Part three of my IPv6 certification walkthrough for Hurricane Electric: Become an IPv6 Sage!

IPv6: Enthusiast Level Certification

Conceptual Overview of Earning the Enthusiast-Level Certification

Your task at this level is to set up a functioning Web server, create a unique text-file, and then ask Hurricane Electric to download the file from your server via an IPv6 address.

1. Set up a basic Web server on your Mac
2. Tell HE what your FQDN (Fully-Qualified Domain Name) is
3. Create a text file with a unique name (generated by HE)
4. Ask HE to download the file from your IPv6-enabled Web server

Step-by-step Instructions

Point Your New Domain to HE’s Name Servers

The place you purchased the domain name might have their own DNS, but for the purposes of this guide, you should use HE’s servers.  Depending on where your domain is, the process will be slightly different, but you need to look for an area where you can change the name servers.  I had my domain on Bluehost and you can see the screenshot below for what it looks like.

Set your nameservers to:

1. ns1.he.net
2. ns2.he.net
3. ns3.he.net
4. ns4.he.net
5. ns5.he.net

Create AAAA IPv6 DNS Record

1. Login at Hurricane Electric’s Free DNS site after registering a domain name

2. Click Add a new domain in the sidebar

3. Enter your domain name

4. Click Add Domain!

There should now be an entry for your domain listed.  DNS works pretty fast, but there are some more steps to take now, which will allow some time for your DNS information to replicate across the Internet.

Enter Your Domain Information at Hurricane Electric

1. Navigate to ipv6.he.net
2. Click Generate Code
3. Enter your domain name in the field provided
4. Click Create URL
5. Take note of the filename generated from the URL

• It should be something like 939lj7sofj3.txt

Enable the Built-in Apache Web Server on Your Mac

1. Open /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app
2. Type sudo apachectl start
3. Press Enter
4. Open a Web browser
5. Navigate to http://localhost or http://127.0.0.1

• You should simply see the text, It Works!  This means your Web server is running.

Create A Unique Text Document for HE to Download

1. Create a blank text file that is named the same as the file listed in your URL that was created above
2. Put the file into /Library/WebServer/Documents/

Check That Port 80 for Web Traffic is Open on Your Computer

1. Open /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app
2. Type netstat -an | grep LISTEN | grep “.80”  to verify that your computer is listening on port 80

If working correctly, you should see a line like this:

tcp46      0      0  *.80                   *.*                    LISTEN

Test If You Can Access The File Locally

by going to http://localhost/939nlj7sof3j.txt or http://127.0.0.1/939nlj7sof3j.txt changing the text file to match what is displayed on the HE site.  If you can get it, then you know your server is working properly.  Now, you just need to make that file accessible over the Internet so HE can try to download it over IPv6.

Forward HTTP Traffic To Your Computer

Right now, the IPv6 tunnel thinks the endpoint is your public IP address.  If you try to go the your domain name now, nothing will happen because there is nothing on your router (which has the public IP).  You need to open port 80 on your router and forward that to your computer, where your Web server is running.

1. Log into your router

2. Search for a setting called Port Forwarding or Virtual Server

3. Enter your private IPv4 address (usually a 192.168.x.x address)

4. Enter or choose port 80 (http traffic)

Some routers will have common services in a list, which will populate the fields for you.  See the options on my router below:

5. Choose TCP if there is an option for it

6. Click Save or Enable

Ask HE to Download the File From Your Web Server

1. Go back to the HE Website
2. Click Test it!

If everything went OK, HE should have been able to download the text file from your computer, allowing you to pass the level.

Finally, Answer Some Questions to Receive the IPv6 Enthusiast Certification!