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+
+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.
+
+o 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.
+	
+
+o Alias deletion.
+  The alias is removed by shutting the alias down:
+
+    # ifconfig eth0:0 down
+                 ~~~~~~~~~~ -> will delete alias
+
+  		   		   
+o Alias (re-)configuring
+
+  Aliases are not real devices, but programs should be able to configure and
+  refer to them as usual (ifconfig, route, etc).
+
+
+o Relationship with main device
+
+  If the base device is shut down the added aliases will be deleted 
+  too.