NetworkManager is a Linux networking service designed to keep active network connectivity available with minimal user effort. It manages network devices, routes, IP addresses, and connection activation while still allowing manual control when needed. The project’s goal is to make networking configuration and setup as automatic and painless as possible. It can automatically activate saved connections when the matching hardware and conditions are available. NetworkManager runs as a privileged daemon and exposes control through D-Bus so client tools can manage networking without directly handling device-level operations. It is widely used as a backend for graphical, terminal, and declarative networking tools across Linux distributions.
Features
- Automatic network connection management
- Device activation based on available hardware and saved profiles
- Route, IP address, and default route configuration
- D-Bus interface for client tools and system services
- Support for terminal clients such as nmcli and nmtui
- Integration with wireless, DHCP, PPP, DNS, and link-local networking services