Deploying IPv6

The node information queries draft has finally become RFC 4620. I’m quite pleased because I think that node information queries are quite an interesting feature of IPv6. They let you ask nodes what they think their name is. For example, you can ask for the names of all the nodes on a link by doing something like:

> ping6 -w ff02::1%rl0
PING6(72=40+8+24 bytes) fe80::210:a7ff:fe0b:d2b%rl0 --> ff02::1%rl0
46 bytes from fe80::210:a7ff:fe0b:d2b%rl0: yipyip.home.dwmalone.net.
45 bytes from fe80::204:e2ff:fe33:e3ac%rl0: gonzo.home.dwmalone.net.
46 bytes from fe80::210:a7ff:fe0b:d2b%rl0: yipyip.home.dwmalone.net.
45 bytes from fe80::204:e2ff:fe33:e3ac%rl0: gonzo.home.dwmalone.net.
^C
--- ff02::1%rl0 ping6 statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 2 packets received, +2 duplicates, 0.0% packet loss

Here I’ve sent a Node Information Query with the KAME ping6 command to the all-nodes address on an interface called rl0. Each node responds with its name - you can then connect to the node using ssh or another tool of your choice.

Out of interest, I decided to diff the last version of the draft and the RFC to see what changes in the final revision. Among a number of minor editoral changes I found that “which” had been changed to “that” in a number of places. This is a topic on which people have plenty to say.