netctl — network configuration CLI for Linux

Why netctl

Linux network configuration is usually either raw ip/nmcli commands with no declarative story, or a heavyweight full network manager. netctl takes the systemctl shape people already know and applies it to networking: link, address, route, DNS, and hostname management, talking directly to systemd-networkd/resolved/hostnamed over D-Bus and to the kernel over netlink.

Declarative YAML/TOML apply, profiles, backup/restore, diff, and a doctor diagnostics command round out the day-2 story — JSON output, watch mode, a TUI, shell completions, and dry-run previews are all part of the same CLI, not bolted-on extras.

Link, address, route management

Direct netlink operations for interfaces, addresses, and routes — no shelling out to ip or parsing its text output.

DNS and hostname, over D-Bus

Talks directly to systemd-resolved and systemd-hostnamed over D-Bus for DNS and hostname management, alongside systemd-networkd integration.

Declarative YAML/TOML apply

Profiles, backup/restore, and diff — describe the network state you want and apply it, instead of scripting imperative commands.

doctor diagnostics

A built-in doctor command surfaces configuration problems directly, rather than leaving you to cross-reference several tools.

systemctl-style interface

The command shape people already know from systemd, applied to network configuration — not a new mental model to learn.

JSON output, TUI, dry-run

Scriptable JSON output and watch mode for automation, a TUI and shell completions for interactive use, and dry-run previews before anything changes.

Open source, Rust

Apache-2.0 licensed, written in Rust. The Community Edition in this repo ships the full feature set — link/address/ route/DNS/hostname management, declarative apply, doctor diagnostics, TUI, and shell completions. Zyvor Enterprise operates the same feature set at fleet scale with SLA-backed support, alongside netevd and cloud-netconfig.

See the Enterprise comparison →

Need fleet-scale, SLA-backed support?

netctl's Community Edition is Apache-2.0 and free to run in production. Zyvor Enterprise operates the same feature set at fleet scale, alongside netevd and cloud-netconfig, with professional services and SLA-backed support.

Contact sales@zyvor.dev