.TH ROUTES 5 "26 May 2007" "config files" "GNU/Linux System Architect Toolkit"
.SH NAME
routes \- configuration file for static routes
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I /etc/routes
is a text file containing a list of static routes to be added to the system's routing table.  The information in
.I /etc/routes
is passed to the
.BR route
command by the system start-up scripts.  Each line describes the parameters for one static route.  Anything that can be passed as an argument to the
.BR route
command is acceptable.
.SH NOTE
Lines beginning with hash marks (#) are treated as comments.
.SH EXAMPLE
The following is an annotated example of the
.I /etc/routes
file that might be used in a typical home networking environment.
.RS
.TP
# add a route for the loopback network
this line is a comment
.TP
-net 127.0.0.0 netmask 255.0.0.0 dev lo
configures a route sending all traffic destined for the class-A network 127.0.0.0 through the loopback interface
.TP
# configure the default gateway to point to the internet router
this line is a comment
.TP
default gw 192.168.1.1
configures a default route to the address 192.168.1.1
.RE
.SH BUGS
Hash marks (#) that are not followed by some sort of whitespace will not be interpreted as comments.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.BR route (8)
.BR ifconfig (8)
.SH AUTHOR
David Horton (http://www.happy-monkey.net/architect)