Merge lp:~jtv/maas/doc-ipv6-usage into lp:~maas-committers/maas/trunk

[Jeroen T. Vermeulen]

Initial documentation for IPv6.

There are still several improvements to be made to the feature, but this documents the extent to which it's usable now.

Jeroen

[Gavin Panella (allenap)]

Nice :) A few comments.

review: Approve

[Jeroen T. Vermeulen (jtv)]

Implemented your suggestions. Yes, you can leave the router_ip field blank if you want to.

[Julian Edwards (julian-edwards)]

Some comments.

review: Approve

=== modified file 'docs/index.rst'
--- docs/index.rst	2014-08-28 05:03:32 +0000
+++ docs/index.rst	2014-09-16 11:35:34 +0000
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@
    nodes
    hardware-enablement-kernels
    networks
+   ipv6
    kernel-options
    installing-ubuntu
 
 
=== added file 'docs/ipv6.rst'
--- docs/ipv6.rst	1970-01-01 00:00:00 +0000
+++ docs/ipv6.rst	2014-09-16 11:35:34 +0000
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+.. -*- mode: rst -*-
+
+.. _ipv6:
+
+Managing IPv6 Networks
+======================
+
+.. note::
+
+  This feature is available in MAAS versions 1.7 and above, starting with
+  lp:maas revision 2992.
+
+MAAS has limited IPv6 support for networking nodes.  It works much like IPv4
+support, but with a number of limitations:
+
+* Nodes still boot, register, and install using the IPv4 network.
+* IPv6 addresses are only configured when using the Ubuntu fast installer.
+* Most BMCs can only be controlled (e.g. to power nodes on/off) using IPv4.
+* MAAS still uses IPv4 for its internal operation.
+* For now, MAAS only supports IPv6 on networks where it also manages IPv4 DHCP.
+* A network interface on a node can only be on one IPv6 subnet.
+
+The web user interface and REST API can be accessed in the same way on both
+IPv4 and IPv6.  To use an IPv6 address as the hostname in a URL, in your
+browser or elsewhere, surround it with square brackets.  For example, on the
+local machine (``::1``, the IPv6 equivalent of ``localhost``) you might
+request::
+
+    http://[::1]/MAAS/
+
+If your MAAS server has a DNS hostname that resolves to both IPv4 and IPv6
+addresses, your browser may already be accessing the UI through IPv6 without
+you noticing.
+
+
+Enabling IPv6
+-------------
+
+You enable IPv6 networking in the same way that you enable IPv4 networking:
+configure a separate cluster interface for your IPv6 subnet.  Provided that you
+already have a functioning IPv6 network, that's all there is to it.  The
+following sections will go into more detail about what is supported, what is
+needed, and what to do if you don't yet have a functioning IPv6 network.
+
+An IPv6 cluster interface can use the same network interface on the cluster
+controller as an existing IPv4 network interface.  It just defines a different
+subnet, with IPv6 addressing.  A node that's connected to the IPv4 subnet will
+also be connected to the IPv6 subnet on the same network segment.
+
+
+Configuring your IPv6 subnet
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+When you configure your IPv6 cluster interface, be sure to define a static IP
+address range.  This is where deployed nodes on the subnet will get their
+static addresses.
+
+IPv6 networks are normally 64 bits wide, so you can be generous with the
+ranges' sizes.  It also means that you can leave the netmask field blank.
+Leave the broadcast address field blank as well.
+
+You may want MAAS to manage DHCP and DNS, but it's not required.  In fact nodes
+do not need a DHCP server at all for IPv6; MAAS configures static IPv6
+addresses on the node's network interfaces while deploying it.  A DHCPv6 server
+can provide addresses for containers or virtual machines running on the nodes,
+as well as devices on the network that are not managed by MAAS, but it is not
+needed for the nodes themselves.  MAAS will not be aware of any addresses
+issued by DHCP, and does not guarantee that they will stay unchanged.
+
+
+Routing
+^^^^^^^
+
+In IPv6, clients do not discover routes through DHCP.  Routers make themselves
+known on their networks by broadcasting *route advertisements*.  These *RAs*
+contain other configuration as well: whether clients should statelessly
+configure their own unique IP addresses based on their MAC addresses; whether
+they should request stateless configuration from a DHCP server; and finally,
+whether they should request a stateful IP address from a DHCP server.  Since a
+network interface can have any number of IPv6 addresses even on a single
+subnet, several of these address assignment mechanisms can be combined.
+
+MAAS relies on RAs to inform nodes about available routes on your IPv6 network,
+even if you have configured a default gateway in MAAS.  So, if you want IPv6
+routing outside the local network for your nodes, make sure that routes are
+being advertised.  If your router does not provide RAs, another option is to
+install and configure ``radvd`` somewhere on the network to advertise its
+route.
+
+
+Other installers and operating systems
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+Static IPv6 addresses are currently only configured on Ubuntu, when installed
+using the "fast" installer.  Other operating systems, or Ubuntu with the
+classic Debian installer, will not have their IPv6 addresses configured.
+The same applies when a user manually installs an operating system on a node,
+or overwrites its networking configuration: the node will no longer have its
+static IPv6 address configured, even if MAAS has allocated it to the node.
+
+However, as long as the address remains allocated to the node, you may still
+configure its operating system to use that address.  The node can then use that
+address as if it had been configured by MAAS.