docs/reference/commandline/network_create.md - external/github.com/docker/cli - Git at Google

 ---
 title: "network create"
 description: "The network create command description and usage"
 keywords: "network, create"
 ---

 <!-- This file is maintained within the docker/cli GitHub
      repository at https://github.com/docker/cli/. Make all
      pull requests against that repo. If you see this file in
      another repository, consider it read-only there, as it will
      periodically be overwritten by the definitive file. Pull
      requests which include edits to this file in other repositories
      will be rejected.
 -->

 # network create

 ```markdown
 Usage:	docker network create [OPTIONS] NETWORK

 Create a network

 Options:
       --attachable           Enable manual container attachment
       --ingress              Specify the network provides the routing-mesh
       --aux-address value    Auxiliary IPv4 or IPv6 addresses used by Network
                              driver (default map[])
   -d, --driver string        Driver to manage the Network (default "bridge")
       --gateway value        IPv4 or IPv6 Gateway for the master subnet (default [])
       --help                 Print usage
       --internal             Restrict external access to the network
       --ip-range value       Allocate container ip from a sub-range (default [])
       --ipam-driver string   IP Address Management Driver (default "default")
       --ipam-opt value       Set IPAM driver specific options (default map[])
       --ipv6                 Enable IPv6 networking
       --label value          Set metadata on a network (default [])
   -o, --opt value            Set driver specific options (default map[])
       --subnet value         Subnet in CIDR format that represents a
                              network segment (default [])
       --scope value          Promote a network to swarm scope (value = [ local | swarm ])
       --config-only          Creates a configuration only network
       --config-from          The name of the network from which copying the configuration
 ```

 ## Description

 Creates a new network. The `DRIVER` accepts `bridge` or `overlay` which are the
 built-in network drivers. If you have installed a third party or your own custom
 network driver you can specify that `DRIVER` here also. If you don't specify the
 `--driver` option, the command automatically creates a `bridge` network for you.
 When you install Docker Engine it creates a `bridge` network automatically. This
 network corresponds to the `docker0` bridge that Engine has traditionally relied
 on. When you launch a new container with  `docker run` it automatically connects to
 this bridge network. You cannot remove this default bridge network, but you can
 create new ones using the `network create` command.

 ```bash
 $ docker network create -d bridge my-bridge-network
 ```

 Bridge networks are isolated networks on a single Engine installation. If you
 want to create a network that spans multiple Docker hosts each running an
 Engine, you must create an `overlay` network. Unlike `bridge` networks, overlay
 networks require some pre-existing conditions before you can create one. These
 conditions are:

 * Access to a key-value store. Engine supports Consul, Etcd, and ZooKeeper (Distributed store) key-value stores.
 * A cluster of hosts with connectivity to the key-value store.
 * A properly configured Engine `daemon` on each host in the cluster.

 The `dockerd` options that support the `overlay` network are:

 * `--cluster-store`
 * `--cluster-store-opt`
 * `--cluster-advertise`

 To read more about these options and how to configure them, see ["*Get started
 with multi-host network*"](https://docs.docker.com/engine/userguide/networking/get-started-overlay).

 While not required, it is a good idea to install Docker Swarm to
 manage the cluster that makes up your network. Swarm provides sophisticated
 discovery and server management tools that can assist your implementation.

 Once you have prepared the `overlay` network prerequisites you simply choose a
 Docker host in the cluster and issue the following to create the network:

 ```bash
 $ docker network create -d overlay my-multihost-network
 ```

 Network names must be unique. The Docker daemon attempts to identify naming
 conflicts but this is not guaranteed. It is the user's responsibility to avoid
 name conflicts.

 ### Overlay network limitations

 You should create overlay networks with `/24` blocks (the default), which limits
 you to 256 IP addresses, when you create networks using the default VIP-based
 endpoint-mode. This recommendation addresses
 [limitations with swarm mode](https://github.com/moby/moby/issues/30820). If you
 need more than 256 IP addresses, do not increase the IP block size. You can
 either use `dnsrr` endpoint mode with an external load balancer, or use multiple
 smaller overlay networks. See
 [Configure service discovery](https://docs.docker.com/engine/swarm/networking/#configure-service-discovery)
 for more information about different endpoint modes.

 ## Examples

 ### Connect containers

 When you start a container, use the `--network` flag to connect it to a network.
 This example adds the `busybox` container to the `mynet` network:

 ```bash
 $ docker run -itd --network=mynet busybox
 ```

 If you want to add a container to a network after the container is already
 running, use the `docker network connect` subcommand.

 You can connect multiple containers to the same network. Once connected, the
 containers can communicate using only another container's IP address or name.
 For `overlay` networks or custom plugins that support multi-host connectivity,
 containers connected to the same multi-host network but launched from different
 Engines can also communicate in this way.

 You can disconnect a container from a network using the `docker network
 disconnect` command.

 ### Specify advanced options

 When you create a network, Engine creates a non-overlapping subnetwork for the
 network by default. This subnetwork is not a subdivision of an existing
 network. It is purely for ip-addressing purposes. You can override this default
 and specify subnetwork values directly using the `--subnet` option. On a
 `bridge` network you can only create a single subnet:

 ```bash
 $ docker network create --driver=bridge --subnet=192.168.0.0/16 br0
 ```

 Additionally, you also specify the `--gateway` `--ip-range` and `--aux-address`
 options.

 ```bash
 $ docker network create \
   --driver=bridge \
   --subnet=172.28.0.0/16 \
   --ip-range=172.28.5.0/24 \
   --gateway=172.28.5.254 \
   br0
 ```

 If you omit the `--gateway` flag the Engine selects one for you from inside a
 preferred pool. For `overlay` networks and for network driver plugins that
 support it you can create multiple subnetworks. This example uses two `/25`
 subnet mask to adhere to the current guidance of not having more than 256 IPs in
 a single overlay network. Each of the subnetworks has 126 usable addresses.

 ```bash
 $ docker network create -d overlay \
   --subnet=192.168.1.0/25 \
   --subnet=192.170.2.0/25 \
   --gateway=192.168.1.100 \
   --gateway=192.170.2.100 \
   --aux-address="my-router=192.168.1.5" --aux-address="my-switch=192.168.1.6" \
   --aux-address="my-printer=192.170.1.5" --aux-address="my-nas=192.170.1.6" \
   my-multihost-network
 ```

 Be sure that your subnetworks do not overlap. If they do, the network create
 fails and Engine returns an error.

 ### Bridge driver options

 When creating a custom network, the default network driver (i.e. `bridge`) has
 additional options that can be passed. The following are those options and the
 equivalent docker daemon flags used for docker0 bridge:

 | Option                                           | Equivalent  | Description                                           |
 |--------------------------------------------------|-------------|-------------------------------------------------------|
 | `com.docker.network.bridge.name`                 | -           | bridge name to be used when creating the Linux bridge |
 | `com.docker.network.bridge.enable_ip_masquerade` | `--ip-masq` | Enable IP masquerading                                |
 | `com.docker.network.bridge.enable_icc`           | `--icc`     | Enable or Disable Inter Container Connectivity        |
 | `com.docker.network.bridge.host_binding_ipv4`    | `--ip`      | Default IP when binding container ports               |
 | `com.docker.network.driver.mtu`                  | `--mtu`     | Set the containers network MTU                        |

 The following arguments can be passed to `docker network create` for any
 network driver, again with their approximate equivalents to `docker daemon`.

 | Argument     | Equivalent     | Description                                |
 |--------------|----------------|--------------------------------------------|
 | `--gateway`  | -              | IPv4 or IPv6 Gateway for the master subnet |
 | `--ip-range` | `--fixed-cidr` | Allocate IPs from a range                  |
 | `--internal` | -              | Restrict external access to the network   |
 | `--ipv6`     | `--ipv6`       | Enable IPv6 networking                     |
 | `--subnet`   | `--bip`        | Subnet for network                         |

 For example, let's use `-o` or `--opt` options to specify an IP address binding
 when publishing ports:

 ```bash
 $ docker network create \
     -o "com.docker.network.bridge.host_binding_ipv4"="172.19.0.1" \
     simple-network
 ```

 ### Network internal mode

 By default, when you connect a container to an `overlay` network, Docker also
 connects a bridge network to it to provide external connectivity. If you want
 to create an externally isolated `overlay` network, you can specify the
 `--internal` option.

 ### Network ingress mode

 You can create the network which will be used to provide the routing-mesh in the
 swarm cluster. You do so by specifying `--ingress` when creating the network. Only
 one ingress network can be created at the time. The network can be removed only
 if no services depend on it. Any option available when creating an overlay network
 is also available when creating the ingress network, besides the `--attachable` option.

 ```bash
 $ docker network create -d overlay \
   --subnet=10.11.0.0/16 \
   --ingress \
   --opt com.docker.network.driver.mtu=9216 \
   --opt encrypted=true \
   my-ingress-network
 ```

 ## Related commands

 * [network inspect](network_inspect.md)
 * [network connect](network_connect.md)
 * [network disconnect](network_disconnect.md)
 * [network ls](network_ls.md)
 * [network rm](network_rm.md)
 * [network prune](network_prune.md)
 * [Understand Docker container networks](https://docs.docker.com/engine/userguide/networking/)
	---
	title: "network create"
	description: "The network create command description and usage"
	keywords: "network, create"
	---

	<!-- This file is maintained within the docker/cli GitHub
	repository at https://github.com/docker/cli/. Make all
	pull requests against that repo. If you see this file in
	another repository, consider it read-only there, as it will
	periodically be overwritten by the definitive file. Pull
	requests which include edits to this file in other repositories
	will be rejected.
	-->

	# network create

	```markdown
	Usage: docker network create [OPTIONS] NETWORK

	Create a network

	Options:
	--attachable Enable manual container attachment
	--ingress Specify the network provides the routing-mesh
	--aux-address value Auxiliary IPv4 or IPv6 addresses used by Network
	driver (default map[])
	-d, --driver string Driver to manage the Network (default "bridge")
	--gateway value IPv4 or IPv6 Gateway for the master subnet (default [])
	--help Print usage
	--internal Restrict external access to the network
	--ip-range value Allocate container ip from a sub-range (default [])
	--ipam-driver string IP Address Management Driver (default "default")
	--ipam-opt value Set IPAM driver specific options (default map[])
	--ipv6 Enable IPv6 networking
	--label value Set metadata on a network (default [])
	-o, --opt value Set driver specific options (default map[])
	--subnet value Subnet in CIDR format that represents a
	network segment (default [])
	--scope value Promote a network to swarm scope (value = [ local \| swarm ])
	--config-only Creates a configuration only network
	--config-from The name of the network from which copying the configuration
	```

	## Description

	Creates a new network. The `DRIVER` accepts `bridge` or `overlay` which are the
	built-in network drivers. If you have installed a third party or your own custom
	network driver you can specify that `DRIVER` here also. If you don't specify the
	`--driver` option, the command automatically creates a `bridge` network for you.
	When you install Docker Engine it creates a `bridge` network automatically. This
	network corresponds to the `docker0` bridge that Engine has traditionally relied
	on. When you launch a new container with `docker run` it automatically connects to
	this bridge network. You cannot remove this default bridge network, but you can
	create new ones using the `network create` command.

	```bash
	$ docker network create -d bridge my-bridge-network
	```

	Bridge networks are isolated networks on a single Engine installation. If you
	want to create a network that spans multiple Docker hosts each running an
	Engine, you must create an `overlay` network. Unlike `bridge` networks, overlay
	networks require some pre-existing conditions before you can create one. These
	conditions are:

	* Access to a key-value store. Engine supports Consul, Etcd, and ZooKeeper (Distributed store) key-value stores.
	* A cluster of hosts with connectivity to the key-value store.
	* A properly configured Engine `daemon` on each host in the cluster.

	The `dockerd` options that support the `overlay` network are:

	* `--cluster-store`
	* `--cluster-store-opt`
	* `--cluster-advertise`

	To read more about these options and how to configure them, see ["*Get started
	with multi-host network*"](https://docs.docker.com/engine/userguide/networking/get-started-overlay).

	While not required, it is a good idea to install Docker Swarm to
	manage the cluster that makes up your network. Swarm provides sophisticated
	discovery and server management tools that can assist your implementation.

	Once you have prepared the `overlay` network prerequisites you simply choose a
	Docker host in the cluster and issue the following to create the network:

	```bash
	$ docker network create -d overlay my-multihost-network
	```

	Network names must be unique. The Docker daemon attempts to identify naming
	conflicts but this is not guaranteed. It is the user's responsibility to avoid
	name conflicts.

	### Overlay network limitations

	You should create overlay networks with `/24` blocks (the default), which limits
	you to 256 IP addresses, when you create networks using the default VIP-based
	endpoint-mode. This recommendation addresses
	[limitations with swarm mode](https://github.com/moby/moby/issues/30820). If you
	need more than 256 IP addresses, do not increase the IP block size. You can
	either use `dnsrr` endpoint mode with an external load balancer, or use multiple
	smaller overlay networks. See
	[Configure service discovery](https://docs.docker.com/engine/swarm/networking/#configure-service-discovery)
	for more information about different endpoint modes.

	## Examples

	### Connect containers

	When you start a container, use the `--network` flag to connect it to a network.
	This example adds the `busybox` container to the `mynet` network:

	```bash
	$ docker run -itd --network=mynet busybox
	```

	If you want to add a container to a network after the container is already
	running, use the `docker network connect` subcommand.

	You can connect multiple containers to the same network. Once connected, the
	containers can communicate using only another container's IP address or name.
	For `overlay` networks or custom plugins that support multi-host connectivity,
	containers connected to the same multi-host network but launched from different
	Engines can also communicate in this way.

	You can disconnect a container from a network using the `docker network
	disconnect` command.

	### Specify advanced options

	When you create a network, Engine creates a non-overlapping subnetwork for the
	network by default. This subnetwork is not a subdivision of an existing
	network. It is purely for ip-addressing purposes. You can override this default
	and specify subnetwork values directly using the `--subnet` option. On a
	`bridge` network you can only create a single subnet:

	```bash
	$ docker network create --driver=bridge --subnet=192.168.0.0/16 br0
	```

	Additionally, you also specify the `--gateway` `--ip-range` and `--aux-address`
	options.

	```bash
	$ docker network create \
	--driver=bridge \
	--subnet=172.28.0.0/16 \
	--ip-range=172.28.5.0/24 \
	--gateway=172.28.5.254 \
	br0
	```

	If you omit the `--gateway` flag the Engine selects one for you from inside a
	preferred pool. For `overlay` networks and for network driver plugins that
	support it you can create multiple subnetworks. This example uses two `/25`
	subnet mask to adhere to the current guidance of not having more than 256 IPs in
	a single overlay network. Each of the subnetworks has 126 usable addresses.

	```bash
	$ docker network create -d overlay \
	--subnet=192.168.1.0/25 \
	--subnet=192.170.2.0/25 \
	--gateway=192.168.1.100 \
	--gateway=192.170.2.100 \
	--aux-address="my-router=192.168.1.5" --aux-address="my-switch=192.168.1.6" \
	--aux-address="my-printer=192.170.1.5" --aux-address="my-nas=192.170.1.6" \
	my-multihost-network
	```

	Be sure that your subnetworks do not overlap. If they do, the network create
	fails and Engine returns an error.

	### Bridge driver options

	When creating a custom network, the default network driver (i.e. `bridge`) has
	additional options that can be passed. The following are those options and the
	equivalent docker daemon flags used for docker0 bridge:

	\| Option \| Equivalent \| Description \|
	\|--------------------------------------------------\|-------------\|-------------------------------------------------------\|
	\| `com.docker.network.bridge.name` \| - \| bridge name to be used when creating the Linux bridge \|
	\| `com.docker.network.bridge.enable_ip_masquerade` \| `--ip-masq` \| Enable IP masquerading \|
	\| `com.docker.network.bridge.enable_icc` \| `--icc` \| Enable or Disable Inter Container Connectivity \|
	\| `com.docker.network.bridge.host_binding_ipv4` \| `--ip` \| Default IP when binding container ports \|
	\| `com.docker.network.driver.mtu` \| `--mtu` \| Set the containers network MTU \|

	The following arguments can be passed to `docker network create` for any
	network driver, again with their approximate equivalents to `docker daemon`.

	\| Argument \| Equivalent \| Description \|
	\|--------------\|----------------\|--------------------------------------------\|
	\| `--gateway` \| - \| IPv4 or IPv6 Gateway for the master subnet \|
	\| `--ip-range` \| `--fixed-cidr` \| Allocate IPs from a range \|
	\| `--internal` \| - \| Restrict external access to the network \|
	\| `--ipv6` \| `--ipv6` \| Enable IPv6 networking \|
	\| `--subnet` \| `--bip` \| Subnet for network \|

	For example, let's use `-o` or `--opt` options to specify an IP address binding
	when publishing ports:

	```bash
	$ docker network create \
	-o "com.docker.network.bridge.host_binding_ipv4"="172.19.0.1" \
	simple-network
	```

	### Network internal mode

	By default, when you connect a container to an `overlay` network, Docker also
	connects a bridge network to it to provide external connectivity. If you want
	to create an externally isolated `overlay` network, you can specify the
	`--internal` option.

	### Network ingress mode

	You can create the network which will be used to provide the routing-mesh in the
	swarm cluster. You do so by specifying `--ingress` when creating the network. Only
	one ingress network can be created at the time. The network can be removed only
	if no services depend on it. Any option available when creating an overlay network
	is also available when creating the ingress network, besides the `--attachable` option.

	```bash
	$ docker network create -d overlay \
	--subnet=10.11.0.0/16 \
	--ingress \
	--opt com.docker.network.driver.mtu=9216 \
	--opt encrypted=true \
	my-ingress-network
	```

	## Related commands

	* [network inspect](network_inspect.md)
	* [network connect](network_connect.md)
	* [network disconnect](network_disconnect.md)
	* [network ls](network_ls.md)
	* [network rm](network_rm.md)
	* [network prune](network_prune.md)
	* [Understand Docker container networks](https://docs.docker.com/engine/userguide/networking/)