World IPv6 Day is fast approaching and it’s far easier to configure IPv6 than I knew, even if your ISP doesn’t provide you with IPv6 addresses.

That said, there are a few things you need in place before you get started.

  • A working internet connection
  • Either be connected directly to the internet (your host needs a public IP) or be using something other than an off the shelf broadband router.

If you mean the above requirements then simply head over to http://www.tunnelbroker.net/ and register for an account.

Once registered and logged in perform the following:

  • Click “Create Regular Tunnel” under User Functions.
  • Copy and paste the “You are viewing from:” IP address into the form field above
  • Choose the tunnel server closest to you
  • Click “Create Tunnel”
  • Once created, click on the Example Configuration tab and follow the example config options for your system

That’s it. You should now be able to access IPv6 enabled sites like ipv6.google.com and www.v6.facebook.com. On June 18, 2011 a number of large sites will be adding AAAA records for their main addresses (www.facebook.com for example) which has the potential to break connectivity for users who have an improper IPv6 setup. The best option is to be prepared for the day by ensuring you’re accessing the Internet using IPv6. You can also test your connection (with or without IPv6 enabled) at http://test-ipv6.com/.

In a future post, I’ll detail how to use this same tunnel broker service to create a Linux based IPv6 router and firewall. IPv6 will work very differently from IPv4 in how addresses are assigned to you the end user. In short, every device in your home in the future will have a public Internet address meaning steps must be taken to ensure devices inside your home are protected with a firewall.