Virtual network interfaces are linked to a hardware device, but are not hardware devices.
A virtual network interface is generally associated with a physical network, another virtual interface, a loopback interface or other standalone interfaces.
| Type | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Aliases | eth4:5, eth4:6 | Used to handle multiple IP-addresses per interface. Supported for backwards compatibility. |
| Bridges | br0, br-lan | Used to make multiple network interfaces behave as one network interface. |
| Stacked VLANs | 10, 20 | IEEE 802.1ad type network, using two or more tags in each packet. |
| Special purpose | imq0, teql3 | Used to change the order of outgoing or incoming network packets. |
| Tunnel interfaces | pppoe-dsl, tun0, vpn1 | Used to send packets over a tunneling protocol. |
| VLANs | eth4.0, vlan0 | Used to separate a network into multiple virtual networks. |
| Wireless operating mode virtual interfaces | wlan0, ath3 | A wireless subsystem created automatically for a wireless NIC master interface. |