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Configuring PIM PIM for IPv6 Overview
OmniSwitch 6800/6850/9000 Advanced Routing Configuration Guide December 2007 page 7-33
PIM for IPv6 Overview
IP version 6 (IPv6) is a new version of the Internet Protocol, designed as the successor to IP version 4
(IPv4), to overcome certain limitations in IPv4. IPv6 adds significant extra features that were not possible
with IPv4. These include automatic configuration of hosts, extensive multicasting capabilities, and built-in
security using authentication headers and encryption. Built-in support for QOS and path control are also
features found in IPv6.
IPv6 is a hierarchical 128-bit addressing scheme that consists of 8 fields, composed of 16 bits each. An
IPv6 address is written as a hexadecimal value (0-F) in groups of four, separated by colons. IPv6 provides
3x10^38 addresses, which can help overcome the shortage of IP addresses needed for Internet usage.
There are three types of IPv6 addresses: Unicast, Anycast, and Multicast. A Unicast address identifies a
single interface, and a packet destined for a Unicast address is delivered to the interface identified by that
address. An Anycast address identifies a set of interfaces, and a packet destined for an Anycast address is
delivered to the nearest interface identified by that Anycast address. A Multicast address identifies a set of
interfaces, and a packet destined for a Multicast address is delivered to all the interfaces identified by that
Multicast address. There are no broadcast addresses in IPv6.
The current release also provides support for PIM to be configured in IPv6 environments using IPv6
multicast addresses. In the IPv6 addressing scheme, multicast addresses begin with the prefix ff00::/8.
Similar to IPv6 unicast addresses, IPv6 multicast addresses also have different scopes depending on their
prefix, though the range of possible scopes is different.
Multicast Listener Discovery (MLD) is the protocol used by an IPv6 router to discover the nodes that
request multicast packets on its directly attached links and the multicast addresses that are of interest to
those neighboring nodes. MLD is derived from version 2 of IPv4's Internet Group Management Protocol,
IGMPv2. MLD uses ICMPv6 message types, rather than IGMP message types.
Note. IPv6 PIM is supported on OS6850 and OS9000 series switches in the current release.
Quick Steps for Configuring IPv6 PIM-DM
Note. PIM requires that IP Multicast Switching (IPMS) is enabled. IPMS is automatically enabled when a
multicast routing protocol (either PIM or DVMRP) is enabled globally and on an interface and when the
operational status of the interface is up. However, if you wish to manually enable IPMS on the switch, use
the ip multicast status command.
1 Manually load PIM into memory by entering the following command:
-> ip load pim
2 Create a router port (i.e., interface) on an existing VLAN by specifying a valid IPv6 address. To do
this, use the ipv6 interface command. For example:
-> ipv6 interface vlan 1
3 Enable PIM on the IPv6 interface using the ipv6 pim interface command. For example:
-> ipv6 pim interface vlan-1