|  | .. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 | 
|  |  | 
|  | =========== | 
|  | IP-Aliasing | 
|  | =========== | 
|  |  | 
|  | IP-aliases are an obsolete way to manage multiple IP-addresses/masks | 
|  | per interface. Newer tools such as iproute2 support multiple | 
|  | address/prefixes per interface, but aliases are still supported | 
|  | for backwards compatibility. | 
|  |  | 
|  | An alias is formed by adding a colon and a string when running ifconfig. | 
|  | This string is usually numeric, but this is not a must. | 
|  |  | 
|  |  | 
|  | Alias creation | 
|  | ============== | 
|  |  | 
|  | Alias creation is done by 'magic' interface naming: eg. to create a | 
|  | 200.1.1.1 alias for eth0 ... | 
|  | :: | 
|  |  | 
|  | # ifconfig eth0:0 200.1.1.1  etc,etc.... | 
|  | ~~ -> request alias #0 creation (if not yet exists) for eth0 | 
|  |  | 
|  | The corresponding route is also set up by this command.  Please note: | 
|  | The route always points to the base interface. | 
|  |  | 
|  |  | 
|  | Alias deletion | 
|  | ============== | 
|  |  | 
|  | The alias is removed by shutting the alias down:: | 
|  |  | 
|  | # ifconfig eth0:0 down | 
|  | ~~~~~~~~~~ -> will delete alias | 
|  |  | 
|  |  | 
|  | Alias (re-)configuring | 
|  | ====================== | 
|  |  | 
|  | Aliases are not real devices, but programs should be able to configure | 
|  | and refer to them as usual (ifconfig, route, etc). | 
|  |  | 
|  |  | 
|  | Relationship with main device | 
|  | ============================= | 
|  |  | 
|  | If the base device is shut down the added aliases will be deleted too. |