Static routes set using ip commands at the command prompt will be lost if the system is shutdown or restarted. To configure static routes to be persistent after a system restart, they must be placed in per-interface configuration files in the /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/
directory. The file name should be of the format route-ifname
. There are two types of commands to use in the configuration files; ip commands as explained in Section 11.5.1, “Static Routes Using the IP Command Arguments Format” and the Network/Netmask format as explained in Section 11.5.2, “Network/Netmask Directives Format”.
?11.5.1. Static Routes Using the IP Command Arguments Format

If required in a per-interface configuration file, for example /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/route-eth0
, define a route to a default gateway on the first line. This is only required if the gateway is not set via DHCP
and is not set globally in the /etc/sysconfig/network
file:
default via 192.168.1.1 dev
interface
where 192.168.1.1 is the IP
address of the default gateway. The interface is the interface that is connected to, or can reach, the default gateway. The dev
option can be omitted, it is optional. Note that this setting takes precedence over a setting in the /etc/sysconfig/network
file.
If a route to a remote network is required, a static route can be specified as follows. Each line is parsed as an individual route:
10.10.10.0/24 via 192.168.1.1 [dev
interface]
where 10.10.10.0/24 is the network address and prefix length of the remote or destination network. The address 192.168.1.1 is the IP
address leading to the remote network. It is preferably the next hop address but the address of the exit interface will work. The “next hop” means the remote end of a link, for example a gateway or router. The dev
option can be used to specify the exit interface interface but it is not required. Add as many static routes as required.
The following is an example of a route-interface
file using the ip command arguments format. The default gateway is 192.168.0.1
, interface eth0 and a leased line or WAN connection is available at 192.168.0.10
. The two static routes are for reaching the 10.10.10.0/24
network and the 172.16.1.10/32
host:
default via 192.168.0.1 dev eth010.10.10.0/24 via 192.168.0.10 dev eth0172.16.1.10/32 via 192.168.0.10 dev eth0
In the above example, packets going to the local 192.168.0.0/24
network will be directed out the interface attached to that network. Packets going to the 10.10.10.0/24
network and 172.16.1.10/32
host will be directed to 192.168.0.10
. Packets to unknown, remote, networks will use the default gateway therefore static routes should only be configured for remote networks or hosts if the default route is not suitable. Remote in this context means any networks or hosts that are not directly attached to the system.
Specifying an exit interface is optional. It can be useful if you want to force traffic out of a specific interface. For example, in the case of a VPN, you can force traffic to a remote network to pass through a tun0 interface even when the interface is in a different subnet to the destination network.
Duplicate default gateways

If the default gateway is already assigned from DHCP
, the IP
command arguments format can cause one of two errors during start-up, or when bringing up an interface from the down state using the ifup
command: "RTNETLINK answers: File exists" or 'Error: either "to" is a duplicate, or "X.X.X.X" is a garbage.', where X.X.X.X is the gateway, or a different IP
address. These errors can also occur if you have another route to another network using the default gateway. Both of these errors are safe to ignore.