IPv6 Address Autoconfiguration
A major feature of IPv6 is a host's ability to autoconfigure an
interface. Through Neighbor Discovery, the host locates an IPv6 router on the local
link and requests a site prefix. The host does the following, as part
of the autoconfiguration process:
Creates a link-local address for each interface, which does not require a router on the link.
Verifies the address's uniqueness on a link, which does not require a router on the link.
Determines if the global addresses should be obtained through the stateless mechanism, the stateful mechanism, or both mechanisms. (Requires a router on the link.)
Note - Stateful autoconfiguration is achieved through DHCPv6. DHCPv6 is not supported in the current
Solaris release.
Stateless Autoconfiguration Overview
Stateless autoconfiguration requires no manual configuration of hosts, minimal (if any) configuration of
routers, and no additional servers. The stateless mechanism enables a host to generate
its own addresses. The stateless mechanism uses local information as well
as nonlocal information that is advertised by routers to generate the addresses.
You can implement temporary addresses for an interface, which are also autoconfigured. You
enable a temporary address token for one or more interfaces on a host.
However, unlike standard, autoconfigured IPv6 addresses, a temporary address consists of the site
prefix and a randomly generated 64 bit number. This random number becomes the
interface ID portion of the IPv6 address. A link-local address is not generated
with the temporary address as the interface ID.
Routers advertise all prefixes that have been assigned on the link. IPv6 hosts
use Neighbor Discovery to obtain a subnet prefix from a local router. Hosts
automatically create IPv6 addresses by combining the subnet prefix with an interface ID
that is generated from an interface's MAC address. In the absence of routers,
a host can generate only link-local addresses. Link-local addresses can only be used
for communication with nodes on the same link.
Note - Do not use stateless autoconfiguration to create the IPv6 addresses of servers. Hosts
automatically generate interface IDs that are based on hardware-specific information during autoconfiguration. The
current interface ID could become invalid if the existing interface is swapped for
a new interface.
