Appendix E. Notes on IPv6 Compatibility with Windows2003/XP and 2008/VistaIPv6 addressing is different from traditional IPv4 addressing. IPv4 addressing islisted in the format 255.255.255.255, with each value 1 byte, a total address of 4bytes. IPv6 addresses require 16 bytes, and are listed in the formatFFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF, where there are 8 segments each 2bytes long.Windows 2003/XPIPv6 support in Windows 2003 is not turned on by default. Use the followinginstructions to enable IPv6 support.1. Go to Control Panel → Network Connections, and right-click on the Local AreaConnection interface that is to be enabled with IPv6 support.2. Select Properties from the drop-down menu, and the Local Area ConnectionProperties window should open. Click on the Install button.3. In the new Select Network Component Type window, select Protocol and clickon the Add button.4. In the Select Network Protocol window, select Microsoft TCP/IP version 6 andclick on the OK button. IPv6 is now enabled.Windows 2003 and XP comes with a WinINet API that does not fully support IPv6literals. Upgrading to Internet Explorer 7 in Windows 2003 is recommended forIPv6 browser support as the WinINet API is updated with the installation ofInternet Explorer 7. Third party browsers (such as Firefox) also use the WinINetAPI either directly or indirectly, so an upgrade to IE7 will be recommended for allusers.As multiple IPv6 addresses can be associated with one physical interface, Windows2003 and XP use an interface number associated with each link-local IPv6 addressthat must be included for connectivity to any link-local IPv6 address. The interfacenumber then must be appended to any outgoing IPv6 traffic; otherwise, the IPv6packet does not know which logical interface to egress from.The interface number can be determined through the command line of Windows.1. Go to Start → Runand type cmd to enter the command prompt.2. At the command prompt, type ipconfig and find the link-local IPv6 address.Appended to the end of this will be a %x where x is the interface number.Browser connectivity to a global unicast IPv6 addressv Global unicast IPv6 addresses can be browsed to by entering this syntax into thebrowser address line: HYPERLINK ″http://[%3cIPv6_Global_Unicast_Address%3e]/″http://<[IPv6_Global_Unicast_Address>]/v The IPv6 address must be enclosed in square brackets (“[]”).Browser connectivity to a link-local IPv6 addressv The IPv6 address cannot be entered into a browser window in the same way anIPv4 address is when connecting via a link-local IPv6 address.E-1
