The kernel will delete alias interfaces when you assign it an address
of 0.0.0.0.  i.e. These two commands will both destroy eth0:0:
  ifconfig eth0:0 0.0.0.0
  ifconfig eth0:0 del

Omit the implicit "up" behavior when this addr is given as the kernel
will always throw an error.  Distros/people have long gotten into the
habit of deleting addresses by assigning 0.0.0.0.

URL: https://bugs.gentoo.org/568446Reported-by: Joakim Tjernlund <joakim.tjernlund@infinera.com>