Configuring IPv6

Although WS03 comes with IPv4 installed by default, it also provides some support for IPv6. To use IPv6, of course, it first needs to be installed.

Installing IPv6

IPv6 is installed and configured via the netsh command line tool. Here's how to install IPv6:

1. At a command prompt, type in NETSH.

2. Type INTERFACE IPV6.

3. Type INSTALL.

4. The system will enable IPv6, and you will get an OK in the command prompt window.

IPv6 is now installed on your server.

If you open a command prompt and type IPCONFIG / ALL, you will see that in addition to your IPv4 address, an IPv6 address is now available. Take a closer look, and you can see a mangled form of your MAC address in your IP address. Because all MAC addresses are unique, they are perfect to add to your IP address to ensure uniqueness.

Using the NETSH Interface

In the NETSH interface, you set routes, tunneling, and configuration options. Once you are in the NETSH interface, you can type help or ? at any time to get help in configuring your IPv6 interface. Because IPv6 support in IIS 6 is limited, this is as deep as we're going to wade into the waters of IPv6-land. As use of IPv6 becomes more widespread, more application support will be available for it. If you do decide to use IPv6 on your web server, keep in mind that the IIS Manager does not display IPv6 addresses, and you are limited to using only Host Header names for sites (see Chapter 2 for more information on Host Header names).