# vishvananda/netlink

Simple netlink library for go.

Repository: https://github.com/vishvananda/netlink
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/netlink
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-08-03T23:10:12+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 66/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 95, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4384, "days_push": 30, "days_rel": 481, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 1}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 3297, forks 834 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:54.069806+00:00)

## What it is
A Go library providing a simple, high-level API for Linux netlink socket communication, modeled loosely on the iproute2 CLI. It lets user-space programs manage network interfaces, IP addresses, routes, and IPsec/xfrm configuration from Go code.

## Use cases
- manage linux network interfaces from go
- add and remove bridges programmatically
- set ip addresses and routes in go
- configure ipsec xfrm policies
- build container networking in go
- query link and route state on linux

## When to choose
- you need to configure linux networking (links, addresses, routes) from a Go program
- you want an iproute2-like API instead of raw netlink messages
- you are building container or SDN tooling that manipulates kernel network state

## When to avoid
- you need cross-platform network configuration (Linux netlink only)
- you cannot run with elevated privileges, since netlink requires root
- you need full coverage of advanced link types or routing rules not yet implemented

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: networking, developer-tools
- domain: networking, operating-systems, developer-tools
- platform: go
- tags: netlink, iproute2, kernel-interface, network-configuration, linux-kernel, linux

## Member repositories
- vishvananda/netlink (main) score 66

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:54.069806+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T07:22:42.353750+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/vishvananda/netlink (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:54.069806+00:00, sha 1ae72fc3f66f)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.