diff --git a/apps/routing/src/main/java/org/onosproject/routing/fpm/protocol/RtNetlink.java b/apps/routing/src/main/java/org/onosproject/routing/fpm/protocol/RtNetlink.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..94b9d62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/routing/src/main/java/org/onosproject/routing/fpm/protocol/RtNetlink.java
@@ -0,0 +1,245 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2016 Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.onosproject.routing.fpm.protocol;
+
+import com.google.common.base.MoreObjects;
+import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableList;
+import org.onlab.packet.DeserializationException;
+
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import static org.onlab.packet.PacketUtils.checkInput;
+
+/**
+ * Netlink routing message (rtnetlink).
+ * <p>
+ * Taken from struct rtmsg in linux/rtnetlink.h
+ * </p>
+ */
+public final class RtNetlink {
+
+    private static final int RT_NETLINK_LENGTH = 12;
+
+    private static final int MASK = 0xff;
+
+    private final short addressFamily;
+    private final int dstLength;
+    private final int srcLength;
+    private final short tos;
+    private final short table;
+    private final short protocol;
+    private final short scope;
+    private final short type;
+    private final long flags;
+
+    private final List<RouteAttribute> attributes;
+
+    /**
+     * Class constructor.
+     *
+     * @param addressFamily address family
+     * @param dstLength destination address length
+     * @param srcLength source address length
+     * @param tos type of service
+     * @param table routing table
+     * @param protocol protocol
+     * @param scope scope
+     * @param type type
+     * @param flags flags
+     * @param attributes list of attributes
+     */
+    private RtNetlink(short addressFamily,
+                      int dstLength,
+                      int srcLength,
+                      short tos,
+                      short table,
+                      short protocol,
+                      short scope,
+                      short type,
+                      long flags,
+                      List<RouteAttribute> attributes) {
+
+        this.addressFamily = addressFamily;
+        this.dstLength = dstLength;
+        this.srcLength = srcLength;
+        this.tos = tos;
+        this.table = table;
+        this.protocol = protocol;
+        this.scope = scope;
+        this.type = type;
+        this.flags = flags;
+
+        this.attributes = ImmutableList.copyOf(attributes);
+
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the address family of the route.
+     *
+     * @return address family
+     */
+    public short addressFamily() {
+        return addressFamily;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the destination address length.
+     *
+     * @return destination address length
+     */
+    public int dstLength() {
+        return dstLength;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the source address length.
+     *
+     * @return source address length
+     */
+    public int srcLength() {
+        return srcLength;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the type of service.
+     *
+     * @return type of service
+     */
+    public short tos() {
+        return tos;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the routing table.
+     *
+     * @return routing table
+     */
+    public short table() {
+        return table;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the protocol.
+     *
+     * @return protocol
+     */
+    public short protocol() {
+        return protocol;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the route scope.
+     *
+     * @return scope
+     */
+    public short scope() {
+        return scope;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the route type.
+     *
+     * @return route type
+     */
+    public short type() {
+        return type;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the route flags.
+     *
+     * @return route flags
+     */
+    public long flags() {
+        return flags;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the list of route attributes.
+     *
+     * @return route attributes
+     */
+    public List<RouteAttribute> attributes() {
+        return attributes;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String toString() {
+        return MoreObjects.toStringHelper(getClass())
+                .add("addressFamily", addressFamily)
+                .add("dstLength", dstLength)
+                .add("srcLength", srcLength)
+                .add("tos", tos)
+                .add("table", table)
+                .add("protocol", protocol)
+                .add("scope", scope)
+                .add("type", type)
+                .add("flags", flags)
+                .add("attributes", attributes)
+                .toString();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Decodes an rtnetlink message from an input buffer.
+     *
+     * @param buffer input buffer
+     * @param start starting position the rtnetlink message
+     * @param length length of the message
+     * @return rtnetlink message
+     * @throws DeserializationException if an rtnetlink message could not be
+     * decoded from the input buffer
+     */
+    public static RtNetlink decode(byte[] buffer, int start, int length)
+            throws DeserializationException {
+        checkInput(buffer, start, length, RT_NETLINK_LENGTH);
+
+        ByteBuffer bb = ByteBuffer.wrap(buffer, start, length);
+
+        short addressFamily = (short) (bb.get() & MASK);
+        int dstLength = bb.get() & MASK;
+        int srcLength = bb.get() & MASK;
+        short tos = (short) (bb.get() & MASK);
+        short table = (short) (bb.get() & MASK);
+        short protocol = (short) (bb.get() & MASK);
+        short scope = (short) (bb.get() & MASK);
+        short type = (short) (bb.get() & MASK);
+        long flags = Integer.reverseBytes(bb.getInt());
+        List<RouteAttribute> attributes = new ArrayList<>();
+
+        while (bb.hasRemaining()) {
+            RouteAttribute attribute = RouteAttribute.decode(buffer, bb.position(),
+                    bb.limit() - bb.position());
+            attributes.add(attribute);
+            bb.position(bb.position() + attribute.length());
+        }
+
+        return new RtNetlink(
+                addressFamily,
+                dstLength,
+                srcLength,
+                tos,
+                table,
+                protocol,
+                scope,
+                type,
+                flags,
+                attributes);
+    }
+
+}