ROUTE ADD in Linux

ROUTE ADD in Linux

Examples

route -n

route add -net 192.56.76.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 dev eth0

adds a route to the network 192.56.76.x via "eth0" The Class C netmask modifier is not really necessary here because >192.* is a Class C IP address. The word "dev" can be omitted here.

route add -net 224.0.0.0 netmask 240.0.0.0 dev eth0

In computer networking, a router is a device responsible for forwarding network traffic. When datagrams arrive at a router, the router must determine the best way to route them to their destination.

On Linux, BSD, and other Unix-like systems, the route command is used to view and make changes to the kernel routing table. The command syntax is different on different systems; here, when it comes to specific command syntax, we'll be discussing the Linux version.

Running route at the command line without any options will display the routing table entries:

route

Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags Metric Ref    Use Iface
default         192.168.1.2     0.0.0.0         UG    1024   0        0 eth0
192.168.1.0     *               255.255.255.0   U     0      0        0 eth0

This shows us how the system is currently configured. If a packet comes into the system and has a destination in the range 192.168.2.0 through 192.168.2.255, then it is forwarded to the gateway *, which is 0.0.0.0 — a special address which represents an invalid or non-existant destination. So, in this case, our system will not route these packets.

If the destination is not in this IP address range, it is forwarded to the default gateway (in this case, 192.168.1.2, and that system will determine how to forward the traffic on to the next step towards its destination.

Command Syntax

route [-CFvnee]

route [-v] [-A family] add [-net|-host] target [netmask Nm] [gw Gw] 
      [metric N] i [mss M] [window W] [irtt I] [reject] [mod] [dyn] 
      [reinstate] [[dev] If]

route [-v] [-A family] del [-net|-host] target [gw Gw] [netmask Nm] 
      [metric N] [[dev] If]

route [-V] [--version] [-h] [--help]

Technical Description

route manipulates the kernel's IP routing tables. Its primary use is to set up static routes to specific hosts or networks via an interface after it has been configured with the ifconfig program.

When the add or del options are used, route modifies the routing tables. Without these options, route displays the current contents of the routing tables.

Options

-A family	use the specified address family (eg 'inet'; use 'route --help' for a full list).
-F	operate on the kernel's FIB (Forwarding Information Base) routing table. This is the default.
-C	operate on the kernel's routing cache.
-v	select verbose operation.
-n	show numerical addresses instead of trying to determine symbolic host names. This is useful if you are trying to determine why the route to your nameserver has vanished.
-e	use netstat-format for displaying the routing table. -ee will generate a very long line with all parameters from the routing table.
del	delete a route.
add	add a new route.
target	the destination network or host. You can provide IP addresses in dotted decimal or host/network names.
-net	the target is a network.
-host	the target is a host.
netmask NM	when adding a network route, the netmask to be used.
gw GW	route packets via a gateway. NOTE: The specified gateway must be reachable first. This usually means that you have to set up a static route to the gateway beforehand. If you specify the address of one of your local interfaces, it will be used to decide about the interface to which the packets should be routed to. This is a BSD-style compatibility hack.
metric M	set the metric field in the routing table (used by routing daemons) to M.
mss M	set the TCP Maximum Segment Size (MSS) for connections over this route to M bytes. The default is the device MTU minus headers, or a lower MTU when path mtu discovery occurred. This setting can be used to force smaller TCP packets on the other end when path mtu discovery does not work (usually because of misconfigured firewalls that block ICMP Fragmentation Needed)
window W	set the TCP window size for connections over this route to W bytes. This is typically only used on AX.25 networks and with drivers unable to handle back to back frames.
irtt I	set the initial round trip time (irtt) for TCP connections over this route to I milliseconds (1-12000). This is typically only used on AX.25 networks. If omitted the RFC 1122 default of 300ms is used.
reject	install a blocking route, which will force a route lookup to fail. This is for example used to mask out networks before using the default route. This is NOT for firewalling.
mod, dyn, reinstate	install a dynamic or modified route. These flags are for diagnostic purposes, and are generally only set by routing daemons.
dev If	force the route to be associated with the specified device, as the kernel will otherwise try to determine the device on its own (by checking already existing routes and device specifications, and where the route is added to). In most normal networks you won't need this. If dev If is the last option on the command line, the word dev may be omitted, as it's the default. Otherwise the order of the route modifiers (metric - netmask - gw - dev) doesn't matter.

This command sets all of the class D (multicast) IP routes to go via "eth0". This is the correct normal configuration for a multicasting kernel.

Display your current routing table

Open the Terminal or login to server using ssh/console. Type the following command to display routing table: # route
OR # route -n
Sample outputs:

Fig.01: Display routing table using route command

# ip route show
OR
# ip route list
Sample outputs:

Fig.02: ip command in action

Linux add a default route using route command

Route all traffic via 192.168.1.254 gateway connected via eth0 network interface: # route add default gw 192.168.1.254 eth0

Linux add a default gateway (route) using ip command

Route all traffic via 192.168.1.254 gateway connected via eth0 network interface: # ip route add 192.168.1.0/24 dev eth0

Verify newly added route ip in the Linux kernel routing table

To verify new routing table, enter: # ip route list
OR # route -n

Verify new route

Use the ping command to verify connectivity to your router or external network: # ping your-router-ip-here
# ping your-ISPs-Gateway-ip-here
# ping 192.168.1.254
# ping www.cyberciti.biz

How do I make routing changes persistent across reboots?

To make route entry persistent in the Linux kernel routing table, you need to modify config file as per your Linux distributions.

RHEL/CentOS/Fedora/Scientific Linux persistent routing configuration

Edit /etc/sysconfig/network and set default gateway IP address:  
# vi /etc/sysconfig/network
 
Sample outputs:

 
GATEWAY=192.168.1.254
 

You can add additional static route for eth0 by editing  

/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/route-eth0 file as follows:

10.0.0.0/8 via 10.10.29.65

The above config sets static routing for network 10.0.0.0/8 via 10.9.38.65 router.

Linux persistence static routing configuration

Edit /etc/network/interfaces file, enter:

# vi /etc/network/interfaces
 
Append the following in eth0 section:

up route add -net 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 gw 192.168.1.254
down route del -net 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 gw 192.168.1.254

Save and close the file.