IPv6 Addresses

When creating an IPv6 address there are a number of different types of addresses that can be specified. These include:

• Subnet
• IP Range – the details of this type of address are the same as the IPv4 version of this type

The IPv6 addresses don’t yet have the versatility of the IPv4 address in that they don’t have things like geography based or FQDN address but as IPv6 becomes more mainstream this should change.

 

Subnet Addresses

The Subnet Address type is one that is only used in reference to IPv6 addresses.It represents an IPv6 address subnet. This means that the address will likely be a series of hexadecimal characters followed by a double colon, followed by a “/”, and then a number less than 128 to indicate the size of the subnet. An example would be:

fd5e:3c59:35ce:f67e::/64

• The hexidecimal charaters represent the IPv6 subnet address.
• The “::” indicates 0’s from that point to the left. In an actual address for a computer, the hexadecimal characters that would take the place of these zeros would represent the device address on the subnet.
• /xx, in this case /64 represents the number of bits in the subnet.This will make a range that can potentially include 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 addresses. For those wanting to use English rather than math, that is 18 Quintillion.

 

 

Creating a Subnet address

1. Go to Policy & Objects > Addresses.

2. Select Create New. A drop down menu is displayed. Select Address

3. In the Category field, chose IPv6 Address.

4. Input a Name for the address object.

5. In the Type field, select Subnet from the drop down menu.

6. In the Subnet / IP Range field, enter the range of addresses in IPv6 format (no spaces)

7. Select the desired on/off toggle setting for Show in Address List. If the setting is enabled the address will appear in drop down menus where it is an option.

8. Input any additional information in the Comments field.

9. Press OK.

 

 

Example

Example of a IP Range address for a group of computers set aside for guests on the company network.

Field                                Value

Category                          IPv6 Address

Name                              IPv6_Guest_user_range

Type                                Subnet

Subnet / IP Range         fd5e:3c59:35ce:f67e::/64

Show in Address List    [on]

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