diff --git a/ip/Makefile b/ip/Makefile
index 6054e8a7..2ee4e7c0 100644
--- a/ip/Makefile
+++ b/ip/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-IPOBJ=ip.o ipaddress.o ipaddrlabel.o iproute.o iprule.o \
+IPOBJ=ip.o ipaddress.o ipaddrlabel.o iproute.o iprule.o ipnetns.o \
     rtm_map.o iptunnel.o ip6tunnel.o tunnel.o ipneigh.o ipntable.o iplink.o \
     ipmaddr.o ipmonitor.o ipmroute.o ipprefix.o iptuntap.o \
     ipxfrm.o xfrm_state.o xfrm_policy.o xfrm_monitor.o \
diff --git a/ip/ip.c b/ip/ip.c
index b127d570..7f0c4688 100644
--- a/ip/ip.c
+++ b/ip/ip.c
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@ static void usage(void)
 "Usage: ip [ OPTIONS ] OBJECT { COMMAND | help }\n"
 "       ip [ -force ] -batch filename\n"
 "where  OBJECT := { link | addr | addrlabel | route | rule | neigh | ntable |\n"
-"                   tunnel | tuntap | maddr | mroute | mrule | monitor | xfrm }\n"
+"                   tunnel | tuntap | maddr | mroute | mrule | monitor | xfrm |\n"
+"                   netns }\n"
 "       OPTIONS := { -V[ersion] | -s[tatistics] | -d[etails] | -r[esolve] |\n"
 "                    -f[amily] { inet | inet6 | ipx | dnet | link } |\n"
 "                    -l[oops] { maximum-addr-flush-attempts } |\n"
@@ -80,6 +81,7 @@ static const struct cmd {
 	{ "xfrm",	do_xfrm },
 	{ "mroute",	do_multiroute },
 	{ "mrule",	do_multirule },
+	{ "netns",	do_netns },
 	{ "help",	do_help },
 	{ 0 }
 };
diff --git a/ip/ip_common.h b/ip/ip_common.h
index a1141869..5e5fb762 100644
--- a/ip/ip_common.h
+++ b/ip/ip_common.h
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ extern int do_ipmonitor(int argc, char **argv);
 extern int do_multiaddr(int argc, char **argv);
 extern int do_multiroute(int argc, char **argv);
 extern int do_multirule(int argc, char **argv);
+extern int do_netns(int argc, char **argv);
 extern int do_xfrm(int argc, char **argv);
 
 static inline int rtm_get_table(struct rtmsg *r, struct rtattr **tb)
@@ -64,6 +65,7 @@ struct link_util
 };
 
 struct link_util *get_link_kind(const char *kind);
+int get_netns_fd(const char *name);
 
 #ifndef	INFINITY_LIFE_TIME
 #define     INFINITY_LIFE_TIME      0xFFFFFFFFU
diff --git a/ip/iplink.c b/ip/iplink.c
index 48c02548..e5325a69 100644
--- a/ip/iplink.c
+++ b/ip/iplink.c
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ void iplink_usage(void)
 	fprintf(stderr, "	                  [ broadcast LLADDR ]\n");
 	fprintf(stderr, "	                  [ mtu MTU ]\n");
 	fprintf(stderr, "	                  [ netns PID ]\n");
+	fprintf(stderr, "	                  [ netns NAME ]\n");
 	fprintf(stderr, "			  [ alias NAME ]\n");
 	fprintf(stderr, "	                  [ vf NUM [ mac LLADDR ]\n");
 	fprintf(stderr, "				   [ vlan VLANID [ qos VLAN-QOS ] ]\n");
@@ -304,9 +305,12 @@ int iplink_parse(int argc, char **argv, struct iplink_req *req,
                         NEXT_ARG();
                         if (netns != -1)
                                 duparg("netns", *argv);
-                        if (get_integer(&netns, *argv, 0))
+			if ((netns = get_netns_fd(*argv)) >= 0)
+				addattr_l(&req->n, sizeof(*req), IFLA_NET_NS_FD, &netns, 4);
+			else if (get_integer(&netns, *argv, 0) == 0)
+				addattr_l(&req->n, sizeof(*req), IFLA_NET_NS_PID, &netns, 4);
+			else
                                 invarg("Invalid \"netns\" value\n", *argv);
-                        addattr_l(&req->n, sizeof(*req), IFLA_NET_NS_PID, &netns, 4);
 		} else if (strcmp(*argv, "multicast") == 0) {
 			NEXT_ARG();
 			req->i.ifi_change |= IFF_MULTICAST;
diff --git a/ip/ipnetns.c b/ip/ipnetns.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..db7007cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ip/ipnetns.c
@@ -0,0 +1,314 @@
+#define _ATFILE_SOURCE
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+#include <sys/wait.h>
+#include <sys/inotify.h>
+#include <sys/mount.h>
+#include <sys/param.h>
+#include <sys/syscall.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <sched.h>
+#include <fcntl.h>
+#include <dirent.h>
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+
+#include "utils.h"
+#include "ip_common.h"
+
+#define NETNS_RUN_DIR "/var/run/netns"
+#define NETNS_ETC_DIR "/etc/netns"
+
+#ifndef CLONE_NEWNET
+#define CLONE_NEWNET 0x40000000	/* New network namespace (lo, device, names sockets, etc) */
+#endif
+
+#ifndef MNT_DETACH
+#define MNT_DETACH	0x00000002	/* Just detach from the tree */
+#endif /* MNT_DETACH */
+
+static int setns(int fd, int nstype)
+{
+#ifdef __NR_setns
+	return syscall(__NR_setns, fd, nstype);
+#else
+	errno = ENOSYS;
+	return -1;
+#endif
+}
+
+
+static int touch(const char *path, mode_t mode)
+{
+	int fd;
+	fd = open(path, O_RDONLY|O_CREAT, mode);
+	if (fd < 0)
+		return -1;
+	close(fd);
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static void usage(void) __attribute__((noreturn));
+
+static void usage(void)
+{
+	fprintf(stderr, "Usage: ip netns list\n");
+	fprintf(stderr, "       ip netns add NAME\n");
+	fprintf(stderr, "       ip netns delete NAME\n");
+	fprintf(stderr, "       ip netns exec NAME cmd ...\n");
+	fprintf(stderr, "       ip netns monitor\n");
+	exit(-1);
+}
+
+int get_netns_fd(const char *name)
+{
+	char pathbuf[MAXPATHLEN];
+	const char *path, *ptr;
+
+	path = name;
+	ptr = strchr(name, '/');
+	if (!ptr) {
+		snprintf(pathbuf, sizeof(pathbuf), "%s/%s",
+			NETNS_RUN_DIR, name );
+		path = pathbuf;
+	}
+	return open(path, O_RDONLY);
+}
+
+static int netns_list(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+	struct dirent *entry;
+	DIR *dir;
+
+	dir = opendir(NETNS_RUN_DIR);
+	if (!dir)
+		return 0;
+
+	while ((entry = readdir(dir)) != NULL) {
+		if (strcmp(entry->d_name, ".") == 0)
+			continue;
+		if (strcmp(entry->d_name, "..") == 0)
+			continue;
+		printf("%s\n", entry->d_name);
+	}
+	closedir(dir);
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static void bind_etc(const char *name)
+{
+	char etc_netns_path[MAXPATHLEN];
+	char netns_name[MAXPATHLEN];
+	char etc_name[MAXPATHLEN];
+	struct dirent *entry;
+	DIR *dir;
+
+	snprintf(etc_netns_path, sizeof(etc_netns_path), "%s/%s", NETNS_ETC_DIR, name);
+	dir = opendir(etc_netns_path);
+	if (!dir)
+		return;
+
+	while ((entry = readdir(dir)) != NULL) {
+		if (strcmp(entry->d_name, ".") == 0)
+			continue;
+		if (strcmp(entry->d_name, "..") == 0)
+			continue;
+		snprintf(netns_name, sizeof(netns_name), "%s/%s", etc_netns_path, entry->d_name);
+		snprintf(etc_name, sizeof(etc_name), "/etc/%s", entry->d_name);
+		if (mount(netns_name, etc_name, "none", MS_BIND, NULL) < 0) {
+			fprintf(stderr, "Bind %s -> %s failed: %s\n",
+				netns_name, etc_name, strerror(errno));
+		}
+	}
+	closedir(dir);
+}
+
+static int netns_exec(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+	/* Setup the proper environment for apps that are not netns
+	 * aware, and execute a program in that environment.
+	 */
+	const char *name, *cmd;
+	char net_path[MAXPATHLEN];
+	int netns;
+
+	if (argc < 1) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "No netns name specified\n");
+		return -1;
+	}
+	if (argc < 2) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "No cmd specified\n");
+		return -1;
+	}
+	name = argv[0];
+	cmd = argv[1];
+	snprintf(net_path, sizeof(net_path), "%s/%s", NETNS_RUN_DIR, name);
+	netns = open(net_path, O_RDONLY);
+	if (netns < 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Cannot open network namespace: %s\n",
+			strerror(errno));
+		return -1;
+	}
+	if (setns(netns, CLONE_NEWNET) < 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "seting the network namespace failed: %s\n",
+			strerror(errno));
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	if (unshare(CLONE_NEWNS) < 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "unshare failed: %s\n", strerror(errno));
+		return -1;
+	}
+	/* Mount a version of /sys that describes the network namespace */
+	if (umount2("/sys", MNT_DETACH) < 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "umount of /sys failed: %s\n", strerror(errno));
+		return -1;
+	}
+	if (mount(name, "/sys", "sysfs", 0, NULL) < 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "mount of /sys failed: %s\n",strerror(errno));
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	/* Setup bind mounts for config files in /etc */
+	bind_etc(name);
+
+	if (execvp(cmd, argv + 1)  < 0)
+		fprintf(stderr, "exec of %s failed: %s\n",
+			cmd, strerror(errno));
+	exit(-1);
+}
+
+static int netns_delete(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+	const char *name;
+	char netns_path[MAXPATHLEN];
+
+	if (argc < 1) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "No netns name specified\n");
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	name = argv[0];
+	snprintf(netns_path, sizeof(netns_path), "%s/%s", NETNS_RUN_DIR, name);
+	umount2(netns_path, MNT_DETACH);
+	if (unlink(netns_path) < 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Cannot remove %s: %s\n",
+			netns_path, strerror(errno));
+		return -1;
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int netns_add(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+	/* This function creates a new network namespace and
+	 * a new mount namespace and bind them into a well known
+	 * location in the filesystem based on the name provided.
+	 *
+	 * The mount namespace is created so that any necessary
+	 * userspace tweaks like remounting /sys, or bind mounting
+	 * a new /etc/resolv.conf can be shared between uers.
+	 */
+	char netns_path[MAXPATHLEN];
+	const char *name;
+
+	if (argc < 1) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "No netns name specified\n");
+		return -1;
+	}
+	name = argv[0];
+
+	snprintf(netns_path, sizeof(netns_path), "%s/%s", NETNS_RUN_DIR, name);
+
+	/* Create the base netns directory if it doesn't exist */
+	mkdir(NETNS_RUN_DIR, S_IRWXU|S_IRGRP|S_IXGRP|S_IROTH|S_IXOTH);
+
+	/* Create the filesystem state */
+	if (touch(netns_path, 0) < 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Could not create %s: %s\n",
+			netns_path, strerror(errno));
+		goto out_delete;
+	}
+	if (unshare(CLONE_NEWNET) < 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Failed to create a new network namespace: %s\n",
+			strerror(errno));
+		goto out_delete;
+	}
+
+	/* Bind the netns last so I can watch for it */
+	if (mount("/proc/self/ns/net", netns_path, "none", MS_BIND, NULL) < 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Bind /proc/self/ns/net -> %s failed: %s\n",
+			netns_path, strerror(errno));
+		goto out_delete;
+	}
+	return 0;
+out_delete:
+	netns_delete(argc, argv);
+	exit(-1);
+	return -1;
+}
+
+
+static int netns_monitor(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+	char buf[4096];
+	struct inotify_event *event;
+	int fd;
+	fd = inotify_init();
+	if (fd < 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "inotify_init failed: %s\n",
+			strerror(errno));
+		return -1;
+	}
+	if (inotify_add_watch(fd, NETNS_RUN_DIR, IN_CREATE | IN_DELETE) < 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "inotify_add_watch failed: %s\n",
+			strerror(errno));
+		return -1;
+	}
+	for(;;) {
+		ssize_t len = read(fd, buf, sizeof(buf));
+		if (len < 0) {
+			fprintf(stderr, "read failed: %s\n",
+				strerror(errno));
+			return -1;
+		}
+		for (event = (struct inotify_event *)buf;
+		     (char *)event < &buf[len];
+		     event = (struct inotify_event *)((char *)event + sizeof(*event) + event->len)) {
+			if (event->mask & IN_CREATE)
+				printf("add %s\n", event->name);
+			if (event->mask & IN_DELETE)
+				printf("delete %s\n", event->name);
+		}
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
+int do_netns(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+	if (argc < 1)
+		return netns_list(0, NULL);
+
+	if ((matches(*argv, "list") == 0) || (matches(*argv, "show") == 0) ||
+	    (matches(*argv, "lst") == 0))
+		return netns_list(argc-1, argv+1);
+
+	if (matches(*argv, "help") == 0)
+		usage();
+
+	if (matches(*argv, "add") == 0)
+		return netns_add(argc-1, argv+1);
+
+	if (matches(*argv, "delete") == 0)
+		return netns_delete(argc-1, argv+1);
+
+	if (matches(*argv, "exec") == 0)
+		return netns_exec(argc-1, argv+1);
+
+	if (matches(*argv, "monitor") == 0)
+		return netns_monitor(argc-1, argv+1);
+
+	fprintf(stderr, "Command \"%s\" is unknown, try \"ip netns help\".\n", *argv);
+	exit(-1);
+}
diff --git a/man/man8/ip.8 b/man/man8/ip.8
index 4ddc78c4..8d2ab874 100644
--- a/man/man8/ip.8
+++ b/man/man8/ip.8
@@ -85,6 +85,9 @@ ip \- show / manipulate routing, devices, policy routing and tunnels
 .B  netns
 .IR PID " |"
 .br
+.B  netns
+.IR NETNSNAME " |"
+.br
 .B alias
 .IR NAME  " |"
 .br
@@ -161,6 +164,17 @@ tentative " | " deprecated " | " dadfailed " | " temporary " ]"
 .ti -8
 .BR "ip addrlabel" " { " list " | " flush " }"
 
+.ti -8
+.BR "ip netns" " { " list " | " monitor " } "
+
+.ti -8
+.BR "ip netns" " { " add " | " delete " } "
+.I NETNSNAME
+
+.ti -8
+.BR "ip netns exec "
+.I NETNSNAME command ...
+
 .ti -8
 .BR "ip route" " { "
 .BR list " | " flush " } "
@@ -1031,6 +1045,11 @@ the interface is
 move the device to the network namespace associated with the process
 .IR "PID".
 
+.TP
+.BI netns " NETNSNAME"
+move the device to the network namespace associated with name
+.IR "NETNSNAME".
+
 .TP
 .BI alias " NAME"
 give the device a symbolic name for easy reference.
@@ -2496,6 +2515,43 @@ at any time.
 It prepends the history with the state snapshot dumped at the moment
 of starting.
 
+.SH ip netns - process network namespace management
+
+A network namespace is logically another copy of the network stack,
+with it's own routes, firewall rules, and network devices.
+
+By convention a named network namespace is an object at
+.BR "/var/run/netns/" NAME
+that can be opened.  The file descriptor resulting from opening
+.BR "/var/run/netns/" NAME
+refers to the specified network namespace.  Holding that file
+descriptor open keeps the network namespace alive.  The file
+descriptor can be used with the
+.B setns(2)
+system call to change the network namespace associated with a task.
+
+The convention for network namespace aware applications is to look
+for global network configuration files first in
+.BR "/etc/netns/" NAME "/"
+then in
+.BR "/etc/".
+For example, if you want a different version of
+.BR /etc/resolv.conf
+for a network namespace used to isolate your vpn you would name it
+.BR /etc/netns/myvpn/resolv.conf.
+
+.B ip netns exec
+automates handling of this configuration, file convention for network
+namespace unaware applications, by creating a mount namespace and
+bind mounting all of the per network namespace configure files into
+their traditional location in /etc.
+
+.SS ip netns list - show all of the named network namespaces
+.SS ip netns monitor - report when network namespace names are created and destroyed
+.SS ip netns add NAME - create a new named network namespace
+.SS ip netns delete NAME - delete the name of a network namespace
+.SS ip netns exec NAME cmd ... - Run cmd in the named network namespace
+
 .SH ip xfrm - transform configuration
 xfrm is an IP framework for transforming packets (such as encrypting
 their payloads). This framework is used to implement the IPsec protocol