Server 14.04 does not set static IPv6 addresses on interfaces when auto-config options are turned off

[Cory Albrecht]

On Ubuntu server 14.04 (upgraded from 13.10) I am trying to get rid of the IPv6 auto-config addresses and leave on my statically assigned ones. The system has two interfaces, a physical eth0 and vlan10.

1. privext 0 in /etc/network/interfaces

When I set the "privext 0" option for both interfaces in /etc/network/interfaces, then vlan10 does not get the configured static IPv6 address. It only gets the IPv6 link local address. However, eth0 is configured as expected with just the given static address.

Using "privext 0" on only one or the other, but not both, worked as expected.

2. net.ipv6.conf.*.use_tempaddr = 0 in /etc/sysctl.conf

If I add both net.ipv6.conf.eth0.use_tempaddr = 0 and net.ipv6.conf.vlan10.use_tempaddr = 0 of /etc/sysctl.conf, then the situation is reversed. Vlan10 is configured as expected with just its given address and eth0 has only the link-local address.

If I add only net.ipv6.conf.eth0.use_tempaddr = 0, then again eth0 only gets the link local address and not the assigned static.

On using net.ipv6.conf.vlan10.use_tempaddr = 0, then everything ended up as expected - eth0 had the auto-config addresses plus its static address and vlan10 only had the static address.

1 + 2 kludging attempt:

Unfortunately, combining net.ipv6.conf.vlan10.use_tempaddr = 0 in sysctl.conf and "privext 0" in /etc/network/interfaces for eth0, both of which worked as expected alone, did not work togther. The result was the same as setting net.ipv6.conf.*.use_tempaddr = 0 on bothg, as mentioned above.

3. net.ipv6.conf.*.use_tempaddr = 0 in /etc/sysctl.conf

Using net.ipv6.conf.*.autoconf = 0 resulted in eth0 getting only it's static address as expected, but vlan10 was still given the autoconfig addresses.

Using only net.ipv6.conf.vlan10.autoconf = 0 had no effect, the interface still go the auto-config addresses. Using only net.ipv6.conf.eth0.autoconf = 0 did work.

2 + 3 kludging attempt:

What finally worked was the combination of net.ipv6.conf.vlan10.autoconf = 0 and net.ipv6.conf.vlan10.use_tempaddr = 0

Summary:

So it looks like that of all thee three methods one can potentially use to get rid of IPv^ auto-config addresses, one simply doesn't work on vlan interfaces and the other two have weird transitive side effects when applied at the same time to a parent physical interface and a child vlan interface when one would expect them to be entirely independent.

[Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. It seems that your bug report is not filed about a specific source package though, rather it is just filed against Ubuntu in general. It is important that bug reports be filed about source packages so that people interested in the package can find the bugs about it. You can find some hints about determining what package your bug might be about at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage. You might also ask for help in the #ubuntu-bugs irc channel on Freenode.

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[Cory Albrecht (bytor)]

I chose this for lack of better option since networking ins contained in kernel modules and I'm not sure where IPv6 autoconfig is specifically handled

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This bug is missing log files that will aid in diagnosing the problem. From a terminal window please run:

apport-collect 1335691

and then change the status of the bug to 'Confirmed'.

If, due to the nature of the issue you have encountered, you are unable to run this command, please add a comment stating that fact and change the bug status to 'Confirmed'.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.

[Cory Albrecht (bytor)]

The util 'apport-collect' does not work well on a headless server, what with assuming it's running in a terminal window on a GUI on the machine affected. Not going to work for most servers, like mine.

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

Would it be possible for you to test the latest upstream kernel? Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Please test the latest v3.16 kernel[0].

If this bug is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tag 'kernel-fixed-upstream'.

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the tag: 'kernel-bug-exists-upstream'.

If you are unable to test the mainline kernel, for example it will not boot, please add the tag: 'kernel-unable-to-test-upstream'.
Once testing of the upstream kernel is complete, please mark this bug as "Confirmed".

Thanks in advance.

[0] http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.16-utopic/

[Thiago Martins (martinx)]

Cory,

You can run `apport-collect` on a headless server if you install the text browser called `w3m`.

Take a look: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apport/+bug/997020

I did this myself and it works...

BTW, I'm facing some IPv6 problems that I think it is related to this BUG, I'll post more info here this week.

Best,
Thiago

[Thiago Martins (martinx)]

Just a curiosity, take a look at my IPv6 problems with Trusty:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ifupdown/+bug/1345847

:-/

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for linux (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[René Diepstraten (rene-renediepstraten)]

This bug is still present.
When setting "net.ipv6.conf.br0.use_tempaddr = 0" , the
"iface br0 inet6 static" and following lines are ignored when rebooting.
Setting it back to 2 solves the problem.

When issuing "ifdown br0 && ifup br0", IPv6 just works with use_tempaddr=0 .

[René Diepstraten (rene-renediepstraten)]

Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to run apport-collect on the creator's behalf.
It seems to be as follows:

when adding a file in /etc/sysctl.d with temp_addr=0 with a higher number as to prevent updates from overwriting my settings, the bug is present.
When editing 10-ipv6-privacy.conf , it seems to work fine.
It's still a bug though.