Turn on IPv6 for your cloud server

Every cloud server can get its own IPv6 subnet, a /64, next to its IPv4 address. It's free, and you switch it on in the dashboard.

What you get

• Your subnet: a whole /64, for example 2a13:aa40:1:1::/64. All addresses in it are yours.
• Server address: the address your server uses. By default that's the first usable one, …::1. You can pick another one from your subnet.
• Gateway: fe80::200:5eff:fe00:202. This is a link-local address, so it's the same for every server.

Turn on IPv6

1. Open your server in the dashboard and go to the Networking tab.
2. Under Network, find IPv6 and click Enable IPv6. You need the owner, admin or billing role for this.
3. Your subnet and server address now show up, together with a note that the change takes effect after a restart. Click Restart now, or stop and start the server yourself from the dashboard.

After the restart, the server has its IPv6 address and gateway. Check it from the server:

ip -6 addr show
ping -6 -c 3 2606:4700:4700::1111

A restart from inside the server (sudo reboot) doesn't always pick up the new settings. Use Restart now, or stop and start from the dashboard.

Use it without a restart

If you don't want to restart now, bring the address up by hand. Use your own server address and your network interface (often eth0, check with ip a):

sudo ip -6 addr add YOUR_ADDRESS/64 dev eth0
sudo ip -6 route add default via fe80::200:5eff:fe00:202 dev eth0

This lasts until the next restart. On that restart the dashboard settings take over.

Extra addresses

The whole /64 is yours, so you can add more addresses from it on the server, for example for a second website. Add them with ip -6 addr add as above, and put them in your network configuration (netplan or /etc/network/interfaces) so they come back after a restart. You don't need to tell us.

Change or turn off IPv6

• Change address lets you pick a different address inside your subnet. The first address (…::) can't be used.
• Disable returns the subnet. Your server can't use it anymore, and the old address disappears from its configuration at the next restart.

Both changes take effect after a restart, like enabling.

Good to know

• Your server is reachable over IPv6 as soon as the address is up. Check that your firewall covers IPv6 too. ufw does that by default.
• Point a domain at your server over IPv6 with an AAAA record that holds your server address.
• Servers from our old client area, ordered before 22 November 2024, work differently. See Fix IPv6 on servers from before November 2024.

No IPv6 after a restart? Open a ticket under Support and mention your server's name. We'll take a look.