Network Working Group S. Deering, Xerox PARC Request for Comments: 1883 R. Hinden, Ipsilon Networks Category: Standards Track December 1995 Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6) Specification Status of this Memo This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited. Abstract This document specifies version 6 of the Internet Protocol (IPv6), also sometimes referred to as IP Next Generation or IPng. Deering & Hinden Standards Track [Page 1] RFC 1883 IPv6 Specification December 1995 Table of Contents 1. Introduction..................................................3 2. Terminology...................................................4 3. IPv6 Header Format............................................5 4. IPv6 Extension Headers........................................6 4.1 Extension Header Order...................................8 4.2 Options..................................................9 4.3 Hop-by-Hop Options Header...............................11 4.4 Routing Header..........................................13 4.5 Fragment Header.........................................19 4.6 Destination Options Header..............................24 4.7 No Next Header..........................................25 5. Packet Size Issues...........................................26 6. Flow Labels..................................................28 7. Priority.....................................................30 8. Upper-Layer Protocol Issues..................................31 8.1 Upper-Layer Checksums...................................31 8.2 Maximum Packet Lifetime.................................32 8.3 Maximum Upper-Layer Payload Size........................32 Appendix A. Formatting Guidelines for Options...................33 Security Considerations.........................................36 Acknowledgments.................................................36 Authors' Addresses..............................................36 References......................................................37 Deering & Hinden Standards Track [Page 2] RFC 1883 IPv6 Specification December 1995 1. Introduction IP version 6 (IPv6) is a new version of the Internet Protocol, designed as a successor to IP version 4 (IPv4) [RFC-791]. The changes from IPv4 to IPv6 fall primarily into the following categories: o Expanded Addressing Capabilities IPv6 increases the IP address size from 32 bits to 128 bits, to support more levels of addressing hierarchy, a much greater number of addressable nodes, and simpler auto-configuration of addresses. The scalability of multicast routing is improved by adding a "scope" field to multicast addresses. And a new type of address called an "anycast address" is defined, used to send a packet to any one of a group of nodes. o Header Format Simplification Some IPv4 header fields have been dropped or made optional, to reduce the common-case processing cost of packet handling and to limit the bandwidth cost of the IPv6 header. o Improved Support for Extensions and Options Changes in the way IP header options are encoded allows for more efficient forwarding, less stringent limits on the length of options, and greater flexibility for introducing new options in the future. o Flow Labeling Capability A new capability is added to enable the labeling of packets belonging to particular traffic "flows" for which the sender requests special handling, such as non-default quality of service or "real-time" service. o Authentication and Privacy Capabilities Extensions to support authentication, data integrity, and (optional) data confidentiality are specified for IPv6. This document specifies the basic IPv6 header and the initially- defined IPv6 extension headers and options. It also discusses packet size issues, the semantics of flow labels and priority, and the effects of IPv6 on upper-layer protocols. The format and semantics of IPv6 addresses are specified separately in [RFC-1884]. The IPv6 version of ICMP, which all IPv6 implementations are required to include, is specified in [RFC-1885]. Deering & Hinden Standards Track [Page 3] RFC 1883 IPv6 Specification December 1995 2. Terminology node - a device that implements IPv6. router - a node that forwards IPv6 packets not explicitly addressed to itself. [See Note below]. host - any node that is not a router. [See Note below]. upper layer - a protocol layer immediately above IPv6. Examples are transport protocols such as TCP and UDP, control protocols such as ICMP, routing protocols such as OSPF, and internet or lower-layer protocols being "tunneled" over (i.e., encapsulated in) IPv6 such as IPX, AppleTalk, or IPv6 itself. link - a communication facility or medium over which nodes can communicate at the link layer, i.e., the layer immediately below IPv6. Examples are Ethernets (simple or bridged); PPP links; X.25, Frame Relay, or ATM networks; and internet (or higher) layer "tunnels", such as tunnels over IPv4 or IPv6 itself. neighbors - nodes attached to the same link. interface - a node's attachment to a link. address - an IPv6-layer identifier for an interface or a set of interfaces. packet - an IPv6 header plus payload. link MTU - the maximum transmission unit, i.e., maximum packet size in octets, that can be conveyed in one piece over a link. path MTU - the minimum link MTU of all the links in a path between a source node and a destination node. Note: it is possible, though unusual, for a device with multiple interfaces to be configured to forward non-self-destined packets arriving from some set (fewer than all) of its interfaces, and to discard non-self-destined packets arriving from its other interfaces. Such a device must obey the protocol requirements for routers when receiving packets from, and interacting with neighbors over, the former (forwarding) interfaces. It must obey the protocol requirements for hosts when receiving packets from, and interacting with neighbors over, the latter (non-forwarding) interfaces. Deering & Hinden Standards Track [Page 4] RFC 1883 IPv6 Specification December 1995 3. IPv6 Header Format +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |Version| Prio. | Flow Label | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Payload Length | Next Header | Hop Limit | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | + + | | + Source Address + | | + + | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | + + | | + Destination Address + | | + + | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Version 4-bit Internet Protocol version number = 6. Prio. 4-bit priority value. See section 7. Flow Label 24-bit flow label. See section 6. Payload Length 16-bit unsigned integer. Length of payload, i.e., the rest of the packet following the IPv6 header, in octets. If zero, indicates that the payload length is carried in a Jumbo Payload hop-by-hop option. Next Header 8-bit selector. Identifies the type of header immediately following the IPv6 header. Uses the same values as the IPv4 Protocol field [RFC-1700 et seq.]. Hop Limit 8-bit unsigned integer. Decremented by 1 by each node that forwards the packet. The packet is discarded if Hop Limit is decremented to zero. Source Address 128-bit address of the originator of the packet. See [RFC-1884]. Deering & Hinden Standards Track [Page 5] RFC 1883 IPv6 Specification December 1995 Destination Address 128-bit address of the intended recipient of the packet (possibly not the ultimate recipient, if a Routing header is present). See [RFC-1884] and section 4.4. 4. IPv6 Extension Headers In IPv6, optional internet-layer information is encoded in separate headers that may be placed between the IPv6 header and the upper- layer header in a packet. There are a small number of such extension headers, each identified by a distinct Next Header value. As illustrated in these examples, an IPv6 packet may carry zero, one, or more extension headers, each identified by the Next Header field of the preceding header: +---------------+------------------------ | IPv6 header | TCP header + data | | | Next Header = | | TCP | +---------------+------------------------ +---------------+----------------+------------------------ | IPv6 header | Routing header | TCP header + data | | | | Next Header = | Next Header = | | Routing | TCP | +---------------+----------------+------------------------ +---------------+----------------+-----------------+----------------- | IPv6 header | Routing header | Fragment header | fragment of TCP | | | | header + data | Next Header = | Next Header = | Next Header = | | Routing | Fragment | TCP | +---------------+----------------+-----------------+----------------- With one exception, extension headers are not examined or processed by any node along a packet's delivery path, until the packet reaches the node (or each of the set of nodes, in the case of multicast) identified in the Destination Address field of the IPv6 header. There, normal demultiplexing on the Next Header field of the IPv6 header invokes the module to process the first extension header, or the upper-layer header if no extension header is present. The contents and semantics of each extension header determine whether or Deering & Hinden Standards Track [Page 6] RFC 1883 IPv6 Specification December 1995 not to proceed to the next header. Therefore, extension headers must be processed strictly in the order they appear in the packet; a receiver must not, for example, scan through a packet looking for a particular kind of extension header and process that header prior to processing all preceding ones. The exception referred to in the preceding paragraph is the Hop-by- Hop Options header, which carries information that must be examined and processed by every node along a packet's delivery path, including the source and destination nodes. The Hop-by-Hop Options header, when present, must immediately follow the IPv6 header. Its presence is indicated by the value zero in the Next Header field of the IPv6 header. If, as a result of processing a header, a node is required to proceed to the next header but the Next Header value in the current header is unrecognized by the node, it should discard the packet and send an ICMP Parameter Problem message to the source of the packet, with an ICMP Code value of 2 ("unrecognized Next Header type encountered") and the ICMP Pointer field containing the offset of the unrecognized value within the original packet. The same action should be taken if a node encounters a Next Header value of zero in any header other than an IPv6 header. Each extension header is an integer multiple of 8 octets long, in order to retain 8-octet alignment for subsequent headers. Multi- octet fields within each extension header are aligned on their natural boundaries, i.e., fields of width n octets are placed at an integer multiple of n octets from the start of the header, for n = 1, 2, 4, or 8. A full implementation of IPv6 includes implementation of the following extension headers: Hop-by-Hop Options Routing (Type 0) Fragment Destination Options Authentication Encapsulating Security Payload The first four are specified in this document; the last two are specified in [RFC-1826] and [RFC-1827], respectively. Deering & Hinden Standards Track [Page 7] RFC 1883 IPv6 Specification December 1995 4.1 Extension Header Order When more than one extension header is used in the same packet, it is recommended that those headers appear in the following order: IPv6 header Hop-by-Hop Options header Destination Options header (note 1) Routing header Fragment header Authentication header (note 2) Encapsulating Security Payload header (note 2) Destination Options header (note 3) upper-layer header note 1: for options to be processed by the first destination that appears in the IPv6 Destination Address field plus subsequent destinations listed in the Routing header. note 2: additional recommendations regarding the relative order of the Authentication and Encapsulating Security Payload headers are given in [RFC-1827]. note 3: for options to be processed only by the final destination of the packet. Each extension header should occur at most once, except for the Destination Options header which should occur at most twice (once before a Routing header and once before the upper-layer header). If the upper-layer header is another IPv6 header (in the case of IPv6 being tunneled over or encapsulated in IPv6), it may be followed by its own extensions headers, which are separately subjec