ip-route

manages the kernel routing table

TLDR

Show routing table

$ ip route

Add default gateway

$ sudo ip route add default via [gateway_ip]

Add default via interface

$ sudo ip route add default dev [eth0]

Add static route

$ sudo ip route add [10.0.0.0/24] via [gateway_ip] dev [eth0]

Add a route with a metric and preferred source address

$ sudo ip route add [10.0.0.0/24] via [gateway_ip] metric [100] src [local_ip]

Replace a route, adding it if it does not exist (idempotent)

$ sudo ip route replace default via [gateway_ip] dev [eth0]

Delete route

$ sudo ip route delete [10.0.0.0/24] dev [eth0]

Change route

$ sudo ip route change [10.0.0.0/24] via [gateway_ip] dev [eth0]

Add a blackhole route that silently drops traffic

$ sudo ip route add blackhole [203.0.113.0/24]

Add a multipath (ECMP) default route

$ sudo ip route add default nexthop via [gw1] weight 1 nexthop via [gw2] weight 1

Get route to destination

$ ip route get [destination_ip]

Show specific table

$ ip route list table [100]

Flush all routes of a device

$ sudo ip route flush dev [eth0]

Save and restore the routing table

$ ip route save > [routes.bin] && sudo ip route restore < [routes.bin]

ip [options] route { command | help }ip route { show | flush } SELECTORip route { add | del | change | append | replace } ROUTEip route get ADDRESS [options]ip route { save | restore }

DESCRIPTION

ip route manages the kernel routing table. It can add, delete, and modify routes, as well as query which route the kernel will use for a specific destination.

PARAMETERS

list (or no command)

Display the routing table

add

Add a new route

delete

Remove a route

change

Modify an existing route

replace

Change or add if not exists

append

Add a route even if one with the same key exists (for IPv6, adds a nexthop to a multipath route)

flush SELECTOR

Remove all routes matching the selector

save, restore

Dump routes as raw netlink data to stdout, or restore them from stdin

get address

Show route for a specific destination

default

Default gateway route

via gateway

Specify next-hop gateway

dev interface

Specify output interface

table id

Work with a specific routing table

src address

Preferred source address for traffic to this destination

metric number

Route priority; lower values are preferred

proto rtproto

Routing protocol identifier: kernel, boot, static, dhcp, or a number

scope scope

Route scope: global, link, or host

onlink

Pretend the next hop is directly attached even if it does not match any prefix

nexthop NH

Define a next hop of a multipath route (can be repeated, with optional weight)

mtu number

Set the path MTU for the route

type

Route type: unicast (default), local, broadcast, multicast, blackhole, unreachable, prohibit, throw

INSTALL

sudo apt install iproute2

sudo pacman -S iproute2

sudo apk add iproute2-minimal

sudo zypper install iproute2

brew install iproute2

nix profile install nixpkgs#iproute2

CAVEATS

Routes added are not persistent; use network configuration files for persistence. Multiple routing tables can be used with policy routing. The default table is "main".

HISTORY

ip route is part of iproute2, written by Alexey Kuznetsov in the late 1990s, replacing the deprecated route command from net-tools.

RESOURCES

Source code · Documentation