Setting up IP Aliasing on A Linux Machine Mini-HOWTO
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3. Troubleshooting: Questions and Answers

3.1. Question: How can I keep the settings through a reboot?

Answer: Whether you are using BSD-style or SysV-style (Redhat™ for example) init, you can always include it in /etc/rc.d/rc.local. Here's what I have on my SysV init system (Redhat™ 3.0.3 and 4.0):

My /etc/rc.d/rc.local: (edited to show the relevant portions)

#setting up IP alias interfaces
echo "Setting 172.16.3.1, 172.16.3.10, 172.16.3.100 IP Aliases ..."
/sbin/ifconfig lo 127.0.0.1
/sbin/ifconfig eth0 up
/sbin/ifconfig eth0 172.16.3.1
/sbin/ifconfig eth0:0 172.16.3.10
/sbin/ifconfig eth0:1 172.16.3.100
#setting up the routes
echo "Setting IP routes ..."
/sbin/route add -net 127.0.0.0
/sbin/route add -net 172.16.3.0 dev eth0
/sbin/route add -host 172.16.3.1 eth0
/sbin/route add -host 172.16.3.10 eth0:0
/sbin/route add -host 172.16.3.100 eth0:1
/sbin/route add default gw 172.16.3.200
#

3.2. Question: How do I set up the IP aliased machine to receive e-mail on the various aliased IP addresses (on a machine using sendmail)?

Answer: Create (if it doesn't already exist) a file called, /etc/mynames.cw,for example. The file does not have to be this exact name nor in the /etc directory.

In that file, place the official domain names of the aliased IP addresses. If these aliased IP addresses do not have a domain name, then you can place the IP address itself.

The /etc/mynames.cw might look like this:

# /etc/mynames.cw - include all aliases for your machine here; # is a comment
domain.one.net
domain.two.com
domain.three.org
4.5.6.7

In your sendmail.cf file, where it defines a file class macro Fw, add the following:

     
##################
#   local info   #
##################
				     
				     
# file containing names of hosts for which we receive email
Fw/etc/mynames.cw

That should do it. Test out the new setting by invoking sendmail in test mode. The following is an example:

ganymede$ /usr/lib/sendmail -bt
ADDRESS TEST MODE (ruleset 3 NOT automatically invoked)
Enter < ruleset> < address>
> 0 [email protected]
rewrite: ruleset  0   input: me @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 7
rewrite: ruleset 98   input: me @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 7
rewrite: ruleset 98 returns: me @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 7
rewrite: ruleset 97   input: me @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 7
rewrite: ruleset  3   input: me @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 7
rewrite: ruleset 96   input: me < @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 7 >
rewrite: ruleset 96 returns: me < @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 7 . >
rewrite: ruleset  3 returns: me < @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 7 . >
rewrite: ruleset  0   input: me < @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 7 . >
rewrite: ruleset 98   input: me < @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 7 . >
rewrite: ruleset 98 returns: me < @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 7 . >
rewrite: ruleset  0 returns: $# local $: me
rewrite: ruleset 97 returns: $# local $: me
rewrite: ruleset  0 returns: $# local $: me
> 0 [email protected]
rewrite: ruleset  0   input: me @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 8
rewrite: ruleset 98   input: me @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 8
rewrite: ruleset 98 returns: me @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 8
rewrite: ruleset 97   input: me @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 8
rewrite: ruleset  3   input: me @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 8
rewrite: ruleset 96   input: me < @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 8 >
rewrite: ruleset 96 returns: me < @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 8 >
rewrite: ruleset  3 returns: me < @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 8 >
rewrite: ruleset  0   input: me < @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 8 >
rewrite: ruleset 98   input: me < @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 8 >
rewrite: ruleset 98 returns: me < @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 8 >
rewrite: ruleset 95   input: < > me < @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 8 >
rewrite: ruleset 95 returns: me < @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 8 >
rewrite: ruleset  0 returns: $# smtp $@ 4 . 5 . 6 . 8 $: me < @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 8 >
rewrite: ruleset 97 returns: $# smtp $@ 4 . 5 . 6 . 8 $: me < @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 8 >
rewrite: ruleset  0 returns: $# smtp $@ 4 . 5 . 6 . 8 $: me < @ 4 . 5 . 6 . 8 >
>

Notice when I tested [email protected], it delivered the mail to the local machine, while [email protected] was handed off to the smtp mailer. That is the correct response.

You are all set now.

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