Anyone who is involved with information technology knows that the Internet is running out of IP addresses. The last block of Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) addresses was allocated in 2011. Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is the replacement for IPv4, and it is designed to address the depletion of IP addresses and change the way traffic is managed.

This IBM® Redpaper™ publication describes the concepts and architecture of IPv6 with a focus on:

An overview of IPv6 features
An examination of the IPv6 packet format
An explanation of additional IPv6 functions
A review of IPv6 mobility applications

This paper provides an introduction to Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) and describes the functions of ICMP in an IPv6 network.

This paper also provides IPv6 configuration steps for the following clients:

Microsoft Windows
Red Hat Enterprise Linux
IBM AIX®
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0

After understanding the basics of IPv6 concepts and architecture, IT network professionals will be able to use the procedures outlined in this paper to configure various host operating systems to suit their network infrastructure.