Netlink
Linux kernel interface for inter-process communication between processes
Netlink is a socket family used for inter-process communication (IPC) between both the kernel and userspace processes, and between different userspace processes, in a way similar to the Unix domain sockets available on certain Unix-like operating systems, including its original incarnation as a Linux kernel interface, as well as in the form of a later implementation on FreeBSD. Similarly to the Unix domain sockets, and unlike INET sockets, Netlink communication cannot traverse host boundaries. However, while the Unix domain sockets use the file system namespace, Netlink sockets are usually addressed by process identifiers (PIDs).
Netlink is designed and used for transferring miscellaneous networking information between the kernel space and userspace processes. Networking utilities, such as the iproute2 family and the utilities used for configuring mac80211-based wireless drivers, use Netlink to communicate with the Linux kernel from userspace. Netlink provides a standard socket-based interface for userspace processes, and a kernel-side API for internal use by kernel modules. Originally, Netlink used the AF_NETLINK socket family.
Netlink is designed to be a more flexible successor to ioctl; RFC 3549 describes the protocol in detail.
History
Netlink was created by Alexey Kuznetsov as a more flexible alternative to the sophisticated but awkward ioctl communication method used for setting and getting external socket options. The Linux kernel continues to support ioctl for backward compatibility.
Netlink was first provided in the 2.0 series of the Linux kernel, implemented as a character device.
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