How to configure a Windows Vista client to obtain an IPv6 DHCP address

Source: Microsoft Support

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This article describes how to properly configure your Windows Vista client computer to obtain an IPv6 address from a DHCP server using the netsh.exe tool.

By default, a Windows Vista client will configure its local IPv6 address based on what a local IPv6 router instructs it to do.  If you don't have a properly configured router in your environment, a Windows Vista client will not contact a DHCP server for an address even if the settings on the network interface are configured to "Obtain an IPv6 address automatically", but will instead automatically configure an address.

 

If you want your client to obtain an address from a DHCP server, you must configure the client to do so using the netsh.exe tool.  Using this tool, two things must be done:

 

1.       Disable Router Discovery.

2.       Enable Managed Address Configuration OR enable Other Stateful Configuration.

 

For both of the above steps, you need to do the following:

 

1.       Open an elevated command prompt

2.       netsh int ipv6 show int

 

The output from this command will list your interfaces and their respective index numbers.  You will use this index value in the next command.

 

To disable Router Discovery:

- netsh int ipv6 set int [index] routerdiscovery=disabled

 

You next need to enable either Managed Address or Other Stateful.   Managed Address instructs the client to obtain an address and all options from the DHCP server (the normal behavior for an IPv4 address).   Other Stateful instructs the client to configure its own IPv6 address (or use the statically configured address), but to get all other configuration options from a DHCP server.

 

To enable Managed Address:

- netsh int ipv6 set int [index] managedaddress=enabled

 

To enable Other Stateful:

- netsh int ipv6 set int [index] otherstateful=enabled

 

You can confirm your changes by using the following command to view the existing settings:

- netsh int ipv6 show int [index]

 

Example:

In the following example, the network adapter in use has been renamed to CorpNet to make it easy to identify.

 

C:\Windows\System32>netsh int ipv6 show int

 

Idx  Met   MTU   State        Name

---  ---  -----  -----------  -------------------

  1   50 4294967295  connected    Loopback Pseudo-Interface 1

 13   10   1280  connected    Local Area Connection* 3

  8   10   1500  connected    CorpNet

 10   50   1280  disconnected  Local Area Connection* 2

  9   10   1280  disconnected  Local Area Connection*

 

C:\Windows\System32>netsh int ipv6 show int 8

 

Interface CorpNet Parameters

----------------------------------------------

IfLuid                             : ethernet_6

IfIndex                            : 8

Compartment Id                     : 1

State                              : connected

Metric                             : 10

Link MTU                           : 1500 bytes

Reachable Time                     : 36500 ms

Base Reachable Time                : 30000 ms

Retransmission Interval            : 1000 ms

DAD Transmits                      : 1

Site Prefix Length                 : 64

Site Id                            : 1

Forwarding                         : disabled

Advertising                        : disabled

Neighbor Discovery                 : enabled

Neighbor Unreachability Detecion   : enabled

Router Discovery                   : enabled          <-- enabled by default

Managed Address Configuration      : disabled         <-- disabled by default

Other Stateful Configuration       : disabled

Weak Host Sends                    : disabled

Weak Host Receives                 : disabled

Use Automatic Metric               : enabled

Ignore Default routes              : disabled

 

C:\Windows\system32>netsh int ipv6 set int 8 routerdiscovery=disabled

Ok.

 

C:\Windows\system32>netsh int ipv6 set int 8 managedaddress=enabled

Ok.

 

C:\Windows\system32>netsh int ipv6 show int 8

 

Interface CorpNet Parameters

----------------------------------------------

IfLuid                             : ethernet_6

IfIndex                            : 8

Compartment Id                     : 1

State                              : connected

Metric                             : 10

Link MTU                           : 1500 bytes

Reachable Time                     : 36500 ms

Base Reachable Time                : 30000 ms

Retransmission Interval            : 1000 ms

DAD Transmits                      : 1

Site Prefix Length                 : 64

Site Id                            : 1

Forwarding                         : disabled

Advertising                        : disabled

Neighbor Discovery                 : enabled

Neighbor Unreachability Detecion   : enabled

Router Discovery                   : disabled         <-- changed

Managed Address Configuration      : enabled          <-- changed

Other Stateful Configuration       : disabled

Weak Host Sends                    : disabled

Weak Host Receives                 : disabled

Use Automatic Metric               : enabled

Ignore Default routes              : disabled

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