Install libnl with Homebrew, Nix, pacman

Project links

• Homepage
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• genl-ctrl-list
• idiag-socket-details
• nf-ct-add
• nf-ct-events
• nf-ct-list
• nf-exp-add
• nf-exp-delete
• nf-exp-list
• nf-log
• nf-monitor
• nf-queue
• nl-addr-add
• nl-addr-delete
• nl-addr-list
• nl-class-add
• nl-class-delete
• nl-class-list
• nl-classid-lookup
• nl-cls-add
• nl-cls-delete
• nl-cls-list
• nl-fib-lookup
• nl-link-enslave
• nl-link-ifindex2name
• nl-link-list
• nl-link-name2ifindex
• nl-link-release
• nl-link-set
• nl-link-stats
• nl-list-caches
• nl-list-sockets
• nl-monitor

Project history

The Infradead project page describes libnl as a suite split into smaller libraries: libnl for socket and message fundamentals, libnl-route for NETLINK_ROUTE interfaces, libnl-genl for generic netlink, and libnl-nf for netfilter interfaces. The split is explicitly intended to avoid forcing every application to link one large library.

The project history includes a long-lived 1.1.x branch and a 3.x branch. The Infradead page warns that 1.1.x support is limited and tells new applications to target libnl3, while also documenting distribution package names for CentOS, Debian, Fedora, OpenSUSE, Slackware, and Ubuntu.

Adoption history

libnl became a standard dependency for Linux networking software that needed structured access to routes, addresses, links, traffic control, generic netlink families, and netfilter state. Its inclusion in many distribution package sets reflects netlink's role as the Linux kernel's preferred extensible networking control API.

How it is used

Callers use libnl core primitives for netlink sockets, message construction, parsing, send, receive, and cache handling, then add family-specific libraries when they need route, generic netlink, or netfilter support. The Homebrew package exposes many nl-* and nf-* command-line helpers around those APIs.

Why package nerds care

libnl matters to package maintainers because it is Linux-specific, ABI-sensitive, and central to network managers, firewall tools, wireless stacks, containers, and low-level diagnostics. The project's documented SONAME problems in releases 3.2.18 and 3.2.19 show why distributions track its ABI carefully.

Timeline

• 1.1.x era: The project maintained a stable branch but later advised new applications to use libnl3.
• 3.2.10: The project reverted an unnecessary SONAME bump after discussion to reduce distribution-maintainer pain.
• 3.2.18-3.2.19: The project documented an incorrect SONAME that required affected binaries to be relinked for compatibility with 3.2.20 and later.
• 2014-07-16: The Infradead project page records libnl 3.2.25 as released.

Related projects

• Related kernel interfaces include netlink, NETLINK_ROUTE, generic netlink, and netfilter.
• The libnl suite's related libraries include libnl, libnl-route, libnl-genl, and libnl-nf.

Sources

• https://github.com/thom311/libnl
• https://www.infradead.org/~tgr/libnl/