A collection of tools for testing and experimenting with IPv6 connectivity. This project provides a simple client-server implementation to verify IPv6 communication.
- IPv6 server implementation
- IPv6 client implementation
- Real-time message exchange
- Timestamp-based logging
- Configurable port and IPv6 address
- Support for both local and remote IPv6 connections
- Automatic listing of available IPv6 addresses on the host
- Multi-client support (up to 10 simultaneous connections)
- Java 23 or higher
- Python 3.13 or higher
- Docker 27.5 or higher
- IPv6-enabled network environment
- Basic understanding of IPv6 addressing
- Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/ipv6-tools.git
cd ipv6-tools- Build the container images.
./build.shThe IPv6 tester utilities may be run in either server or client mode.
docker run --rm -it ipv6tester-javadocker run --rm -it ipv6tester-java IPv6Tester.java clientThe pattern is similar for the Python utility. Invoke the Python container (ipv6tester-python) and substitute ipv6_tester.py for IPv6Tester.java. Additional address and port parameters apply as below.
The IPv6Tester class can be run in either server or client mode. Here are the basic usage patterns:
java java/src/IPv6Tester.java server [ipv6_address] [port]java java/src/IPv6Tester.java client [ipv6_address] [port]To see all available IPv6 addresses on your system, simply run the tool without any arguments:
java java/src/IPv6Tester.javaThe Python version provides the same functionality using async/await patterns. Here are the usage patterns:
python python/src/ipv6_tester.py server [ipv6_address] [port]python python/src/ipv6_tester.py client [ipv6_address] [port]To see all available IPv6 addresses on your system, simply run the tool without any arguments:
python python/src/ipv6_tester.py- View available IPv6 addresses and usage help:
java java/src/IPv6Tester.java- Start a server on the default IPv6 address (::1) and port (8080):
java java/src/IPv6Tester.java server- Start a server on a specific IPv6 address and port:
java java/src/IPv6Tester.java server 2001:db8:1234:5678::1 8888- Connect a client to the server:
java java/src/IPv6Tester.java client 2001:db8:1234:5678::1 8888- View available IPv6 addresses and usage help:
python python/src/ipv6_tester.py- Start a server on the default IPv6 address (::1) and port (8080):
python python/src/ipv6_tester.py server- Start a server on a specific IPv6 address and port:
python python/src/ipv6_tester.py server 2001:db8:1234:5678::1 8888- Connect a client to the server:
python python/src/ipv6_tester.py client 2001:db8:1234:5678::1 8888- The server listens for incoming IPv6 connections on the specified address and port
- The client connects to the server and sends messages
- The server responds with timestamps and acknowledgment messages
- Both sides log all communication for debugging purposes
- The server can handle up to 10 simultaneous client connections
- When no arguments are provided, the tool displays available IPv6 addresses on the system
When running in server mode, you'll see output like this:
IPv6 Server started on [2001:db8:1234:5678::1]:8080
Maximum number of simultaneous clients: 10
Client connected from: [2001:db8:1234:5678::2]
Received from client [2001:db8:1234:5678::2]: Hello from IPv6 client at 2024-03-21 14:30:45
The server will:
- Display the IPv6 address and port it's listening on
- Show the maximum number of simultaneous clients allowed
- Show when a client connects, including the client's IPv6 address
- Log each message received from the client
- Send back acknowledgment messages with timestamps
When running in client mode, you'll see output like this:
Connected to server at [2001:db8:1234:5678::1]:8080
Sent to server: Hello from IPv6 client at 2024-03-21 14:30:45
Server response: Server received your message at 2024-03-21 14:30:45 at address 2001:db8:1234:5678::1
The client will:
- Confirm successful connection to the server
- Show each message sent to the server
- Display the server's response with timestamps
- Continue this pattern for 20 iterations with 1-second delays between messages
When running without arguments, you'll see output like this:
Usage: python ipv6_tester.py <server|client> [ipv6_address] [port]
server|client - Required. Run as server or client
ipv6_address - Optional. IPv6 address (default: ::1)
port - Optional. Port number (default: 8080)
Available IPv6 addresses on this host:
eth0: 2001:db8:1234:5678::1
wlan0: 2001:db8:abcd:efgh::1
lo: ::1
Python IPv6 related properties:
socket.AF_INET6: 10
socket.has_ipv6: True
IPV6_V6ONLY environment variable: not set
System IPv6 configuration:
System IPv6 enabled: true
(On macOS, shows: System IPv6 forwarding: net.inet6.ip6.forwarding: 1)
Examples:
python ipv6_tester.py server
python ipv6_tester.py server 2001:db8:1234:5678::1
python ipv6_tester.py client 2001:db8:1234:5678::1 8888
The output includes:
- Available IPv6 addresses on the system
- Python's IPv6 capabilities and configuration
- System-level IPv6 status
- Usage examples and command-line options
Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.
This project is licensed under the Apache 2.0 License - see the LICENSE file for details.
- Inspired by the need for simple IPv6 testing tools
- Built with Java's built-in networking capabilities
- Python implementation using asyncio for efficient async I/O