Updated on 2026-04-10 GMT+08:00

Manually Configuring IPv4 and IPv6 Policy-based Routes for a Windows ECS with Multiple Network Interfaces

Scenarios

This section describes how to configure policy-based routes for a Windows Server 2012 64-bit ECS with two network interfaces.

For details about the background knowledge and networking of an ECS with two network interfaces, see Overview.

Configuring IPv4 Policy-based Routes for a Windows ECS

  1. Collect the ECS network interface information required for configuring policy-based routes.

    For details, see Collecting ECS Network Information.

    In this example, the network information of the ECS is shown in Table 1.

    Table 1 Windows ECSs using IPv4 addresses

    Type

    Primary Network Interface

    Extended Network Interface

    Source

    • IPv4 address: 10.0.0.59
    • Subnet IPv4 gateway: 10.0.0.1
    • IPv4 address: 10.0.1.104
    • Subnet IPv4 gateway: 10.0.1.1

    Destination

    IPv4 address: 10.0.2.12

    N/A

  2. Log in to the source ECS.

    For details, see How Do I Log In to My ECS?

  1. Check whether the source ECS can use its primary network interface to communicate with the destination ECS:

    Before configuring policy-based routes, ensure that the source ECS can use its primary network interface to communicate with the destination ECS.

    ping -S IP-address-of-the-primary-network-interface-on-the-source-ECS IP-address-of-the-destination-ECS

    In this example, run the following command:

    ping -S 10.0.0.59 10.0.2.12

    If information similar to the following is displayed, the source ECS can use its primary network interface to communicate with the destination ECS.

  2. Configure a policy-based route for the extended network interface.

    route add -p 0.0.0.0 mask 0.0.0.0 subnet-gateway-of-the-extended-network-interface metric route-priority

    Configure the parameters as follows:
    • 0.0.0.0/0: Default route. Do not change it.
    • Subnet gateway of the extended network interface: Enter the IP address collected in 1.
    • Route priority: Set its value to 261. The priority of the extended network interface must be lower than that of the primary network interface. A larger value indicates a lower priority.

    In this example, run the following command:

    route add -p 0.0.0.0 mask 0.0.0.0 10.0.1.1 metric 261

    • The primary network interface already has policy-based routes and you do not need to configure again.
    • If the ECS has multiple extended network interfaces, configure policy-based routes for all extended network interfaces one by one.
    • If the primary and extended network interfaces are in the same subnet, specify the subnet interface index to the command when adding a route. The command is as follows:

      route add -p 0.0.0.0 mask 0.0.0.0 extended-network-interface-subnet-gateway metric route-priority IF extended-network-interface-subnet-interface-index

      Example command: route add -p 0.0.0.0 mask 0.0.0.0 10.0.0.1 metric 261 IF 19

      Use the route print command to obtain the subnet interface index of the extended network interface. After the command is executed, locate the interface index based on the MAC address of the network interface. In this example, the interface index is 19.

  3. Check whether the policy-based route is added.

    route print

    If information similar to the following is displayed, the policy-based route has been added. The route is a permanent route and will not be lost after the ECS is restarted.

  4. Check whether the source and destination ECSs can communicate with each other.

    ping -S IP-address-of-the-primary-network-interface-on-the-source-ECS IP-address-of-the-destination-ECS

    ping -S IP-address-of-the-extended-network-interface-on-the-source-ECS IP-address-of-the-destination-ECS

    In this example, run the following commands:

    ping -S 10.0.0.59 10.0.2.12

    ping -S 10.0.1.104 10.0.2.12

    If information similar to the following is displayed, both the network interfaces of the source ECS can communicate with the destination ECS.

Configuring IPv6 Policy-based Routes for a Windows ECS

  1. Collect the ECS network interface information required for configuring policy-based routes.

    For details, see Collecting ECS Network Information.

    In this example, the network information of the ECS is shown in Table 2.

    Table 2 Windows ECSs using IPv6 addresses

    Type

    Primary Network Interface

    Extended Network Interface

    Source

    IPv6 address: 2407:c080:802:aba:6788:fb94:d71f:8deb

    IPv6 address: 2407:c080:802:be6:71c8:42e0:d44e:eeb4

    Destination

    IPv6 address: 2407:c080:802:be7:c2e6:d99c:b685:c6c8

    N/A

  2. Log in to the source ECS.

    For details, see How Do I Log In to My ECS?

  1. Run the following command to check whether the ECS has IPv6 enabled and has IPv6 addresses:

    ipconfig

    If information similar to the following is displayed, each network interface has an IPv6 address starting with 2407, which indicates that the ECS has IPv6 addresses.

    Perform this step for both the source and destination ECSs to ensure that the ECSs have IPv6 addresses. Otherwise, the ECSs cannot communicate with each other using IPv6 addresses.

  2. Check whether the source and destination ECSs can communicate with each other.

    ping -6 -S IP-address-of-the-primary-network-interface-on-the-source-ECS IP-address-of-the-destination-ECS

    ping -6 -S IP-address-of-the-extended-network-interface-on-the-source-ECS IP-address-of-the-destination-ECS

    In this example, run the following commands:

    ping -6 -S 2407:c080:802:aba:8999:5e61:e19:cf7e 2407:c080:802:be7:c2e6:d99c:b685:c6c8

    ping -6 -S 2407:c080:802:be6:ec23:ec4:c886:cc1 2407:c080:802:be7:c2e6:d99c:b685:c6c8

    If information similar to the following is displayed, both the network interfaces of the source ECS can communicate with the destination ECS.

    ECSs in this example run Windows Server 2012 (64-bit). You do not need to configure policy-based routes for these ECSs because both the network interfaces of such an ECS can communicate with others using IPv6.