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In our last article we used Packet tracer to build a dual stack network that supported both IPv4 and IPv6, but because not all networks support dual-stack, tunneling is used to transfer IPv6 traffic across an existing IPv4 networks.  Many current internet users do not have IPv6 dual-stack support, and thus cannot reach IPv6 sites directly. Instead, they must use IPv4 infrastructure to carry IPv6 packets. This is done using a technique known as tunneling, which encapsulates IPv6 packets within IPv4, in effect using IPv4 as a link layer for IPv6.

There are basic two types of IPv6 tunnels, manual, automatic. The primary difference in these tunneling techniques is the method in which the tunnel source and destination are determined.

Manual Tunnels:

Manual tunnels must be configured manually. These tunnels are used when using IPv6 addresses that do not have any embedded IPv4 information. The IPv6 and IPv4 addresses of the endpoints of the tunnel must be specified.

Automatic tunnels:

Automatic tunnels are configured by using IPv4 address information embedded in an IPv6 address – the IPv6 address of the destination host includes information about which IPv4 address the packet should be tunneled to.

I would of like to created labs for both of these tunnel types but even though I am using Packet Tracer 6 the support for automatic IPv6 tunneling is not there, therefore in this article we will only be covering the manual tunnel.

The configuration of manually configured tunnels for IPv6 is self-explanatory. It requires definite specification of the tunnel IPv4 source and the tunnel IPv4 destination. The only drawback of when you use this technique is the amount of administration you must perform when the number of tunnels grows.

I have included the Packet Tracer topology for this lab along with a network drawing and the final solution configs.

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  IPv6 to IPv4 Tunnel (103.5 KiB, 5,115 hits)