Setting up IPv6

Unfamiliar with IPv6? Try Hurricane Electric's free IPv6 certification.

Introduction

By default you will only get one IPv6 address. You can receive a /64 subnet upon request to support@prgmr.com. IPv6 subnet prefixes and default gateways are given below.

Prefix: 2605:2700:0:2::/64 (or 2605:2700:0:3::/64)
Default Gateway: 2605:2700:0:2::1 (or 2605:2700:0:3::1)

Prefix: 2605:2700:0:3::/64
Default Gateway: 2605:2700:0:3::1

Prefix 2605:2700:0:5::/64
Default Gateway: 2605:2700:0:5::1

Prefix: 2605:2700:0:17::/64
Default Gateway: 2605:2700:0:17::1

Finding your IPv6 address

The easiest way to find your IP addresses is through the Reverse DNS option on the Management Console. Select option 8.

Name                                   ID   Mem VCPUs      State   Time(s)
cnryhilln                              42   128     1     -b----    4503.1

  Wiki at http://wiki.prgmr.com
  Please contact support@prgmr.com with any issues accessing your machine.

  Options for "cnryhilln"
  1. out of band console (press ctrl-] to escape, not resizeable)
  2. create/start, opens OOB console (try this if the machine is not running)
  3. shutdown (requests operating system to shut down)
  4. force power off (destroy/hard shutdown)
  5. reboot (requests operating system to reboot)
  6. swap i386/amd64 bootloaders currently "i386"
  7. view/add/remove ssh authorized_keys
  8. set reverse dns
  9. swap pvgrub/grub2 bootloaders currently "pv-grub"

  0. exit
  enter selection> 8
0. 71.19.155.15 --- cnryhilln.xen.prgmr.com
1. 2605:2700:0:17::4713:9b0f --- cnryhilln.xen.prgmr.com

You may also check <hostname>.xen.prgmr.com.

$ host -t AAAA cnryhilln.xen.prgmr.com
cnryhilln.xen.prgmr.com has IPv6 address 2605:2700:0:17::4713:9b0f

If neither of these methods returns your IPv6 address, then contact support@prgmr.com and ask us to fix it.

Updating your /etc/network/interfaces for Debian/Ubuntu

Once you have your sddress, add the following lines to your /etc/network/interfaces file (remember to substitute your own address for the one in the example):

iface eth0 inet static
    address 64.71.167.165
    netmask 255.255.255.128
    gateway 64.71.167.129
iface eth0 inet6 static
    address 2605:2700:0:3::4444:630e
    netmask 64
    gateway 2605:2700:0:3::1

Updating /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 for Fedora and CentOS

DEVICE=eth0
IPADDR=64.71.167.165
NETMASK=255.255.255.128
GATEWAY=64.71.167.129
IPV6INIT=yes
IPV6ADDR=2605:2700:0:3::4047:a7a5
IPV6_DEFAULTGW=2605:2700:0:3::1

Setting the default route with IPV6_DEFAULTGW is broken in CentOS/RHEL 5.2 and earlier, so in that case a route for 2000::/3 to the same router should work almost as well. A static ipv6 route can be set in /etc/sysconfig/static-routes-ipv6 like

eth0   2000::/3        2605:2700:0:3::1

For more information on ipv6 and other settings in /etc/sysconfig, see /usr/share/doc/initscripts-8.45.30/ or whatever version of initscripts is on your system.

Be sure to use the correct gateway for your network. The gateway for the 2605:2700:0:3:: prefix is different from the gateway for the 2605:2700:0:2:: prefix.

On CentOS you may need to add "NETWORKING_IPV6=yes" to /etc/sysconfig/network if the IPv6 address is not assigned on ifup.

IPv6 on NetBSD

Add a line to /etc/ifconfig.xennet0:

 inet6 2605:2700:0:3::XXXX:XXXX prefixlen 64 alias

Add a line to (or create) /etc/route.conf

 inet6 -net 2000::/3 2605:2700:0:3::1

Remember to use the correct gateway for your prefix. The gatway for the 2605:2700:0:3:: prefix is different from the gatway for the 2605:2700:0:2:: prefix.

Making sure the IPv6 module is loaded

Add the line "ipv6" to /etc/modules to ensure that the IPv6 kernel module is loaded on reboot.

Bringing the interface up

You can either reboot your server, or use the virtual console to bring down the interface from the virtual console and then bring it up again.

Important: If you are connected directly via SSH, you won't be able to send any more commands after bringing down the interface, so make sure you bring the interface back up in the same command:

ifdown eth0 && ifup eth0

Testing your connection

david@kauri:~$ ping6 ipv6.google.com
PING ipv6.google.com(pv-in-x93.1e100.net) 56 data bytes
64 bytes from pv-in-x93.1e100.net: icmp_seq=1 ttl=54 time=24.0 ms
64 bytes from pv-in-x93.1e100.net: icmp_seq=2 ttl=54 time=24.0 ms

Congratulations, your native IPv6 connection is now up and running.

You may also want to test your connection from the outside. You can use the tools at http://www.berkom.blazing.de/ or browse your website with ipv6 using http://www.sixxs.net/tools/gateway/

Setting up your own /64

To get your own /64, email support@prgmr.com and ask for one. Once you receive it, you can configure it in Debian or Ubuntu by changing the IPv6 section in your /etc/network/interfaces file to look like this (be sure to change the IP addresses):

iface eth0 inet6 static
    address 2605:2700:0:3::4444:630e
    netmask 64
    gateway 2605:2700:0:3::1
    up ip -6 addr add 2605:2700:1:f00d::1/64 dev eth0
    up ip -6 addr add 2605:2700:1:f00d::beef/64 dev eth0

For Fedora or CentOS, add the following line to your /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 file, changing the addresses as necessary:

   IPV6ADDR_SECONDARIES="2605:2700:1:f00d::1/64 2605:2700:1:f00d::beef/64"

You can also add addresses under your prefix to a dummy, VPN, or bridge interface. '

Important: If you have an IPv6 subnet, you MUST keep the IPv6 address that you were originally assigned, because your prefix is routed through that address.