Recipe10.14.Installing the IPv6 Stack

Recipe 10.14. Installing the IPv6 Stack

Problem

You want to install and configure the IPv6 stack on a server.

Solution

Windows Server 2003 provides native support for IPv6, but Windows 2000 does not. To install the IPv6 stack for Windows 2000, you need to first download it from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=27B1E6A6-BBDD-43C9-AF57-DAE19795A088&displaylang=en.

Run the executable and extract the files to a folder on your server. Then install the protocol stack by running setup.exe. If you are running Service Pack 2 or later (and hopefully you are), you have to perform some additional steps to get the installation to work. By default if you run the setup program it will complain about the system not being at Service Pack 1. Follow the directions on the following site to fix the problem: http://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads/sdks/platform/tpipv6/faq.asp.

Once you have the stack installed, you should follow the steps outlined in the graphical user interface instructions to configure it for a particular network connection (which also applies to Windows Server 2003).

Using a graphical user interface

Open the Control Panel.
From the Network Connections applet, double-click the connection you want to install IPv6 for.
Click the Properties button.
Click the Install button.
Select Protocol and click the Add button.
Select Microsoft TCP/IP version 6 and click OK.
Click Close.

Using a command-line interface

The following command installs the IPv6 stack. It must be run directly on the target server:

> netsh interface ipv6 install

If you need to run the command remotely, you can use the psexec command:

> psexec \\server01 netsh interface ipv6 install

Using VBScript

There is no scripting interface to install the stack, but you can shell out and run the netsh command as in the following example:

' This code installs the IPv6 on the computer the script is run from. strCommand = "netsh interface ipv6 install" set objWshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell") intRC = objWshShell.Run(strCommand, 0, TRUE) if intRC <> 0 then    WScript.Echo "Error returned from running the command: " & intRC else    WScript.Echo "Command executed successfully" end if

Discussion

IPv6 is the next generation TCP/IP protocol suite intended to replace IPv4. Adoption of IPv6 has been slow, but seems to be steadily gaining momentum. Fortunately, Windows Server 2003 provides better support for IPv6 than it did Windows 2000. For a good overview of IPv6 and how to configure the Windows client, see the following FAQ: http://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads/sdks/platform/tpipv6/faq.asp.