RFC 2462 (rfc2462) - Page 1 of 25
IPv6 Stateless Address Autoconfiguration
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
Network Working Group S. Thomson
Request for Comments: 2462 Bellcore
Obsoletes: 1971 T. Narten
Category: Standards Track IBM
December 1998
IPv6 Stateless Address Autoconfiguration
Status of this Memo
This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1998). All Rights Reserved.
Abstract
This document specifies the steps a host takes in deciding how to
autoconfigure its interfaces in IP version 6. The autoconfiguration
process includes creating a link-local address and verifying its
uniqueness on a link, determining what information should be
autoconfigured (addresses, other information, or both), and in the
case of addresses, whether they should be obtained through the
stateless mechanism, the stateful mechanism, or both. This document
defines the process for generating a link-local address, the process
for generating site-local and global addresses via stateless address
autoconfiguration, and the Duplicate Address Detection procedure. The
details of autoconfiguration using the stateful protocol are
specified elsewhere.
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION............................................. 2
2. TERMINOLOGY.............................................. 4
2.1. Requirements........................................ 6
3. DESIGN GOALS............................................. 7
4. PROTOCOL OVERVIEW........................................ 8
4.1. Site Renumbering.................................... 10
5. PROTOCOL SPECIFICATION................................... 10
5.1. Node Configuration Variables........................ 11
5.2. Autoconfiguration-Related Variables................. 11
5.3. Creation of Link-Local Addresses.................... 12
Thomson & Narten Standards Track
