man pages section 1M: System Administration Commands

in.ndpd(1M)

Name

in.ndpd– daemon for IPv6 autoconfiguration

Synopsis

/usr/lib/inet/in.ndpd  [-adt] [-f config_file]

Description

in.ndpd provides both the host and router autoconfiguration components of Neighbor Discovery for IPv6 and Stateless Address Autoconfiguration for IPv6. In particular, in.ndpd implements

router discovery;
prefix discovery;
parameter discovery;
address autoconfiguration; and
privacy extensions for stateless address autoconfiguration.

Other aspects of Neighbor Discovery are implemented by ip6(7P), including:

address resolution;
neighbor unreachability detection; and
redirect.

The duplicate address detection function is implemented by ifconfig(1M).

If the /etc/inet/ndpd.conf file does not exist or does not set the variable AdvSendAdvertisements to true for a network interface, then in.ndpd will make the node a host for that interface, that is, sending router solicitation messages and then using router advertisement messages it receives to autoconfigure the node. Note that in.ndpd only autoconfigures the addresses of global or site-local scope from the prefix advertisement.

If AdvSendAdvertisements is set to true for an interface, then in.ndpd will perform router functions on that interface, that is, sending router advertisement messages to autoconfigure the attached hosts, but not use any advertisements it receives for autoconfiguration. However, when sending advertisements, in.ndpd will use the advertisements it sends itself to autoconfigure its prefixes.

Stateless autoconfiguration requires no manual configuration of hosts, minimal (if any) configuration of routers, and no additional servers. The stateless mechanism enables a host to generate its own addresses and uses local information as well as non-local information that is advertised by routers to generate the addresses.

Temporary addresses that are autoconfigured for an interface can also be implemented. A temporary address token is enabled for one or more interfaces on a host. However, unlike standard, autoconfigured IPv6 addresses, a temporary address consists of the site prefix and a randomly generated 64 bit number. This random number becomes the interface ID segment of the IPv6 address. A link-local address is not generated with the temporary address as the interface ID.

Routers advertise all prefixes that have been assigned on the link. IPv6 hosts use Neighbor Discovery to obtain a subnet prefix from a local router. Hosts automatically create IPv6 addresses by combining the subnet prefix with an interface IDs that is generated from an interface's MAC address. In the absence of routers, a host can generate only link-local addresses. Link-local addresses can only be used for communication with nodes on the same link.

For information on how to enable IPv6 address autoconfiguration, see System Administration Guide: IP Services

Options

-a

Turn off stateless address auto configuration. When set, the daemon does not autoconfigure any addresses and does not renumber any addresses. This option does the same thing as the following line in ndpd.conf(4):

ifdefault StatelessAddrConf off

-d

Turn on large amounts of debugging output on stdout. When set, the program runs in the foreground and stays attached to the controlling terminal.

-f config_file

Use config_file for configuration information instead of the default /etc/inet/ndpd.conf.

-t

Turn on tracing (printing) of all sent and received packets tostdout. When set, the program runs in the foreground and stays attached to the controlling terminal.

Files

/etc/inet/ndpd.conf: Configuration file. This file is not necessary on a host, but it is required on a router to enable in.ndpd to advertise autoconfiguration information to the hosts.

Attributes

See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

ATTRIBUTE TYPE	ATTRIBUTE VALUE
Availability	SUNWcsu

Diagnostics

Receipt of a SIGHUP signal will make in.ndpd restart and reread /etc/inet/ndpd.conf.

SunOS 5.10 Last Revised 18 Dec 2003