How To Turn-on IPv6 in MacOS – Guide
IP addresses, the unique numeric identifiers for each Internet connection, are running out. To combat this, IPv6 has been developed to use 128-bit web addresses instead of the older 32-bit IPv4 standard. This new system generates 340 billion billion possible IP addresses - enough to keep us connected for a long time.
The university’s network infrastructure is now equipped to handle both IPv4 and IPv6 traffic, with instructions on how to enable or disable the latter on PCs running Windows, macOS and Red Hat Linux. As IPv6 usage continues to grow, it is set to eventually replace the current Internet transport protocol, IPv4.
Enabling IPv6
IPv6 is enabled by default on all versions of Apple macOS, OS X, and Mac OS X 10.3 Panther and later. It was also compatible with earlier versions of Mac OS X (10.0 Cheetah, 10.1 Puma, and 10.2 Jaguar), but had to be manually enabled.
This article provides instructions on how to manually enable IPv6 for all versions of Apple macOS, OS X, and Mac OS X in order to protect against potential IPv6-related attacks, as there is currently no applicable policy or guidance.
It is recommended that users disable certain features, as outlined here.
Mac users can now share files across all versions of OS X and Mac OS X, thanks to a new update.
Apple’s AirDrop feature is available on all versions of OS X and Mac OS X. This feature allows users to quickly and easily share files between Apple devices.
Reactivating IPv6
Users of macOS and OS X can use the command line to re-enable IPv6 if it has been disabled. This applies to all versions of macOS and OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion and later.
To re-enable IPv6 on OS X (version 10.7 Lion) and Mac OS X (all versions), open the System Preferences – Network panel, access the properties of each network interface, click on the Advanced – TCP / IP tab, select the Configure IPv6 button and set it to On. Click OK and Apply Now, then close the system. Reissue this command line for Ethernet and any other network interfaces you want to enable IPv6 for.
To enable IPv6 for all network interfaces, the command line must be used, with the command:
Mac users must now manually disable privacy addresses if they wish to do so. To do this, they must run a sysctl command each time the system is restarted. This applies to all versions of macOS and OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion and later.
Disabling the use of temporary IPv6 addresses is now possible, thanks to a new command. The command, sysctl –w net.inet6.ip6.use_tempaddr = 0, allows users to turn off the use of temporary IPv6 addresses on their systems.
To permanently disable swap files, add the following line to the /etc/sysctl.conf file.
To permanently disable certain system features, set the corresponding sysctl variable to zero and restart the system. To temporarily reactivate them, use sysctl.
Enabling the use of temporary IPv6 addresses can help protect users’ online privacy.
To set the frequency of address recomputation, use sysctl with a time interval of XX seconds.
The command line utility sysctl can be used to set the temporary IPv6 address lifetime to XX seconds.
Mac users can make permanent use of their temporary IPv6 addresses by changing the value of net.inet6.ip6.use_tempaddr in /etc/sysctl.conf to 1, or by adding two lines to the file specifying how often a new address should be generated (XX is in seconds).
Rebooting the system is necessary to restore normal functioning.
Final note
We hope you found our guide on how to turn on IPv6 in MacOS helpful. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Show your support by sharing this article with your friends!
