Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller Software Configuration Guide, Cisco IOS XE 26.1.x

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Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller Software Configuration Guide, Cisco IOS XE 26.1.x

IPv6 address tracking for wireless clients

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Explains how Cisco wireless controllers track IPv6 addresses for wireless clients, the operational limits, and the impact of new software releases on address tracking and feature compatibility.


A wireless client's IPv6 addresses are network configuration parameters that

  • enable a controller to identify and monitor multiple IPv6 addresses used by a single wireless device

  • are stored and tracked by the controller to enforce policy and facilitate client management, and

  • are subject to a fixed limit that influences feature availability and network behavior.

Feature history

This table provides release and related information about the feature explained in this section.

This feature is also available in all the releases subsequent to the one in which they are introduced in, unless noted otherwise.

Table 1. Feature history for IPv6 Address Tracking for Wireless Clients

Feature Name

Release Information

Feature Description

IPv6 Address Tracking for Wireless Clients

Cisco IOS XE Cupertino 17.9.2

In this release, the controller allows data traffic from wireless clients with new IPv6 source addresses, even after eight addresses have been learned for each client. The controller continues to learn new IPv6 addresses from the clients' control traffic (IPv6 NS/NA and DHCPv6) and keeps track of only a maximum of eight addresses per wireless client.

IPv6 Address Tracking for Wireless Clients

Cisco IOS XE Cupertino 17.9.1

Until this release, the controller supported a maximum of eight IPv6 addresses per wireless client. After eight IPv6 addresses were learned for a wireless client, the controller dropped any data traffic from that client with new IPv6 source addresses.

To forward multicast neighbor solicitation (NS) queries for unknown IPv6 target addresses those not tracked by the controller to wireless clients, you must enable the wireless ipv6 nd ns-forward configuration.

Configure IPv6 Multicast over Multicast (MoM) tunnel along with the wireless ipv6 nd ns-forward configuration.

Note

In Cisco IOS XE 17.9.2, because the controller allows IPv6 traffic without address tracking beyond the eight-address limit, some features such as User Defined Network, iPSK Peer-to-Peer Blocking, Management over Wireless, Neighbor Discovery Suppression, and IP Theft Detection may not work for clients using more than eight addresses. You can disable the new behavior by enabling the IP Source Guard feature https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/9800/17-9/config-guide/b_wl_17_9_cg/m_ipsg_ewlc.html?bookSearch=true.


Configure unknown address multicast neighbor solicitation forwarding (CLI)

Enable the controller to forward multicast NS queries for wireless clients whose IPv6 addresses are not tracked, ensuring proper neighbor discovery on the network using commands.

Procedure

1.

Enter the global configuration mode.

Example:

Device# configure terminal
2.

Enable forwarding of the multicast neighbor solicitation (NS) messages for unknown IPv6 target addresses, specifically, the addresses of wireless clients that are not tracked by the controller to wireless clients.

Example:

Device (config)# wireless ipv6 nd ns-forward
Note

We recommend configuring IPv6 Multicast over Multicast (MoM) tunnel together with this command.