Hi,
Can somebody/anybody point me to the options/features/switches, whatever, that I need to turn on/off to enable IPv6 please?

I have two computers running slackware-current, one 32bit, one 64bit.
Both are several years old but continuously updated to "current"
Neither show IPv6 in ifconfig.
Using a spare computer I installed "current" from scratch and it does have IPv6.
I can't see the difference between to fresh installation and the updated computers. I chose all the same options/programs etc.
I get the feeling that it should "just work" so am guessing that I have something turned off which has carried over in the updating process which is keeping IPv6 off.
I have set the options in /etc/modules.d/network.conf to on but this had no effect.

Thanks in Advance

First off, does your networking equipment have IPv6 enabled for usage?

You don't have something like

echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf/all/disabled_ipv6 lurking in rc.local

or something do you?

That is very strange. If you are using slackware-current then you have ipv6 already enabled. /sbin/ifconfig should give a ::1 address for lo, and a fe80::... (link local address) for other interfaces. Are you saying that it doesn't? If it does not, then are you sure you don't have only have a partially complete slackware-current installation? What kernel are you running? I am suspicious because slackware-current does not come with a /etc/modules.d directory any more (perhaps you meant /etc/modprobe.d, but slackware-current does not provide a network.conf file there either, nor in /lib/modprobe.d, nor do I see the relevance of kernel modules anyway). Do you have un-updated *.new files in /etc or /etc/rc.d? Or do you have something in rc.local which disables IPV6?

Of course it is for you to set up your routable ipv6 addresses in addition to the link local address. In practice this would often be done by your router with IPV6 auto-configuration, if it is IPV6 capable. Mine is not, but I use IPV6 on my local network and IPV4 for the internet and I have a script in /etc/NetworkManager/dispatcher.d which sets up a routable IPV6 address on link up events.

The OP states that a -current box he installed from scratch does have IPv6 but that the box he upgraded to -current from older versions does not show IPv6.

Are you using a modular kernel?
If so, is the ipv6 module loaded? If it's not, try "modprobe ipv6" and see if the ipv6 addresses appear in "ifconfig -a".

Are you disabling with a boot param?

Such as something like this in /etc/lilo.conf:
append=" ipv6.disable=1"

Thank you for your replies. I suspect you are all on the other side of the Earth so this will be a once per 24 hour conversation, but no matter.
I will try to keep things simple. I have setup two hardware identical computers. One (setup2) built from scratch recently where IPv6 works, another (helios) a copy of my production machine where IPv6 is NOT working.

Kernel:
Both have the same kernel installed: vmlinuz-huge-smp-4.1.15-smp

Lilo:
Both have the same lilo configuration. Not using any initrd

>Answer to ReaperX7:
>First off, does your networking equipment have IPv6 enabled for usage?

Not quite sure what you mean but I will say that setup2 has IPv6 working and both computers are connected to the same network switch and they are the same hardware.

>Answer to chemfire:
>You don't have something like
>echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf/all/disabled_ipv6 lurking in rc.local
>or something do you?

helios has no references to ipv6 in rc.local or any other /etc/rc.d/* file
/proc/sys/net/ipv6 does not exist!
setup2 has /proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf/all/ file structure as expected

>Answer to ChrisVV:
> ifconfig

setup2:
eth0
inet6 fe80
lo
inet6 ::1

helios:
eth0
no inet6 data line
lo
no inet6 data line

I moved /etc/modprobe.d/ -> /etc/modprobe.d.obsolete
check that all files in /lib/modprobe.d/ are exactly the same in setup2 and helios
rebooting helios ...
!!!!! IPv6 !!!! is now working !!!!
Something in /etc/modprobe.d/... appears to disable IPv6

/etc/modprobe.d/network.conf:
# these options enable inet6
alias net-pf-10 on
alias ipv6 on
#

moved /etc/modprobe.d.obsolete -> /etc/modprobe.d
rebooting helios ...
IPv6 NOT working

moved /etc/modprobe.d/network.conf -> network.conf.old
rebooting helios ...
IPv6 working again

echo "#" > /etc/modprobe.d/network.conf
rebooting helios ...
IPv6 still working

create new file: /etc/modprobe.d/network.conf:
#
alias net-pf-10 xxx
alias ipv6 xxx
#

rebooting helios ...
IPv6 NOT working

It would appear that /etc/modprobe.d/network.conf still disables IPv6 in slackware-current
whether you specify on / off or even xxx

------------------------------------------------------------
Given that /etc/modprobe.d/* files are not required I will just mv /etc/modprobe.d /etc/modprobe.d.obsolute
and move on with life.

Thanks everyone and hopefully this helps future readers

I had this situation with the new eudev on a couple module think it was snd_sequencer finally just put it in my rc.local.
your provider can be ipv6 and your modem can use it. but if your net device does not have the correct firmware it will never call
on that driver. just food for thought.

I think your problem is that putting the line 'alias ipv6 on' in a file in /etc/modprobe.d is invalid. It aliases ipv6 to the 'on' module (which does not exist) which means that the ipv6 module will not be loaded. People sometimes use 'alias ipv6 off' for that reason as a means of disabling ipv6 ('options ipv6 disable=1', or just blacklisting ipv6, are better approaches) but the opposite to that is not 'alias ipv6 on'. The opposite is to do nothing.

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If you are using ethernet (IEEE 802.3) or wifi (IEEE 802.11), which covers 99% of cases these days, switching within any local network (that is, between devices having the same network component within their netmask) is done at the ethernet/link layer level. Any switch or hub should be able to handle IPV6 packets confined to the local network.