.. usage: Quickstart ========== Imports ------- The public API is exported by `pyroute2/__init__.py`. There are two main reasons for such approach. First, it is done so to provide a stable API, that will not be affected by changes in the package layout. There can be significant layout changes between versions, but if a symbol is re-exported via `pyroute2/__init__.py`, it will be available with the same import signature. All other objects are also available for import, but they can change the signature in the next versions. Another function of `pyroute2/__init__.py` is to provide deferred imports. Being imported from the root of the package, classes will be really imported only with the first constructor call. This make possible to change the base of pyroute2 classes on the fly. E.g., this way the eventlet environment support is done. E.g.:: # Case #1 # # Import a pyroute2 class directly. In the next versions # the import signature can be changed, e.g., NetNS from # pyroute2.netns.nslink it can be moved somewhere else. # from pyroute2.netns.nslink import NetNS # <- real import ns = NetNS('test') # Case #2 # # Import the same class from root module. This signature # will stay the same, any layout change is reflected in # the root module. # from pyroute2 import NetNS ns = NetNS('test') # <- real import will be done here The proxy class, used in the second case, supports correct `isinstance()` and `issubclass()` semantics, and in both cases the code will work in the same way. Runtime ------- In the runtime pyroute2 socket objects behave as normal sockets. One can use them in the poll/select, one can call `recv()` and `sendmsg()`:: from pyroute2 import IPRoute # create RTNL socket ipr = IPRoute() # subscribe to broadcast messages ipr.bind() # wait for data (do not parse it) data = ipr.recv(65535) # parse received data messages = ipr.marshal.parse(data) # shortcut: recv() + parse() # # (under the hood is much more, but for # simplicity it's enough to say so) # messages = ipr.get() But pyroute2 objects have a lot of methods, written to handle specific tasks:: from pyroute2 import IPRoute from pyroute2 import IW # RTNL interface ipr = IPRoute() # WIFI interface iw = IW() # get devices list ipr.get_links() # scan WIFI networks on wlo1 iw.scan(ipr.link_lookup(ifname='wlo1')) More info on specific modules is written in the next chapters. Resource release ---------------- Do not forget to release resources and close sockets. Also keep in mind, that the real fd will be closed only when the Python GC will collect closed objects. Special cases ============= eventlet -------- The eventlet environment conflicts in some way with socket objects, and pyroute2 provides a workaround for that:: # import symbols # import eventlet from pyroute2 import IPRoute from pyroute2.config.eventlet import eventlet_config # setup the environment eventlet.monkey_patch() eventlet_config() # run the code ipr = IPRoute() ipr.get_routes() ... The `eventlet_config()` call changes the base class of the `IPRoute`, but with the deferred import the code meets the PEP8 requirements.