System Administration Guide: IP Services

Obtaining a Site Prefix

Before you configure IPv6, you must obtain a site prefix. The site prefix is used to derive IPv6 addresses for all the nodes in your IPv6 implementation. For an introduction to site prefixes, refer to Prefixes in IPv6.

Any ISP that supports IPv6 can provide your organization with a 48-bit IPv6 site prefix. If your current ISP only supports IPv4, you can use another ISP for IPv6 support while retaining your current ISP for IPv4 support. In such an instance, you can use one of several workarounds. For more information, see Current ISP Does Not Support IPv6.

If your organization is an ISP, then you obtain site prefixes for your customers from the appropriate Internet registry. For more information, see the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).