In our recent post, we demonstrated how to configure IPv4 static routing. Similarly, IPv6 static routes can also be configured on a IPV6 network to enable a router to learn routes to networks not directly connected to it.
In this particular post, we will configure both static routes and floating static routes. A floating static route is primarily used when there are two connections from a router to a subnetwork. It acts as a backup route configured with a higher administrative distance than the primary route. This serves as a failover mechanism in case the primary route becomes unavailable.
Network Topology
The network topology we will be using in this post is shown below. As you can see, it consists of two LANs with IPv6 networks. In this demonstration, we will configure a static route so that PCs on the first LAN will be able to communicate with PCs on the other LAN.
Download the premade lab file or recreate the network topology shown below on your packet tracer software.
Lab Task
The objective of this lab is to perform the following IPv6 configurations on the network topology above:
Note: IPv6 addresses have been pre-configured on the routers and the serial connections use link-local addresses only.
- Enable IPv6 routing on each router.
- Use SLAAC to configure IPv6 addresses on the PCs.
- What IPv6 address was configured on each PC?
- Configure static routes on the routers to allow PC1 and PC2 to ping each other. The path via R2 should be used only as a backup path.
How to Configure an IPV6 Static Route
Here are the steps to configure the IPV6 static route in the Cisco packet tracer:
Step 1: Enable IPV6 routing
Enter the following commands to enable IPV6 routing on the routers;
R2>enable
R2#configure ter
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
R2(config)#ipv6 unicast-routing
R1>enable
R1#configure terminal
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
R1(config)#ipv6 unicast-routing
R3>enable
R3#configure terminal
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
R3(config)#ipv6 unicast-routing
Step 2: Configure the Static Route on the router
On R1
R1(config)#ipv6 route 2001:db8:0:3::/64 g0/1 2001:db8:0:13::2
R1(config)#ipv6 route 2001:db8:0:3::/64 s0/0/0 FE80::20B:BEFF:FED7:4901 6
Note: 20B:BEFF:FED7:4901 is the loopback interface IP of R2, and it can be obtained by using the show ipv6 interface brief command on R2.
Also, administrative distance 6 was specified in order to make the route via the s0/0/0 interface floating static.
On R2
R2(config)#ipv6 route 2001:db8:0:1::/64 s0/0/0 FE80::202:4AFF:FE23:E201
R2(config)#ipv6 route 2001:db8:0:3::/64 s0/0/1 FE80::290:2BFF:FECC:A101
Also, in the above commands, the loopback IP addresses of R1 and R3 were specified as the next hop while configuring the route to PC1’s and PC2’s networks, respectively.
On R3
R3#configure terminal
R3(config)#ipv6 route 2001:db8:0:1::/64 g0/1 2001:db8:0:13::1
R3(config)#ipv6 route 2001:db8:0:1::/64 s0/0/0 FE80::20B:BEFF:FED7:4901 6
Step 3: Use SLAAC to configure IPv6 addresses on the PCs
SLAAC can be enabled on each of the PCs by going to the IP configuration of each PC and enabling auto-config.
On PC1
On PC2
Step 4: Test connectivity.
To test the configuration, we need to get the IP address of PC2 using the ipconfig command and then ping to the address on PC1.
Then on PC1
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