IFALIASES(5)

📦 version 11.0, in nixpkgs unstable

IFALIASES(5) — File Formats Manual. Hey bestie 💖 this is the interface aliases file, and she’s about to make boot-time networking make sense.

🌸 NAME 🌸

ifaliases — the interface aliases file, aka the place where each interface gets its extra addresses 💅

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

Okay so, the ifaliases file specifies the additional addresses (aliases) that each interface has. It gets processed by /etc/rc.d/network at system boot time — main character energy at boot 😤✨.

Every line of the file is of the form:

address interface [netmask]
  • address — the network address of the alias. This must be a number, or it must be in /etc/hosts, since the nameserver is not running at this point. No cap, that’s literally why 🙈.
  • interface — the network interface the alias will be configured on. That’s her home 🏡.
  • netmask — the netmask of the alias’ network address. It’s optional, but omitting it is discouraged. If you omit it, you get the classful netmask associated with address. So like… just include it, bestie 🎀.

🗂️ FILES 🗂️

  • /etc/ifaliases
  • /etc/rc.d/network

🕰️ HISTORY 🕰️

The ifaliases file appeared in NetBSD 1.2. Vintage, but make it iconic 💖.

💀 BUGS 💀

ifaliases assumes IPv4, and does not support other protocol families. Please check rc.conf(5) for alternatives like /etc/ifconfig.xxN. That’s the tea ☕👑

That’s the whole page, bestie 🫶. This one comes from Debian and is dated November 17, 2000 — yes, she’s been serving since then 💅🎀. IFALIASES(5) out.

📦 where this page comes from