- Preface
- Using the Command-Line Interface
- Using the Web Graphical User Interface
- Configuring MLD Snooping
- Configuring IPv6 Unicast Routing
- Implementing IPv6 Multicast
- Configuring IPv6 Client IP Address Learning
- Configuring IPv6 WLAN Security
- Configuring IPv6 ACL
- Configuring IPv6 Web Authentication
- Configuring IPv6 Client Mobility
- Configuring IPv6 Mobility
- Configuring IPv6 NetFlow
- Index
- Prerequisites for IPv6 Client Address Learning
- Information About IPv6 Client Address Learning
- Configuring IPv6 Unicast (CLI)
- Configuring RA Guard Policy (CLI)
- Applying RA Guard Policy (CLI)
- Configuring RA Throttle Policy (CLI)
- Applying RA Throttle Policy on VLAN (CLI)
- Configuring IPv6 Snooping (CLI)
- Configuring IPv6 ND Suppress Policy (CLI)
- Configuring IPv6 Snooping on VLAN/PortChannel
- Configuring IPv6 on Switch (CLI)
- Configuring DHCP Pool (CLI)
- Configuring Stateless Auto Address Configuration Without DHCP (CLI)
- Configuring Stateless Auto Address Configuration With DHCP (CLI)
- Configuring Stateful DHCP Locally (CLI)
- Configuring Stateful DHCP Externally (CLI)
- Monitoring IPv6 Clients (GUI)
- Verifying IPv6 Address Learning Configuration
- Additional References
- Feature Information for IPv6 Client Address Learning
Configuring IPv6 Client IP Address Learning
Prerequisites for IPv6 Client Address Learning
Before configuring IPv6 client address learning, configure the wireless clients to support IPv6.
Information About IPv6 Client Address Learning
Client Address Learning is configured on switch to learn the wireless client's IPv4 and IPv6 address and clients transition state maintained by the switch on an association, re-association, de-authentication and timeout.
There are three ways for IPv6 client to acquire IPv6 addresses:
For all of these methods, the IPv6 client always sends neighbor solicitation DAD (Duplicate Address Detection) request to ensure there is no duplicate IP address on the network. The switch snoops the client's NDP and DHCPv6 packets to learn about its client IP addresses.
- SLAAC Address Assignment
- Stateful DHCPv6 Address Assignment
- Static IP Address Assignment
- Router Solicitation
- Router Advertisement
- Neighbor Discovery
- Neighbor Discovery Suppression
- RA Guard
- RA Throttling
SLAAC Address Assignment
The most common method for IPv6 client address assignment is Stateless Address Auto-Configuration (SLAAC). SLAAC provides simple plug-and-play connectivity where clients self-assign an address based on the IPv6 prefix. This process is achieved
Stateless Address Auto-Configuration (SLAAC) is configured as follows:
- Host sends a router solicitation message.
- Hosts waits for a Router Advertisement message.
- Hosts take the first 64 bits of the IPv6 prefix from the Router Advertisement message and combines it with the 64 bit EUI-64 address (in the case of ethernet, this is created from the MAC Address) to create a global unicast message. The host also uses the source IP address, in the IP header, of the Router Advertisement message, as its default gateway.
- Duplicate Address Detection is performed by IPv6 clients in order to ensure that random addresses that are picked do not collide with other clients.
- The choice of algorithm is up to the client and is often configurable.
The last 64 bits of the IP v6 address can be learned based on the following 2 algorithms:
The following Cisco IOS configuration commands from a Cisco-capable IPv6 router are used to enable SLAAC addressing and router advertisements:
ipv6 unicast-routing interface Vlan20 description IPv6-SLAAC ip address 192.168.20.1 255.255.255.0 ipv6 address FE80:DB8:0:20::1 linklocal ipv6 address 2001:DB8:0:20::1/64 ipv6 enable end
Stateful DHCPv6 Address Assignment
The use of DHCPv6 is not required for IPv6 client connectivity if SLAAC is already deployed. There are two modes of operation for DHCPv6 called Stateless and Stateful.
The DHCPv6 Stateless mode is used to provide clients with additional network information that is not available in the router advertisement, but not an IPv6 address as this is already provided by SLAAC. This information can include the DNS domain name, DNS server(s), and other DHCP vendor-specific options. This interface configuration is for a Cisco IOS IPv6 router implementing stateless DHCPv6 with SLAAC enabled:
ipv6 unicast-routing ipv6 dhcp pool IPV6_DHCPPOOL address prefix 2001:db8:5:10::/64 domain-name cisco.com dns-server 2001:db8:6:6::1 interface Vlan20 description IPv6-DHCP-Stateless ip address 192.168.20.1 255.255.255.0 ipv6 nd other-config-flag ipv6 dhcp server IPV6_DHCPPOOL ipv6 address 2001:DB8:0:20::1/64 end
The DHCPv6 Stateful option, also known as managed mode, operates similarly to DHCPv4 in that it assigns unique addresses to each client instead of the client generating the last 64 bits of the address as in SLAAC. This interface configuration is for a Cisco IOS IPv6 router implementing stateful DHCPv6 on a local Switch:
ipv6 unicast-routing ipv6 dhcp pool IPV6_DHCPPOOL address prefix 2001:db8:5:10::/64 domain-name cisco.com dns-server 2001:db8:6:6::1 interface Vlan20 description IPv6-DHCP-Stateful ip address 192.168.20.1 255.255.255.0 ipv6 address 2001:DB8:0:20::1/64 ipv6 nd prefix 2001:DB8:0:20::/64 no-advertise ipv6 nd managed-config-flag ipv6 nd other-config-flag ipv6 dhcp server IPV6_DHCPPOOL end
This interface configuration is for a Cisco IOS IPv6 router implementing stateful DHCPv6 on an external DHCP server:
ipv6 unicast-routing domain-name cisco.com dns-server 2001:db8:6:6::1 interface Vlan20 description IPv6-DHCP-Stateful ip address 192.168.20.1 255.255.255.0 ipv6 address 2001:DB8:0:20::1/64 ipv6 nd prefix 2001:DB8:0:20::/64 no-advertise ipv6 nd managed-config-flag ipv6 nd other-config-flag ipv6 dhcp_relay destination 2001:DB8:0:20::2 end
Static IP Address Assignment
Statically configured address on a client.
Router Solicitation
A Router Solicitation message is issued by a host controller to facilitate local routers to transmit Router Advertisement from which it can obtain information about local routing or perform Stateless Auto-configuration. Router Advertisements are transmitted periodically and the host prompts with an immediate Router Advertisement using a Router Solicitation such as - when it boots or following a restart operation.
Router Advertisement
A Router Advertisement message is issued periodically by a router or in response to a Router Solicitation message from a host. The information contained in these messages is used by hosts to perform Stateless Auto-configuration and to modify its routing table.
Neighbor Discovery
IPv6 Neighbor Discovery is a set of messages and processes that determine relationships between neighboring nodes. Neighbor Discovery replaces ARP, ICMP Router Discovery, and ICMP Redirect used in IPv4.
IPv6 Neighbor Discovery inspection analyzes neighbor discovery messages in order to build a trusted binding table database, and IPv6 neighbor discovery packets that do not comply are dropped. The neighbor binding table in the switch tracks each IPv6 address and its associated MAC address. Clients are expired from the table according to Neighbor Binding timers.
Neighbor Discovery Suppression
The IPv6 addresses of wireless clients are cached by the switch. When the switch receives an NS multicast looking for an IPv6 address, and if the target address is known to the switch and belongs to one of its clients, the switch will reply with an NA message on behalf of the client. The result of this process generates the equivalent of the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) table of IPv4 but is more efficient - uses generally fewer messages.
Note | The switch acts like proxy and respond with NA, only when the ipv6 nd suppress command is configured |
If the switch does not have the IPv6 address of a wireless client, the switch will not respond with NA and forward the NS packet to the wireless side. To resolve this, an NS Multicast Forwarding knob is provided. If this knob is enabled, the switch gets the NS packet for the IPv6 address that it does not have (cache miss) and forwards it to the wireless side. This packet reaches the intended wireless client and the client replies with NA.
This cache miss scenario occurs rarely, and only very few clients which do not implement complete IPv6 stack may not advertise their IPv6 address during NDP.
RA Guard
IPv6 clients configure IPv6 addresses and populate their router tables based on IPv6 router advertisement (RA) packets. The RA guard feature is similar to the RA guard feature of wired networks. RA guard increases the security of the IPv6 network by dropping the unwanted or rogue RA packets that come from wireless clients. If this feature is not configured, malicious IPv6 wireless clients announce themselves as the router for the network often with high priority, which would take higher precedence over legitimate IPv6 routers.
The following configuration information created on the switch is available to RA-Guard to validate against the information found in the received RA frame:
RA guard occurs at the switch. You can configure the switch to drop RA messages at the switch. All IPv6 RA messages are dropped, which protects other wireless clients and upstream wired network from malicious IPv6 clients.
//Create a policy for RA Guard// ipv6 nd raguard policy raguard-router trusted-port device-role router
//Applying the RA Guard Policy on port/interface// interface tengigabitethernet1/0/1 (Katana) interface gigabitethernet1/0/1 (Edison) ipv6 nd raguard attach-policy raguard-router
RA Throttling
RA throttling allows the controller to enforce limits to RA packets headed toward the wireless network. By enabling RA throttling, routers that send many RA packets can be trimmed to a minimum frequency that will still maintain an IPv6 client connectivity. If a client sends an RS packet, an RA is sent back to the client. This RA is allowed through the controller and unicasted to the client. This process ensures that the new clients or roaming clients are not affected by the RA throttling.
Configuring IPv6 Unicast (CLI)
IPv6 unicasting must always be enabled on the switch and the controller. IPv6 unicast routing is disabled.
To enable the forwarding of IPv6 unicast datagrams, use the ipv6 unicast-routing command in global configuration mode. To disable the forwarding of IPv6 unicast datagrams, use the no form of this command.
DETAILED STEPS
Command or Action | Purpose |
---|
Configuring RA Guard Policy (CLI)
Configure RA Guard policy on the switch to add IPv6 client addresses and populate the router table based on IPv6 router advertisement packets.
2.
ipv6
nd
raguard
policy
raguard-router
3.
trustedport
4.
device-role
router
5.
exit
DETAILED STEPS
Applying RA Guard Policy (CLI)
Applying the RA Guard policy on the switch will block all the untrusted RA's.
2.
interface
tengigabitethernet
1/0/1
3.
ipv6
nd
raguard
attach-policy
raguard-router
4.
exit
DETAILED STEPS
Configuring RA Throttle Policy (CLI)
Configure RA Throttle policy to allow the enforce the limits
2.
ipv6
nd
ra-throttler
policy
ra-throttler1
3.
throttleperiod500
4.
max-through10
5.
allow-atleast
5
at-most
10
DETAILED STEPS
Applying RA Throttle Policy on VLAN (CLI)
Applying the RA Throttle policy on a VLAN. By enabling RA throttling, routers that send many RA packets can be trimmed to a minimum frequency that will still maintain an IPv6 client connectivity.
DETAILED STEPS
Configuring IPv6 Snooping (CLI)
IPv6 snooping must always be enabled on the switch and the controller.
Enable IPv6 on the client machine.
1.
vlan configuration 1
2.
ipv6 snooping
3.
ipv6 nd suppress
4.
exit
DETAILED STEPS
Configuring IPv6 ND Suppress Policy (CLI)
The IPv6 neighbor discovery (ND) multicast suppress feature stops as many ND multicast neighbor solicit (NS) messages as possible by dropping them (and responding to solicitations on behalf of the targets) or converting them into unicast traffic. This feature runs on a layer 2 switch or a wireless controller and is used to reduce the amount of control traffic necessary for proper link operations.
When an address is inserted into the binding table, an address resolution request sent to a multicast address is intercepted, and the device either responds on behalf of the address owner or, at layer 2, converts the request into a unicast message and forwards it to its destination.
DETAILED STEPS
Configuring IPv6 Snooping on VLAN/PortChannel
Neighbor Discover (ND) suppress can be enabled or disabled on either the VLAN or a switchport.
1.
vlan
config901
2.
ipv6
nd
suppress
3.
end
4.
interface
gi1/0/1
5.
ipv6
nd
suppress
6.
end
DETAILED STEPS
Configuring IPv6 on Switch (CLI)
Use this configuration example to configure IPv6 on an interface.
Enable IPv6 on the client and IPv6 support on the wired infrastructure.
1.
interface
vlan
1
2.
ip
address
fe80::1 link-local
3.
ipv6
enable
4.
end
DETAILED STEPS
Configuring DHCP Pool (CLI)
1.
ipv6
dhcp
pool
Vlan21
2.
address
prefix
2001:DB8:0:1:FFFF:1234::/64
lifetime
300
10
3.
dns-server
2001:100:0:1::1
4.
domain-name
example.com
5.
end
DETAILED STEPS
Configuring Stateless Auto Address Configuration Without DHCP (CLI)
1.
interface
vlan
1
2.
ip
address
fe80::1 link-local
3.
ipv6
enable
4.
no ipv6 nd
managed-config-flag
5.
no ipv6 nd
other-config-flag
6.
end
DETAILED STEPS
Configuring Stateless Auto Address Configuration With DHCP (CLI)
1.
interface
vlan
1
2.
ip
address
fe80::1 link-local
3.
ipv6
enable
4.
no ipv6 nd
managed-config-flag
5.
ipv6 nd
other-config-flag
6.
end
DETAILED STEPS
Configuring Stateful DHCP Locally (CLI)
This interface configuration is for a Cisco IOS IPv6 router implementing stateful DHCPv6 on a local Switch
2.
ipv6
unicast-routing
3.
ipv6
dhcp
pool
IPv6_DHCPPOOL
4.
address
prefix
2001:DB8:0:1:FFFF:1234::/64
5.
dns-server
2001:100:0:1::1
6.
domain-name
example.com
7.
exit
8.
interface
vlan1
9.
description
IPv6-DHCP-Stateful
10.
ipv6
address
2001:DB8:0:20::1/64
11.
ip
address
192.168.20.1
255.255.255.0
12.
ipv6
nd
prefix
2001:db8::/64
no-advertise
13.
ipv6
nd
managed-config-flag
14.
ipv6
nd
other-config-flag
15.
ipv6
dhcp
server
IPv6_DHCPPOOL
DETAILED STEPS
Configuring Stateful DHCP Externally (CLI)
This interface configuration is for a Cisco IOS IPv6 router implementing stateful DHCPv6 on an external DHCP server.
2.
ipv6
unicast-routing
3.
dns-server
2001:100:0:1::1
4.
domain-name
example.com
5.
exit
6.
interface
vlan1
7.
description
IPv6-DHCP-Stateful
8.
ipv6
address
2001:DB8:0:20::1/64
9.
ip
address
192.168.20.1
255.255.255.0
10.
ipv6
nd
prefix
2001:db8::/64
no-advertise
11.
ipv6
nd
managed-config-flag
12.
ipv6
nd
other-config-flag
13.
ipv6
dhcp_relaydestination
2001:DB8:0:20::2
DETAILED STEPS
Monitoring IPv6 Clients (GUI)
To view the IPv6 clients associated with the Switch
Verifying IPv6 Address Learning Configuration
This example displays the output of the show ipv6 dhcp pool command. This command displays the IPv6 service configuration on the switch. The vlan 21 configured pool detail displays 6 clients that are currently using addresses from the pool.
1.
show ipv6 dhcp pool
DETAILED STEPS
Additional References
Related Documents
Related Topic | Document Title |
---|---|
IPv6 command reference | IPv6 Command Reference (Catalyst 3650 Switches) |
IP command reference | IP Command Reference (Catalyst 3650 Switches) |
Error Message Decoder
Description | Link |
---|---|
To help you research and resolve system error messages in this release, use the Error Message Decoder tool. |
https://www.cisco.com/cgi-bin/Support/Errordecoder/index.cgi |
MIBs
MIB | MIBs Link |
---|---|
All supported MIBs for this release. |
To locate and download MIBs for selected platforms, Cisco IOS releases, and feature sets, use Cisco MIB Locator found at the following URL: |
Technical Assistance
Description | Link |
---|---|
The Cisco Support website provides extensive online resources, including documentation and tools for troubleshooting and resolving technical issues with Cisco products and technologies. To receive security and technical information about your products, you can subscribe to various services, such as the Product Alert Tool (accessed from Field Notices), the Cisco Technical Services Newsletter, and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) Feeds. Access to most tools on the Cisco Support website requires a Cisco.com user ID and password. |
Feature Information for IPv6 Client Address Learning
Feature |
Release |
Modification |
---|---|---|
IPv6 Client Address Learning Functionality |
Cisco IOS XE 3.2SECisco IOS XE 3.3SE |
This feature was introduced. |