Configuring an IPv6 address on a virtual machine

Objective

Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is the successor to Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4). Set up to resolve IPv4 address exhaustion, IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses instead of 32-bit addresses. High Grade, Scale and Advance range servers (since July 2024) are delivered with a /56 IPv6 block. Older servers come with an IPv6/64 block. A server delivered with a /56 IPv6 block can have up to 18 quintillion IP addresses.

Our infrastructure also allows you to configure IPv6 on your virtual machines.

This guide explains how to configure an IPv6 address on a virtual machine for Proxmox VE or Microsoft Hyper-V Server on an OVHcloud Dedicated Server.

Requirements

• A dedicated server with an IPv6 block (/64) or (/56) in your OVHcloud account.
• An operating system with virtualization capabilities (Proxmox VE, Hyper-V Server, etc.).
• You must have all the information related to your IPv6 (prefix, gateway, etc.).
• Basic knowledge of SSH and networking.

Instructions

The following sections contain the configurations of the distributions we currently offer and the most commonly used distributions/operating systems. The first step is always to connect to your server via SSH or via a GUI (RDP for a Windows server) connection session.

On dedicated servers, the first IPv6 is declared as 2607:5300:xxxx:xxxx::/64. For example, if we have assigned your server the IPv6 range: 2607:5300:xxxx:xxxx::/64, the first IPv6 on your server is: 2607:5300:xxxx:xxxx::/64.

Before you begin, and in order to use the same terminology during the changes, please read the table below. It references terms that we will use in this documentation:

In our examples, we will use the nano text editor. You can of course use the text editor of your choice.

Default Gateway

The first step is to retrieve the IPv6 gateway assigned to your server. Two methods are possible:

• Get network information via the OVHcloud Control Panel
• Get network information via the APIs

Via the OVHcloud Control Panel

Log in to your OVHcloud Control Panel, go to the Bare Metal Cloud section, and select your server under the Dedicated servers section.

The IPv6 gateway assigned to your server is displayed in the Network section of the General information tab.

Via OVHcloud APIs

Another way to retrieve your server's network information is by using the OVHcloud API.

Execute the following API call, specifying the internal name of the server (example: ns3956771.ip-169-254-10.eu):

Prepare the host

Proxmox VE

For a virtual machine

The first step is to create the virtual machine in Proxmox VE.

Once you have logged in to the Proxmox dashboard, click on your server name in the left-hand corner, then Create VM.

Create: Virtual Machine

Once the operating system has been installed on the virtual machine, you can configure the IPv6 address.

For a container

Once you have created your container, click on it in the left-hand menu. Then click Network.

Select the existing network and click Edit.

Fill in the IPV6 fields with the correct information.

Once you have done this, click OK to save the changes.

Log in to your container to verify IPv6 connectivity with the ping command:

Windows Server / Hyper-V

The first step is to install the Hyper-V role on your Windows Server. For more information, consult the official documentation.

Before configuring your virtual machine, you need to create a virtual switch.

From the command line of your dedicated server, run the following command and note the name of the network adapter that contains the server's main IP address:

ipconfig /all

In the Hyper-V Manager, create a new virtual switch and set the connection type to External.

Select the adapter with the server’s IP, then tick the option Allow management operating system to share this network adapter.

Next, go to the settings of the VM and click on Network Adapter in the left-hand tab. From the drop down list, select the virtual switch created earlier and click on Apply, then on OK.

Once you have installed the operating system on the virtual machine, you can proceed with the configuration of the IPv6 IP address.

Configure the IPv6 on virtual machines

Configuration based on Netplan

The configuration below is based on Ubuntu 24.04.

Once you are logged in to your virtual machine, the first step is to access the configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/netplan/50-cloud-init.yaml

Next, configure the IPv6 address of your choice by replacing YOUR_IPV6, IPV6_PREFIX and IPV6_GATEWAY with your own values.

network:
    ethernets:
        ens18:
            dhcp4: true
            dhcp6: false
            addresses:
              - YOUR_IPV6/IPV6_PREFIX
            routes:
              - to: default
                via: IPV6_GATEWAY
                on-link: true
    version: 2

Save your changes to the config file and exit the editor.

Apply the configuration:

sudo nano netplan apply

To test your IPv6 connectivity, run the ping command at 2001:4860:4860::8888:

Configuration based on ENI

The configuration below is based on Debian 11.

Once you are logged in to your virtual machine, the first step is to access the configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces

Next, configure the IPv6 address of your choice by replacing YOUR_IPV6, IPV6_PREFIX and IPV6_GATEWAY with your own values. Replace ens18 with your interface name.

auto-lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto ens18
iface ens18 inet6 static
address YOUR_IPV6/IPV6_PREFIX
IPV6_GATEWAY gateway

Save your changes to the config file and exit the editor.

Next, reboot the network with the following command:

sudo systemctl restart networking.service

To test your IPv6 connectivity, run the ping command at 2001:4860:4860::8888:

Configuration based on NetworkManager

The configuration below is based on Fedora 40.

NetworkManager has previously stored network profiles in ifcfg format in this directory: /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/. However, the ifcfg format is now deprecated. By default, NetworkManager no longer creates profiles in this format. The configuration file is now located in /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/.

Once you are logged in to your virtual machine, the first step is to access the configuration file:

sudo /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections

Use the ls command to display the network configuration file. In our example, our file is named ens18.nmconnection.

Next, configure the IPv6 address of your choice by replacing YOUR_IPV6, IPV6_PREFIX and IPV6_GATEWAY with your own values.

sudo nano /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/ens18.nmconnection

[ipv6]
method=manual # If the value is "auto", replace with "manual".
may-fail=true
address=YOUR_IPV6/IPv6_PREFIX
gateway=IPV6_GATEWAY

Save your changes to the config file and exit the editor.

Next, reboot the network with the following command:

sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager

To test your IPv6 connectivity, run the ping command at 2001:4860:4860::8888:

Go further

Join our community of users.