Configuring IPv6 Host Functions

This chapter describes how to configure IPv6 host functions on the switch.

Prerequisites Configuring IPv6 Host Functions

blank.gifTo enable dual-stack environments (supporting both IPv4 and IPv6), you must configure the switch to use the a dual IPv4 and IPv6 switch database management (SDM) template. See Dual IPv4 and IPv6 Protocol Stacks.

Information About Configuring IPv6 Host Functions

IPv6

IPv4 users can move to IPv6 and receive services such as end-to-end security, quality of service (QoS), and globally unique addresses. The IPv6 address space reduces the need for private addresses and Network Address Translation (NAT) processing by border routers at network edges.

For information about how Cisco Systems implements IPv6, go to this URL:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6553/products_ios_technology_home.html

For information about IPv6 and other features in this chapter

blank.gifSee the Cisco IOS IPv6 Configuration Library at this URL:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US//docs/ios-xml/ios/ipv6/configuration/15-1mt/ipv6-15-1mt-book.html

This section describes IPv6 implementation on the switch. These sections are included:

blank.gifIPv6 Addresses

blank.gifSupported IPv6 Host Features

blank.gifHow to Configure IPv6 Hosting

IPv6 Addresses

The switch supports only IPv6 unicast addresses. It does not support site-local unicast addresses, anycast addresses, or multicast addresses.

The IPv6 128-bit addresses are represented as a series of eight 16-bit hexadecimal fields separated by colons in the format: n:n:n:n:n:n:n:n. This is an example of an IPv6 address:

2031:0000:130F:0000:0000:09C0:080F:130B

For easier implementation, leading zeros in each field are optional. This is the same address without leading zeros:

2031:0:130F:0:0:9C0:80F:130B

You can also use two colons (::) to represent successive hexadecimal fields of zeros, but you can use this short version only once in each address:

2031:0:130F::09C0:080F:130B

For more information about IPv6 address formats, address types, and the IPv6 packet header, see the “Implementing IPv6 Addressing and Basic Connectivity” chapter of Cisco IOS IPv6 Configuration Library on Cisco.com.

In the “Implementing Addressing and Basic Connectivity” chapter, these sections apply to the switch:

blank.gifIPv6 Address Formats

blank.gifIPv6 Address Output Display

blank.gifSimplified IPv6 Packet Header

Supported IPv6 Host Features

These sections describe the IPv6 protocol features supported by the switch:

blank.gif128-Bit Wide Unicast Addresses

blank.gifDNS for IPv6

blank.gifICMPv6

blank.gifNeighbor Discovery

blank.gifDefault Router Preference

blank.gifIPv6 Stateless Autoconfiguration and Duplicate Address Detection

blank.gifIPv6 Applications

blank.gifDual IPv4 and IPv6 Protocol Stacks

blank.gifSNMP and Syslog Over IPv6

blank.gifHTTP over IPv6

Support on the switch includes expanded address capability, header format simplification, improved support of extensions and options, and hardware parsing of the extension header. The switch supports hop-by-hop extension header packets, which are routed or bridged in software.

128-Bit Wide Unicast Addresses

The switch supports aggregatable global unicast addresses and link-local unicast addresses. It does not support site-local unicast addresses.

blank.gifAggregatable global unicast addresses are IPv6 addresses from the aggregatable global unicast prefix. The address structure enables strict aggregation of routing prefixes and limits the number of routing table entries in the global routing table. These addresses are used on links that are aggregated through organizations and eventually to the Internet service provider.

These addresses are defined by a global routing prefix, a subnet ID, and an interface ID. Current global unicast address allocation uses the range of addresses that start with binary value 001 (2000::/3). Addresses with a prefix of 2000::/3(001) through E000::/3(111) must have 64-bit interface identifiers in the extended unique identifier (EUI)-64 format.

blank.gifLink local unicast addresses can be automatically configured on any interface by using the link-local prefix FE80::/10(1111 1110 10) and the interface identifier in the modified EUI format. Link-local addresses are used in the neighbor discovery protocol (NDP) and the stateless autoconfiguration process. Nodes on a local link use link-local addresses and do not require globally unique addresses to communicate. IPv6 routers do not forward packets with link-local source or destination addresses to other links.

For more information, see the section about IPv6 unicast addresses in the “Implementing IPv6 Addressing and Basic Connectivity” chapter in the Cisco IOS IPv6 Configuration Library on Cisco.com.

DNS for IPv6

IPv6 supports Domain Name System (DNS) record types in the DNS name-to-address and address-to-name lookup processes. The DNS AAAA resource record types support IPv6 addresses and are equivalent to an A address record in IPv4. The switch supports DNS resolution for IPv4 and IPv6.

ICMPv6

The Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) in IPv6 generates error messages, such as ICMP destination unreachable messages, to report errors during processing and other diagnostic functions. In IPv6, ICMP packets are also used in the neighbor discovery protocol and path MTU discovery.

Neighbor Discovery

The switch supports NDP for IPv6, a protocol running on top of ICMPv6, and static neighbor entries for IPv6 stations that do not support NDP. The IPv6 neighbor discovery process uses ICMP messages and solicited-node multicast addresses to determine the link-layer address of a neighbor on the same network (local link), to verify the reachability of the neighbor, and to keep track of neighboring routers.

The switch supports ICMPv6 redirect for routes with mask lengths less than 64 bits. ICMP redirect is not supported for host routes or for summarized routes with mask lengths greater than 64 bits.

Neighbor discovery throttling ensures that the switch CPU is not unnecessarily burdened while it is in the process of obtaining the next hop forwarding information to route an IPv6 packet. The switch drops any additional IPv6 packets whose next hop is the same neighbor that the switch is actively trying to resolve. This drop avoids further load on the CPU.

Default Router Preference

The switch supports IPv6 default router preference (DRP), an extension in router advertisement messages. DRP improves the ability of a host to select an appropriate router, especially when the host is multihomed and the routers are on different links. The switch does not support the Route Information Option in RFC 4191.

An IPv6 host maintains a default router list from which it selects a router for traffic to offlink destinations. The selected router for a destination is then cached in the destination cache. NDP for IPv6 specifies that routers that are reachable or probably reachable are preferred over routers whose reachability is unknown or suspect. For reachable or probably reachable routers, NDP can either select the same router every time or cycle through the router list. By using DRP, you can configure an IPv6 host to prefer one router over another, provided both are reachable or probably reachable.

For more information about DRP for IPv6, see the “Implementing IPv6 Addresses and Basic Connectivity” chapter in the Cisco IOS IPv6 Configuration Library on Cisco.com.

IPv6 Stateless Autoconfiguration and Duplicate Address Detection

The switch uses stateless autoconfiguration to manage link, subnet, and site addressing changes, such as management of host and mobile IP addresses. A host autonomously configures its own link-local address, and booting nodes send router solicitations to request router advertisements for configuring interfaces.

For more information about autoconfiguration and duplicate address detection, see the “Implementing IPv6 Addressing and Basic Connectivity” chapter of Cisco IOS IPv6 Configuration Library on Cisco.com.

IPv6 Applications

The switch has IPv6 support for these applications:

blank.gifPing, traceroute, Telnet, TFTP, and FTP

blank.gifSecure Shell (SSH) over an IPv6 transport

blank.gifHTTP server access over IPv6 transport

blank.gifDNS resolver for AAAA over IPv4 transport

blank.gifCisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) support for IPv6 addresses

For more information about managing these applications, see the “Managing Cisco IOS Applications over IPv6” chapter and the “Implementing IPv6 Addressing and Basic Connectivity” chapter in the Cisco IOS IPv6 Configuration Library on Cisco.com.

Dual IPv4 and IPv6 Protocol Stacks

You must use the dual IPv4 and IPv6 template to allocate ternary content addressable memory (TCAM) usage to both IPv4 and IPv6 protocols.

Dual IPv4 and IPv6 Support on an Interface shows a router forwarding both IPv4 and IPv6 traffic through the same interface, based on the IP packet and destination addresses.

Figure 86 Dual IPv4 and IPv6 Support on an Interface

 

122379.ps

Use the dual IPv4 and IPv6 switch database management (SDM) template to enable dual-stack environments (supporting both IPv4 and IPv6).

The dual IPv4 and IPv6 templates allow the switch to be used in dual-stack environments.

blank.gifIf you try to configure IPv6 without first selecting a dual IPv4 and IPv6 template, a warning message appears.

blank.gifIn IPv4-only environments, the switch applies IPv4 QoS and ACLs in hardware. IPv6 packets are not supported.

blank.gifIn dual IPv4 and IPv6 environments, the switch applies IPv4 QoS and ACLs in hardware.

blank.gifIPv6 QoS and ACLs are not supported.

blank.gifIf you do not plan to use IPv6, do not use the dual-stack template because this template results in less TCAM capacity for each resource.

For more information about IPv4 and IPv6 protocol stacks, see the “Implementing IPv6 Addressing and Basic Connectivity” chapter of Cisco IOS IPv6 Configuration Library on Cisco.com.

Static Routes for IPv6

Static routes are manually configured and define an explicit route between two networking devices. Static routes are useful for smaller networks with only one path to an outside network or to provide security for certain types of traffic in a larger network.

For more information about static routes, see the “Implementing Static Routes for IPv6” chapter in the Cisco IOS IPv6 Configuration Library on Cisco.com.

SNMP and Syslog Over IPv6

To support both IPv4 and IPv6, IPv6 network management requires both IPv6 and IPv4 transports. Syslog over IPv6 supports address data types for these transports.

SNMP and syslog over IPv6 provide these features:

blank.gifSupport for both IPv4 and IPv6

blank.gifIPv6 transport for SNMP and to modify the SNMP agent to support traps for an IPv6 host

blank.gifSNMP- and syslog-related MIBs to support IPv6 addressing

blank.gifConfiguration of IPv6 hosts as trap receivers

For support over IPv6, SNMP modifies the existing IP transport mapping to simultaneously support IPv4 and IPv6. These SNMP actions support IPv6 transport management:

blank.gifOpens User Datagram Protocol (UDP) SNMP socket with default settings

blank.gifProvides a new transport mechanism called SR_IPV6_TRANSPORT

blank.gifSends SNMP notifications over IPv6 transport

blank.gifSupports SNMP-named access lists for IPv6 transport

blank.gifSupports SNMP proxy forwarding using IPv6 transport

blank.gifVerifies SNMP Manager feature works with IPv6 transport

For information on SNMP over IPv6, including configuration procedures, see the “Managing Cisco IOS Applications over IPv6” chapter in the Cisco IOS IPv6 Configuration Library on Cisco.com.

For information about syslog over IPv6, including configuration procedures, see the “Implementing IPv6 Addressing and Basic Connectivity” chapter in the Cisco IOS IPv6 Configuration Library on Cisco.com.

HTTP over IPv6

The HTTP client sends requests to both IPv4 and IPv6 HTTP servers, which respond to requests from both IPv4 and IPv6 HTTP clients. URLs with literal IPv6 addresses must be specified in hexadecimal using 16-bit values between colons.

The accept socket call chooses an IPv4 or IPv6 address family. The accept socket is either an IPv4 or IPv6 socket. The listening socket continues to listen for both IPv4 and IPv6 signals that indicate a connection. The IPv6 listening socket is bound to an IPv6 wildcard address.

The underlying TCP/IP stack supports a dual-stack environment. HTTP relies on the TCP/IP stack and the sockets for processing network-layer interactions.

Basic network connectivity (ping) must exist between the client and the server hosts before HTTP connections can be made.

Default IPv6 Settings

 

Feature
Default Setting

SDM template

Default.

IPv6 addresses

None configured.

How to Configure IPv6 Hosting

Configuring IPv6 Addressing and Enabling IPv6 Host

This section describes how to assign IPv6 addresses to individual Layer 3 interfaces and to globally forward IPv6 traffic on the switch.

Before configuring IPv6 on the switch, consider these guidelines:

blank.gifBe sure to select a dual IPv4 and IPv6 SDM template.

blank.gifIn the ipv6 address interface configuration command, you must enter the ipv6-address and ipv6-prefix variables with the address specified in hexadecimal using 16-bit values between colons. The prefix-length variable (preceded by a slash [/]) is a decimal value that shows how many of the high-order contiguous bits of the address comprise the prefix (the network portion of the address).

To forward IPv6 traffic on an interface, you must configure a global IPv6 address on that interface. Configuring an IPv6 address on an interface automatically configures a link-local address and activates IPv6 for the interface. The configured interface automatically joins these required multicast groups for that link:

blank.gifsolicited-node multicast group FF02:0:0:0:0:1:ff00::/104 for each unicast address assigned to the interface (this address is used in the neighbor discovery process.)

blank.gifall-nodes link-local multicast group FF02::1

blank.gifall-routers link-local multicast group FF02::2

For more information about configuring IPv6, see the “Implementing Addressing and Basic Connectivity for IPv6” chapter in the Cisco IOS IPv6 Configuration Library on Cisco.com.

 

 
Command
Purpose

1.blank.gif

configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

2.blank.gif

sdm prefer dual-ipv4-and-ipv6 default

Selects the SDM template that supports IPv4 and IPv6.

3.blank.gif

end

Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

4.blank.gif

reload

Reloads the operating system.

5.blank.gif

configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode after the switch reloads.

6.blank.gif

interface interface-id

Enters interface configuration mode, and specifies the interface to configure.

7.blank.gif

ipv6 address ipv6-prefix/prefix length eui-64

or

ipv6 address ipv6-address link-local

or

ipv6 enable

blank.gifSpecifies a global IPv6 address with an extended unique identifier (EUI) in the low-order 64 bits of the IPv6 address.

blank.gifSpecifies only the network prefix; the last 64 bits are automatically computed from the switch MAC address. This enables IPv6 processing on the interface.

blank.gifSpecifies a link-local address on the interface to be used instead of the link-local address that is automatically configured when IPv6 is enabled on the interface. This command enables IPv6 processing on the interface.

blank.gifAutomatically configures an IPv6 link-local address on the interface, and enable the interface for IPv6 processing. The link-local address can only be used to communicate with nodes on the same link.

8.blank.gif

exit

Returns to global configuration mode.

9.blank.gif

end

Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Configuring Default Router Preference

Router advertisement messages are sent with the default router preference (DRP) configured by the ipv6 nd router-preference interface configuration command. If no DRP is configured, RAs are sent with a medium preference.

A DRP is useful when two routers on a link might provide equivalent, but not equal-cost routing, and policy might dictate that hosts should prefer one of the routers.

 

 
Command
Purpose

1.blank.gif

configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

2.blank.gif

interface interface-id

Enters interface configuration mode, and enters the Layer 3 interface on which you want to specify the DRP.

3.blank.gif

ipv6 nd router-preference { high | medium | low }

Specifies a DRP for the router on the switch interface.

4.blank.gif

end

Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Configuring IPv6 ICMP Rate Limiting

ICMP rate limiting is enabled by default with a default interval between error messages of 100 milliseconds and a bucket size (maximum number of tokens to be stored in a bucket) of 10.

 

 
Command
Purpose

1.blank.gif

configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

2.blank.gif

ipv6 icmp error-interval interval [ bucketsize ]

Configures the interval and bucket size for IPv6 ICMP error messages:

blank.gif interval— The interval (in milliseconds) between tokens being added to the bucket. The range is from 0 to 2147483647 milliseconds.

blank.gif bucketsize —(Optional) The maximum number of tokens stored in the bucket. The range is from 1 to 200.

3.blank.gif

end

Returns to privileged EXEC mode.

Monitoring and Maintaining IPv6 Host Information

 

Command
Purpose

show ipv6 interface interface-id

Displays IPv6 interface status and configuration.

show ipv6 mtu

Displays IPv6 MTU per destination cache.

show ipv6 neighbors

Displays IPv6 neighbor cache entries.

show ipv6 prefix-list

Displays a list of IPv6 prefix lists.

show ipv6 protocols

Displays IPv6 routing protocols on the switch.

show ipv6 route

Displays the IPv6 route table entries.

show ipv6 static

Displays IPv6 static routes.

show ipv6 traffic

Displays IPv6 traffic statistics.

show ip http server history

Displays the previous 20 connections to the HTTP server, including the IP address accessed and the time when the connection was closed.

show ip http server connection

Displays the current connections to the HTTP server, including the local and remote IP addresses being accessed.

show ip http client connection

Displays the configuration values for HTTP client connections to HTTP servers.

show ip http client history

Displays a list of the last 20 requests made by the HTTP client to the server.

Configuration Examples for IPv6 Host Functions

Enabling IPv6: Example

This example shows how to enable IPv6 with both a link-local address and a global address based on the IPv6 prefix 2001:0DB8:c18:1::/64. The EUI-64 interface ID is used in the low-order 64 bits of both addresses. Output from the show ipv6 interface EXEC command shows how the interface ID (20B:46FF:FE2F:D940) is appended to the link-local prefix FE80::/64 of the interface.

Switch(config)# sdm prefer dual-ipv4-and-ipv6 default
Switch(config)# interface gigabitethernetfastethernet1/0/11
Switch(config-if)# ipv6 address 2001:0DB8:c18:1::/64 eui 64
Switch(config-if)# end
Switch# show ipv6 interface gigabitethernetfastethernet1/0/11
GigabitEthernetFastEthernet1/0/11 is up, line protocol is up
IPv6 is enabled, link-local address is FE80::20B:46FF:FE2F:D940
Global unicast address(es):
2001:0DB8:c18:1:20B:46FF:FE2F:D940, subnet is 2001:0DB8:c18:1::/64 [EUI]
Joined group address(es):
FF02::1
FF02::2
FF02::1:FF2F:D940
MTU is 1500 bytes
ICMP error messages limited to one every 100 milliseconds
ICMP redirects are enabled
ND DAD is enabled, number of DAD attempts: 1
ND reachable time is 30000 milliseconds
ND advertised reachable time is 0 milliseconds
ND advertised retransmit interval is 0 milliseconds
ND router advertisements are sent every 200 seconds
ND router advertisements live for 1800 seconds
Hosts use stateless autoconfig for addresses.
 

Configuring DRP: Example

This example shows how to configure a DRP of high for the router on an interface.

Switch# configure terminal
Switch(config)# interface gigabitethernet1/0/1
Switch(config-if)# ipv6 nd router-preference high
Switch(config-if)# end
 

Configuring an IPv6 ICMP Error Message Interval

This example shows how to configure an IPv6 ICMP error message interval of 50 milliseconds and a bucket size of 20 tokens.

Switch(config)# ipv6 icmp error-interval 50 20

Displaying Show Command Output: Examples

This is an example of the output from the show ipv6 interface privileged EXEC command:

Switch# show ipv6 interface
Vlan1 is up, line protocol is up
IPv6 is enabled, link-local address is FE80::20B:46FF:FE2F:D940
Global unicast address(es):
3FFE:C000:0:1:20B:46FF:FE2F:D940, subnet is 3FFE:C000:0:1::/64 [EUI]
Joined group address(es):
FF02::1
FF02::2
FF02::1:FF2F:D940
MTU is 1500 bytes
ICMP error messages limited to one every 100 milliseconds
ICMP redirects are enabled
ND DAD is enabled, number of DAD attempts: 1
ND reachable time is 30000 milliseconds
ND advertised reachable time is 0 milliseconds
ND advertised retransmit interval is 0 milliseconds
ND router advertisements are sent every 200 seconds
ND router advertisements live for 1800 seconds
<output truncated>
 

This is an example of the output from the show ipv6 protocols privileged EXEC command:

Switch# show ipv6 protocols
IPv6 Routing Protocol is “connected”
IPv6 Routing Protocol is “static”
IPv6 Routing Protocol is “rip fer”
Interfaces:
Vlan6
FastEthernet0/4
FastEthernet0/11
FastEthernet0/12
GigabitEthernet2/0/4
GigabitEthernet2/0/
GigabitEthernet1/0/12
Redistribution:
None
 

This is an example of the output from the show ipv6 neighbor privileged EXEC command:

Switch# show ipv6 neighbors
IPv6 Address Age Link-layer Addr State Interface
3FFE:C000:0:7::777 - 0007.0007.0007 REACH Vl7
3FFE:C101:113:1::33 - 0000.0000.0033 REACH Fa1/0/13
 

This is an example of the output from the show ipv6 route privileged EXEC command:

Switch# show ipv6 route
IPv6 Routing Table - Default - 1 entries
Codes: C - Connected, L - Local, S - Static, U - Per-user Static route
L FF00::/8 [0/0]
via Null0, receive
 

This is an example of the output from the show ipv6 traffic privileged EXEC command.

Switch# show ipv6 traffic
IPv6 statistics:
Rcvd: 1 total, 1 local destination
0 source-routed, 0 truncated
0 format errors, 0 hop count exceeded
0 bad header, 0 unknown option, 0 bad source
0 unknown protocol, 0 not a router
0 fragments, 0 total reassembled
0 reassembly timeouts, 0 reassembly failures
Sent: 36861 generated, 0 forwarded
0 fragmented into 0 fragments, 0 failed
0 encapsulation failed, 0 no route, 0 too big
0 RPF drops, 0 RPF suppressed drops
Mcast: 1 received, 36861 sent
 
ICMP statistics:
Rcvd: 1 input, 0 checksum errors, 0 too short
0 unknown info type, 0 unknown error type
unreach: 0 routing, 0 admin, 0 neighbor, 0 address, 0 port
parameter: 0 error, 0 header, 0 option
0 hopcount expired, 0 reassembly timeout,0 too big
0 echo request, 0 echo reply
0 group query, 0 group report, 0 group reduce
1 router solicit, 0 router advert, 0 redirects
0 neighbor solicit, 0 neighbor advert
Sent: 10112 output, 0 rate-limited
unreach: 0 routing, 0 admin, 0 neighbor, 0 address, 0 port
parameter: 0 error, 0 header, 0 option
0 hopcount expired, 0 reassembly timeout,0 too big
0 echo request, 0 echo reply
0 group query, 0 group report, 0 group reduce
0 router solicit, 9944 router advert, 0 redirects
84 neighbor solicit, 84 neighbor advert
 
UDP statistics:
Rcvd: 0 input, 0 checksum errors, 0 length errors
0 no port, 0 dropped
Sent: 26749 output
 
TCP statistics:
Rcvd: 0 input, 0 checksum errors
Sent: 0 output, 0 retransmitted

Additional References

The following sections provide references related to switch administration:

Related Documents

Related Topic
Document Title

Cisco IOS basic commands

Cisco IOS Configuration Fundamentals Command Reference

Cisco IOS static IPv6 routing

“Implementing Static Routes for IPv6” chapter in the Cisco IOS IPv6 Configuration Library on Cisco.com.

DRP for IPv6

“Implementing IPv6 Addresses and Basic Connectivity” chapter in the Cisco IOS IPv6 Configuration Library on Cisco.com

Standards

Standards
Title

No new or modified standards are supported by this feature, and support for existing standards has not been modified by this feature.

MIBs

MIBs
MIBs Link

To locate and download MIBs using Cisco IOS XR software, use the Cisco MIB Locator found at the following URL and choose a platform under the Cisco Access Products menu: http://cisco.com/public/sw-center/netmgmt/cmtk/mibs.shtml

RFCs

RFCs
Title

No new or modified RFCs are supported by this feature, and support for existing RFCs has not been modified by this feature.

Technical Assistance

Description
Link

The Cisco Technical Support website contains thousands of pages of searchable technical content, including links to products, technologies, solutions, technical tips, and tools. Registered Cisco.com users can log in from this page to access even more content.

http://www.cisco.com/techsupport