IPv6 Neighbor Discovery
IPv6 neighbor discovery uses ICMP messages and solicited multicast addresses to find
the link layer address of a neighbor on the same local network, verify the neighbor‘s
reachability and track neighboring devices.
Upon receiving a neighbor solicitation message,
the destination replies with NA (neighbor advertisement). The source address in
the advertisement is the IPv6 address of the device sending the message. The destination
address in the advertisement message is the IPv6 address of the device sending the neighbor
solicitation. The data portion of the NA includes the link layer address of the node sending
the neighbor advertisement.
Neighbor solicitation messages also verify the
availability of a neighbor once its the link layer address is identified. When a node wants
to verify the reachability of a neighbor, the destination address in a neighbor solicitation
message is the unicast address of the neighbor.
A neighbor is interpreted as reachable
when an acknowledgment is returned indicating packets have been received and processed. If
packets are reaching the device, they‘re also reaching the next hop neighbor, providing a
confirmation the next hop is reachable.
To view a controller or service platform‘s
IPv6 neighbor statistics:
- Select the Statistics menu from the Web
UI.
- Expand the System node from
the navigation pane (on the left-hand side of the screen). The System node expands to
display the RF Domains created within the managed network.
- Expand the RF Domain node.
- Select a Wireless Controller.
- Expand the Network menu from the left-hand side of the UI.
- Select IPv6 Neighbor
Discovery.
The screen is displayed in the right-hand pane.
This screen displays the following:
IPv6 Address |
Lists an IPv6 IP address for neighbor discovery.
IPv6 hosts can configure themselves automatically when connected to an IPv6
network using the neighbor discovery protocol via CMPv6 router discovery
messages. When first connected to a network, a host sends a link-local router
solicitation multicast request for its configuration parameters; routers
respond to such a request with a router advertisement packet that contains
Internet Layer configuration parameters. IPv6 addresses are composed of eight
groups of four hexadecimal digits separated by colons. |
MAC Address |
Lists the factory encoded hardware MAC address of
the neighbor device using an IPv6 formatted IP address as its network
identifier. |
Type |
Displays the device type for the neighbor
solicitation. Neighbor solicitations request the link layer address of a
target node while providing the sender‘s own link layer address to the target.
Neighbor solicitations are multicast when the node needs to resolve an address
and unicast when the node seeks to verify the reachability of a neighbor.
Options include Host,
Router and DHCP Server. |
VLAN |
Lists the virtual interface (from 1 - 4094) used
for the required neighbor advertisements and solicitation messages used for
neighbor discovery. |
|
- Select Refresh to update the screen‘s statistics counters to
their latest values.