Scaleway Dedibox IPv6 - Quickstart

Reviewed on 26 August 2024 • Published on 03 August 2021

IPv6 stands as the latest iteration of the Internet Protocol (IP) used to allocate addresses across the web. Each IPv6 address is composed of 128 bits. When expressed in a human-friendly format, an IPv6 address takes the form of eight sets of four hexadecimal digits, with each set accounting for 16 bits. These sets are separated by colons, such as in 2001:0DB8:0000:0003:0000:01FF:0000:002E. An alternate representation could be 2001:DB8::3:0:1FF:0:2E. The Scaleway Dedibox network fully supports IPv6. IPv6 can serve as your server’s primary IP and also as a failover IP utilizing the concept of a virtual MAC address.

Before you start

To complete the actions presented below, you must have:

A Dedibox account logged into the console
A Dedibox dedicated server

Note

You need to have at least one Dedibox dedicated server to order an IPv6 prefix.

How to request an IPv6 prefix

All Scaleway Dedibox dedicated servers support IPv6. You can request a free /48 IPv6 prefix for your account. This prefix can then be divided into multiple /56 or /64 subnets. IPv6 is available for Dedibox servers in Paris and Warsaw.

Click Server > Network configuration in the Dedibox console. The network configuration page displays.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Order a free /48 IPv6 block.

The IPv6 prefix will be delivered within 30 minutes and will be visible on the network configuration page.

Important

The DUID of your prefix (and each of its subnets) is like a private key and grants you access to your prefix. Keep it secret and do not share it.

How to enable IPv6 SLAAC

Activation of IPv6 SLAAC assigns one /128 IPv6 subnet to your server (one usable IPv6 address). This IP will be statically linked to your server and can not be attributed to another server.

Note

This feature is not yet available for all servers. Only the servers that are compatible will show the related button.

Click Server > Server list to display a list of all your servers.
Click Manage next to the server you want to configure. The server’s status page displays.
Scroll down to the server’s network section and click Activate IPv6 SLAAC.

Your server’s IPv6 SLAAC is activated now and displays in the network section.

How to configure the DHCPv6 client

Log into your server using SSH.

Open the file /etc/dhcp/dhclient6.conf in a text editor, for example: nano, and edit it as shown below:

interface "eno1" {
    send dhcp6.client-id DUID;
}

Make sure to adapt the interface name (eno1) to the internet interface name of your system, and replace DUID with the DUID of your subnet.

How to autostart the DHCPv6 client during system boot

Note

To enable automatic start of the DHCPv6 client during system boot, a SystemD service is required.

Log into your server using SSH.

Open the file /etc/systemd/system/dhclient.service in a text editor, for example: nano, and edit it as shown below:

[Unit]
Description=dhclient for sending DUID IPv6
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target
[Service]
Restart=always
RestartSec=10
Type=forking
ExecStart=/sbin/dhclient -cf /etc/dhcp/dhclient6.conf -6 -P -v eno1
ExecStop=/sbin/dhclient -x -pf /var/run/dhclient6.pid
[Install]
WantedBy=network.target

Tip

The path to the dhclient binary may vary depending on your OS. To see the exact path for your system, use the following command: which dhclient.

Enable the service so it will start at each reboot of the machine:

sudo systemctl enable dhclient.service

How to configure IPv6 on your dedicated server

You can find information regarding the configuration of IPv6 on your Dedibox dedicated server at the following links: