FreeBSD Man Pages

ip6(4)

NAME

     ip6 -- Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) network layer

SYNOPSIS

     #include <sys/socket.h>
     #include <netinet/in.h>

     int
     socket(AF_INET6, SOCK_RAW, proto);

DESCRIPTION

     The IPv6 network layer is used by the IPv6 protocol family for transport-
     ing data.	IPv6 packets contain an IPv6 header that is not provided as
     part of the payload contents when passed to an application.  IPv6 header
     options affect the behavior of this protocol and may be used by high-
     level protocols (such as the tcp(4) and udp(4) protocols) as well as
     directly by ``raw sockets'', which process IPv6 messages at a lower-level
     and may be useful for developing new protocols and special-purpose appli-
     cations.

   Header
     All IPv6 packets begin with an IPv6 header.  When data received by the
     kernel are passed to the application, this header is not included in
     buffer, even when raw sockets are being used.  Likewise, when data are
     sent to the kernel for transmit from the application, the buffer is not
     examined for an IPv6 header: the kernel always constructs the header.  To
     directly access IPv6 headers from received packets and specify them as
     part of the buffer passed to the kernel, link-level access (bpf(4), for
     example) must instead be utilized.

     The header has the following definition:

	   struct ip6_hdr {
		union {
		     struct ip6_hdrctl {
			  u_int32_t ip6_un1_flow;  /* 20 bits of flow ID */
			  u_int16_t ip6_un1_plen;  /* payload length */
			  u_int8_t  ip6_un1_nxt;   /* next header */
			  u_int8_t  ip6_un1_hlim;  /* hop limit */
		     } ip6_un1;
		     u_int8_t ip6_un2_vfc;   /* version and class */
		} ip6_ctlun;
		struct in6_addr ip6_src;   /* source address */
		struct in6_addr ip6_dst;   /* destination address */
	   } __packed;

	   #define ip6_vfc	   ip6_ctlun.ip6_un2_vfc
	   #define ip6_flow	   ip6_ctlun.ip6_un1.ip6_un1_flow
	   #define ip6_plen	   ip6_ctlun.ip6_un1.ip6_un1_plen
	   #define ip6_nxt	   ip6_ctlun.ip6_un1.ip6_un1_nxt
	   #define ip6_hlim	   ip6_ctlun.ip6_un1.ip6_un1_hlim
	   #define ip6_hops	   ip6_ctlun.ip6_un1.ip6_un1_hlim

     All fields are in network-byte order.  Any options specified (see Options
     below) must also be specified in network-byte order.

     ip6_flow specifies the flow ID.  ip6_plen specifies the payload length.
     The IPv6 header may be followed by any number of extension headers that
     start with the following generic definition:

	   struct ip6_ext {
		u_int8_t ip6e_nxt;
		u_int8_t ip6e_len;
	   } __packed;

   Options
     IPv6 allows header options on packets to manipulate the behavior of the
     protocol.	These options and other control requests are accessed with the
     getsockopt(2) and setsockopt(2) system calls at level IPPROTO_IPV6 and by
     using ancillary data in recvmsg(2) and sendmsg(2).  They can be used to
     access most of the fields in the IPv6 header and extension headers.

     The following socket options are supported:

     IPV6_UNICAST_HOPS int *
	     Get or set the default hop limit header field for outgoing uni-
	     cast datagrams sent on this socket.  A value of -1 resets to the
	     default value.

     IPV6_MULTICAST_IF u_int *
	     Get or set the interface from which multicast packets will be
	     sent.  For hosts with multiple interfaces, each multicast trans-
	     mission is sent from the primary network interface.  The inter-
	     face is specified as its index as provided by if_nametoindex(3).
	     A value of zero specifies the default interface.

     IPV6_MULTICAST_HOPS int *
	     Get or set the default hop limit header field for outgoing multi-
	     cast datagrams sent on this socket.  This option controls the
	     scope of multicast datagram transmissions.

	     Datagrams with a hop limit of 1 are not forwarded beyond the
	     local network.  Multicast datagrams with a hop limit of zero will
	     not be transmitted on any network but may be delivered locally if
	     the sending host belongs to the destination group and if multi-
	     cast loopback (see below) has not been disabled on the sending
	     socket.  Multicast datagrams with a hop limit greater than 1 may
	     be forwarded to the other networks if a multicast router (such as
	     mrouted(8)) is attached to the local network.

     IPV6_MULTICAST_LOOP u_int *
	     Get or set the status of whether multicast datagrams will be
	     looped back for local delivery when a multicast datagram is sent
	     to a group to which the sending host belongs.

	     This option improves performance for applications that may have
	     no more than one instance on a single host (such as a router dae-
	     mon) by eliminating the overhead of receiving their own transmis-
	     sions.  It should generally not be used by applications for which
	     there may be more than one instance on a single host (such as a
	     conferencing program) or for which the sender does not belong to
	     the destination group (such as a time-querying program).

	     A multicast datagram sent with an initial hop limit greater than
	     1 may be delivered to the sending host on a different interface
	     struct ipv6_mreq {
		     struct in6_addr ipv6mr_multiaddr;
		     unsigned int    ipv6mr_interface;
	     };

	     ipv6mr_interface may be set to zeroes to choose the default mul-
	     ticast interface or to the index of a particular multicast-capa-
	     ble interface if the host is multihomed.  Membership is associ-
	     ated with a single interface; programs running on multihomed
	     hosts may need to join the same group on more than one interface.

	     If the multicast address is unspecified (i.e., all zeroes), mes-
	     sages from all multicast addresses will be accepted by this
	     group.  Note that setting to this value requires superuser privi-
	     leges.

     IPV6_LEAVE_GROUP struct ipv6_mreq *
	     Drop membership from the associated multicast group.  Memberships
	     are automatically dropped when the socket is closed or when the
	     process exits.

     IPV6_PORTRANGE int *
	     Get or set the allocation policy of ephemeral ports for when the
	     kernel automatically binds a local address to this socket.  The
	     following values are available:

	     IPV6_PORTRANGE_DEFAULT  Use the regular range of non-reserved
				     ports (varies, see sysctl(8)).
	     IPV6_PORTRANGE_HIGH     Use a high range (varies, see sysctl(8)).
	     IPV6_PORTRANGE_LOW      Use a low, reserved range (600-1023).

     IPV6_PKTINFO int *
	     Get or set whether additional information about subsequent pack-
	     ets will be provided as ancillary data along with the payload in
	     subsequent recvmsg(2) calls.  The information is stored in the
	     following structure in the ancillary data returned:

	     struct in6_pktinfo {
		     struct in6_addr ipi6_addr;    /* src/dst IPv6 address */
		     unsigned int    ipi6_ifindex; /* send/recv if index */
	     };

     IPV6_HOPLIMIT int *
	     Get or set whether the hop limit header field from subsequent
	     packets will be provided as ancillary data along with the payload
	     in subsequent recvmsg(2) calls.  The value is stored as an int in
	     the ancillary data returned.

     IPV6_HOPOPTS int *
	     Get or set whether the hop-by-hop options from subsequent packets
	     will be provided as ancillary data along with the payload in sub-
	     sequent recvmsg(2) calls.	The option is stored in the following
	     structure in the ancillary data returned:

	     struct ip6_hbh {
		     u_int8_t ip6h_nxt;      /* next header */
		     u_int8_t ip6h_len;      /* length in units of 8 octets */
	     /* followed by options */
	     Get or set whether the destination options from subsequent pack-
	     ets will be provided as ancillary data along with the payload in
	     subsequent recvmsg(2) calls.  The option is stored in the follow-
	     ing structure in the ancillary data returned:

	     struct ip6_dest {
		     u_int8_t ip6d_nxt;      /* next header */
		     u_int8_t ip6d_len;      /* length in units of 8 octets */
	     /* followed by options */
	     } __packed;

	     The inet6_option_space() routine and family of routines may be
	     used to manipulate this data.

	     This option requires superuser privileges.

     IPV6_RTHDR int *
	     Get or set whether the routing header from subsequent packets
	     will be provided as ancillary data along with the payload in sub-
	     sequent recvmsg(2) calls.	The header is stored in the following
	     structure in the ancillary data returned:

	     struct ip6_rthdr {
		     u_int8_t ip6r_nxt;      /* next header */
		     u_int8_t ip6r_len;      /* length in units of 8 octets */
		     u_int8_t ip6r_type;     /* routing type */
		     u_int8_t ip6r_segleft;  /* segments left */
	     /* followed by routing-type-specific data */
	     } __packed;

	     The inet6_option_space() routine and family of routines may be
	     used to manipulate this data.

	     This option requires superuser privileges.

     IPV6_PKTOPTIONS struct cmsghdr *
	     Get or set all header options and extension headers at one time
	     on the last packet sent or received on the socket.  All options
	     must fit within the size of an mbuf (see mbuf(9)).  Options are
	     specified as a series of cmsghdr structures followed by corre-
	     sponding values.  cmsg_level is set to IPPROTO_IPV6, cmsg_type to
	     one of the other values in this list, and trailing data to the
	     option value.  When setting options, if the length optlen to
	     setsockopt(2) is zero, all header options will be reset to their
	     default values.  Otherwise, the length should specify the size
	     the series of control messages consumes.

	     Instead of using sendmsg(2) to specify option values, the ancil-
	     lary data used in these calls that correspond to the desired
	     header options may be directly specified as the control message
	     in the series of control messages provided as the argument to
	     setsockopt(2).

     IPV6_CHECKSUM int *
	     Get or set the byte offset into a packet where the 16-bit check-
	     sum is located.  When set, this byte offset is where incoming
	     packets will be expected to have checksums of their data stored
	     and where outgoing packets will have checksums of their data com-
	     socket.  For wildcard sockets, this can restrict connections to
	     IPv6 only.

     IPV6_FAITH int *
	     Get or set the status of whether faith(4) connections can be made
	     to this socket.

     IPV6_USE_MIN_MTU int *
	     Get or set whether the minimal IPv6 maximum transmission unit
	     (MTU) size will be used to avoid fragmentation from occurring for
	     subsequent outgoing datagrams.

     IPV6_AUTH_LEVEL int *
	     Get or set the ipsec(4) authentication level.

     IPV6_ESP_TRANS_LEVEL int *
	     Get or set the ESP transport level.

     IPV6_ESP_NETWORK_LEVEL int *
	     Get or set the ESP encapsulation level.

     IPV6_IPCOMP_LEVEL int *
	     Get or set the ipcomp(4) level.

     The IPV6_PKTINFO, IPV6_HOPLIMIT, IPV6_HOPOPTS, IPV6_DSTOPTS, and
     IPV6_RTHDR options will return ancillary data along with payload contents
     in subsequent recvmsg(2) calls with cmsg_level set to IPPROTO_IPV6 and
     cmsg_type set to respective option name value (e.g., IPV6_HOPTLIMIT).
     These options may also be used directly as ancillary cmsg_type values in
     sendmsg(2) to set options on the packet being transmitted by the call.
     The cmsg_level value must be IPPROTO_IPV6.  For these options, the ancil-
     lary data object value format is the same as the value returned as
     explained for each when received with recvmsg(2).

     Note that using sendmsg(2) to specify options on particular packets works
     only on UDP and raw sockets.  To manipulate header options for packets on
     TCP sockets, only the socket options may be used.

     In some cases, there are multiple APIs defined for manipulating an IPv6
     header field.  A good example is the outgoing interface for multicast
     datagrams, which can be set by the IPV6_MULTICAST_IF socket option,
     through the IPV6_PKTINFO option, and through the sin6_scope_id field of
     the socket address passed to the sendto(2) system call.

     Resolving these conflicts is implementation dependent.  This implementa-
     tion determines the value in the following way: options specified by
     using ancillary data (i.e., sendmsg(2)) are considered first, options
     specified by using IPV6_PKTOPTIONS to set ``sticky'' options are consid-
     ered second, options specified by using the individual, basic, and direct
     socket options (e.g., IPV6_UNICAST_HOPS) are considered third, and
     options specified in the socket address supplied to sendto(2) are the
     last choice.

   Multicasting
     IPv6 multicasting is supported only on AF_INET6 sockets of type
     SOCK_DGRAM and SOCK_RAW, and only on networks where the interface driver
     supports multicasting.  Socket options (see above) that manipulate mem-
     bership of multicast groups and other multicast options include
     source address for future outgoing packets instead of having the kernel
     choose a source address.

     By using connect(2) or bind(2), raw socket input is constrained to only
     packets with their source address matching the socket destination address
     if connect(2) was used and to packets with their destination address
     matching the socket source address if bind(2) was used.

     If the proto argument to socket(2) is zero, the default protocol
     (IPPROTO_RAW) is used for outgoing packets.  For incoming packets, proto-
     cols recognized by kernel are not passed to the application socket (e.g.,
     tcp(4) and udp(4)) except for some ICMPv6 messages.  The ICMPv6 messages
     not passed to raw sockets include echo, timestamp, and address mask
     requests.	If proto is non-zero, only packets with this protocol will be
     passed to the socket.

     IPv6 fragments are also not passed to application sockets until they have
     been reassembled.	If reception of all packets is desired, link-level
     access (such as bpf(4)) must be used instead.

     Outgoing packets automatically have an IPv6 header prepended to them
     (based on the destination address and the protocol number the socket was
     created with).  Incoming packets are received by an application without
     the IPv6 header or any extension headers.

     Outgoing packets will be fragmented automatically by the kernel if they
     are too large.  Incoming packets will be reassembled before being sent to
     the raw socket, so packet fragments or fragment headers will never be
     seen on a raw socket.

EXAMPLES

     The following determines the hop limit on the next packet received:

     struct iovec iov[2];
     u_char buf[BUFSIZ];
     struct cmsghdr *cm;
     struct msghdr m;
     int found, optval;
     u_char data[2048];

     /* Create socket. */

     (void)memset(&m, 0, sizeof(m));
     (void)memset(&iov, 0, sizeof(iov));

     iov[0].iov_base = data;	     /* buffer for packet payload */
     iov[0].iov_len = sizeof(data);  /* expected packet length */

     m.msg_name = &from;	     /* sockaddr_in6 of peer */
     m.msg_namelen = sizeof(from);
     m.msg_iov = iov;
     m.msg_iovlen = 1;
     m.msg_control = (caddr_t)buf;   /* buffer for control messages */
     m.msg_controllen = sizeof(buf);

     /*
      * Enable the hop limit value from received packets to be
      * returned along with the payload.
	     if (recvmsg(s, &m, 0) == -1)
		     err(1, "recvmsg");
	     for (cm = CMSG_FIRSTHDR(&m); cm != NULL;
		  cm = CMSG_NXTHDR(&m, cm)) {
		     if (cm->cmsg_level == IPPROTO_IPV6 &&
			 cm->cmsg_type == IPV6_HOPLIMIT &&
			 cm->cmsg_len == CMSG_LEN(sizeof(int))) {
			     found = 1;
			     (void)printf("hop limit: %d\n",
				 *(int *)CMSG_DATA(cm));
			     break;
		     }
	     }
     }

DIAGNOSTICS

     A socket operation may fail with one of the following errors returned:

     [EISCONN]	      when trying to establish a connection on a socket which
		      already has one or when trying to send a datagram with
		      the destination address specified and the socket is
		      already connected.

     [ENOTCONN]       when trying to send a datagram, but no destination
		      address is specified, and the socket has not been con-
		      nected.

     [ENOBUFS]	      when the system runs out of memory for an internal data
		      structure.

     [EADDRNOTAVAIL]  when an attempt is made to create a socket with a net-
		      work address for which no network interface exists.

     [EACCES]	      when an attempt is made to create a raw IPv6 socket by a
		      non-privileged process.

     The following errors specific to IPv6 may occur when setting or getting
     header options:

     [EINVAL]	      An unknown socket option name was given.

     [EINVAL]	      An ancillary data object was improperly formed.

SEE ALSO

     getsockopt(2), recv(2), send(2), setsockopt(2), socket(2),
     if_nametoindex(3), bpf(4), icmp6(4), inet6(4), netintro(4), tcp(4),
     udp(4)

     W. Stevens and M. Thomas, Advanced Sockets API for IPv6, RFC 2292,
     February 1998.

     S. Deering and R. Hinden, Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6)
     Specification, RFC 2460, December 1998.

     R. Gilligan, S. Thomson, J. Bound, and W. Stevens, Basic Socket Interface
     Extensions for IPv6, RFC 2553, March 1999.

     W. Stevens, B. Fenner, and A. Rudoff, UNIX Network Programming, third

FreeBSD 5.4		       December 29, 2004		   FreeBSD 5.4

SPONSORED LINKS