System Administration Guide: IP Services

IPv6 Interface Configuration File Entry

The autoconfiguration of interfaces in IPv6 enables a node to compute its own link-local address that is based on its link-layer address. Consequently, the interface configuration file for IPv6 might not have an entry. In this instance, the startup scripts configure an interface. The node then “learns” of other addresses and prefixes through the neighbor discovery daemon, in.ndpd. If you require static addresses for an interface, use the ifconfig utility. Consequently, the address or host name is stored in /etc/hostname6.interface (or /etc/hostname.interface. The content is passed to ifconfig when the interface is configured.

In this instance, the file contains only one entry. The entry is the host name or IP address that is associated with the network interface. For example, suppose smc0 is the primary network interface for a machine that is called ahaggar. The /etc/hostname6.* file for the interface would have the name /etc/hostname6.smc0. The file would contain the entry ahaggar.

The networking start up script examines the number of interfaces and the existence of the /etc/inet/ndpd.conf file to start routing daemons and packet forwarding. See How to Configure a Solaris IPv6 Router.