ip-route-get

Print route to a destination

$ ip [[r|route]] [[g|get]] [1.1.1.1]

$ ip [[r|route]] [[g|get]] [destination] from [source]

$ ip [[r|route]] [[g|get]] [destination] iif [ethX]

$ ip [[r|route]] [[g|get]] [destination] oif [ethX]

$ ip [[r|route]] [[g|get]] [destination] tos [0x10]

$ ip [[r|route]] [[g|get]] [destination] vrf [myvrf]

ip [route|rt] get [ OPTIONS ] TO-ADDRESS

from PREFIX
    Match source address prefix

to PREFIX
    Match destination prefix (alternative to positional arg)

tos TOS
    Type-of-Service value

iif STRING
    Incoming device name

oif STRING
    Outgoing device name

mark MARK
    Firewall mark value

table TABLE-ID
    Routing table ID or name

protocol PROTO
    Route protocol (e.g., static, bgp)

scope SCOPE
    Route scope (global, link, host)

type TYPE
    Route type (unicast, local, blackhole)

src PREFIX
    Source address prefix

metric NUMBER
    Route metric

fromdev
    Match source device only

dev STRING
    Device name constraint

vrf NAME
    VRF name

uidrange ID-ID
    UID range for owner matching

fibmatch
    Strict FIB lookup

mdst MDST
    Modified DST lookup

approx
    Approximate lookup

limit LIMIT
    Limit recursion depth

maxdepth DEPTH
    Maximum recursion depth

The ip route get command performs a route lookup in the kernel routing table for a specified destination address, simulating how a packet would be routed without actually sending it. It outputs detailed information about the selected route, including the output interface, source IP address, gateway (next hop), priority, and any policy routing details used.

This is invaluable for network troubleshooting, verifying routing decisions, testing policy-based routing (PBR), and understanding FIB (Forwarding Information Base) selections. It respects routing tables, realms, multipath routes, and rules from ip rule. For example, running ip route get 8.8.8.8 might show:

8.8.8.8 via 192.168.1.1 dev eth0 src 192.168.1.100 uid 1000
cache

Options allow specifying source (from), input/output interfaces (iif, oif), TOS, marks, VRFs, and more, enabling precise simulation of packet contexts. It supports IPv4 and IPv6 seamlessly.

Does not alter routing tables; output reflects current kernel state. IPv6 requires address in [::1] format if scoped. Multipath routes show one nexthop randomly. No packet transmission occurs.

Shows route as DEST via GATEWAY dev IFACE src SRC [flags], followed by cache or error if no route.

ip route get 8.8.8.8 from 192.168.1.100 iif lo
ip -6 route get 2001:db8::1 vrf red

Part of iproute2 suite, developed by Alexey Kuznetsov starting 1996-1999 as replacement for deprecated route command. ip route get added early for policy routing support in Linux 2.2+. Enhanced in 2.6+ kernels for VRFs, marks, and FIB matching.

ip(8), ip-route(8), ip-rule(8), ss(8), route(8)