• The switch must always be configured with a link-local address. Therefore any
configuration process that enables IPv6 functionality, or assigns a global unicast
address to the switch, will also automatically generate a link-local unicast address.
The prefix length for a link-local address is fixed at 64 bits, and the host portion of
the default address is based on the modified EUI-64 (Extended Universal Identifier)
form of the interface identifier (i.e., the physical MAC address). Alternatively, you
can manually configure the link-local address by entering the full address with the
network prefix FE80.
• To connect to a larger network with multiple subnets, you must configure a global
unicast address. There are several alternatives to configuring this address type:
- The global unicast address can be automatically configured by taking the
network prefix from router advertisements observed on the local interface, and
using the modified EUI-64 form of the interface identifier to automatically create
the host portion of the address.
- It can be manually configured by specifying the entire network prefix and prefix
length, and using the EUI-64 form of the interface identifier to automatically
create the low-order 64 bits in the host portion of the address.
- You can also manually configure the global unicast address by entering the full
address and prefix length.
- Or you can include a general prefix for the network portion of the address (as
described under “Configuring an IPv6 General Network Prefix” on page 4-15).
When using this method, remember that the prefix length specified on the IPv6
Configuration page must include both the length of the general prefix and any
contiguous bits (from the left of the specified address) that are added to the
general prefix to form the extended network portion of the address.
• You can configure multiple IPv6 global unicast addresses per interface, but only
one link-local address per interface.
• If a duplicate link-local address is detected on the local segment, this interface is
disabled and a warning message displayed on the console. If a duplicate global
unicast address is detected on the network, the address is disabled on this
interface and a warning message displayed on the console.
Command Attributes
• VLAN – ID of the configured VLAN (1-4093). By default, all ports on the stack are
members of VLAN 1. However, the management station can be attached to a port
belonging to any VLAN, as long as that VLAN has been assigned an IP address.
• IPv6 Address Processing – Enables IPv6 on an interface. Note that when an
explicit address is assigned to an interface, IPv6 is automatically enabled, and
cannot be disabled until all assigned addresses have been removed.
• IPv6 Interface Status – Shows if IPv6 interface address configuration state is
stable (Enabled) or unstable (Stale).
• IPv6 Default Gateway – Sets the IPv6 address of the default next hop router to
use when no other routing information is known about an IPv6 address.
- The specified gateway is only valid if routing is disabled using the IP / General /
Global Settings screen (see page 19-4) or no other routing information is known
4-10
Basic Management Tasks
4