IPv6 Routing: IS-IS Multitopology Support for IPv6
IS-IS Enhancements for IPv6
IS-IS in IPv6 functions the same and offers many of the same benefits as IS-IS in IPv4. IPv6 enhancements to IS-IS allow IS-IS to advertise IPv6 prefixes in addition to IPv4 and OSI routes. Extensions to the IS-IS command-line interface (CLI) allow configuration of IPv6-specific parameters. IPv6 IS-IS extends the address families supported by IS-IS to include IPv6, in addition to OSI and IPv4.
IS-IS in IPv6 supports either single-topology mode or multiple topology mode.
IS-IS Multitopology Support for IPv6
IS-IS multitopology support for IPv6 allows IS-IS to maintain a set of independent topologies within a single area or domain. This mode removes the restriction that all interfaces on which IS-IS is configured must support the identical set of network address families. It also removes the restriction that all routers in the IS-IS area (for Level 1 routing) or domain (for Level 2 routing) must support the identical set of network layer address families. Because multiple SPFs are performed, one for each configured topology, it is sufficient that connectivity exists among a subset of the routers in the area or domain for a given network address family to be routable.
You can use the isis ipv6 metric command to configure different metrics on an interface for IPv6 and IPv4.
When multitopology support for IPv6 is used, use the metric-style wide command to configure IS-IS to use new-style TLVs because TLVs used to advertise IPv6 information in link-state packets (LSPs) are defined to use only extended metrics.
Transition from Single-Topology to Multitopology Support for IPv6
All routers in the area or domain must use the same type of IPv6 support, either single-topology or multitopology. A router operating in multitopology mode will not recognize the ability of the single-topology mode router to support IPv6 traffic, which will lead to holes in the IPv6 topology. To transition from single-topology support to the more flexible multitopology support, a multitopology transition mode is provided.
The multitopology transition mode allows a network operating in single-topology IS-IS IPv6 support mode to continue to work while upgrading routers to include multitopology IS-IS IPv6 support. While in transition mode, both types of TLVs (single-topology and multitopology) are sent in LSPs for all configured IPv6 addresses, but the router continues to operate in single-topology mode (that is, the topological restrictions of the single-topology mode are still in effect). After all routers in the area or domain have been upgraded to support multitopology IPv6 and are operating in transition mode, transition mode can be removed from the configuration. Once all routers in the area or domain are operating in multitopology IPv6 mode, the topological restrictions of single-topology mode are no longer in effect.