Configuring IP aliasing

Last updated 2018/10/16

Objective

IP aliasing is a special network configuration for your OVH Dedicated Server, which allows you to associate multiple IP addresses with a single network interface.

This guide explains how to make this addition.

Requirements

• a Dedicated Server
• a failover IP address or a failover IP block (RIPE)
• administrative (root) access to the server via SSH

Instructions

Here are the configurations for the main distributions/operating systems:

Debian 6/7/8 and derivatives

Step 1: Create the source file

First, make a copy of the source file, so that you can revert at any time:

cp /etc/network/interfaces /etc/network/interfaces.bak

Step 2: Edit the source file

You can now modify the source file:

editor /etc/network/interfaces

You then need to add a secondary interface:

auto eth0:0
iface eth0:0 inet static
address IP_FAILOVER
netmask 255.255.255.255

To ensure that the secondary interface is enabled when the eth0 interface is also enabled, you need to add the following line to the eth0 configuration:

post-up /sbin/ifconfig eth0:0 IP_FAILOVER netmask 255.255.255.255 broadcast IP_FAILOVER
pre-down /sbin/ifconfig eth0:0 down

If you have two failover IPs to configure, the /etc/network/interfaces file should look like this:

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address SERVER_IP
netmask 255.255.255.0
broadcast xxx.xxx.xxx.255
gateway xxx.xxx.xxx.254

auto eth0:0
iface eth0:0 inet static
address IP_FAILOVER1
netmask 255.255.255.255

auto eth0:1
iface eth0:1 inet static
address IP_FAILOVER2
netmask 255.255.255.255

# IPFO 1
post-up /sbin/ifconfig eth0:0 IP_FAILOVER1 netmask 255.255.255.255 broadcast IP_FAILOVER1
pre-down /sbin/ifconfig eth0:0 down

# IPFO 2
post-up /sbin/ifconfig eth0:1 IP_FAILOVER2 netmask 255.255.255.255 broadcast IP_FAILOVER2
pre-down /sbin/ifconfig eth0:1 down

Step 3: Restart the interface

You now need to restart your interface:

/etc/init.d/networking restart

Debian 9+, Ubuntu 17+, Fedora 26+ and Arch Linux

On these distributions, the naming of interfaces as eth0, eth1 (and so on) is abolished. We will therefore use systemd-network more generally.

Step 1: Create the source file

First, make a copy of the source file, so that you can revert at any time:

cp /etc/systemd/network/50-default.network /etc/systemd/network/50-default.network.bak

Step 2: Edit the source file

You can now add your failover IP to the source file, as follows:

nano /etc/systemd/network/50-default.network

[Address]
Address=22.33.44.55/32
Label=failover1 # optional

The label is optional. It’s just for distinguishing between your various failover IPs.

Step 3: Restart the interface

You now need to restart your interface:

systemctl restart systemd-networkd

CentOS and Fedora (25 and earlier)

Step 1: Create the source file

First, make a copy of the source file so that you can use it as a template:

cp /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0:0

Step 2: Edit the source file

You can now modify the eth0:0 file in order to replace the IP:

editor /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0:0

First, replace the name of the device, then replace the existing IP with the failover IP you have received:

DEVICE="eth0:0"
ONBOOT="yes"
BOOTPROTO="none" # For CentOS use "static"
IPADDR="IP_FAILOVER"
NETMASK="255.255.255.255"
BROADCAST="IP_FAILOVER"

Step 3: Restart the interface

You now need to restart your interface:

ifup eth0:0

Gentoo

Step 1: Create the source file

First, make a copy of the source file, so that you can revert at any time:

cp /etc/conf.d/net /etc/conf.d/net.bak

Step 2: Edit the source file

Now you have to edit the file to add the failover IP. In Gentoo, an alias is added directly in the eth0 interface. You do not need to create an eth0:0 interface like in Red Hat or CentOS.

All you need to do is add a line break after the netmask 255.255.255.0 and add your failover IP (SERVER_IP must be replaced by your server’s primary IP).

editor /etc/conf.d/net

You therefore need to add the following:

config_eth0=( "SERVER_IP netmask 255.255.255.0" "IP_FAILOVER netmask 255.255.255.255 brd IP_FAILOVER" )

The /etc/conf.d/net file must contain the following:

#This blank configuration will automatically use DHCP for any net.
# scripts in /etc/init.d. To create a more complete configuration,
# please review /etc/conf.d/net.example and save your configuration
# in /etc/conf.d/net (this file :]!).
config_eth0=( "SERVER_IP netmask 255.255.255.0"
"IP_FAILOVER netmask 255.255.255.255 brd IP_FAILOVER" )
routes_eth0=( "default gw SERVER_IP.254" )

In order to ping your failover IP, simply restart the network interface.

Step 3: Restart the interface

You now need to restart your interface:

/etc/init.d/net.eth0 restart

openSUSE

Step 1: Create the source file

First, make a copy of the source file, so that you can revert at any time:

cp /etc/sysconfig/network/ifcfg-ens32 /etc/sysconfig/network/ifcfg-ens32.bak

Step 2: Edit the source file

You then need to edit the /etc/sysconfig/network/ifcfg-ens32 file, as follows:

IPADDR_1=IP_FAILOVER
NETMASK_1=255.255.255.255
LABEL_1=ens32:0

Finally, reboot your server to apply the changes.

cPanel

Step 1: Create the source file

First, make a copy of the source file, so that you can revert at any time:

cp /etc/ips /etc/ips.bak

Step 2: Edit the source file

You then need to edit the /etc/ips file:

editor /etc/ips

Then add the failover IP to the file:

IP_FAILOVER:255.255.255.255:IP_FAILOVER

Next, add the IP in `/etc/ipaddrpool``:

IP_FAILOVER

Step 3: Restart the interface

You now need to restart your interface:

/etc/init.d/ipaliases restart

Ubuntu 18.04

Each failover IP address will need its own line in the configuration file. The configuration file is called 50-cloud-init.yaml and is located in /etc/netplan.

Step 1: Create the configuration file

Connect to your server via SSH and run the following command:

# nano /etc/netplan/50-cloud-init.yaml

Next, edit the file with the content below:

# This file is generated from information provided by
# the datasource.  Changes to it will not persist across an instance.
# To disable cloud-init's network configuration capabilities, write a file
# /etc/cloud/cloud.cfg.d/99-disable-network-config.cfg with the following:
# network: {config: disabled}

network:
    version: 2
    ethernets:
        your_network_interface:
            dhcp4: true
            match:
                macaddress: fa:xx:xx:xx:xx:63
            set-name: your_network_interface
            addresses:
            - your_failover_ip/32

Save and close the file. You can test the configuration with the following command:

# netplan try

Next, run the following commands to apply the configuration:

# netplan apply

Repeat this procedure for each failover IP address.

Windows Servers

Windows servers are often DHCP-enabled in the network configuration. If you have already set up a failover IP or switched your configuration to a fixed IP, go directly to the next step.

Otherwise, you need to first switch from a network-level DHCP configuration to a fixed IP configuration.

Open the command prompt cmd or powershell, then type the following command:

ipconfig /all

This will return a result similar to the following example:

Identify and write down your IPv4, subnet mask, default gateway and the name of the network interface controller (network adapter).

In our example, the server IP is 94.23.229.151.

You can perform the next steps via either a command-line interface or the graphical user interface.

Via a command-line interface (recommended)

In the commands below, you need to replace:

In the command prompt:

1. Switch to a fixed IP

netsh interface ipv4 set address name="NETWORK_ADAPTER" static IP_ADDRESS SUBNET_MASK GATEWAY

1. Set the DNS server

netsh interface ipv4 set dns name="NETWORK_ADAPTER" static 213.186.33.99

1. Add a failover IP

netsh interface ipv4 add address "NETWORK_ADAPTER" IP_ADDRESS_FAILOVER 255.255.255.255

Your failover IP is now functional.

Via the graphical user interface

1. Go to Start> Control Panel>Network and Internet> Network and Sharing Centre> Change Adapter Settings(in the left-hand menu).
2. Right-click on Local Area Connection.
3. Click on Properties.
4. Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4), then click on Properties.
5. Click on Use the following IP address and type in your server’s primary IP, subnet mask and default gateway information obtained by using the ipconfig command above. In the "Preferred DNS Server" box, type 213.186.33.99.

Then click on Advanced (still in the TCP/IP Settings).

In the IP Address section, click Add:

Type in your failover IP and the subnet mask 255.255.255.255.

Click on Add.

Your failover IP is now functional.

FreeBSD

Step 1: Determine the interface

Determine the name of your primary network interface. You can use the ifconfig command for this operation:

ifconfig

This will return the following:

ifconfig
>>> nfe0: flags=8843 metric 0 mtu 1500
>>> options=10b
>>> ether 00:24:8c:d7:ba:11
>>> inet 94.23.196.18 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 94.23.196.255
>>> inet 87.98.129.74 netmask 0xffffffff broadcast 87.98.129.74
>>> media: Ethernet autoselect (100baseTX )
>>> status: active
>>> lo0: flags=8049 metric 0 mtu 16384
>>> options=3
>>> inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x2
>>> inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128
>>> inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000 v comsdvt#

In our example, the name of the interface is therefore nfe0.

Step 2: Create the source file

Next, make a copy of the source file, so that you can revert at any time:

cp /etc/rc.conf /etc/rc.conf.bak

Step 3: Edit the source file

Edit the /etc/rc.conf file:

editor /etc/rc.conf

Then add this line at the end of the file: ifconfig_INTERFACE_alias0="inet IP_FAILOVER netmask 255.255.255.255 broadcast IP_FAILOVER".

Replace INTERFACE and IP_FAILOVER with the name of your interface (identified in the first step) and your failover IP, respectively. Here is an example:

ifconfig_nfe0_alias0="inet 87.98.129.74 netmask 255.255.255.255 broadcast 87.98.129.74"

Step 4: Restart the interface

You now need to restart your interface:

/etc/rc.d/netif restart && /etc/rc.d/routing restart

Solaris

Step 1: Determine the interface

Determine the name of your primary network interface. You can use the ifconfig command for this operation:

ifconfig -a

This will return the following:

ifconfig -a
>>> lo0: flags=2001000849 mtu 8232 index 1 inet 127.0.0.1 netmask ff000000 e1000g0: flags=1000843 mtu 1500 index 2 inet 94.23.41.167 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 94.23.41.255 ether 0:1c:c0:f2:be:42

In our example, the name of the interface is therefore e1000g0.

Step 2: Create the source file

Next, make a copy of the source file, so that you can revert at any time:

editor /etc/hostname.e1000g0:1

Step 3: Edit the source file

In this file, enter the following: IP_FAILOVER/32 up, where IP_FAILOVER is your failover IP. For example:

188.165.171.40/32 up

Step 4: Restart the interface

You now need to restart your interface:

svcadm restart svc:/network/physical:default

Go further

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