How to Ping an IPv6 Address in Windows and Linux CLI

Internet protocol version 6 is also known as IPv6. This is introduced to replace IPV4 because of the exhaustion of its addresses. Today we will answer some of the frequently asked questions by our readers:

  • How to ping IPv6 from Windows
  • How to ping IPv6 from Linux CLI
  • IPv6 ping command line

IPV4 had a limited number of IP addresses, and due to the expansion of various number of IP addresses that can be used in the IPV4 started to run out, and as a solution to this problem, IPV6 was introduced.

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IPv6 vs. IPv4 – The good and bad

  • It comes with a massive pool of addresses which are a theoretical maximum of 2^128 addresses to be exact
  • The IPV6 devices can configure themselves independently when they are connected with other IPV6 devices
  • The IPV6 comes off with a better privacy mechanism and authentication process
  • As it comes with unique IP addresses; thus, the IPV6 has more efficient routing.

What you need to know about IPv6 Pinging

If you want to check the IPV connectivity there from your machine then you need to have any one of the following pre-requisites:

  • You need to install an IPV6 tunnel there in your machine
  • You need to have a native IPV6 transport from your ISP to use IPV6 over the internet
  • You need to have networking gears enables with IPV6 such as routers if you want to use IPV6 inside tour LAN or WAN

If anyone of these methods is configured, then you can test the connectivity to IPV6 addresses by using the “ping” command, as shown below.

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How to Ping IPv6 using Ping Command

You can use the ping command to check the connectivity to a provided destination over the network. This is being used widely between different parties throughout the world for network troubleshooting

Ping command works by sending ICMP, which is Internet Control Message Protocol Echo request messages towards the destination and then wait for a response. With the help of this command, we can get details like the number of responses that are received from the destinations and the time it took to return from them.

The ping command is there within the command prompt. It is available for windows 7, 8, Vista, XP, and all the Linux OS.

To ping IPV6 addresses from your Windows machine then you need to follow the steps below:

  • In the first step, you need to open the command prompt there in your windows as it is being described in one of the previous steps
  • To ping to an IPV6 address, then you need to type the following command in the command prompt.
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Ping -6 [IPV6 address]

For testing, you can use the IPV6 address of Google that is “ipv6.google.com“.

Ping IPv6 Command Line Linux

Here you can see that 3 of the packets have been transmitted, and three have been received with a packet loss of 0%. This means that connectivity to the IPV6 address of Google is very successful.

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How to Ping IPv6 USING ping6 terminal command

To check the connectivity to IPV6 addresses from the Linux machine by pinging to that particular address you need to follow the steps below

  • In the first step, you need to open the terminal as it has been described in the previous steps
  • Once done you need to type in the following command there in the terminal to ping to an IPV6 address

Ping –c [Count] –I [Interface] [Destination Address / Hostname

Ping ipv6 address linux

Herewith the –C, you can specify the number of packets that you need to transfer. Moreover, you can specify the interface.

In this example, after the destination IPV6 address %etho0 is added as it is a link-local address and the machine has different interfaces (Wi-Fi/Ethno). Thus you need to inform your device the link or interface that you wish to use with this link-local address. You need to keep in mind that this is not used for other types of addresses.

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How to Find your IPv6 Address on Windows and Linux Systems

There are many ways in which you can find the IPV6 address of your computer system, and in this article, we have presented easy ways through which you can find it both on Linux and Windows Operating systems

All the windows do not support the IPV6 as the deployment of IPV6 has only been in process since the 2000s, and due to this, Microsoft Windows has been supporting IPV6 only since Windows 2000. Following are the windows distribution that supports IPV6:

  • The Windows Vista
  • The Windows Server 2008
  • The Windows XP with SP1 or later
  • Windows 7/8/10
  • The Windows Server 2003 or above

To find the IPV6 address of the windows machine you need to follow the steps below

  • In the first step, you need to go to the windows search bar and search for the command prompt by typing in “cmd.” Here you will see the command prompt that will be suggested as below, select it
  • Now in the command prompt, you need to type “ipconfig,” and it will show all the current IP or TCP network configuration values there in your machine.
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Ping IPv6 in Windows

  • You will be able to see your IPV6 address under the Ethernet connection details:

How to Ping IPv6 tutorial

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Linux Operating Systems that support IPv6

Linux distributions that are higher than kernel 2.2 can support IPV6. Below are a few more examples

  • Ubuntu
  • RedHat
  • CentOs
  • Linux Mint

Follow the steps below to find out the IPV6 address on your Linux machine. In the case explained below, we have shown how to find the IPV6 address of the Ubuntu machine.

  • In the first step search for Ubuntu machine there on the top left corner
  • Search for the terminal. It will pop up in the search. Click on it
  • Now type “ifconfig” there in the terminal to see network configuration in the Linux machine. You will see IPV6 address under eth0 configurations.

Trace router is the most popular tool to view route information. It can track the route packets from the IP network on their way to the given host. It can utilize the IP protocols time to live (TTL) fields and attempts to extract an ICMP TIME_EXCEEDED response from every gateway along the path towards the host.

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Traceroute6 Command on Linux

Use the following command to view the route details of IPV6 packets in a Linux machine. It displays both the route and time of the IPV6 packets

Traceroute6 [IPV IP Address]

Tracert -6 on Windows 10/11

The Tracert -6 command can be used to trace down the routes of IPV6 packets. It is used to trace the path to destination discovering MTU with path and uses UDP or any other random port

Tracert -6 [IPV6 IP Address]

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Do you like IPv6?

This article teaches you everything about IPv6 along with how to ping IPv6 from the Linux command line and Windows command prompt. Pinging IPv6 in Windows 10/11 and terminal has never been easier with the latest updates. I would also recommend having a look at the Ubuntu commands, which are all the same too.

Shaheer is the founder of SecuredYou. He is a cybersecurity freak and loves anything related to Computers and Technology. Apart from being a tech geek, he loves listening to music and going to the gym.

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