IP's on Debian Etch

[thedoc]

I have installed Debian Etch within VMWare on my XP box. I am trying to set up ip addresses eth0:0 eth0:1 etc.. The problem I am having is that every time I attempt this I lose networking (connection to internet). I previously had a debian sarge system with several ip addresses configured without problem but this is my first attempt at Etch and my first time in a virtual machine. Could someone post the correct configuration within /etc/network/interfaces to accomplish this.
here is what i have tried
# The primary network interface
#allow-hotplug eth0
#iface eth0 inet dhcp
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.2.5
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 192.168.2.0
broadcast 192.168.2.255
gateway 192.168.2.1

auto eth0:0
iface eth0:0 inet static
address 192.168.2.6
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 192.168.2.0
broadcast 192.168.2.255
gateway 192.168.2.1

This does not seem to work.
Your help is appreciated.

[edge]

This is what I have on my Debia Etch server.

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.2.5
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 192.168.2.0
broadcast 192.168.2.255
gateway 192.168.2.1

iface eth0:1 inet static
address 192.168.2.6
netmask 255.255.255.0

auto eth0:2
iface eth0:2 inet static
address 192.168.2.7
netmask 255.255.255.0

auto eth0:3
iface eth0:3 inet static
address 192.168.2.8
netmask 255.255.255.0

auto eth0:4
iface eth0:4 inet static
address 192.168.2.9
netmask 255.255.255.0

auto eth1
iface eth1 inet static
address 10.0.0.2
netmask 255.255.255.0