FreeBSD IP Alias: Setup 2 or More IP address on One NIC

Posted on in Categories FreeBSD, Hardware, Howto, Networking last updated June 17, 2005

IP aliasing is the process of assigning more than one IP address to a network interface. This is useful for Apache web server virtual hosting or other network servers such as ftp server.

This tutorial explains how to assign one or more IP address to a single network interface under FreeBSD operating system.

It is possible to create network alias or assign 2 ip address to a single NIC under FreeBSD operating system.

Our Sample Setup

  • Interface name: lnc0 – IP : 192.168.1.1/255.255.255.0
  • Interface name: lnc0 alias – IP : 192.168.1.5/255.255.255.255

Netmask must be different otherwise you will get an error ifconfig: ioctl (SIOCAIFADDR): File exists.

Set ip alias using ifconfig command line utility

Login as the root user.

Now, use ifconfig command as follows to set alias:
# ifconfig lnc0 192.168.1.5 netmask 255.255.255.255 alias

Persistent IP Alias Configuration

Edit file /etc/rc.conf to setup persistent ip aliasing option by appending following configuration, so that next time FreeBSD comes up (after restart/shutdown) it will create alias for you:
ifconfig_lnc0_alias0="192.168.1.5 netmask 255.255.255.255"

Finally, Restart FreeBSD network service using network restart script:
# /etc/rc.d/netif restart && /etc/rc.d/routing restart
Display alias and real ip using ifconfig lnc0 command:
# ifconfig lnc0
Sample output:

lnc0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
inet6 fe80::20c:29ff:fe01:ddbd%lnc0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1
inet 192.168.1.2 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
inet 192.168.1.5 netmask 0xffff

Sample /etc/rc.conf file with IP aliasing

Here is my /etc/rc.conf file with em0 and em1 interface with 5 aliases:

hostname="sun.nixcraft.in"
# default vsnl router interface
defaultrouter="202.54.1.200"
# Force 10Mbps for both public and private LAN interace
ifconfig_em0="inet 10.20.110.2 netmask 255.255.255.192 media 10baseT/UTP mediaopt full-duplex"
ifconfig_em1="inet 202.52.1.2 netmask 255.255.255.248 media 10baseT/UTP mediaopt full-duplex"
ifconfig_em0_alias0="inet 10.20.1.226 netmask 255.255.255.0"
ifconfig_em0_alias1="inet 10.20.1.227 netmask 255.255.255.0"
ifconfig_em0_alias2="inet 10.20.1.228 netmask 255.255.255.0"
ifconfig_em0_alias3="inet 10.20.1.229 netmask 255.255.255.0"
ifconfig_em0_alias4="inet 10.20.1.230 netmask 255.255.255.0"
# static routing configuration
static_routes="lan0"
route_lan0="-net 10.0.0.0/8 10.20.110.1"

Further readings:

  • Read ifconfig man page.

Posted by: Vivek Gite

The author is the creator of nixCraft and a seasoned sysadmin and a trainer for the Linux operating system/Unix shell scripting. He has worked with global clients and in various industries, including IT, education, defense and space research, and the nonprofit sector. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Google+.

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18 comment

  2. Hi,1st 0f all u r explaining 2 ip alias nd this proccess is very lenthy .i create 2 multiple NIC alaises like this;:-go t 1st network-scripts nd type dis command “cp ifcfg-eth0 ifcfg-eth0:1”.
    nd put in ur ip nd netmask as u like.very easy process.u can tell me where m i wrong nd ur daily blog reader.
    Regards
    Raju Dutta Tiwari

    Reply Report comment

  5. Hi, i was just wondering… i know that it is possible to have i.p. address in one nic but the question is, is it possible to have two i.p address but two different subnet(s) in one nic? i’d like to setup an alias outside the range of the subnet of the parent i.p. I’ve read in other forums that you should have the subnet for both i.p’s but is there any other way to do this? hope you can help me with the problem. tnx!

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  8. Folks,

    I’ve a question regarding the IP alias. One of customer uses a Server with many IP aliases. When they intitiate a ping or other, TCP test applicatiom this server, @IP source is not the same all the time. It means it can be one of these IP Aliases!

    To fix this issue, they’ve added a static IP route to a specific IP Public IP host and an arp static between this remote host and the route’s local mac. To recap:

    Server1—-RTR—Internet

    IPs ser1: 1.1.1.1,.1.1.1.2,.1.1.1.3 (/24)
    Rtr IP: 1.1.1.4/24

    Internet Host: x.x.x..x/32 (any Public IP)

    We need to open up a connection to this host using the same IP source (on the rtr, we just have a specific nat rule for this IP source, let;s say 1.1.1.2)

    But it doesn’t work cause sometime, Source IP is 1.1.1.1 or 1.1.1.3…

    so My customer added the following settings to reach x.x.x.x/32

    arp -s x.x.x.x/32 rtr’s mac
    and
    static route x.x.x.x/32 trough 1.1.1.2 (local IP)

    I really need some explanation. When we remove the arp, it does’nt work anymore.

    IP Routing works welll.

    tks a lot
    I appreciate
    Sam

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  9. the ip route, i apparently find out the reason, just to force the traffic to use this specific IP source to reach this public host. But what about the remote arp static? the only time i can see this kind of arp, it’s when we have proxy arp enabled on the router, and we want to play with the same IP subnet public or private through this one.

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  17. hi,
    great info.
    I am trying to configure two network interfaces (two cards) on IPv6. I can see two interfaces up and active in ifconfig. Problem is that I can ping only singel ipv6 address (i.e for onboard card). I am not able to ping the other interface’s IP address (2’nd nic/external card)
    I played with rc.conf mentioned both interfaces with ip address and prefix length
    Any idea/pointers about the issue
    Thakns

    Reply Report comment

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