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If a server has only IPv6 addresses without a domain name, how can I connect to the server from my web-browser?

3 Answers 3

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According to RFC2732, literal IPv6 addresses should be put inside square brackets in URLs, e.g. like this:

http://[1080:0:0:0:8:800:200C:417A]/index.html

If you also need to specify a port other then 80 to access the server it has to be placed after the closing bracket:

http://[1080:0:0:0:8:800:200C:417A]:8888/index.html

Of course, you have to have end-to-end IPv6 connectivity to that host. E.g. if the server is not inside your own local network, you need to have IPv6 connectivity, either via your ISP (rare), or via some kind of IPv6 in IPv4 encapsulation (tunnel).

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  • 10
    this doesn't work in google chrome if you use link local addresses (with the %eth0 suffix).
    – anarcat
    Dec 8, 2015 at 0:56
  • does this work for a domain? Mar 17, 2017 at 1:18
  • 4
    If your ISP does not support IPv6, an SSH tunnel can be used to access IPv6-only websites by connecting to the IPv4 address of a VPS that also supports IPv6: ssh -fND 1080 x.x.x.x. You can then connect to the proxy localhost:1080 in your web browser.
    – baptx
    Jun 14, 2019 at 15:26
  • 1
    2001:470::76:0:0:0:2 ### if you want a working link
    – dotbit
    Aug 30, 2019 at 5:49
  • 2
    This seemed to work for localhost, i.e. [::1]:3000, but not a different computer on the same network, on either Firefox or Chrome. I can connect to the other server in-browser with the IPv4 address, and I can ping the other device with ping6. Both servers have the same exact content, if that matters.
    – trysis
    Jul 18, 2020 at 12:43
62

Put the ipv6 address into your browser address bar like you would a dns name or an IPv4 address, except enclosed in square brackets:

http://[::1]

(example with localhost)

This is supported in Chrome, Firefox, IE and probably other browsers.

Note that you need to have IPv6 working on your OS, and every device in the path to the destination (including proxy servers if you use one).

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  • 3
    don't forget to start a web server before testing localhost
    – baptx
    Jun 14, 2019 at 14:43
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If required to test locally with IPv6, put the below AAAA Record in the address bar:

[::1]

This is equivalent to writing:

localhost 

or to this IPv4 A (Host) Record:

127.0.0.1
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  • Why are you talking about DNS records ?!? Sep 4, 2023 at 9:45

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