IP-NETNS(8) Linux IP-NETNS(8)
NAME
ip-netns - process network namespace management
SYNOPSIS
ip [ OPTIONS ] netns { COMMAND | help }
ip netns [ list ]
ip netns add NETNSNAME
ip netns attach NETNSNAME PID
ip [-all] netns del [ NETNSNAME ]
ip netns set NETNSNAME NETNSID
NETNSID := auto | POSITIVE-INT
ip netns identify [ PID ]
ip netns pids NETNSNAME
ip [-all] netns exec [ NETNSNAME ] command...
ip netns monitor
ip netns list-id [ target-nsid POSITIVE-INT ] [ nsid POSITIVE-INT ]
DESCRIPTION
A network namespace is logically another copy of the network stack, with
its own routes, firewall rules, and network devices.
By default a process inherits its network namespace from its parent.
Initially all the processes share the same default network namespace
from the init process.
By convention a named network namespace is an object at /run/netns/NAME
that can be opened. The file descriptor resulting from opening
/run/netns/NAME refers to the specified network namespace. Holding that
file descriptor open keeps the network namespace alive. The file de-
scriptor can be used with the setns(2) system call to change the network
namespace associated with a task.
For applications that are aware of network namespaces, the convention is
to look for global network configuration files first in /etc/netns/NAME/
then in /etc/. For example, if you want a different version of /etc/re-
solv.conf for a network namespace used to isolate your vpn you would
name it /etc/netns/myvpn/resolv.conf.
ip netns exec automates handling of this configuration, file convention
for network namespace unaware applications, by creating a mount name-
space and bind mounting all of the per network namespace configure files
into their traditional location in /etc.
ip netns list - show all of the named network namespaces
This command displays all of the network namespaces in /run/netns
ip netns add NAME - create a new named network namespace
If NAME is available in /run/netns this command creates a new
network namespace and assigns NAME.
ip netns attach NAME PID - assign a name to the network namespace of the
process
If NAME is available in /run/netns this command attaches the net-
work namespace of the process PID to NAME as if it were created
with ip netns.
ip [-all] netns delete [ NAME ] - delete the name of a network name-
space(s)
If NAME is present in /run/netns it is umounted and the mount
point is removed. If this is the last user of the network name-
space the network namespace will be freed and all physical de-
vices will be moved to the default one, otherwise the network
namespace persists until it has no more users. ip netns delete
may fail if the mount point is in use in another mount namespace.
If -all option was specified then all the network namespace names
will be removed.
It is possible to lose the physical device when it was moved to
netns and then this netns was deleted with a running process:
$ ip netns add net0
$ ip link set dev eth0 netns net0
$ ip netns exec net0 SOME_PROCESS_IN_BACKGROUND
$ ip netns del net0
and eth0 will appear in the default netns only after
SOME_PROCESS_IN_BACKGROUND will exit or will be killed. To pre-
vent this the processes running in net0 should be killed before
deleting the netns:
$ ip netns pids net0 | xargs kill
$ ip netns del net0
ip netns set NAME NETNSID - assign an id to a peer network namespace
This command assigns a id to a peer network namespace. This id is
valid only in the current network namespace. If the keyword
"auto" is specified an available nsid will be chosen. This id
will be used by the kernel in some netlink messages. If no id is
assigned when the kernel needs it, it will be automatically as-
signed by the kernel. Once it is assigned, it's not possible to
change it.
ip netns identify [PID] - Report network namespaces names for process
This command walks through /run/netns and finds all the network
namespace names for network namespace of the specified process,
if PID is not specified then the current process will be used.
ip netns pids NAME - Report processes in the named network namespace
This command walks through proc and finds all of the process who
have the named network namespace as their primary network name-
space.
ip [-all] netns exec [ NAME ] cmd ... - Run cmd in the named network
namespace
This command allows applications that are network namespace un-
aware to be run in something other than the default network name-
space with all of the configuration for the specified network
namespace appearing in the customary global locations. A network
namespace and bind mounts are used to move files from their net-
work namespace specific location to their default locations with-
out affecting other processes.
If -all option was specified then cmd will be executed synchro-
nously on the each named network namespace even if cmd fails on
some of them. Network namespace name is printed on each cmd exe-
cuting.
ip netns monitor - Report as network namespace names are added and
deleted
This command watches network namespace name addition and deletion
events and prints a line for each event it sees.
ip netns list-id [target-nsid POSITIVE-INT] [nsid POSITIVE-INT] - list
network namespace ids (nsid)
Network namespace ids are used to identify a peer network name-
space. This command displays nsids of the current network name-
space and provides the corresponding iproute2 netns name (from
/run/netns) if any.
The target-nsid option enables to display nsids of the specified
network namespace instead of the current network namespace. This
target-nsid is a nsid from the current network namespace.
The nsid option enables to display only this nsid. It is a nsid
from the current network namespace. In combination with the tar-
get-nsid option, it enables to convert a specific nsid from the
current network namespace to a nsid of the target-nsid network
namespace.
EXAMPLES
ip netns list
Shows the list of current named network namespaces
ip netns add vpn
Creates a network namespace and names it vpn
ip netns exec vpn ip link set lo up
Bring up the loopback interface in the vpn network namespace.
ip netns add foo
ip netns add bar
ip netns set foo 12
ip netns set bar 13
ip -n foo netns set foo 22
ip -n foo netns set bar 23
ip -n bar netns set foo 32
ip -n bar netns set bar 33
ip netns list-id target-nsid 12
Shows the list of nsids from the network namespace foo.
ip netns list-id target-nsid 12 nsid 13
Get nsid of bar from the network namespace foo (result is 23).
SEE ALSO
ip(8)
AUTHOR
Original Manpage by Eric W. Biederman
Manpage revised by Nicolas Dichtel <nicolas.dichtel@6wind.com>
iproute2 16 Jan 2013 IP-NETNS(8)
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