IPv6: How To Setup An IPv6 Tunnel

Lawrence

Introduction

In this guide you will learn how to set up IPv6 on VPS instances using the free Tunnelbroker service from Hurricane Electric.

Preparation

The first thing you'll need to do is create an account on the Tunnelbroker Site. After you have registered an account, click the "Create Regular Tunnel" button on the left side of the Tunnelbroker portal. Put the IP address of your VPS instance in the IPv4 Endpoint field and select a tunnel server from the list. Next, from your VPS control panel, edit your Security Groups (in OpenStack Horizon under "Access & Security") and allow all TCP traffic from the Tunnel Server IPv4 address (as displayed on the Tunnelbroker "Tunnel Details" page).

Connecting

Now that your tunnel has been set up, it's time to connect to it. To do so, SSH in to your VPS instance, open the /etc/network/interfaces file:

nano /etc/network/interfaces

Note: If nano is not installed on your server you can do it with command:

apt-get install nano

And add the following at the end of the file:

auto he-ipv6
iface he-ipv6 inet6 v4tunnel
        address HE_Client_IPv6_Address
        netmask 64
        endpoint HE_Server_IPv4_Address
        local VPS_Instance_IP 
        ttl 255
        gateway HE_Server_IPv6_Address 

Be sure to replace HE_Client_IPv6_Address, HE_Server_IPv4_Address, and HE_Server_IPv6_Address with the appropriate information from your Tunnelbroker "Tunnel Details" page and VPS_Instance_IP with the IPv4 address of your VPS instance. Next, to bring the he-ipv6 interface up, run the following command:

ifup he-ipv6

Your instance now has IPv6 connectivity! Your IPv6 address is the "Client IPv6 Address" shown on the Tunnelbroker "Tunnel Details" page. If you run into problems or want to learn more about Tunnelbroker, be sure to check out the Tunnelbroker Section of the Hurricane Electric IPv6 FAQ.