CCIE R&S Prep: IPv6 Part 1

On March 1, 2013 I blogged that I intended to start a series of CCIE R&S Written exam prep blogs. This is the first of those, IPv6 Part 1. Just for the fun of it! See my prior blog for the ground rules and some general discussion, at 
http://netcraftsmen.net/blogs/entry/ccie-ras-written-review-blog-series.htmll. I do recommend other books and sources for protocol details, the focus here is more on some selected key items to learn or memorize. And I’ve tried hard to be accurate.

In general, the Cisco documentation is a good resource on IPv6. See  http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/ios-xml/ios/ipv6/configuration/12-4t/ipv6-12-4t-book.html.

Published Study Topics

• Implement IPv6 addressing and different addressing types
• Implement IPv6 neighbor discovery
• Implement basic IPv6 functionality protocols
• Implement tunneling techniques
• Implement OSPFv3
• Implement EIGRPv6
• Implement filtering and route redistribution

IPv6 Headers

From the Cisco documentation: see also  http://www.cisco.com/en/US/technologies/tk648/tk872/technologies_white_paper0900aecd80260042.pdf.

• The IPv6 Ethertype is 0x86DD.
• The header is 40 bytes plus variable length extension headers.In contrast, IPv4 headers are 20 bytes (plus optional headers).
• See also  IPv6 Addressing Plans
• Anycast is formed out of IPv6 unicast addresses. The keyword “anycast” needs to be appended in a configuration since the anycast address should not be used as the source of a packet. An address with all 0s for the last 64 bits (interface ID part of address) is a subnet router anycast. Any address with all 1s (non-EUI-64) or all 1s in the last 57 bits is anycast, at the high end of a /64 subnet (leaving 7 bits for address). Note the U/L bit (bit 7 from the beginning of the 64 bits) should be 0 since the address is not unique. For more details include reserved numbers in that 0-127 range for 7 bits, etc., see RFC 2526 (content deemed unlikely to be on the test).

IPv6 Addresses and Types

IPv6 Unicast Addresses

From one of my presentations (IPv6 Addressing Plans).

MEMORIZE

Basic IPv6 Configuration

IPv6 Ports

Basic IPv6 Functionality

• IPv6 uses AAAA and PTR records for DNS.
• Note Cisco IPv6 general prefixes (useful for changing prefix):

EUI-64 Address Format

• All interfaces must have a link-local address. It can be the link local prefix ending in an EUI-64 address derived from the MAC address. I.e. FE80::<EUI-64 address>.
• EUI-64: put FF:FE into the middle of the MAC, and toggle the 7^th initial bit to 1 to indicate it is global. (Usually ends up as hex 2.)
• Cisco routers have a MAC pool for use if there are no Ethernet interfaces and EUI-64 is needed.

MTU / P-MTU-D 

• In IPv6, hosts do Path MTU Discovery. It uses ICMPv6 “TooBig” messages. (PJW note: the proposed standard for IPv4 PMTUD black hole detection is not a standard, still. So I imagine that IPv6 counting on it working is rather optimistic, for similar reasons.)
• Routers don’t fragment in IPv6.
• The IPv6 minimum MTU is 1280. Cisco recommends 1500.
• Fragments use header extension.
• Otherwise similar to IPv4.

ICMPv6

• ICMPv6: 0x3a (decimal 58) in next header field.
• ICMPv6 is used for Neighbor Discovery, Path MTU Discovery, Multicast Listener Discovery or MLD.
• See also   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICMPv6. It includes a list of all the many types of ICMPv6 messages.

IPv6 Neighbor Discovery

From   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neighbor_Discovery_Protocol (view the link for more details):

• NDP defines the following five ICMPv6 packet types:

• Router Advertisements provide for a default gateway and support auto-configuration (SLAAC).
• Neighbor Solicitation does Duplicate Address Detection (“DAD”), verifies reachability, and maps L3 to L2 addresses (ARP replacement).
• Solicited node multicast is used for ARP replacement neighbor discovery. It uses a special link local multicast address, FF02::0001:FFxx:xxxx, where x is the low-order 24 bits of the unicast or anycast address.

DHCPv6 / SLAAC

• Stateless auto-configuration or SLAAC: append EUI-64 to the 64 bit prefix in the RA messages, then do DAD (Duplicate Address Detection).
• There are gaps in SLAAC, e.g. DNS server addresses and domain name to use.
• DHCPv6 or stateful auto-configuration can be used to assign addresses.
• DHCPv6 client sends to FF02::1:2, all DHCP relay agents and servers. Port 547. Or to FF05::1:3, all DHCP servers. The reply goes back on UDP 546.

IPv6 Routing

• IPv6 on Frame Relay needs mapping of both link local (w/ “broadcast”), and link address: 2 lines of configuration. If only the link-local information is configured, routing will come up but (local subnet?) traffic cannot be sent due to FR encapsulation failure (subnet mapping issue). (Per Odom book.)
• IPv6 redistribution can use a route-map based on ACL or prefix list.
• Since IPv6 has nothing like proxy ARP, static routes to interfaces on multi-access media must include the next hop address. (“Fully specified static route”.)
• Directly attached (interface) static routes have admin distance 1, unlike IPv4.

IPv6 RIPng

• RIPng is a new protocol (different than RIPv2) so uses UDP port 521.
• Routing is configured on the interface, not under the router command.

IPv6 EIGRP

• IPv6 EIGRP: Need not configure EIGRP on passive interface, just the router mode passive command – the prefix will be included in routing updates.
• Adjacency: same as IPv4 EIGRP.
• EIGRP route filtering distribute lists use a prefix list, route maps are not supported with them. (Route-maps are OK in redistribute commands.)
• Note that a router ID must be configured for EIGRP! (per Odom; per lab testing this is only if no IPv4 address is on an active interface.)
• IPv6 has no classful routing, so “no auto-summary” is not relevant / not needed.

IPv6 OSPFv3

General Info

• See also   http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/iosswrel/ps6537/ps6553/prod_presentation0900aecd80311e31.pdf.
• OSPFv3 can fragment. The Link State ID is a fragment number. Recall that IPv6 routers do not fragment.
• OSPF protocol processing is per-link, not per-subnet. This accommodates having several addresses on a link. It is also tied to why there are two new LSA types, to carry the addressing info separately from the link info.
• The size of the header is reduced from 24 to 16 bytes. Instance ID (1 Byte) is OSPF process ID, link local. Authentication fields were suppressed. IPsec is to be used instead.
• Link state ID in the LSA header carries the interface ID for the DR interface.
• OSPFv3 supports multiple instances on links. The instance ID must match to form an adjacency.
• OSPFv3 needs a router ID to operate. If there is an interface with an IPv4 address, the OSPFv2 router ID rules apply. If not, you must specify a router ID, which is a 4 octet number.
• Note the router ID is a number in the IPv4 address format. The manual says it is a 32 bit number. 0.0.0.0 is reserved and per online / experiment, Cisco routers will not accept it. So perhaps in show output it indicates a lack of OSPFv3 router ID. I can’t get OSPFv3 running without a router ID however. Putting OSPFv3 on an interface auto-creates the OSPF process / router ID if there is an up IPv4 interface to provide a router ID as per OSPFv2. Removing all IPv4 IP addresses and clearing the OSPF process does not change the router ID.
• As with OSPFv2, redistribution into OSPFv3 does not require a metric. Default is 20.
• OSPFv3 authentication and encryption can be applied per-interface or per-area. It uses one of AH or ESP.
• Requirements for OSPFv3 adjacency:

• (Connectivity)
• Dead timer >= 4 x hello timer
• Instance ID !!

• Plus the OSPFv2 list:

• Area ID
• Area type (options like stub, NSSA)
• Subnet and mask
• Authentication
• Not duplicate router ID
• Timers: HelloInterval, RouterDeadInterval
• (Not verified but must be appropriate: the network type)

OSPFv3 LSA Function Codes

• There are two new LSA types carrying info in lower numbered LSA types in OSPFv2: types 8 and 9. They allow separating multiple interface addresses from link topology.
• Function codes are the counterpart of the OSPFv2 LSA type numbers.
• The OSPFv3 type code indicates function but also scope. See the table below.

• Prefix 0x0 is link local, 0x2 floods w/in the area, 0x4 the AS.
• Most LSA’s 1-7 are area flooding, type 5 (external) is AS scope, types 8 and 11 are link local (addresses on the link, local graceful restart).

• Type 9 carries prefix info that OSPFv2 carried in router and network LSA’s (addresses and subnet masks).
• OSPFv3 headers contain: version, type, packet length, router ID, area ID, checksum, instance ID, 0.
• The LSA header contains: LS age, LS type, Link state ID, advertising router, LS sequence number, LS checksum, Length.
• See also  http://www.iana.org/assignments/ospfv3-parameters/ospfv3-parameters.xml or RFC4970.

MEMORIZE

Sample Config

IPv6 VRF

• IPv6 VRF (from   https://supportforums.cisco.com/thread/2074394):

• Doing this removes IPv6 addresses on interfaces belonging to the upgraded VRFs.

Related Links

If you look at the dates, you’ll notice I wrote these blogs about IPv6 a while ago. But they’re still valid.

My prior articles on IPv6:

• Preparing for IPv6
• Introduction to IPv6 — Part 1
• Introduction to IPv6 — Part 2
• Introduction to IPv6 — Part 3
• IPv6 Addressing Plans

Life Log

I taught the Nexus class for Firefly two weeks ago in Hawaii. I’d like to thank the folks in that class for an especially enjoyable class from my perspective, and their great hospitality. I went early and treated myself to  three days of beach time in advance, which certainly also helped improve my attitude in general. (Hint: I’m always glad to teach or consult in Hawaii!) Last week involved some catching up. I hope I’m now better positioned to write blogs and continue both blogs from NFD5 and on the CCIE R&S prep topic. I’ve got lots of ideas, it’s time to research details and write that’s in short supply. (The perennial complaint of the blogger: my job keeps getting in the way!)

Disclosure

The vendors for NFD 5 paid for my travel expenses and small items, so I wish to disclose that in my blogs now. The vendors in question are: Cisco, Brocade, Juniper, Plexxi, Ruckus, and SolarWinds.This blog says nothing favorable about any of them, so there should be no conflict of interest.

Stay tuned!

Twitter: @pjwelcher