IPv6 configuration items

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

IPv6 configuration items

You can configure the following for the IPv6 protocol:

  • IPv6 address

  • Default router

  • DNS server

IPv6 address

By default, link-local addresses are automatically configured for each interface on each IPv6 node (host or router) with a unique link-local IPv6 address. If you want to communicate with IPv6 nodes that are not on attached links, the host must have additional site-local or global unicast addresses. Additional addresses for hosts are either obtained from router advertisements sent by a router or assigned manually. Additional addresses for routers must be assigned manually.

For more information, see Unicast IPv6 addresses, Configure IPv6 with manual addresses, and IPv6 address autoconfiguration.

Default router

To communicate with IPv6 nodes on other network segments, IPv6 must use a default router. A default router is automatically assigned based on the receipt of a router advertisement. Alternately, you can add a default route to the IPv6 routing table. You do not need to configure a default router for a network that consists of a single network segment.

For more information, see IPv6 address autoconfiguration and Add an IPv6 route.

DNS server

You can use a Domain Name System (DNS) server to resolve host names to IPv6 addresses. When an IPv6 host is configured with the address of a DNS server, the host sends DNS name queries to the server for resolution. AAAA (quad-A) resource records, which are stored on your DNS servers, enable mapping from a host name to its IPv6 address.

To enable DNS name resolution, configure an IPv6 router with forwarding enabled and a global prefix that is advertised to clients. You can do this by using the netsh interface ipv6 add route and netsh interface ipv6 set interface commands. For more information, see Add an IPv6 route and Enable IPv6 forwarding.

By default, DNS is configured to allow DNS dynamic updates. You can either leave dynamic update enabled when you use IPv6 with DNS, or you can manually add DNS records for IPv6 clients.

Configuring clients with the DNS server address

To provide communication between DNS clients and servers, you can configure the clients with the IPv6 address of the DNS server, or you can configure your DNS server with one of the three default DNS server IPv6 addresses that are automatically configured on all IPv6 clients.

You can configure clients with the IPv6 address of the DNS server by using the netsh interface ipv6 add dns command at each client computer or in a logon script that is run each time a client logs on to the network.

To configure the DNS server with one of the three IPv6 addresses that are available on IPv6 client computers by default, use the netsh interface ipv6 add address command. The three default DNS server addresses are:

  • FEC0:0:0: FFFF::1

  • FEC0:0:0: FFFF::2

  • FEC0:0:0:FFFF::3

If your DNS server is on a different subnet than your IPv6 clients, configure a static route to the DNS server on any IPv6 router that is available on the DNS server's subnet.

Configuring the DNS server to listen on IPv6

You can configure the DNS server to listen for DNS name registration and resolution requests over IPv6. When your DNS server is configured to listen on both IPv4 and IPv6:

  • Devices that function over IPv6 but not IPv4 will function properly with your DNS server.

  • Computers and other devices that are configured with both IPv4 and IPv6 use IPv6 by default.

To configure your DNS server to listen over IPv6, do the following:

  1. Install Windows Support Tools.

    For more information, see Install Windows Support Tools

  2. Open Command Prompt.

  3. Type the following command:

    dnscmd /config /EnableIPv6 1

  4. Restart the DNS Server service.

    For more information, see Start or stop a DNS server.

For more information, see IPv6 Name resolution, DNS, and Netsh commands for Interface IPv6.