# man > network_namespaces(7)

[_network_namespaces_(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/networknamespaces/7/markdown)             Miscellaneous Information Manual             [_network_namespaces_(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/networknamespaces/7/markdown)

## NAME
       network_namespaces - overview of Linux network namespaces

## DESCRIPTION
       Network namespaces provide isolation of the system resources associated with networking: net‐
       work devices, IPv4 and IPv6 protocol stacks, IP routing tables, firewall rules, the _/proc/net_
       directory  (which is a symbolic link to _/proc/_pid_/net_), the _/sys/class/net_ directory, various
       files under _/proc/sys/net_, port numbers (sockets), and so on.   In  addition,  network  name‐
       spaces isolate the UNIX domain abstract socket namespace (see [**unix**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/unix/7/markdown)).

       A  physical  network  device can live in exactly one network namespace.  When a network name‐
       space is freed (i.e., when the last process in the namespace terminates), its  physical  net‐
       work  devices  are  moved  back to the initial network namespace (not to the namespace of the
       parent of the process).

       A virtual network ([**veth**(4)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/veth/4/markdown)) device pair provides a pipe-like abstraction that can be used  to
       create  tunnels  between network namespaces, and can be used to create a bridge to a physical
       network device in another namespace.  When a namespace is freed, the [**veth**(4)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/veth/4/markdown) devices that  it
       contains are destroyed.

       Use of network namespaces requires a kernel that is configured with the **CONFIG_NET_NS **option.

## SEE ALSO
       [**nsenter**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/nsenter/1/markdown),  [**unshare**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/unshare/1/markdown),  [**clone**(2)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/clone/2/markdown),  [**veth**(4)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/veth/4/markdown),  [**proc**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/proc/5/markdown),  [**sysfs**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/sysfs/5/markdown),  [**namespaces**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/namespaces/7/markdown), **user_name‐**
       [**spaces**(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/spaces/7/markdown), [**brctl**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/brctl/8/markdown), [**ip**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ip/8/markdown), [**ip-address**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ip-address/8/markdown), [**ip-link**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ip-link/8/markdown), [**ip-netns**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ip-netns/8/markdown), [**iptables**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/iptables/8/markdown), [**ovs-vsctl**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ovs-vsctl/8/markdown)

Linux man-pages 6.7                          2023-10-31                        [_network_namespaces_(7)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/networknamespaces/7/markdown)