1. IPv6 Launch Day , June 6, 2012
IPv6
from a developer’s point of view*
*Or how much does the switch really impact the average developer
Patrick Chemali

2. IPv6 Launch Day , June 6, 2012

3. IPv6 Launch Day , June 6, 2012
• “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it”
• “Does anyone still use IP based authentication on the
web?”
• “I have never used IPs in my code, why should I care?”
• “Does this mean we have to write code twice? Once for
IPv4 & once for IPv6?”
• “All I know is that it’s because IPs are running out”
What Surveyed Developers Said:
The impact of IPv6 on developers is strongly
bound to the layer on which they are developing

4. IPv6 Launch Day , June 6, 2012
• How will this affect DNS resolution
• How will this affect my database fields where I store IP
• Developing Intranets just got a bit trickier
• Functions used for encoding and exploding IPs need to be
rewritten
• Do browsers support IPv6?
Concerns of Web Developers
Web Developers who have been working with
domain names instead of IPs will have it easier

5. IPv6 Launch Day , June 6, 2012
Programming Language Support for IPv6

6. IPv6 Launch Day , June 6, 2012
What to consider in an IPv6
FE80:CD00:0000:0CDE:1257:0000:211E:729C
128-bit hexadecimal
Leading zeros are suppressed
FE80:CD00:0:CDE:1257:0:211E:729C
No Need for Subnet
It’s built-in
DNS
remains
uses AAAA
records
Loopback IPv4: 127.0.0.1
Loopback IPv6: 0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001
::1

7. IPv6 Launch Day , June 6, 2012
Starting with Windows Vista, IPv6 has been began installed
and enabled by default by Microsoft.
Windows however suffers from a problem:
Using an IPv4 address within a Universal Naming Convention
(192.168.21.13C$ for ex).
With IPv6 addresses FE80:CD00:0:CDE:1257:0:211E:729C
Windows sees a colon & assumes you’re referencing a drive letter.
The Workaround:
• Replace the colons with dashes.
• Append .ipv6.literal.net
• Ex: FE80-CD00-0-CDE-1257-0-211E-729C.ipv6.literal.net

8. IPv6 Launch Day , June 6, 2012
http://ipv6test.google.com/
Test Your IPv6 Readiness
• Google Apps are totally IPv6 Ready
• Google over IPv6 maintains a whitelist of DNS
resolvers serving networks with known-good IPv6
connectivity
• The CNAME target used becomes an automatic
switch for traffic while more specific ones can be
selected by users:
• ghs.google.com: Automatic (default)
• ghs4.google.com: IPv4 only
• ghs6.google.com: IPv6 only
• ghs46.google.com: IPv4 and IPv6

9. IPv6 Launch Day , June 6, 2012
Thank You
Happy IPv6 Day