CentOS / RHEL: Remove Routes 169.254.0.0 / 255.255.0.0 From the System

How do I disable the route 169.254.0.0 / 255.255.0.0 from CentOS or RHEL 6 Linux server?

zeroconf (Zero configuration networking), is a techniques that automatically creates a usable Internet Protocol (IP) network without manual operator intervention or special configuration servers. 169.254.0.0/255.255.0.0 route is part of zeroconf under RHEL 6 / CentOS 6 or older versions. To see current routing table, enter:
# route -n
Sample outputs:

Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags Metric Ref    Use Iface
74.8x.4y.zz     0.0.0.0         255.255.255.248 U     0      0        0 eth1
10.10.29.64     0.0.0.0         255.255.255.192 U     0      0        0 eth0
169.254.0.0     0.0.0.0         255.255.0.0     U     1002   0        0 eth0
169.254.0.0     0.0.0.0         255.255.0.0     U     1003   0        0 eth1
10.0.0.0        10.10.29.65     255.0.0.0       UG    0      0        0 eth0
0.0.0.0         74.8x.yy.zz     0.0.0.0         UG    0      0        0 eth1

Every time the server or Linux desktop boots, the zeroconf route 169.254.0.0 is enabled and added to the kernel routing table. To disable zeroconf route under RHEL / CentOS / Fedora Linux, enter:
# vi /etc/sysconfig/network
Append the following directive:

 
NOZEROCONF=yes

Save and close the file. Reboot the system / server or restart the networking service:
# /etc/init.d/network restart
Verify routing table, enter:
# route -n
OR
# ip route

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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Dougle November 10, 2011 at 10:59 am

What are the benefits of disabling this route?

2 Dan November 22, 2011 at 2:43 pm: Ask yourself, conversely, what are the benefits of having that route?

3 Ridd1ck November 18, 2011 at 1:10 pm

How can i set the default gateway be in the last line of routing table?

4 Dan November 22, 2011 at 2:47 pm: That is outside of the scope of this article.
However, googling will show you that you edit /etc/sysconfig/network and add the keyword “gateway” like so:
GATEWAY=10.0.0.1
Replace 10.0.0.1 with the default gateway you desire. After, just restart networking. (/etc/init.d/networking restart)
5 Vivek Gite December 6, 2011 at 8:01 am: See our faq: Red Hat / CentOS Linux Setting a Default Gateway.

6 Shivendra singh November 18, 2011 at 1:35 pm

yes i want to red hed software.

CentOS / RHEL: Remove Routes 169.254.0.0 / 255.255.0.0 From the System

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