Configuring an IPv6 Interface

The initial step in IPv6 configuration is enabling IPv6 on an interface. You can enable IPv6 support during the Oracle Solaris installation process or by configuring IPv6 on the interfaces of an installed system.

During the Oracle Solaris installation process, you can enable IPv6 on one or more of a system's interfaces. After installation, the following IPv6-related files and tables are in place:

• The /etc/nsswitch.conf file has been modified to accommodate lookups using IPv6 addresses.

• The IPv6 address selection policy table is created. This table prioritizes the IP address format to use for transmissions over an IPv6-enabled interface.

This section describes how to enable IPv6 on the interfaces of an installed system.

Enabling IPv6 on an Interface (Task Map)

The following table lists different tasks for configuring the IPv6 interfaces. The table includes a description of what each task accomplishes and the section in the current documentation where the specific steps to perform the task are detailed.

How to Enable an IPv6 Interface for the Current Session

Begin your IPv6 configuration process by enabling IPv6 on the interfaces of all systems that will become IPv6 nodes. Initially, the interface obtains its IPv6 address through the autoconfiguration process, as described in IPv6 Address Autoconfiguration. You then can tailor the node's configuration based on its function in the IPv6 network, either as a host, server, or router.

The following procedure explains how to enable IPv6 for an interface that was added after an Oracle Solaris installation.

Before You Begin

Complete the planning tasks for the IPv6 network, such as upgrading hardware and software, and preparing an addressing plan. For more information, see IPv6 Planning (Task Maps).

1. Enable IPv6 on an interface.

   # ipadm create-addr -T addrconf addrobj

   where addrobj is the IP address identifier that uses the naming convention interface/user-defined-string, such as bge0/v6addr.

   Use the same command syntax to add more IPv6 addresses. Make sure that for each additional IPv6 address, you use a different addrobj value. For example:

   # ipadm create-addr -T static ipv6-address addrobj

2. Start the IPv6 daemonin.ndpd.

   # /usr/lib/inet/in.ndpd

   ---

   Note - You can display the status of a node's IPv6-enabled interfaces by using the ipadm show-addr command.

   ---

3. (Optional) Create a static IPv6 default route.

   # # /usr/sbin/route -p add -inet6 default ipv6-address

4. (Optional) Create an /etc/inet/ndpd.conf file that defines parameters for interface variables on the node.

   If you need to create temporary addresses for the host's interface, refer to Using Temporary Addresses for an Interface. For details about /etc/inet/ndpd.conf, refer to the ndpd.conf(4) man page and ndpd.conf Configuration File.

Example 5-1 Enabling an IPv6 Interface After Installation

This example shows how to enable IPv6 on the bge0 interface. Before you begin, check the status of all interfaces configured on the system.

# ipadm show-addr
ADDROBJ   TYPE     STATE   ADDR
lo0/v4    static   ok      127.0.0.1/8
bge0/v4   static   ok      172.16.27.74/24

Only the bge0 interface is currently configured for this system. Enable IPv6 on this interface as follows:

# ipadm create-addr -T addrconf bge0/v6
# ipadm create-addr -T static -a 2001:db8:3c4d:15:203/64 bge0/v6add
# /usr/lib/inet/in.ndpd
# ipadm show-addr
ADDROBJ      TYPE       STATE   ADDR
lo0/v4       static     ok      127.0.0.1/8
bge0/v4      static     ok      172.16.27.74/24
bge0/v6      addrconf   ok      fe80::203:baff:fe13:14e1/10
lo0/v6       static     ok      ::1/128
bge0/v6add   static     ok      2001:db8:3c4d:15:203/64

# route -p add -inet6 default fe80::203:baff:fe13:14e1

The example shows the status of the system's interface before and after bge0becomes IPv6-enabled. Note that the output indicates that only a link-local address was configured for bge0, fe80::203:baff:fe13:14e1/10. This address indicates that as of yet no router on the node's local link advertises a site prefix.

After IPv6 is enabled, you can use the ipadm show-addr command to display both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses for all interfaces on a system.

Next Steps

• To configure the IPv6 node as a router, go to Configuring an IPv6 Router.

• To disable address autoconfiguration on the node, see How to Turn Off IPv6 Address Autoconfiguration.

• To tailor the node as a server, see the suggestions in Administering IPv6-Enabled Interfaces on Servers.

How to Turn Off IPv6 Address Autoconfiguration

You normally should use address autoconfiguration to generate the IPv6 addresses for the interfaces of hosts and servers. However, sometimes you might want to turn off address autoconfiguration, especially if you want to manually configure a token, as explained in Configuring an IPv6 Token.

1. Create an /etc/inet/ndpd.conf file for the node.

   The /etc/inet/ndpd.conf file defines interface variables for the particular node. This file should have the following contents in order to turn off address autoconfiguration for all of the server's interfaces:

   if-variable-name StatelessAddrConf false

   For details about /etc/inet/ndpd.conf, refer to the ndpd.conf(4) man page and ndpd.conf Configuration File.

2. Update the IPv6 daemon with your changes.

   # pkill -HUP in.ndpd