IPv6 Address Example

What does an IPv6 address look like? Can you give an example of IPv6 address? How do I view an IPv6 address under Linux or UNIX operating systems?

Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) is a version of the Internet Protocol which is designed to succeed Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4). IPv6 addresses are 128 bits long and are written groups of four hexadecimal digits separated by colons, for example, IPv6 address for www.cyberciti.biz look like as follows:
2607:f0d0:1002:51::4
OR
2607:f0d0:1002:0051:0000:0000:0000:0004
In short IPv6 addresses are divided into two parts: a 64-bit network prefix, and a 64-bit interface identifier. Further IPv6 classified as follows:

1. Unicast addresses - used to identify each network interface.
2. Anycast addresses - used to identify a group of interfaces at different locations.
3. Multicast addresses - used to deliver one packet to many interfaces.

IPv6 does not support the broadcast method. Some IPv6 addresses are used for special purposes, such as the address for loopback which look like as follows:
::1/128

How Do I View LoopBack IPv6 Address under Linux?

Type the following command:
$ ifconfig lo
Sample outputs:

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:354575118 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:354575118 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:179276910234 (166.9 GiB)  TX bytes:179276910234 (166.9 GiB)

To see an IPv6 address assinged to Linux eth0 interface enter:
# ip -f inet6 addr show eth0
Sample outputs:

6: eth0:  mtu 9000
    inet6 2607:f0d0:1002:51::4/64 scope global
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 fe80::230:48ff:fe33:bc33/64 scope link
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever