IPv6 Enabled command line tools

Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista include the following IPv6-enabled command-line tools that are most commonly used for network troubleshooting:

• Ipconfig
• Route
• Ping
• Tracert
• Pathping
• Netstat

Ipconfig

The ipconfig tool displays all current TCP/IP network configuration values, and it is used to perform maintenance tasks such as refreshing DHCP and DNS settings. In Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista, the ipconfig command without options displays IPv4 and IPv6 configuration for all physical adapters and tunnel interfaces that have addresses. The following is an example display of the ipconfig command on a computer running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista:

c:\> ipconfig
Windows IP Configuration
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : www.ComputerNetworkingNotes.com
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:db8:21da:7:713e:a426:d167:37ab
Temporary IPv6 Address. . . . . . : 2001:db8:21da:7:5099:ba54:9881:2e54
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::713e:a426:d167:37ab%6
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 157.60.14.11
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : fe80::20a:42ff:feb0:5400%6
IPv4 Default Gateway  . . . . . . : 157.60.14.1
Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:db8:908c:f70f:0:5efe:157.60.14.11
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::5efe:157.60.14.11%9
Site-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fec0::6ab4:0:5efe:157.60.14.11%1
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : fe80::5efe:131.107.25.1%9
fe80::5efe:131.107.25.2%9
Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Ipconfig.exe displays the IPv6 addresses before the IPv4 addresses and indicates the type of IPv6 address using the following labels:

• IPv6 Address A global address with a permanent interface ID
• Temporary IPv6 Address A global address with a randomly derived interface ID that has a short valid lifetime
• Link-local IPv6 Address A link-local address with its corresponding zone ID (the interface index)
• Site-local IPv6 Address A site-local address with its corresponding zone ID (the site ID) For more information about the different types of IPv6 addresses and the zone ID By default, the interface names containing an asterisk (*) are tunneling interfaces.

Route

The Route tool displays the entries in the local IPv4 and IPv6 routing tables and allows you to change them. The Route tool displays both the IPv4 and IPv6 routing table when you run the
route print
command. You can change entries in the IPv6 routing table with the Route.exe tool with the route add, route change, and route delete commands.

Ping

In previous versions of Windows, the Ping tool verified IPv4-level connectivity to another TCP/IP computer by sending Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Echo messages. The receipt of corresponding Echo Reply messages is displayed, along with round-trip times. Ping is the primary TCP/IP tool used to troubleshoot reach ability and name resolution. The Ping tool in Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista has been enhanced to support IPv6 in the following ways:

• Ping uses either ICMPv4 Echo or ICMPv6 Echo Request messages to verify IPv4-based or IPv6-based connectivity.
• Ping can parse both IPv4 and IPv6 address formats.
• If you specify a target host by name, the addresses returned by using Windows name resolution techniques can contain both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses—in which case, by default, an IPv6 address is preferred (subject to source and destination address selection). The following is an example display of the Ping tool on a computer running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista for an IPv6 destination address:

C:\>ping 2001:db8:1:f282:dd48:ab34:d07c:3914
Pinging 2001:db8:1:f282:dd48:ab34:d07c:3914 from
2001:db8:1:f282:3cec:bf16:505:eae6 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 2001:db8:1:f282:dd48:ab34:d07c:3914: time<1ms
Reply from 2001:db8:1:f282:dd48:ab34:d07c:3914: time<1ms
Reply from 2001:db8:1:f282:dd48:ab34:d07c:3914: time<1ms
Reply from 2001:db8:1:f282:dd48:ab34:d07c:3914: time<1ms
Ping statistics for 2001:db8:1:f282:dd48:ab34:d07c:3914:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

The following command-line options support IPv6:

• -i HopLimit
  Sets the value of the Hop Limit field in the IPv6 header. The default value is 128. The –i option is also used to set the value of the Time-to-Live (TTL) field in the IPv4 header.
• -R
  Forces Ping to trace the round-trip path by sending the ICMPv6 Echo Request message to the destination and to include an IPv6 Routing extension header with the sending node as the next destination.
• -S SourceAddr
  Forces Ping to use a specified IPv6 source address.
• -4
  Forces Ping to use an IPv4 address when the DNS name query for a host name returns both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.
• -6
  Forces Ping to use an IPv6 address when the DNS name query for a host name returns both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.

Note down
The Ping -f, -v TOS, -r count, -s count, -j host-list, and -k host-list command line options are not supported for IPv6.

Tracert

The Tracert tool determines the path taken to a destination. For IPv4, Tracert sends ICMPv4 Echo messages to the destination with incrementally increasing TTL field values. For IPv6, Tracert sends ICMPv6 Echo Request messages to the destination with incrementally increasing Hop Limit field values. Tracert displays the path as the list of nearside router interfaces of the routers in the path between a source host and a destination node. The Tracert tool in Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista has been enhanced to support IPv6 in the following ways:

• Tracert can parse both IPv4 and IPv6 address formats.
• If you specify a target host by name, the addresses returned using Windows name resolution techniques can contain both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses—in which case, by default, an IPv6 address is preferred (subject to source and destination address selection). The following is an example display of the Tracert tool on a computer running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista:

c:\>tracert 2001:db8:1:f282:dd48:ab34:d07c:3914
Tracing route to 2001:db8:1:f282:dd48:ab34:d07c:3914 over a maximum of 30 hops
1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 2001:db8:1:f241:2b0:d0ff:fea4:243d
2 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 2001:db8:1:f2ac:2b0:d0ff:fea5:d347
3 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 2001:db8:1:f282:dd48:ab34:d07c:3914
Trace complete.

The following Tracert command-line options support IPv6:

• -R
  Forces Tracert to trace the round-trip path by sending the ICMPv6 Echo Request message to the destination, including an IPv6 Routing extension header with the sending node as the next destination
• -S SourceAddr
  Forces Tracert to use a specified IPv6 source address
• -4
  Forces Tracert to use an IPv4 address when the DNS name query for a host name returns both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses
• -6
  Forces Tracert to use an IPv6 address when the DNS name query for a host name returns both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses

Note The Tracert -j host-listcommand-line option is not supported for IPv6.

Pathping

The Pathping tool provides information about network latency and network loss at intermediate hops between a source and destination. For IPv4, Pathping sends multiple ICMPv4 Echo messages to each router between a source and destination over a period of time, and then it computes results based on the packets returned from each router. For IPv6, Pathping sends ICMPv6 Echo Request messages. Because Pathping displays the degree of packet loss at any given router or link, you can determine which routers or subnets might be having network problems. Pathping performs the equivalent of the Tracert tool by identifying which routers are in the path, and then it sends messages periodically to all the routers over a specified time period and computes statistics based on the number returned from each. The Pathping tool in Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista has been enhanced to support IPv6 in the following ways:

• Pathping can parse both IPv4 and IPv6 address formats.
• If you specify a target host by name, the addresses returned using Windows name resolution techniques can contain both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses—in which case, by default, an IPv6 address is preferred (subject to source and destination address selection). The following is an example display of the Pathping tool on a computer running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista:

C:\>pathping 2001:db8:1:f282:dd48:ab34:d07c:3914
Tracing route to 2001:db8:1:f282:dd48:ab34:d07c:3914 over a maximum of 30 hops
0 server1.example.microsoft.com [2001:db8:1:f282:204:5aff:fe56:1006]
1 2001:db8:1:f282:dd48:ab34:d07c:3914
Computing statistics for 25 seconds...
Source to Here This Node/Link
Hop RTT Lost/Sent = Pct Lost/Sent = Pct Address
0 server1.example.microsoft.com
[2001:db8:1:f282:204:5aff:fe56:1006]
0/ 100 = 0% |
1 0ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 2001:db8:1:f282:dd48:ab34:d07c:
3914
Trace complete.

The following Pathping command-line options support IPv6:

• -4
  Forces Pathping to use an IPv4 address when the DNS name query for a host name returns both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses
• -6
  Forces Pathping to use an IPv6 address when the DNS name query for a host name returns both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses

Note The Pathping -g host-listcommand-line option is not supported for IPv6.

Netstat

The Netstat tool displays active TCP connections, ports on which the computer is listening, Ethernet statistics, the IPv4 routing table, IPv4 statistics (for the IP, ICMP, TCP, and UDP protocols), the IPv6 routing table, and IPv6 statistics (for the IPv6, ICMPv6, TCP over IPv6, and UDP over IPv6 protocols).

Displaying IPv6 Configuration with Netsh

Useful commands to display information about the IPv6 configuration of a computer running Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista are the following:

• Netsh interface ipv6 show interface
• Netsh interface ipv6 show address
• Netsh interface ipv6 show route
• Netsh interface ipv6 show neighbors
• Netsh interface ipv6 show destination cache

Netsh interface ipv6 show interfaceM
This command displays the list of IPv6 interfaces. By default, the interface names containing an asterisk (*) are tunneling interfaces.

Netsh interface ipv6 show address
This command displays the list of IPv6 addresses for each interface.

Netsh interface ipv6 show route
This command displays the list of routes in the IPv6 routing table.

Netsh interface ipv6 show neighbors
This command displays the contents of the neighbor cache, sorted by interface. The neighbor cache stores the link-layer addresses of recently resolved next-hop addresses.

Netsh interface ipv6 show destinationcache
This command displays the contents of the destination cache, sorted by interface. The destination cache stores the next-hop addresses for destination addresses.

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