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@dpino
Last active December 21, 2025 14:32
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Setup a network namespace with Internet access
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# set -x
if [[ $EUID -ne 0 ]]; then
echo "You must be root to run this script"
exit 1
fi
# Returns all available interfaces, except "lo" and "veth*".
available_interfaces()
{
local ret=()
local ifaces=$(ip li sh | cut -d " " -f 2 | tr "\n" " ")
read -a arr <<< "$ifaces"
for each in "${arr[@]}"; do
each=${each::-1}
if [[ ${each} != "lo" && ${each} != veth* ]]; then
ret+=( "$each" )
fi
done
echo ${ret[@]}
}
IFACE="$1"
if [[ -z "$IFACE" ]]; then
ifaces=($(available_interfaces))
if [[ ${#ifaces[@]} -gt 0 ]]; then
IFACE=${ifaces[0]}
echo "Using interface $IFACE"
else
echo "Usage: ./ns-inet <IFACE>"
exit 1
fi
fi
NS="ns1"
VETH="veth1"
VPEER="vpeer1"
VETH_ADDR="10.200.1.1"
VPEER_ADDR="10.200.1.2"
trap cleanup EXIT
cleanup()
{
ip li delete ${VETH} 2>/dev/null
}
# Remove namespace if it exists.
ip netns del $NS &>/dev/null
# Create namespace
ip netns add $NS
# Create veth link.
ip link add ${VETH} type veth peer name ${VPEER}
# Add peer-1 to NS.
ip link set ${VPEER} netns $NS
# Setup IP address of ${VETH}.
ip addr add ${VETH_ADDR}/24 dev ${VETH}
ip link set ${VETH} up
# Setup IP ${VPEER}.
ip netns exec $NS ip addr add ${VPEER_ADDR}/24 dev ${VPEER}
ip netns exec $NS ip link set ${VPEER} up
ip netns exec $NS ip link set lo up
ip netns exec $NS ip route add default via ${VETH_ADDR}
# Enable IP-forwarding.
echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward
# Flush forward rules.
iptables -P FORWARD DROP
iptables -F FORWARD
# Flush nat rules.
iptables -t nat -F
# Enable masquerading of 10.200.1.0.
iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -s ${VPEER_ADDR}/24 -o ${IFACE} -j MASQUERADE
iptables -A FORWARD -i ${IFACE} -o ${VETH} -j ACCEPT
iptables -A FORWARD -o ${IFACE} -i ${VETH} -j ACCEPT
# Get into namespace
ip netns exec ${NS} /bin/bash --rcfile <(echo "PS1=\"${NS}> \"")
@Magicrafter13
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I tried this script, though I set VETH_ADDR to 192.168.0.1 and VPEER_ADDR to 192.168.0.2.

inside the namespace, I can ping 192.168.0.1, and I can ping my computer's actual ipv4: 10.0.0.199, but I can't ping the gateway 10.0.0.1 from inside the namespace. And it goes without saying, but I also can't ping any internet addresses like 1.1.1.1 for example.

Maybe I have the issue that @oleshii mentioned, though I'm not sure. I have Xfinity, and we currently have their XB6 modem. If their default settings do allow this however, then I'm still not sure what the issue is.

I'm on Manjaro. I don't believe there was any firewall preinstalled.

It's weird too, because, I had it working last night. Not this script specifically, but I followed this guide:
https://blog.laxu.de/2020/04/02/how-use-zoom-sandbox/
Yet after restarting my computer (and running the commands again once I realized my changes hadn't been saved), it doesn't work, which is the main reason I tried this script.

@dpino
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Author

dpino commented Jan 11, 2021

Considering the feedback from the last comments, I run the script again on my laptop and I can tell it works for me.

$ sudo ./ns-inet.sh 
Using interface wlp59s0
ns1> ping -c 1 1.1.1.1
PING 1.1.1.1 (1.1.1.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 1.1.1.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=61 time=2.04 ms

--- 1.1.1.1 ping statistics ---
1 packets transmitted, 1 received, 0% packet loss, time 0ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 2.044/2.044/2.044/0.000 ms
ns1> ping -c 1 www.google.com
PING www.google.com (172.217.24.36) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from hkg07s23-in-f36.1e100.net (172.217.24.36): icmp_seq=1 ttl=116 time=6.18 ms

--- www.google.com ping statistics ---
1 packets transmitted, 1 received, 0% packet loss, time 0ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 6.181/6.181/6.181/0.000 ms

@Magicrafter13 the script also works for me using VETH_ADDR and VPEER_ADDR as 192.168.0.1 and 192.168.0.2. Would you mind sharing your routing table (route -n) in the network namespace as well as in the host?

@yangtzeriverli
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I don't think using different private IP prefix block would cause trouble. @dpino

@tariromukute
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if the system uses a local dns server (like dnsmasqd on ubuntu ), a resolv.conf needs to be setup for the namespace, for example mkdir -p /etc/netns/ns1/ echo 'nameserver 8.8.8.8' > /etc/netns/ns1/resolv.conf

For anyone else, this resolved my name resolution issue on Ubuntu 22.04. Thanks @markododa.

@vuktw
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vuktw commented Dec 19, 2025

How to enhance this script to run Tor inside the namespace and transparently proxy through it any other app that is also run inside the namespace? A la https://schnouki.net/post/2014/openvpn-for-a-single-application-on-linux/ or https://dataswamp.org/~solene/2024-07-02-linux-vpn-netns.html ?

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