libmnl ☆

« Back to VersTracker

Description:
Minimalistic user-space library oriented to Netlink developers

Type: Formula | Tracked Since: Dec 28, 2025

Links: Homepage | formulae.brew.sh

Category: Networking

Tags: netlink networking c-library kernel linux

Install: brew install libmnl

About:
Libmnl is a low-level C library designed to simplify the creation and parsing of Netlink messages. It provides a clean, minimalistic API that handles the boilerplate of socket communication and message construction. This allows developers to focus on their specific networking logic, such as managing firewall rules or network interfaces, without the complexity of raw Netlink sockets.

Key Features:

Small, lightweight, and easy to integrate
Simple, synchronous, thread-safe API
Handles Netlink message construction and parsing
Provides a callback-based mechanism for message iteration

Use Cases:

Developing custom tools to interact with the Linux kernel's networking stack
Manipulating netfilter subsystems like nftables or iptables programmatically
Managing network interfaces, routing tables, and neighbor discovery

Alternatives:

libnl – A more comprehensive suite that includes high-level abstractions, whereas libmnl is strictly a low-level, minimalistic foundation.

Version History

Detected	Version	Rev	Change	Commit