4.2.2 IPv6
Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is the latest version of IP addressing, designed to succeed IPv4 as the standard protocol for the Internet. One of the key drivers for transitioning to IPv6 is that it supports a much larger address space of 264, as opposed to the 232 addresses for IPv4.
The vCloud Director components required to support IPv6 are:
Static IP pools.
DHCP Server.
Static IP assignments.
NAT rules.
Firewall rules.
vSphere infrastructure components that support IPv6 include:
vCenter Server.
ESXi.
vSwitches (standard and distributed).
VMkernel.
VMware vSphere
® vMotion®. Virtual machines (guest customization available for Windows and Linux).
vSphere virtual machines support IPv6 addressing and can be configured with the following components:
Static IPv6 address.
Autoconfigure, using a prefix announcement from a router.
DHCP, from a DHCP6 server.
Local net addresses, for internal communication.
Virtual machines managed by vCloud Director using IPv6 can only communicate to endpoints that are not behind vCloud Network and Security Edge (Edge) devices. Edge does not currently support IPv6. Virtual machines that communicate on the same directly attached vApp or organization virtual datacenter network can use IPv6. To communicate with the outside world using IPv6, connect the organization’s virtual machines to a direct external organization virtual datacenter network.
Run virtual machines in dual stack IPv4 and IPv6. This is necessary because many destinations do not currently support IPv6.
If the underlying physical infrastructure does not support IPv6, another option is to establish a 6to4 tunnel using a router to provide connectivity into an IPv6 vCloud. Terminate the tunnel on a relay router that has a pure IPv6 interface as well as an IPv4 interface to move traffic between the two environments.
vCloud Director does not support IPv6 addressing for the cell network interfaces.