11.2 Configuring a Name Server to Listen for Queries on an IPv6 Interface

11.2.1 Problem

You want a BIND 9 name server to listen for queries on an IPv6 interface.

11.2.2 Solution

Use the listen-on-v6 options substatement to instruct the name server to listen on any of the host's IPv6 interfaces for queries. For example:

options {
    directory "/var/named";
    listen-on-v6 { any; };
};

Don't specify the particular IPv6 address of one of the host's interfaces: listen-on-v6 only supports any or none as an argument. The default, as of BIND 9.1.0, is none; that is, don't listen for queries on any IPv6 interfaces.

11.2.3 Discussion

Before BIND 9.1.0, BIND 9 name servers listened on any of the host's IPv6 interfaces by default. BIND 8 name servers can't handle queries received via IPv6 at all.

As with its IPv4 counterpart, you can use listen-on-v6 to tell a name server to listen on an alternate port, too. For example, you could configure the name server to listen on port 1053 for IPv6 queries with:

options {
    directory "/var/named";
    listen-on-v6 port 1053 { any; };
};

Note that none of the root name servers have IPv6 interfaces, which makes it difficult to run an IPv6-only name server on the Internet. Typically, name servers with IPv6 interfaces also have at least one IPv4 interface, or forward to a name server that has both kinds.

11.2.4 See Also

"Configuring the IPv6 Transport" in Chapter 10 of DNS and BIND.