /* TOS filter */

		  unsigned char rtm_table;    /* Routing table ID */
		  unsigned char rtm_protocol; /* Routing protocol; see below */
		  unsigned char rtm_scope;    /* See below */
		  unsigned char rtm_type;     /* See below */

		  unsigned int	rtm_flags;
	      };

	      rtm_type		Route type
	      ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
	      RTN_UNSPEC	unknown route
	      RTN_UNICAST	a gateway or direct route
	      RTN_LOCAL		a local interface route
	      RTN_BROADCAST	a  local  broadcast  route  (sent  as  a
				broadcast)
	      RTN_ANYCAST	a local broadcast route (sent as a  uni‐
				cast)
	      RTN_MULTICAST	a multicast route
	      RTN_BLACKHOLE	a packet dropping route
	      RTN_UNREACHABLE	an unreachable destination
	      RTN_PROHIBIT	a packet rejection route
	      RTN_THROW		continue routing lookup in another table
	      RTN_NAT		a network address translation rule
	      RTN_XRESOLVE	refer	to  an	external  resolver  (not
				implemented)

	      rtm_protocol	Route origin.
	      ─────────────────────────────────────────────
	      RTPROT_UNSPEC	unknown
	      RTPROT_REDIRECT	by an ICMP redirect  (cur‐
				rently unused)
	      RTPROT_KERNEL	by the kernel
	      RTPROT_BOOT	during boot
	      RTPROT_STATIC	by the administrator

	      Values larger than RTPROT_STATIC are not interpreted by the ker‐
	      nel, they are just for user information.	They may  be  used  to
	      tag  the	source	of  a  routing	information  or to distinguish
	      between multiple routing daemons.	 See  <linux/rtnetlink.h>  for
	      the routing daemon identifiers which are already assigned.

	      rtm_scope is the distance to the destination:

	      RT_SCOPE_UNIVERSE	  global route
	      RT_SCOPE_SITE	  interior   route   in	 the
				  local autonomous system
	      RT_SCOPE_LINK	  route on this link
	      RT_SCOPE_HOST	  route on the local host
	      RT_SCOPE_NOWHERE	  destination doesn't exist

	      The  values  between  RT_SCOPE_UNIVERSE  and  RT_SCOPE_SITE  are
	      available to the user.

	      The rtm_flags have the following meanings:

	      RTM_F_NOTIFY     if  the	route changes, notify the user via
			       rtnetlink
	      RTM_F_CLONED     route is cloned from another route
	      RTM_F_EQUALIZE   a multipath equalizer (not yet implemented)

	      rtm_table specifies the routing table

	      RT_TABLE_UNSPEC	 an unspecified routing table
	      RT_TABLE_DEFAULT	 the default table
	      RT_TABLE_MAIN	 the main table
	      RT_TABLE_LOCAL	 the local table

	      The user may assign arbitrary values between RT_TABLE_UNSPEC and
	      RT_TABLE_DEFAULT.

	       Attributes
	      rta_type	      value type	 description
	      ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

	      RTA_UNSPEC      -			 ignored.
	      RTA_DST	      protocol address	 Route destination address.
	      RTA_SRC	      protocol address	 Route source address.
	      RTA_IIF	      int		 Input interface index.
	      RTA_OIF	      int		 Output interface index.
	      RTA_GATEWAY     protocol address	 The gateway of the route
	      RTA_PRIORITY    int		 Priority of route.
	      RTA_PREFSRC
	      RTA_METRICS     int		 Route metric
	      RTA_MULTIPATH
	      RTA_PROTOINFO
	      RTA_FLOW
	      RTA_CACHEINFO

	      Fill these values in!

       RTM_NEWNEIGH, RTM_DELNEIGH, RTM_GETNEIGH
	      Add,  remove or receive information about a neighbor table entry
	      (e.g., an ARP entry).  The message contains an ndmsg structure.

	      struct ndmsg {
		  unsigned char ndm_family;
		  int		ndm_ifindex;  /* Interface index */
		  __u16		ndm_state;    /* State */
		  __u8		ndm_flags;    /* Flags */
		  __u8		ndm_type;
	      };

	      struct nda_cacheinfo {
		  __u32		ndm_confirmed;
		  __u32		ndm_used;
		  __u32		ndm_updated;
		  __u32		ndm_refcnt;
	      };

	      ndm_state is a bit mask of the following states:

	      NUD_INCOMPLETE   a currently resolving cache entry
	      NUD_REACHABLE    a confirmed working cache entry
	      NUD_STALE	       an expired cache entry
	      NUD_DELAY	       an entry waiting for a timer
	      NUD_PROBE	       a cache entry that is currently reprobed
	      NUD_FAILED       an invalid cache entry
	      NUD_NOARP	       a device with no destination cache
	      NUD_PERMANENT    a static entry

	      Valid ndm_flags are:

	      NTF_PROXY	   a proxy arp entry
	      NTF_ROUTER   an IPv6 router

	      The rtattr struct has the following meanings  for	 the  rta_type
	      field:

	      NDA_UNSPEC      unknown type
	      NDA_DST	      a neighbor cache n/w layer destination address
	      NDA_LLADDR      a neighbor cache link layer address
	      NDA_CACHEINFO   cache statistics.

	      If  the rta_type field is NDA_CACHEINFO then a struct nda_cache‐
	      info header follows

       RTM_NEWRULE, RTM_DELRULE, RTM_GETRULE
	      Add, delete or retrieve a routing rule.  Carries a struct rtmsg

       RTM_NEWQDISC, RTM_DELQDISC, RTM_GETQDISC
	      Add, remove or get a queueing discipline.	 The message  contains
	      a struct tcmsg and may be followed by a series of attributes.

	      struct tcmsg {
		  unsigned char	   tcm_family;
		  int		   tcm_ifindex;	  /* interface index */
		  __u32		   tcm_handle;	  /* Qdisc handle */
		  __u32		   tcm_parent;	  /* Parent qdisc */
		  __u32		   tcm_info;
	      };

	      Attributes
	      rta_type	    value type		  Description
	      ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
	      TCA_UNSPEC    -			  unspecified
	      TCA_KIND	    asciiz string	  Name of queueing discipline
	      TCA_OPTIONS   byte sequence	  Qdisc-specific options follow
	      TCA_STATS	    struct tc_stats	  Qdisc statistics.
	      TCA_XSTATS    qdisc specific	  Module-specific statistics.
	      TCA_RATE	    struct tc_estimator	  Rate limit.

	      In  addition  various other qdisc module specific attributes are
	      allowed.	For  more  information	see  the  appropriate  include
	      files.

       RTM_NEWTCLASS, RTM_DELTCLASS, RTM_GETTCLASS
	      Add,  remove  or	get a traffic class.  These messages contain a
	      struct tcmsg as described above.

       RTM_NEWTFILTER, RTM_DELTFILTER, RTM_GETTFILTER
	      Add, remove or  receive  information  about  a  traffic  filter.
	      These messages contain a struct tcmsg as described above.

VERSIONS
       rtnetlink is a new feature of Linux 2.2.

BUGS
       This manual page is incomplete.

SEE ALSO
       cmsg(3), rtnetlink(3), ip(7), netlink(7)

COLOPHON
       This  page  is  part of release 3.27 of the Linux man-pages project.  A
       description of the project, and information about reporting  bugs,  can
       be found at http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.

Linux				  2008-08-08			  RTNETLINK(7)
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