As you may already know, the number of available IP v4 addresses is going to zero.
Recently, IANA has deliver his last IP v4 addresses range; now, only the 5 RIR (Regional Internet Registrar) are providing public IP v4 addresses.
So it’s now the time to think about moving your IP infrastructure to IP v6 as it will take time to totally replace IP v4.
It consists of checking your operating system (Windows, Unix/Linux, Apple OS…), hardware network components and software (from both custom developments to manufacturer developments).
You can use the following site to convert IP v4 addresses to IP v6 addresses, network range… http://www.subnetonline.com/pages/subnet-calculators/ipv4-to-ipv6-converter.php
So, in this post, I will show how to implement IP v6 within a Microsoft infrastructure (AD/DNS, DHCP, firewall [TMG/UAG]…).
Configure DNS Zone
DNS service in Windows 2008 and later is already IP v6 compliant (AAAA host).
As usual, you have to configure a revers lookup zone; which may already exist for IP v4; so you have the same to do with IP v6.
You just have to follow the wizard and choose IP v6 Reverse Zone when asked
Then you have to add you network suffix ; for a 192.168.100.0 network, IP v6 suffix is fe80::/64
Your settings is automatically checked; if a full reverse lookup zone appears below your entry
That’s it, other settings are identical than for IP v4 reverse lookup zone
You can test your DNS configuration by using the ping command ping –6 <FQDN hostname>; if you have a result, everything is good. This is a good first test for validating your IP v6 deployment.
You can check on your DNS zone if your host have 2 addresses (one IP v4 and one IP v6)
Configure Domain Controllers
Domain controllers in a Microsoft infrastructure are very important.
if your DC’s are running Windows 2008 or later, you already have IP v6 installed and you just have to configure fixed IP addresses; if you’re running earlier version of Windows, you may have to install IP v6 stack or upgrade to Windows 2008 or later.
Setting fixed IP v6 address is very simple as it is the same process than for IP v 4, the only difficult is the IP conversion – once again, use the converter website indicated earlier.
Configure additional fixed IP addresses
Repeat the same steps for other client which have/need fixed IP addresses
Public services hosting (web, mail…)
Public IP v6 addresses depend of your ISP and your registrar.
Currently, many of registrar are now providing IP v6 record but still few ISP are providing public IP v6 address.
If you’re not sure about your public connection, you can use this website to check if you’re connected with IP v4 or IP v6 http://www.monipv6.org
Other devices
Once you have configured your servers and clients to use IP v6, you have to check if your hardware network devices are compatible and compliant with IP v6.
Recent hardware are compatible, older may need a firmware upgrade or need to be replaced.
You can use this ping command to check if you are able to reach public IP v6 addresses ping –6 ipv6.google.com