The IPv6 routing table

  • Article

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

The IPv6 routing table

Every computer that runs IPv6 determines how to forward packets based on the contents of the IPv6 routing table. To display the IPv6 routing table on a computer that is running a member of the Windows Server 2003 family or Windows XP, type netsh interface ipv6 show routes at the Command Prompt.

Entries in the IPv6 routing table consist of:

  • An address prefix

  • The interface over which packets matching the address prefix are sent

  • A forwarding or next-hop address

  • A preference value used to select between multiple routes with the same prefix

  • The lifetime of the route

  • The specification of whether the route is published (advertised in a Routing Advertisement)

  • The specification of how the route is aged

  • The route type

The IPv6 routing table is built automatically, based on the current IPv6 configuration of your computer. When forwarding IPv6 packets, the routing table is searched by your computer for an entry that is the most specific match to the destination IPv6 address. A route for the link-local prefix (FE80::/64) is not displayed.

The default route (a route with a prefix of ::/0) is typically used to forward an IPv6 packet to a default router on the local link. Because the router that corresponds to the default router contains information about the network prefixes of the other IPv6 subnets within the larger IPv6 internetwork, it forwards the packet to other routers until it is eventually delivered to the destination.

For information about managing IPv6 routes, see Managing Routes with IPv6.