Enabling IPv6 for a Network Interface

Scenarios

The IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack network provides IPv4 and IPv6 addresses for ECSs.

When purchasing ECSs, you can select a flavor that supports IPv6 and a primary network interface with IPv6 enabled. Then the ECSs can have both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. For details, see Network.

If IPv6 is not enabled when you purchase an ECS, the ECS has only an IPv4 address. In this case, you can enable IPv6 for the created ECS.

This section describes how to enable IPv6 for a created ECS.

Notes

• Ensure that the ECS flavor allows IPv6 to be enabled after the ECS is created.

  Currently, IPv6 can be enabled only for flavors of v7 and later versions, such as C7 and M7

  On the Network Interfaces tab of the ECS details page, if Enable IPv6 is displayed in the upper right corner of the row containing the target network interface, IPv6 can be enabled after the ECS is created.

  Figure 1 Enabling IPv6
  

• Only one IPv6 address can be bound to a network interface.

(Optional) Step 1: Enabling IPv6 for a Subnet

• After IPv6 is enabled for the subnet that an ECS belongs to, an IPv6 CIDR block is automatically assigned to the subnet. IPv6 cannot be disabled once it is enabled for a subnet.
• If you have selected Enable for IPv6 CIDR Block when creating a subnet, an IPv6 CIDR block will be automatically assigned to the subnet. There is no need to perform the following steps.

1. Log in to the management console and go to the Elastic Cloud Server page.
2. Click the name of the ECS for which IPv6 is to be enabled. The ECS details page is displayed.
3. In the NICs area of the Summary tab, click the subnet name. The subnet details page is displayed.
4. On the Summary tab of the subnet details page, click Enable IPv6.
   Figure 2 Enabling IPv6 for a subnet
   
5. Click OK to enable IPv6 for the subnet.

Step 2: Enabling IPv6 for a Network Interface

1. Access the Elastic Cloud Server page.
2. Click the name of the ECS for which IPv6 is to be enabled. The ECS details page is displayed.
3. On the Network Interfaces tab, click Enable IPv6 in the upper right corner of the row containing the target network interface.
   Figure 3 Enabling IPv6
   
   

   • Enable IPv6 or Disable IPv6 is displayed only when the ECS flavor supports IPv6 after the ECS is created.

     You can check whether IPv6 can be enabled after an ECS is created based on Notes.

   • If no IPv6 address is assigned after IPv6 is enabled, restart the ECS and check again. Alternatively, configure the IPv6 address by referring to Dynamically Assigning IPv6 Addresses.
   • After IPv6 is enabled, if you need to enable public IPv6 communication, you need to create an EIP shared bandwidth and add the IPv6 address of the ECS to the shared bandwidth. For details, see Setting Up an IPv4/IPv6 Dual-Stack Network in a VPC.
   • You can disable IPv6 on this page if it is no longer used. After IPv6 is disabled, no IPv6 address is displayed for the network interface.
   • If you want to enable IPv6 again after it is disabled, you need to restart the ECS, log in to the ECS and manually clear the IPv6 cache, and request an IPv6 address again.
4. Click OK to enable IPv6 for the ECS network interface.