These steps will configure IPv6 on a network adapter using Powershell.
Adding an IPv6 address
- Make sure Powershell is launched with Administrator permissions.
- Get the ifIndex for the network adapter that you want to configure the IPv6 address on:
Get-NetAdapter -IncludeHidden | Sort-Object -Property ifIndex -Descending
Name InterfaceDescription ifIndex Status MacAddress LinkSpeed
---- -------------------- ------- ------ ---------- ---------
isatap.{CBDE325A-10DC-... Microsoft ISATAP Adapter 13 Disconnected 00-00-00-00-00... 100 Kbps
Ethernet Microsoft Hyper-V Network Adapter 12 Up 00-15-5D-9B-83-02 4 Gbps
Local Area Connection* 9 Microsoft Kernel Debug Network Adapter 10 Not Present 0 bps
Local Area Connection* 8 WAN Miniport (Network Monitor) 9 Up 0 bps
Local Area Connection* 7 WAN Miniport (IPv6) 8 Up 0 bps
Local Area Connection* 6 WAN Miniport (IP) 7 Up 0 bps
Local Area Connection* 5 WAN Miniport (PPPOE) 6 Disconnected 0 bps
Local Area Connection* 4 WAN Miniport (PPTP) 5 Disconnected 0 bps
Local Area Connection* 3 WAN Miniport (IKEv2) 4 Disconnected 0 bps
Local Area Connection* 2 WAN Miniport (SSTP) 3 Disconnected 0 bps
Local Area Connection* 1 WAN Miniport (L2TP) 2 Disconnected 0 bpsIn this case we would like to add the IPv6 settings to the “Ethernet” adapter with ifIndex 10.
- Create the new IP address and optionally add the IPv6 gateway. You will need to set the correct ifIndex for your server:
New-NetIPAddress -InterfaceIndex 10 -IPAddress ffff::2 -PrefixLength 64 -DefaultGateway ffff::1
If you get an error at this step, make sure that IPv6 is enabled on the interface. The error I was getting looks like this:
New-NetIPAddress : Element not found.
+ CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (MSFT_NetIPAddress:ROOT/StandardCimv2/MSFT_NetIPAddress) [New-NetIPAddress], CimException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : Windows System Error 1168,New-NetIPAddressYou can check if IPv6 is enabled by using this command:
Get-NetAdapterBinding -DisplayName *6*
If the network adapter shows “Enabled” as false, you will need to enable it first (replace Ethernet with the NIC name):
Set-NetAdapterBinding -Name Ethernet -DisplayName *6* -Enabled $true
- Add the IPv6 DNS servers to use (optional):
Set-DnsClientServerAddress -InterfaceIndex 13 -ServerAddresses ("fd12:3456:ffff:1::1","fd12:3456:ffff:1::2")Adding an IPv6 address with netsh
In case of CIM errors you may need to use netsh to add the IPv6 settings instead.
- Assign the IP address. You will need to set
Ethernetto the name of the network adapter to add the IP address to.
netsh interface ipv6 add address Ethernet address=ffff:2/64
- Add the default gateway (optional). As above, you will need to set
Ethernetto the name of the adapter:
netsh interface ipv6 add route ::/0 Ethernet ffff:1
- Add the IPv6 DNS servers to use (optional):
netsh interface ipv6 add dnsserver Ethernet fd12:3456:ffff:1::1 netsh interface ipv6 add dnsserver Ethernet fd12:3456:ffff:1::2