Netlink protocol is AF_NETLINK. The type of socket can either be SOCK_RAW or SOCK_DGRAM.
example of the socket call:
sock = socket(AF_NETLINK, SOCK_RAW, NETLINK_ROUTE);Where AF_NETLINK is the protocol, SOCK_RAW is the socket type and NETLINK_ROUTE is the netlink family.
The following are the netlink families that are supported by NETLINK.
| family | description |
|---|---|
| NETLINK_ROUTE | Receives routing subsystem updates on the routing table, ip address, link parameters, neighbour setup, qdisc, tc and packet classifiers etc.. |
| NETLINK_FIREWALL | Receives packet sent by the ipv4 firewall |
| NETLINK_ARPD | Arp table management from the userspace |
| NETLINK_ROUTE6 | Ipv6 routing table updates (send and recieve) |
| NETLINK_IP6_FW | Receive packets that failed the firewall checks |
Overview of currently active netlink sockets in the system
ss -f netlink