Configure IPv6 on Your Server

IPv6 is the next-generation internet protocol that provides a vastly larger address space than IPv4. LightYear servers support dual-stack networking (IPv4 and IPv6 simultaneously).

Check IPv6 Assignment

$ip -6 addr show

2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 state UP
    inet6 2001:db8:1234:5678::1/64 scope global dynamic mngtmpaddr
       valid_lft 86400sec preferred_lft 14400sec
    inet6 fe80::1/64 scope link

Test IPv6 Connectivity

$ping6 -c 4 ipv6.google.com

PING ipv6.google.com(2404:6800:4003:c00::8a (2404:6800:4003:c00::8a)) 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 2404:6800:4003:c00::8a: icmp_seq=1 ttl=118 time=1.23 ms
64 bytes from 2404:6800:4003:c00::8a: icmp_seq=2 ttl=118 time=1.19 ms

Configure Nginx for IPv6

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;       # IPv6
    listen 443 ssl;
    listen [::]:443 ssl;  # IPv6 SSL

    server_name example.com;
    # ... rest of config
}

Add an AAAA DNS Record

Add your server's IPv6 address to DNS:

Verify:

$dig example.com AAAA +short

2001:db8:1234:5678::1

Configure UFW for IPv6

Edit /etc/default/ufw:

IPV6=yes

Reload UFW:

$ufw reload

UFW rules added with ufw allow automatically apply to both IPv4 and IPv6.

[!NOTE] IPv6 addresses are assigned automatically by LightYear's DHCP6 service. You do not need to configure static IPv6 addresses manually.