RTNETLINK(3)		   Linux Programmer's Manual		  RTNETLINK(3)



NAME
       rtnetlink - macros to manipulate rtnetlink messages

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);

       int RTA_OK(struct rtattr *rta, int rtabuflen);

       void *RTA_DATA(struct rtattr *rta);

       unsigned int RTA_PAYLOAD(struct rtattr *rta);

       struct rtattr *RTA_NEXT(struct rtattr *rta, unsigned int rtabuflen);

       unsigned int RTA_LENGTH(unsigned int length);

       unsigned int RTA_SPACE(unsigned int length);

DESCRIPTION
       All  rtnetlink(7)  messages  consist of a netlink(7) message header and
       appended attributes.  The attributes should be manipulated  only	 using
       the macros provided here.

       RTA_OK(rta,  attrlen)  returns  true  if	 rta points to a valid routing
       attribute; attrlen is the running length of the attribute buffer.  When
       not  true then you must assume there are no more attributes in the mes-
       sage, even if attrlen is nonzero.

       RTA_DATA(rta) returns a pointer to the start of this attribute's data.

       RTA_PAYLOAD(rta) returns the length of this attribute's data.

       RTA_NEXT(rta, attrlen) gets the next attribute after rta.  Calling this
       macro will update attrlen.  You should use RTA_OK to check the validity
       of the returned pointer.

       RTA_LENGTH(len) returns the length which is required for len  bytes  of
       data plus the header.

       RTA_SPACE(len)  returns	the  amount of space which will be needed in a
       message with len bytes of data.

CONFORMING TO
       These macros are nonstandard Linux extensions.

BUGS
       This manual page is incomplete.

EXAMPLE
       Creating a rtnetlink message to set the MTU of a device:
	   #include <linux/rtnetlink.h>

	   ...

	   struct {
	       struct nlmsghdr	nh;
	       struct ifinfomsg if;
	       char		attrbuf[512];
	   } req;

	   struct rtattr *rta;
	   unsigned int mtu = 1000;

	   int rtnetlink_sk = socket(AF_NETLINK, SOCK_DGRAM, NETLINK_ROUTE);

	   memset(&req, 0, sizeof(req));
	   req.nh.nlmsg_len = NLMSG_LENGTH(sizeof(struct ifinfomsg));
	   req.nh.nlmsg_flags = NLM_F_REQUEST;
	   req.nh.nlmsg_type = RTM_NEWLINK;
	   req.if.ifi_family = AF_UNSPEC;
	   req.if.ifi_index = INTERFACE_INDEX;
	   req.if.ifi_change = 0xffffffff; /* ??? */
	   rta = (struct rtattr *)(((char *) &req) +
				    NLMSG_ALIGN(req.nh.nlmsg_len));
	   rta->rta_type = IFLA_MTU;
	   rta->rta_len = RTA_LENGTH(sizeof(unsigned int));
	   req.nh.nlmsg_len = NLMSG_ALIGN(req.nh.nlmsg_len) +
					 RTA_LENGTH(sizeof(mtu));
	   memcpy(RTA_DATA(rta), &mtu, sizeof(mtu));
	   send(rtnetlink_sk, &req, req.nh.nlmsg_len, 0);

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

COLOPHON
       This page is part of release 4.10 of the Linux  man-pages  project.   A
       description  of	the project, information about reporting bugs, and the
       latest	 version    of	  this	  page,	   can	   be	  found	    at
       https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.



GNU				  2014-09-06			  RTNETLINK(3)