IP6ADDRCTL(8)

💖 IP6ADDRCTL(8) — the address-selection policy queen 👑

okay so picture this: it's the System Manager's Manual, and ip6addrctl is the main character. she's the one who keeps your policy table cute and correct. let's get into it 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

ip6addrctl — configure address selection policy for IPv6 and IPv4 💅

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

ip6addrctl [-j jail] [show]
ip6addrctl [-j jail] add prefix precedence label
ip6addrctl [-j jail] delete prefix
ip6addrctl [-j jail] flush
ip6addrctl [-j jail] install configfile

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so the ip6addrctl utility manages the policy table of source and destination address selection for outgoing IPv4 and IPv6 packets. that's her job. that's her whole vibe. ✨

when ip6addrctl is invoked without an argument, or with a single argument show, it prints the content of the policy table currently installed in the kernel. like a little mirror selfie of the kernel's policy table, no cap. 🪞

🫶 to operate inside a jail, the option [-j jail] should precede other options. put it first, bestie, it's giving entrance-order energy.

to modify the table, the following operations are available:

💜 add prefix precedence label

add a policy entry. the prefix argument is an IPv6 prefix, which is a key for the entry. an IPv4 prefix should be specified with an IPv6 prefix using an IPv4-mapped IPv6 address. the precedence and label arguments are decimal numbers, which specify the precedence and label values for the entry, respectively. this operation should be performed without an existing entry for the prefix. not me showing up to a prefix that's already taken 🙈

🍓 delete prefix

delete a policy entry specified by prefix, which should be an IPv6 prefix. a corresponding entry for the prefix should have already been installed. you can't delete what was never there, gorgeous 💀

🧚 flush

delete all existing policy entries in the kernel. full reset. clean slate. the table gets a whole new personality 🔥

⭐ install configfile

install policy entries from a configuration file named configfile. the configuration file should contain a set of policy entries. each entry is specified in a single line which contains an IPv6 prefix, a decimal precedence value, and a decimal label value, separated with white space or tab characters. in the configuration file, lines beginning with the pound-sign (#) are comments and are ignored. 💬

🌈 note that the configuration file will be processed before attaching to a jail. so like, she reads it first, then she enters. order matters, iykyk.

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🌟 EXIT STATUS 🌟

the ip6addrctl utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs. zero is the slay outcome. anything above is the 😭 outcome.

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

• getaddrinfo(1)
• getaddrinfo(3)

also please go read Default Address Selection for Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6), RFC 6724, by Dave Thaler, Richard Draves, Arifumi Matsumoto, and Tim Chown. iconic scholarly behavior, fr fr. 📚

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🎀 HISTORY 🎀

the ip6addrctl utility first appeared in the KAME IPv6 protocol stack kit. the original command name was addrselect, but it was then renamed to the current one so that the name would describe its function well. a rebrand! a glow-up! the way that name change ate 💅✨

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and that's the page, bestie 🫶 — brought to you by Debian, dated January 29, 2025, closing out with IP6ADDRCTL(8) like the little signature at the bottom of a love letter 💌💖