Lancaster University uses a variety of Operating Systems including Microsoft Windows, Linux and Unix variants. In all cases, various versions are in use ranging from the most current, incorporating native IPv6 to older versions that will need to be upgraded as production IPv6 is not and will not be supported.

Microsoft

A range of Microsoft Operating Systems are in use ranging from NT4.0 to XP and Server 2003 and as such the degree of IPv6 support is obviously variable. Windows NT4.0 has no IPv6 support, Windows 2000 has no commercial IPv6 support but XP and Server 2003 does and so some upgrading may be necessary in this case.

Linux

The main versions of Linux in use at Lancaster are Redhat 7.3 – 9.0 and Fedora and so IPv6 support is generally available in most cases out of the box. IPv6 support was introduced in Linux from kernel version 2.4 onwards and since the versions in use range from 2.4 – 2.6, this should introduce no major problems.

Solaris

Solaris is the main UNIX variant used at Lancaster from version 2.5.1 right through to 9, but mainly version 7. Newer versions will not be seriously affected since IPv6 support was formally introduced from version 8 onwards. In older versions however, despite IPv6 patches being available, it would be  highly preferable to upgrade to newer versions before IPv6 support is considered.