---
datafolder: engine-cli
datafile: docker_network_create
title: docker network create
---
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{% include cli.md %}

## Examples

```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.

### Connect containers

When you start a container use the `--network` flag to connect it to a network.
This 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.

### Specifying 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 -d 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.

```bash
$ docker network create -d overlay \
  --subnet=192.168.0.0/16 \
  --subnet=192.170.0.0/16 \
  --gateway=192.168.0.100 \
  --gateway=192.170.0.100 \
  --ip-range=192.168.1.0/24 \
  --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.

#### 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.