About configuring aliases for an interface

You can create an alias, which is an alternate IP address for an interface, when you change the IP address of an interface to a new address. You can use the alias to continue accepting packets to the old IP address.

There are two alias options available for the ifconfig command:

• alias—Establishes an alternative IP address for an interface.
• -alias—Removes an alternative IP address for an interface.

You can use the alias option at the command line of your storage system. However, the IP address configured using the alias option at the command line is lost if the storage system reboots. If you want to make these changes persistent, include them in the /etc/rc file for the root volume.

You cannot set up an IP address and an alias for an interface with one ifconfig command. You must configure the IP address for the interface before setting up the alias.

The -alias option is useful when you want to stop using an IP address originally configured for an interface, but do not want to reboot your storage system.

• Creating and removing aliases
  You might need to create or remove an alias if you are changing the IP address of an interface. Use the alias command to create an alias IP address, and use the -alias command to remove an alias IP address.