I uploaded a youtube video on IPv6 configuration for the lab here, and here are the basics you need to know what you are doing:
- IPv6 format and addresses
To simplify the view, leading 0s are removed, so :0bc2: and :bc2: are the same.
You can also represent a group of 4 0s as "0". So :0000: and :0: are the same. You can also simplify several groups of 0s as "::", so :0000:0000: and :: are the same. This simplification can be done only once in an address. So you can simplify the address above as 2001:bc2:b3f0::dcba:0:21 or 2001:bc2:b3f0:0:0:dcba::21, but not as 2001:bc2:b3f0::dcba::21 (otherwise, there would be no way to tell how many groups of 0s does each :: represent).
- IPv6 address mask
The rest (64 bits) is the client address.
This makes that your common mask for IPv6 networks is /64. It is written /64, not 255.255.255.255.255.255.255.255.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0 (and you see why by the length of the standard decimal mask).
You can still find specific masks. Just like for IPv4, you can use longer masks (to a certain, limited extend) for subnetting, and shorter masks when you want to fix only a few bits in the network part of the address.
- Special addresses
fe80::/10: this is what is called the link-local address. Notice the /10 mask. Fe80 hex is 11111110 10000000 in binary, any address that has the first ten bits set to 11111110 10 is link local. So link-local ranges from fe80:: (all the other bits are 0s) to febf:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff (11111110 1011111111... etc all ones to the end of the address). IPv6 generates a link local address immediately for any interface that has IPv6 enabled. It is only used on that link (not routed). You can configure it manually. If you don't, IPv6 uses the interface MAC address as the host part of the address. You can use this address to test the link (ping the device on the other end of the link), but you can't use it beyond the local link (you can't ping fe80:: addresses beyond a router). In IPv4, this address would be the equivalent to 169.254.0.0 APIPA addresses.
fc00::/7: this is the Unique Local Address (ULA is the little name). You will see that one often, because it is an address reserved for local, private space. It can be routed, but not to the internet. This is the equivalent to the RFC 1918 IPv4 address space (10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12 and 192.168.0.0/16). Only the first 7 bits are fixed, so this space ranges from fc00:: (1111 1100 in the first byte) to fdff (1111 1101 in the first byte, all the rest to 1s).
2000::/3: this is a global unicast. This would be the equivalent to the IPv4 public address (but it works a bit differently).
ff00::8: this is an IPv6 multicast address. Just like for IPv4, there are several well known IPv6 multicast addresses. This is the address that would be used if you were asked to forward IPv6 multicast traffic throughout your network alond with IPv4 multicast.
2001:: addresses: there are quite a few of them (2001:0000::/32 (Teredo), 2001:0002::/48 (benchmarking), 2001:0010::/28 (Orchid), 2001:db8::/32 (documentation)). They are used to translate IPv4 into IPv6 addresses (Teredo) for NAT, or for documentation and examples. They may be the ones used in your lab.
::ffff/96: this is another possible address you may be given. It is called the IPv4-mapped address, because it allows you to represent an IPv6 by using an IPv4 structure. For example, you can use ::fffff:192.0.2.7. As you can see, if your IPv4 address is 192.0.2.7, using an IPv6 address that is just the same with leading ffff makes it very easy for lab work.
You probably do not need to know much about these addresses for the IE wireless exam. You will probably be given a range of IPv6 addresses, and will just be asked to work your wireless gear to support them. Knowing the basic IPv6 address format will help you understand what was the reasoning behind the choice of the IPv6 block given to you: multicast, private address, etc.
- Testing IPv6
In the lab, you can expect to be asked to support Ipv6 connectivity, not to be asked to be an IPv6 guru and configure complex Ipv6 routing parameters, or even IPv6 to Ipv4 translation mechanisms.
If you want to test basic IPv6 connectivity to get a better grasp at how it works, you need a simple router, a basic switch and a laptop. Your windows 7 laptop already supports IPv6 on its interfaces:
You just need to keep it set to DHCP, and configure an IPv6 IP address and DHCP server on your router, just like in the video. You should see the client get an IPv6 address. The switch is layer 2, so it does not care about the IP address format above the Ethernet layer.
On your router, you need to enable Ipv6:
Router#conf t
Router (config)# ipv6 unicast-routing
Once IPv6 is enabled, you can create a DHCP scope for IPv6. For example, suppose that you want to create a DHCP scope for subnet FC0:6::/64. You first create the scope:
Router (config)# ipv6 dhcp pool vlan6
Router (config-dhcp)# prefix-delegation FC0:6::/64 64
Depending on your router IOS, the command used to provide the subnet information is prefix-delegation, followed by the subnet (fc00:6::/64 here) and an identifier (64 here), or the command addres-range followed by the subnet (which is the command we use in the demo video).
You do not need to add anything else (the router is going to announce the scope, and announce itself as the gateway), although there are some options you can add. But for wireless, the scope is the bare minimum you need to make it work.
Then, on the router interface to the switch, you need to create a subinterface, so that the switch can send tagged frames with VLAN 6 tag to the router. You then need to give your router an IPv6 address in VLAN 6 (you can also give an IPv4 address, if you want a point of reference to something you know), and you need to call for the DHCP scope, so the router starts providing addresses from that scope to DHCPv6 requests received on that interface:
Router (config)# interface FastEthernet0/0.6
Router (config-if)# encapsulation dot1Q 6
Router (config-if)# ipv6 address FC0:6::15/64
Router (config-if)# ipv6 dhcp server vlan6
Done, you can now plug your laptop to the switch, in an interface set for VLAN 6, and your laptop should get an IPv6 address from the router.
This is of course on the wired interface. The logic is the same for the wireless interface, except that the laptop would go through an AP and a WLC before getting to the VLAN6 dynamic interface on your controller, then to the switch and the router. The rest... is about wireless...
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