Users Guide

Table Of Contents
Dell PowerConnect ArubaOS 5.0 | User Guide] IPv6 Client Support | 535
Chapter 28
IPv6 Client Support
This chapter describes ArubaOS support for IPv6 clients.
z “About IPv6” on page535
z “Support for IPv6” on page535
z “Features that Support IPv6” on page537
z “IPv6 User Addresses” on page542
z “Important Points to Remember” on page542
About IPv6
The IPv6 protocol enables the next generation of large-scale IP networks by supporting addresses that are 128 bits
long. This allows for 2
128
possible addresses (versus 2
32
possible IPv4 addresses).
The IP address assigned on an IPv6 host consists of a 64-bit subnet identifier and a 64-bit interface identifier.
Typically, IPv6 addresses are represented as eight colon-separated fields of up to four hexadecimal digits each.
The following are examples of IPv6 addresses:
FEDC:BA98:7654:3210:FEDC:BA98:7654:3210
1080:0:0:0:0:800:200C:417A
The use of the:: symbol is a special syntax that you can use to compress one or more 16-bit groups of zeros or to
compress leading or trailing zeros in an address. The “::” can appear only appear once in an address. For example,
the following example address:
1070:0:0:0:0:800:200C:417A
can also be represented as:
1080::800:200C:417A
IPv6 uses subnet identifiers to identify subnetworks to which nodes are attached. In ArubaOS, when you
reference IPv6 subnetworks in firewall policies, you must specify a subnet mask in addition to the IPv6 address.
The subnet mask is a bitmask that specifies the prefix length. For example, the IPv6 address and subnet mask:
1080::800:200C:417A ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff::
represents all IPv6 addresses with the subnet identifier 1080:0:0:0.
Support for IPv6
ArubaOS provides wired or wireless clients using IPv6 addressing with services such as firewall functionality, layer-
2 authentication, and, with the installation of the Policy Enforcement Firewall Next Generation (PEFNG),
identity-based security. The Dell controller does not provide routing or Network Address Translation to IPv6
clients (see “Important Points to Remember” on page 542).
Supported Network Configuration
Clients can be wired or wireless and use IPv4 and/or IPv6 addressing. ArubaOS requires that the default gateway
for the IPv6 clients be an external router that supports IPv6. The Dell controller itself has an IPv4 address, and
cannot route packets with IPv6 addresses. You can use the WebUI or CLI to display IPv6 client information.