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RTNETLINK(7)

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NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

       rtnetlink, NETLINK_ROUTE - Linux IPv4 routing socket.

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

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

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

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

       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,
       neighbour  setups,  queueing  disciplines,  traffic  classes and packet
       classifiers may all be controlled through NETLINK_ROUTE sockets.  It is
       based on netlink messages, see netlink(7) for more information.


ROUTING ATTRIBUTES    [Toc]    [Back]

       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    [Toc]    [Back]

       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 followed
 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	   struct	      Interface Statistics.
				   net_device_stats

       RTM_NEWADDR, RTM_DELADDR, RTM_GETADDR
	      Add,  remove  or receive information about an IP address associated
 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 followed
 by rtaddr routing attributes.

	      struct ifaddrmsg
	      {
		  unsigned char  ifa_family;  /* Address type */
		  unsigned char  ifa_prefixlen;/* Prefixlength of the 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 interface),
 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 setting
 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 source */
		  unsigned char  rtm_src_len; /* Length of destination */
		  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 unicast)

	      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 (currently
 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 kernel,
  they  are  just for user information.  They may be used to
	      tag the source of a routing information or to distingush 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 multicast 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 arbitary 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 neighbour 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 bitmask 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

	      document the members of the struct better

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


	      NDA_UNSPEC      unknown type
	      NDA_DST	      a neighbour cache network layer destination address
	      NDA_LLADDR      a neighbour 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    [Toc]    [Back]

       rtnetlink is a new feature of Linux 2.2.

BUGS    [Toc]    [Back]

       This manual page is lacking and incomplete.

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

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



Linux Man Page			  1999-04-30			  RTNETLINK(7)
[ Back ]
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