-Tinc will normally automatically select the right type, and this option should not be used.
-However, in case tinc does not seem to correctly interpret packets received from the virtual network device,
-using this option might help.
+Tinc will normally automatically select the right type of tun/tap interface, and this option should not be used.
+However, this option can be used to select one of the special interface types, if support for them is compiled in.
+.Bl -tag -width indent
+
+.It dummy
+Use a dummy interface.
+No packets are ever read or written to a virtual network device.
+Useful for testing, or when setting up a node that only forwards packets for other nodes.
+
+.It raw_socket
+Open a raw socket, and bind it to a pre-existing
+.Va Interface
+(eth0 by default).
+All packets are read from this interface.
+Packets received for the local node are written to the raw socket.
+However, at least on Linux, the operating system does not process IP packets destined for the local host.
+
+.It multicast
+Open a multicast UDP socket and bind it to the address and port (separated by spaces) and optionally a TTL value specified using
+.Va Device .
+Packets are read from and written to this multicast socket.
+This can be used to connect to UML, QEMU or KVM instances listening on the same multicast address.
+Do NOT connect multiple
+.Nm tinc
+daemons to the same multicast address, this will very likely cause routing loops.
+Also note that this can cause decrypted VPN packets to be sent out on a real network if misconfigured.
+
+.It uml Pq not compiled in by default
+Create a UNIX socket with the filename specified by
+.Va Device ,
+or
+.Pa @localstatedir@/run/ Ns Ar NETNAME Ns Pa .umlsocket
+if not specified.
+.Nm tinc
+will wait for a User Mode Linux instance to connect to this socket.
+
+.It vde Pq not compiled in by default
+Uses the libvdeplug library to connect to a Virtual Distributed Ethernet switch,
+using the UNIX socket specified by
+.Va Device ,
+or
+.Pa @localstatedir@/run/vde.ctl
+if not specified.
+.El
+
+Also, in case tinc does not seem to correctly interpret packets received from the virtual network device,
+it can be used to change the way packets are interpreted:
+