Installing and configuring IPv6 in Windows Server 2008



Installing support for IPv6 in Windows Server 2008 is easy. Open the Network Connections folder from the Control Panel, right-click the interface on which you want to install IPv6, and choose Properties. On the General tab, click Install. Select Protocol and click Add. In the Select Network Protocol dialog box, select Microsoft TCP/IP version 6 and click OK. Then, click Close to close the interface’s property sheet. To configure IPv6, click the Properties button. The dialog box as shown in Figure 1 appears.

FIGURE 1: The IPv6 protocol appears in the interface’s properties.



IPv6 address assignment

As with IPv4, you can assign IPv6 addresses either statically or dynamically, but the implications and implementation of automatic address assignment are very different from IPv4. First look at automatic address assignment.

IPv6 address autoconfiguration

IPv6 doesn’t require the use of a configuration protocol such as DHCP to assign addresses automatically, although IPv6 supports automatic assignment through DHCPv6 servers. Automatic configuration without a DHCPv6 server is called stateless autoconfiguration. With this method, the host configures its address using router advertisement messages received from the routers on its link. The result is similar to IPv4 address assignment with APIPA (Automatic Private IP Addressing), which allows Windows platforms to derive a valid IP address from the private 169.254.x.x/16 address space (class B with subnet mask 255.255.0.0). Windows Server 2008 supports stateless autoconfiguration.

IPv6 also gives for stateful autoconfiguration, which relies on a DHCPv6 server to allocate the address. However, Windows Server 2008 does not at this point support stateful autoconfiguration, nor does the DHCP service included with Windows Server 2008 support DHCPv6 address allocation. Therefore, you need to either rely on stateless autoconfiguration or configure the address and other properties manually.

Static IPv6 address configuration

Unfortunately, Windows Server 2008 doesn’t offer a graphical means to configure IPv6. Instead, you must use the netsh command from a console to configure IPv6. Open a command console and issue the following commands to initiate a Netsh session to configure IPv6:

NETSH
INTERFACE IPV6

Next, add the interface and address using the following command:

ADD ADDRESS INTERFACE=string ADDRESS=address

Replace string with the string that identifies the IPv6 interface; address specifies the IPv6 address.

Generally, even if you assign the address statically in this way, the computer will determine the default router from router advertisements; however, you can assign the default router statically if required. Still in the netsh IPv6 interface, execute the following command:

ADD ROUTE PREFIX=IPv6Address/Integer INTERFACE=string

Replace IPv6Address with the valid IPv6 address, and Integer with the prefix length. Replace string with the interface name on which to add the route. If you need to remove a route, use the following commands:

SHOW ROUTES
DELETE ROUTE PREFIX=IPv6Address/Integer INTERFACE=string

Use the results of the SHOW ROUTES command to determine the route prefix and interface index for the route to be deleted. Then replace the IPv6Address, Integer, and string values accordingly.