IPv6 connectivity comes as standard with any server from Bytemark. By default you will have a single IPv6 address assigned for every server that you have with us, and can request additional IPv6 space subject to the IP Policy.
Use this guide to find the IPv6 address for your server:
Cloud Servers
Cloud Servers in Manchester are equipped with shared /56 ranges on-net, and each host is permitted to use a single /64 of IPv6 to originate connections from.
Cloud Servers in York are provisioned with VLANs that have a shared /64 on-net, from which each host is permitted to only use a single address.
We cannot yet route extra IPv6 ranges to Cloud hosts (like we do with IPv4) but are working on remedying this. At some point thereafter, Manchester will be migrated to operate like York.
The Bytemark Panel will show you which addresses you have for any given host. Expand the host’s information and click on the ‘IPs’ tab to see the addresses that you have assigned.
Private VLANs
Where we might have configured a dedicated, private VLAN for your use on our network, this will have been configured with a /64 range, from which you are permitted to use (almost) any address across any of your servers. If you do require any more IPv6 you will need to contact support to request that this be assigned.
For each VLAN we like to reserve the use of the first 16 addresses (:: to ::A) so it is preferable if you can begin your host numbering at, or above ::10.
Dedicated Servers
Older Dedicated Server VLANs were equipped with shared /56 ranges on-net, and were permitted to use a single /64 of IPv6 to originate connections from.
Today, Dedicated Servers are provisioned with VLANs that have a /64 on-net, from which you are permitted to only use a single address. On request we can route another IPv6 range to this address.
Please contact support and we will provide you with the correct range to use.
Legacy Virtual Machines
These platforms automatically route a /64 of IPv6 address space to your VM, but please contact support and we will provide you with the correct range to use.
Sundries
Wherever you are on our network, your gateway address will always be the link-local address FE80::1.
If you are on a network with an assigned IPv6 /64 (i.e. Cloud Manchester, or an older Dedicated Server VLAN) then you will need to use a /56 subnet mask. In any other situation you should configure a /64 subnet mask.
Our DNS resolvers are configured to work with IPv6 just like IPv4. To do native IPv6 name resolution, you should set 2001:41c8:2::1 and 2001:41c8:2::2 as resolvers in addition to the IPv4 resolvers (not in place of).
The role of ICMP has changed a little for IPv6. If your firewall has a default policy of deny then you may struggle to get traffic to or from your server without allowing traffic for certain ICMPv6 types. Types 1 – destination unreachable, 2 – Packet too big, 3 – Time exceeded and 4 – Parameter problem, for reporting errors to other devices. Types 128 – echo request, 129 – echo reply, for testing connectivity. Types 133 – Router Solicitation, 134 – Router Advertisement, 135 – Neighbor Solicitation, 136 – Neighbor Advertisement, for neighbour discovery. More information can be found at Wikipedia.
Set-up on Debian or Ubuntu
While there are many possible set-ups and many distributions, we will document the most common requirement, i.e. a single IPv6 address on a Debian or Ubuntu host.
Add a clause to your /etc/network/interfaces file as follows, replacing the xxxxs with your real address as taken from the Cloud panel, or the handover email for your Dedicated Servers.
Note that in our Premium Dedicated servers, the iface eth0 will need to be iface bond0 or potentially even iface br0. Please do contact support if you don’t see something other than eth0 already configured with IPv4.
Where you’re provided with a single IPv6 address (/128) then use the following:
iface eth0 inet6 static
address xxxxx
netmask 64
gateway fe80::1
pre-up echo 0 > /proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf/all/autoconf
pre-up echo 0 > /proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf/all/accept_ra
Where you’re provided with a /64 of IPv6 addresses then use the following:
iface eth0 inet6 static
address xxxxx
netmask 56
gateway fe80::1
pre-up echo 0 > /proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf/all/autoconf
pre-up echo 0 > /proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf/all/accept_ra
Where you can pick from quite a few addresses in a /64, we recommend that you start with something memorable, such as ::10. i.e. if your assigned /64 from Bytemark is 2001:41c8:db8:db8::/64, then that would translate to a value of: 2001:41c8:db8:db8::10
Finally run service networking restart (preferably from the console) to activate the new configuration. If there are any mistakes this could potentially break your IPv4 configuration too, so if you’re not confident completely confident with this configuration, please contact support for some sanity checking.
Setup on CentOS or Fedora
First, open /etc/sysconfig/network and add the following, if it isn’t present:
NETWORKING_IPV6=yes
Add a clause to your /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 file as follows, replacing the xxxxs with your real address as taken from the Cloud Server control panel, or the handover email for your Dedicated Servers.
Note that in our Premium Dedicated servers, the iface eth0 will need to be iface bond0 or potentially even iface br0. Please contact support if you don’t see something other than eth0 already configured with IPv4.
Where you’re provided with a single IPv6 address (/128) then use the following:
IPV6ADDR=xxxx/64
IPV6_DEFAULTGW=fe80::1%eth0
IPV6INIT=yes
Where you’re provided with a /64 of IPv6 addresses then use the following:
IPV6ADDR=xxxx/56
IPV6_DEFAULTGW=fe80::1%eth0
IPV6INIT=yes
Where you can pick from quite a few addresses in a /64, we recommend that you start with something memorable, such as ::10. i.e., if your assigned /64 from Bytemark is 2001:41c8:db8:db8::/64, then that would translate to a value of: 2001:41c8:db8:db8::10
Finally run service networking restart (preferably from the console) to activate the new configuration. If there are any mistakes this could potentially break your IPv4 configuration too, so if you’re not confident completely confident with this configuration, please do contact support for some sanity checking.
IPv6 testing
After setting up your IPv6, you should be able to ping your local gateway, and Sprint’s IPv6 test address (located in the USA). Try these commands:
ping6 -c 5 -I eth0 fe80::1
ping6 -c 5 2600::
It’s worth noting that ping6 www.bytemark.co.uk should also work!
IPv6 reverse DNS
For Cloud Servers you can set your reverse DNS entry instantly from within the Cloud Server control panel. For Dedicated Servers, please contact support to update these records.