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Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6) Specification
draft-hinden-6man-rfc2460bis-04

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This is an older version of an Internet-Draft whose latest revision state is "Replaced".
Authors Dr. Steve E. Deering , Bob Hinden
Last updated 2015-08-14
Replaced by draft-ietf-6man-rfc2460bis, RFC 8200
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draft-hinden-6man-rfc2460bis-04
Network Working Group                                         S. Deering
Internet-Draft                                                   Retired
Obsoletes: 2460 (if approved)                                  R. Hinden
Intended status: Standards Track                    Check Point Software
Expires: February 15, 2016                               August 14, 2015

           Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6) Specification
                    draft-hinden-6man-rfc2460bis-04

Abstract

   This document specifies version 6 of the Internet Protocol (IPv6),
   also sometimes referred to as IP Next Generation or IPng.  It
   obsoletes RFC2460

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute
   working documents as Internet-Drafts.  The list of current Internet-
   Drafts is at http://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on February 15, 2016.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2015 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

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   This document may contain material from IETF Documents or IETF
   Contributions published or made publicly available before November
   10, 2008.  The person(s) controlling the copyright in some of this
   material may not have granted the IETF Trust the right to allow
   modifications of such material outside the IETF Standards Process.
   Without obtaining an adequate license from the person(s) controlling
   the copyright in such materials, this document may not be modified
   outside the IETF Standards Process, and derivative works of it may
   not be created outside the IETF Standards Process, except to format
   it for publication as an RFC or to translate it into languages other
   than English.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   3.  IPv6 Header Format  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   4.  IPv6 Extension Headers  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     4.1.  Extension Header Order  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     4.2.  Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     4.3.  Hop-by-Hop Options Header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
     4.4.  Routing Header  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     4.5.  Fragment Header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
     4.6.  Destination Options Header  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
     4.7.  No Next Header  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
   5.  Packet Size Issues  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
   6.  Flow Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21
   7.  Traffic Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21
   8.  Upper-Layer Protocol Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
     8.1.  Upper-Layer Checksums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
     8.2.  Maximum Packet Lifetime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
     8.3.  Maximum Upper-Layer Payload Size  . . . . . . . . . . . .  24
     8.4.  Responding to Packets Carrying Routing Headers  . . . . .  24
   9.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  24
   10. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  25
   11. Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  25
   12. References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  25
     12.1.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  25
     12.2.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  26
   Appendix A.  Formatting Guidelines for Options  . . . . . . . . .  26
   Appendix B.  CHANGES SINCE RFC2460  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  29
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  31

1.  Introduction

   IP version 6 (IPv6) is a new version of the Internet Protocol,
   designed as the successor to IP version 4 (IPv4) [RFC0791].  The

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   changes from IPv4 to IPv6 fall primarily into the following
   categories:

      o  Expanded Addressing Capabilities

         IPv6 increases the IP address size from 32 bits to 128 bits, to
         support more levels of addressing hierarchy, a much greater
         number of addressable nodes, and simpler auto-configuration of
         addresses.  The scalability of multicast routing is improved by
         adding a "scope" field to multicast addresses.  And a new type
         of address called an "anycast address" is defined, used to send
         a packet to any one of a group of nodes.

      o  Header Format Simplification

         Some IPv4 header fields have been dropped or made optional, to
         reduce the common-case processing cost of packet handling and
         to limit the bandwidth cost of the IPv6 header.

      o  Improved Support for Extensions and Options

         Changes in the way IP header options are encoded allows for
         more efficient forwarding, less stringent limits on the length
         of options, and greater flexibility for introducing new options
         in the future.

      o  Flow Labeling Capability

         A new capability is added to enable the labeling of sequences
         of packets for which the sender requests to be treated in the
         network as a single flow.

      o  Authentication and Privacy Capabilities

         Extensions to support authentication, data integrity, and
         (optional) data confidentiality are specified for IPv6.

   This document specifies the basic IPv6 header and the initially-
   defined IPv6 extension headers and options.  It also discusses packet
   size issues, the semantics of flow labels and traffic classes, and
   the effects of IPv6 on upper-layer protocols.  The format and
   semantics of IPv6 addresses are specified separately in [RFC2373].
   The IPv6 version of ICMP, which all IPv6 implementations are required
   to include, is specified in [RFC2463]

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2.  Terminology

   node         a device that implements IPv6.

   router       a node that forwards IPv6 packets not explicitly
                addressed to itself.  [See Note below].

   host         any node that is not a router.  [See Note below].

   upper layer  a protocol layer immediately above IPv6.  Examples are
                transport protocols such as TCP and UDP, control
                protocols such as ICMP, routing protocols such as OSPF,
                and internet or lower-layer protocols being "tunneled"
                over (i.e., encapsulated in) IPv6 such as IPX,
                AppleTalk, or IPv6 itself.

   link         a communication facility or medium over which nodes can
                communicate at the link layer, i.e., the layer
                immediately below IPv6.  Examples are Ethernets (simple
                or bridged); PPP links; X.25, Frame Relay, or ATM
                networks; and internet (or higher) layer "tunnels", such
                as tunnels over IPv4 or IPv6 itself.

   neighbors    nodes attached to the same link.

   interface    a node's attachment to a link.

   address      an IPv6-layer identifier for an interface or a set of
                interfaces.

   packet       an IPv6 header plus payload.

   link MTU     the maximum transmission unit, i.e., maximum packet size
                in octets, that can be conveyed over a link.

   path MTU     the minimum link MTU of all the links in a path between
                a source node and a destination node.

   Note: it is possible, though unusual, for a device with multiple
   interfaces to be configured to forward non-self-destined packets
   arriving from some set (fewer than all) of its interfaces, and to
   discard non-self-destined packets arriving from its other interfaces.
   Such a device must obey the protocol requirements for routers when
   receiving packets from, and interacting with neighbors over, the
   former (forwarding) interfaces.  It must obey the protocol
   requirements for hosts when receiving packets from, and interacting
   with neighbors over, the latter (non-forwarding) interfaces.

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3.  IPv6 Header Format

   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |Version| Traffic Class |           Flow Label                  |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |         Payload Length        |  Next Header  |   Hop Limit   |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                                                               |
   +                                                               +
   |                                                               |
   +                         Source Address                        +
   |                                                               |
   +                                                               +
   |                                                               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                                                               |
   +                                                               +
   |                                                               |
   +                      Destination Address                      +
   |                                                               |
   +                                                               +
   |                                                               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      Version             4-bit Internet Protocol version number = 6.

      Traffic Class       8-bit traffic class field.  See section 7.

      Flow Label          20-bit flow label.  See section 6.

      Payload Length      16-bit unsigned integer.  Length of the IPv6
                          payload, i.e., the rest of the packet
                          following this IPv6 header, in octets.  (Note
                          that any extension headers [section 4] present
                          are considered part of the payload, i.e.,
                          included in the length count.)

      Next Header         8-bit selector.  Identifies the type of header
                          immediately following the IPv6 header.  Uses
                          the same values as the IPv4 Protocol field
                          [RFC1700] et seq.

      Hop Limit           8-bit unsigned integer.  Decremented by 1 by
                          each node that forwards the packet.  The
                          packet is discarded if Hop Limit is

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                          decremented to zero, or is received with a
                          zero Hop Limit.

      Source Address      128-bit address of the originator of the
                          packet.  See [RFC2373].

      Destination Address 128-bit address of the intended recipient of
                          the packet (possibly not the ultimate
                          recipient, if a Routing header is present).
                          See [RFC2373] and section 4.4.

4.  IPv6 Extension Headers

   In IPv6, optional internet-layer information is encoded in separate
   headers that may be placed between the IPv6 header and the upper-
   layer header in a packet.  There are a small number of such extension
   headers, each identified by a distinct Next Header value.  As
   illustrated in these examples, an IPv6 packet may carry zero, one, or
   more extension headers, each identified by the Next Header field of
   the preceding header:

   +---------------+------------------------
   |  IPv6 header  | TCP header + data
   |               |
   | Next Header = |
   |      TCP      |
   +---------------+------------------------

   +---------------+----------------+------------------------
   |  IPv6 header  | Routing header | TCP header + data
   |               |                |
   | Next Header = |  Next Header = |
   |    Routing    |      TCP       |
   +---------------+----------------+------------------------

   +---------------+----------------+-----------------+-----------------
   |  IPv6 header  | Routing header | Fragment header | fragment of TCP
   |               |                |                 |  header + data
   | Next Header = |  Next Header = |  Next Header =  |
   |    Routing    |    Fragment    |       TCP       |
   +---------------+----------------+-----------------+-----------------

   With one exception, extension headers are not examined or processed
   by any node along a packet's delivery path, until the packet reaches
   the node (or each of the set of nodes, in the case of multicast)
   identified in the Destination Address field of the IPv6 header.
   There, normal demultiplexing on the Next Header field of the IPv6
   header invokes the module to process the first extension header, or

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   the upper-layer header if no extension header is present.  The
   contents and semantics of each extension header determine whether or
   not to proceed to the next header.  Therefore, extension headers must
   be processed strictly in the order they appear in the packet; a
   receiver must not, for example, scan through a packet looking for a
   particular kind of extension header and process that header prior to
   processing all preceding ones.

   The exception referred to in the preceding paragraph is the Hop-by-
   Hop Options header, which carries information that must be examined
   and processed by every node along a packet's delivery path, including
   the source and destination nodes.  The Hop-by-Hop Options header,
   when present, must immediately follow the IPv6 header.  Its presence
   is indicated by the value zero in the Next Header field of the IPv6
   header.

   If, as a result of processing a header, a node is required to proceed
   to the next header but the Next Header value in the current header is
   unrecognized by the node, it should discard the packet and send an
   ICMP Parameter Problem message to the source of the packet, with an
   ICMP Code value of 1 ("unrecognized Next Header type encountered")
   and the ICMP Pointer field containing the offset of the unrecognized
   value within the original packet.  The same action should be taken if
   a node encounters a Next Header value of zero in any header other
   than an IPv6 header.

   Each extension header is an integer multiple of 8 octets long, in
   order to retain 8-octet alignment for subsequent headers.  Multi-
   octet fields within each extension header are aligned on their
   natural boundaries, i.e., fields of width n octets are placed at an
   integer multiple of n octets from the start of the header, for n = 1,
   2, 4, or 8.

   A full implementation of IPv6 includes implementation of the
   following extension headers:

      Hop-by-Hop Options
      Fragment
      Destination Options
      Authentication
      Encapsulating Security Payload

   The first four are specified in this document; the last two are
   specified in [RFC2402] and [RFC2406], respectively.

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4.1.  Extension Header Order

   When more than one extension header is used in the same packet, it is
   recommended that those headers appear in the following order:

      IPv6 header
      Hop-by-Hop Options header
      Destination Options header (note 1)
      Routing header
      Fragment header
      Authentication header (note 2)
      Encapsulating Security Payload header (note 2)
      Destination Options header (note 3)
      upper-layer header

      note 1: for options to be processed by the first destination that
              appears in the IPv6 Destination Address field plus
              subsequent destinations listed in the Routing header.

      note 2: additional recommendations regarding the relative order of
              the Authentication and Encapsulating Security Payload
              headers are given in [RFC2406].

      note 3: for options to be processed only by the final destination
              of the packet.

   Each extension header should occur at most once, except for the
   Destination Options header which should occur at most twice (once
   before a Routing header and once before the upper-layer header).

   If the upper-layer header is another IPv6 header (in the case of IPv6
   being tunneled over or encapsulated in IPv6), it may be followed by
   its own extension headers, which are separately subject to the same
   ordering recommendations.

   If and when other extension headers are defined, their ordering
   constraints relative to the above listed headers must be specified.

   IPv6 nodes must accept and attempt to process extension headers in
   any order and occurring any number of times in the same packet,
   except for the Hop-by-Hop Options header which is restricted to
   appear immediately after an IPv6 header only.  Nonetheless, it is
   strongly advised that sources of IPv6 packets adhere to the above
   recommended order until and unless subsequent specifications revise
   that recommendation.

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4.2.  Options

   Two of the currently-defined extension headers -- the Hop-by-Hop
   Options header and the Destination Options header -- carry a variable
   number of type-length-value (TLV) encoded "options", of the following
   format:

      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- - - - - - - - -
      |  Option Type  |  Opt Data Len |  Option Data
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- - - - - - - - -

      Option Type         8-bit identifier of the type of option.

      Opt Data Len        8-bit unsigned integer.  Length of the Option
                          Data field of this option, in octets.

      Option Data         Variable-length field.  Option-Type-specific
                          data.

   The sequence of options within a header must be processed strictly in
   the order they appear in the header; a receiver must not, for
   example, scan through the header looking for a particular kind of
   option and process that option prior to processing all preceding
   ones.

   The Option Type identifiers are internally encoded such that their
   highest-order two bits specify the action that must be taken if the
   processing IPv6 node does not recognize the Option Type:

      00 - skip over this option and continue processing the header.

      01 - discard the packet.

      10 - discard the packet and, regardless of whether or not the
           packet's Destination Address was a multicast address, send an
           ICMP Parameter Problem, Code 2, message to the packet's
           Source Address, pointing to the unrecognized Option Type.

      11 - discard the packet and, only if the packet's Destination
           Address was not a multicast address, send an ICMP Parameter
           Problem, Code 2, message to the packet's Source Address,
           pointing to the unrecognized Option Type.

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   The third-highest-order bit of the Option Type specifies whether or
   not the Option Data of that option can change en-route to the
   packet's final destination.  When an Authentication header is present
   in the packet, for any option whose data may change en-route, its
   entire Option Data field must be treated as zero-valued octets when
   computing or verifying the packet's authenticating value.

      0 - Option Data does not change en-route

      1 - Option Data may change en-route

   The three high-order bits described above are to be treated as part
   of the Option Type, not independent of the Option Type.  That is, a
   particular option is identified by a full 8-bit Option Type, not just
   the low-order 5 bits of an Option Type.

   The same Option Type numbering space is used for both the Hop-by-Hop
   Options header and the Destination Options header.  However, the
   specification of a particular option may restrict its use to only one
   of those two headers.

   Individual options may have specific alignment requirements, to
   ensure that multi-octet values within Option Data fields fall on
   natural boundaries.  The alignment requirement of an option is
   specified using the notation xn+y, meaning the Option Type must
   appear at an integer multiple of x octets from the start of the
   header, plus y octets.  For example:

      2n   means any 2-octet offset from the start of the header.
      8n+2 means any 8-octet offset from the start of the header, plus 2
           octets.

   There are two padding options which are used when necessary to align
   subsequent options and to pad out the containing header to a multiple
   of 8 octets in length.  These padding options must be recognized by
   all IPv6 implementations:

   Pad1 option (alignment requirement: none)

      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |       0       |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

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      NOTE! the format of the Pad1 option is a special case -- it does
            not have length and value fields.

      The Pad1 option is used to insert one octet of padding into the
      Options area of a header.  If more than one octet of padding is
      required, the PadN option, described next, should be used, rather
      than multiple Pad1 options.

   PadN option (alignment requirement: none)

      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- - - - - - - - -
      |       1       |  Opt Data Len |  Option Data
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- - - - - - - - -

      The PadN option is used to insert two or more octets of padding
      into the Options area of a header.  For N octets of padding, the
      Opt Data Len field contains the value N-2, and the Option Data
      consists of N-2 zero-valued octets.

   Appendix A contains formatting guidelines for designing new options.

4.3.  Hop-by-Hop Options Header

   The Hop-by-Hop Options header is used to carry optional information
   that must be examined by every node along a packet's delivery path.
   The Hop-by-Hop Options header is identified by a Next Header value of
   0 in the IPv6 header, and has the following format:

    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    |  Next Header  |  Hdr Ext Len  |                               |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                               +
    |                                                               |
    .                                                               .
    .                            Options                            .
    .                                                               .
    |                                                               |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      Next Header         8-bit selector.  Identifies the type of header
                          immediately following the Hop-by-Hop Options
                          header.  Uses the same values as the IPv4
                          Protocol field [RFC1700] et seq.

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      Hdr Ext Len         8-bit unsigned integer.  Length of the Hop-by-
                          Hop Options header in 8-octet units, not
                          including the first 8 octets.

      Options             Variable-length field, of length such that the
                          complete Hop-by-Hop Options header is an
                          integer multiple of 8 octets long.  Contains
                          one or more TLV-encoded options, as described
                          in section 4.2.

   The only hop-by-hop options defined in this document are the Pad1 and
   PadN options specified in section 4.2.

4.4.  Routing Header

   The Routing header is used by an IPv6 source to list one or more
   intermediate nodes to be "visited" on the way to a packet's
   destination.  This function is very similar to IPv4's Loose Source
   and Record Route option.  The Routing header is identified by a Next
   Header value of 43 in the immediately preceding header, and has the
   following format:

    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    |  Next Header  |  Hdr Ext Len  |  Routing Type | Segments Left |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    |                                                               |
    .                                                               .
    .                       type-specific data                      .
    .                                                               .
    |                                                               |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      Next Header         8-bit selector.  Identifies the type of header
                          immediately following the Routing header.
                          Uses the same values as the IPv4 Protocol
                          field [RFC1700] et seq.

      Hdr Ext Len         8-bit unsigned integer.  Length of the Routing
                          header in 8-octet units, not including the
                          first 8 octets.

      Routing Type        8-bit identifier of a particular Routing
                          header variant.

      Segments Left       8-bit unsigned integer.  Number of route
                          segments remaining, i.e., number of explicitly

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                          listed intermediate nodes still to be visited
                          before reaching the final destination.

      type-specific data  Variable-length field, of format determined by
                          the Routing Type, and of length such that the
                          complete Routing header is an integer multiple
                          of 8 octets long.

   If, while processing a received packet, a node encounters a Routing
   header with an unrecognized Routing Type value, the required behavior
   of the node depends on the value of the Segments Left field, as
   follows:

      If Segments Left is zero, the node must ignore the Routing header
      and proceed to process the next header in the packet, whose type
      is identified by the Next Header field in the Routing header.

      If Segments Left is non-zero, the node must discard the packet and
      send an ICMP Parameter Problem, Code 0, message to the packet's
      Source Address, pointing to the unrecognized Routing Type.

   If, after processing a Routing header of a received packet, an
   intermediate node determines that the packet is to be forwarded onto
   a link whose link MTU is less than the size of the packet, the node
   must discard the packet and send an ICMP Packet Too Big message to
   the packet's Source Address.

   The currently defined IPv6 Routing Headers and their status can be
   found at [IANA-RH].  Allocation guidelines for IPv6 Routing Headers
   can be found in [RFC5871].

4.5.  Fragment Header

   The Fragment header is used by an IPv6 source to send a packet larger
   than would fit in the path MTU to its destination.  (Note: unlike
   IPv4, fragmentation in IPv6 is performed only by source nodes, not by
   routers along a packet's delivery path -- see section 5.)  The
   Fragment header is identified by a Next Header value of 44 in the
   immediately preceding header, and has the following format:

   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |  Next Header  |   Reserved    |      Fragment Offset    |Res|M|
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                         Identification                        |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

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      Next Header         8-bit selector.  Identifies the initial header
                          type of the Fragmentable Part of the original
                          packet (defined below).  Uses the same values
                          as the IPv4 Protocol field [RFC1700] et seq.

      Reserved            8-bit reserved field.  Initialized to zero for
                          transmission; ignored on reception.

      Fragment Offset     13-bit unsigned integer.  The offset, in
                          8-octet units, of the data following this
                          header, relative to the start of the
                          Fragmentable Part of the original packet.

      Res                 2-bit reserved field.  Initialized to zero for
                          transmission; ignored on reception.

      M flag              1 = more fragments; 0 = last fragment.

      Identification      32 bits.  See description below.

   In order to send a packet that is too large to fit in the MTU of the
   path to its destination, a source node may divide the packet into
   fragments and send each fragment as a separate packet, to be
   reassembled at the receiver.

   For every packet that is to be fragmented, the source node generates
   an Identification value.  The Identification must be different than
   that of any other fragmented packet sent recently* with the same
   Source Address and Destination Address.  If a Routing header is
   present, the Destination Address of concern is that of the final
   destination.

      *  "recently" means within the maximum likely lifetime of a
         packet, including transit time from source to destination and
         time spent awaiting reassembly with other fragments of the same
         packet.  However, it is not required that a source node know
         the maximum packet lifetime.  Rather, it is assumed that the
         requirement can be met by maintaining the Identification value
         as a simple, 32-bit, "wrap-around" counter, incremented each
         time a packet must be fragmented.  It is an implementation
         choice whether to maintain a single counter for the node or
         multiple counters, e.g., one for each of the node's possible
         source addresses, or one for each active (source address,
         destination address) combination.

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   The initial, large, unfragmented packet is referred to as the
   "original packet", and it is considered to consist of two parts, as
   illustrated:

   original packet:

   +------------------+----------------------//-----------------------+
   |  Unfragmentable  |                 Fragmentable                  |
   |       Part       |                     Part                      |
   +------------------+----------------------//-----------------------+

      The Unfragmentable Part consists of the IPv6 header plus any
      extension headers that must be processed by nodes en route to the
      destination, that is, all headers up to and including the Routing
      header if present, else the Hop-by-Hop Options header if present,
      else no extension headers.

      The Fragmentable Part consists of the rest of the packet, that is,
      any extension headers that need be processed only by the final
      destination node(s), plus the upper-layer header and data.

   The Fragmentable Part of the original packet is divided into
   fragments, each, except possibly the last ("rightmost") one, being an
   integer multiple of 8 octets long.  The fragments are transmitted in
   separate "fragment packets" as illustrated:

   original packet:

   +------------------+--------------+--------------+--//--+----------+
   |  Unfragmentable  |    first     |    second    |      |   last   |
   |       Part       |   fragment   |   fragment   | .... | fragment |
   +------------------+--------------+--------------+--//--+----------+

   fragment packets:

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   +------------------+--------+--------------+
   |  Unfragmentable  |Fragment|    first     |
   |       Part       | Header |   fragment   |
   +------------------+--------+--------------+

   +------------------+--------+--------------+
   |  Unfragmentable  |Fragment|    second    |
   |       Part       | Header |   fragment   |
   +------------------+--------+--------------+
                         o
                         o
                         o
   +------------------+--------+----------+
   |  Unfragmentable  |Fragment|   last   |
   |       Part       | Header | fragment |
   +------------------+--------+----------+

   Each fragment packet is composed of:

      (1) The Unfragmentable Part of the original packet, with the
      Payload Length of the original IPv6 header changed to contain the
      length of this fragment packet only (excluding the length of the
      IPv6 header itself), and the Next Header field of the last header
      of the Unfragmentable Part changed to 44.

      (2) A Fragment header containing:

         The Next Header value that identifies the first header of the
         Fragmentable Part of the original packet.

         A Fragment Offset containing the offset of the fragment, in
         8-octet units, relative to the start of the Fragmentable Part
         of the original packet.  The Fragment Offset of the first
         ("leftmost") fragment is 0.

         An M flag value of 0 if the fragment is the last ("rightmost")
         one, else an M flag value of 1.

         The Identification value generated for the original packet.

      (3) The fragment itself.

   The lengths of the fragments must be chosen such that the resulting
   fragment packets fit within the MTU of the path to the packets'
   destination(s).

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   At the destination, fragment packets are reassembled into their
   original, unfragmented form, as illustrated:

   reassembled original packet:

   +------------------+----------------------//------------------------+
   |  Unfragmentable  |                 Fragmentable                   |
   |       Part       |                     Part                       |
   +------------------+----------------------//------------------------+

   The following rules govern reassembly:

      An original packet is reassembled only from fragment packets that
      have the same Source Address, Destination Address, and Fragment
      Identification.

      The Unfragmentable Part of the reassembled packet consists of all
      headers up to, but not including, the Fragment header of the first
      fragment packet (that is, the packet whose Fragment Offset is
      zero), with the following two changes:

         The Next Header field of the last header of the Unfragmentable
         Part is obtained from the Next Header field of the first
         fragment's Fragment header.

         The Payload Length of the reassembled packet is computed from
         the length of the Unfragmentable Part and the length and offset
         of the last fragment.  For example, a formula for computing the
         Payload Length of the reassembled original packet is:

            PL.orig = PL.first - FL.first - 8 + (8 * FO.last) + FL.last

            where
            PL.orig  =  Payload Length field of reassembled packet.
            PL.first =  Payload Length field of first fragment packet.
            FL.first =  length of fragment following Fragment header of
                        first fragment packet.
            FO.last  =  Fragment Offset field of Fragment header of last
                        fragment packet.
            FL.last  =  length of fragment following Fragment header of
                        last fragment packet.

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         The Fragmentable Part of the reassembled packet is constructed
         from the fragments following the Fragment headers in each of
         the fragment packets.  The length of each fragment is computed
         by subtracting from the packet's Payload Length the length of
         the headers between the IPv6 header and fragment itself; its
         relative position in Fragmentable Part is computed from its
         Fragment Offset value.

         The Fragment header is not present in the final, reassembled
         packet.

   The following error conditions may arise when reassembling fragmented
   packets:

      If insufficient fragments are received to complete reassembly of a
      packet within 60 seconds of the reception of the first-arriving
      fragment of that packet, reassembly of that packet must be
      abandoned and all the fragments that have been received for that
      packet must be discarded.  If the first fragment (i.e., the one
      with a Fragment Offset of zero) has been received, an ICMP Time
      Exceeded -- Fragment Reassembly Time Exceeded message should be
      sent to the source of that fragment.

      If the length of a fragment, as derived from the fragment packet's
      Payload Length field, is not a multiple of 8 octets and the M flag
      of that fragment is 1, then that fragment must be discarded and an
      ICMP Parameter Problem, Code 0, message should be sent to the
      source of the fragment, pointing to the Payload Length field of
      the fragment packet.

      If the length and offset of a fragment are such that the Payload
      Length of the packet reassembled from that fragment would exceed
      65,535 octets, then that fragment must be discarded and an ICMP
      Parameter Problem, Code 0, message should be sent to the source of
      the fragment, pointing to the Fragment Offset field of the
      fragment packet.

   The following conditions are not expected to occur, but are not
   considered errors if they do:

      The number and content of the headers preceding the Fragment
      header of different fragments of the same original packet may
      differ.  Whatever headers are present, preceding the Fragment
      header in each fragment packet, are processed when the packets
      arrive, prior to queueing the fragments for reassembly.  Only
      those headers in the Offset zero fragment packet are retained in
      the reassembled packet.

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      The Next Header values in the Fragment headers of different
      fragments of the same original packet may differ.  Only the value
      from the Offset zero fragment packet is used for reassembly.

4.6.  Destination Options Header

   The Destination Options header is used to carry optional information
   that need be examined only by a packet's destination node(s).  The
   Destination Options header is identified by a Next Header value of 60
   in the immediately preceding header, and has the following format:

    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    |  Next Header  |  Hdr Ext Len  |                               |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                               +
    |                                                               |
    .                                                               .
    .                            Options                            .
    .                                                               .
    |                                                               |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      Next Header         8-bit selector.  Identifies the type of header
                          immediately following the Destination Options
                          header.  Uses the same values as the IPv4
                          Protocol field [RFC1700] et seq.

      Hdr Ext Len         8-bit unsigned integer.  Length of the
                          Destination Options header in 8-octet units,
                          not including the first 8 octets.

      Options             Variable-length field, of length such that the
                          complete Destination Options header is an
                          integer multiple of 8 octets long.  Contains
                          one or more TLV-encoded options, as described
                          in section 4.2.

   The only destination options defined in this document are the Pad1
   and PadN options specified in section 4.2.

   Note that there are two possible ways to encode optional destination
   information in an IPv6 packet: either as an option in the Destination
   Options header, or as a separate extension header.  The Fragment
   header and the Authentication header are examples of the latter
   approach.  Which approach can be used depends on what action is
   desired of a destination node that does not understand the optional
   information:

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      o  If the desired action is for the destination node to discard
         the packet and, only if the packet's Destination Address is not
         a multicast address, send an ICMP Unrecognized Type message to
         the packet's Source Address, then the information may be
         encoded either as a separate header or as an option in the
         Destination Options header whose Option Type has the value 11
         in its highest-order two bits.  The choice may depend on such
         factors as which takes fewer octets, or which yields better
         alignment or more efficient parsing.

      o  If any other action is desired, the information must be encoded
         as an option in the Destination Options header whose Option
         Type has the value 00, 01, or 10 in its highest-order two bits,
         specifying the desired action (see section 4.2).

4.7.  No Next Header

   The value 59 in the Next Header field of an IPv6 header or any
   extension header indicates that there is nothing following that
   header.  If the Payload Length field of the IPv6 header indicates the
   presence of octets past the end of a header whose Next Header field
   contains 59, those octets must be ignored, and passed on unchanged if
   the packet is forwarded.

5.  Packet Size Issues

   IPv6 requires that every link in the internet have an MTU of 1280
   octets or greater.  On any link that cannot convey a 1280-octet
   packet in one piece, link-specific fragmentation and reassembly must
   be provided at a layer below IPv6.

   Links that have a configurable MTU (for example, PPP links [RFC1661])
   must be configured to have an MTU of at least 1280 octets; it is
   recommended that they be configured with an MTU of 1500 octets or
   greater, to accommodate possible encapsulations (i.e., tunneling)
   without incurring IPv6-layer fragmentation.

   From each link to which a node is directly attached, the node must be
   able to accept packets as large as that link's MTU.

   It is strongly recommended that IPv6 nodes implement Path MTU
   Discovery [RFC1981], in order to discover and take advantage of path
   MTUs greater than 1280 octets.  However, a minimal IPv6
   implementation (e.g., in a boot ROM) may simply restrict itself to
   sending packets no larger than 1280 octets, and omit implementation
   of Path MTU Discovery.

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   In order to send a packet larger than a path's MTU, a node may use
   the IPv6 Fragment header to fragment the packet at the source and
   have it reassembled at the destination(s).  However, the use of such
   fragmentation is discouraged in any application that is able to
   adjust its packets to fit the measured path MTU (i.e., down to 1280
   octets).

   A node must be able to accept a fragmented packet that, after
   reassembly, is as large as 1500 octets.  A node is permitted to
   accept fragmented packets that reassemble to more than 1500 octets.
   An upper-layer protocol or application that depends on IPv6
   fragmentation to send packets larger than the MTU of a path should
   not send packets larger than 1500 octets unless it has assurance that
   the destination is capable of reassembling packets of that larger
   size.

   In response to an IPv6 packet that is sent to an IPv4 destination
   (i.e., a packet that undergoes translation from IPv6 to IPv4), the
   originating IPv6 node may receive an ICMP Packet Too Big message
   reporting a Next-Hop MTU less than 1280.  In that case, the IPv6 node
   is not required to reduce the size of subsequent packets to less than
   1280, but must include a Fragment header in those packets so that the
   IPv6-to-IPv4 translating router can obtain a suitable Identification
   value to use in resulting IPv4 fragments.  Note that this means the
   payload may have to be reduced to 1232 octets (1280 minus 40 for the
   IPv6 header and 8 for the Fragment header), and smaller still if
   additional extension headers are used.

6.  Flow Labels

   The 20-bit Flow Label field in the IPv6 header is used by a source to
   label sequences of packets to be treated in the network as a single
   flow.

   The current definition of the IPv6 Flow Label can be found in
   [RFC6437].

7.  Traffic Classes

   The 8-bit Traffic Class field in the IPv6 header is used by the
   network for traffic management.  The value of the Traffic Class bits
   in a received packet might be different from the value sent by the
   packet's source.

   The current use of the Traffic Class field for Differentiated
   Services and Explicit Congestion Notification is specified in
   [RFC2474] and [RFC3168].

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8.  Upper-Layer Protocol Issues

8.1.  Upper-Layer Checksums

   Any transport or other upper-layer protocol that includes the
   addresses from the IP header in its checksum computation must be
   modified for use over IPv6, to include the 128-bit IPv6 addresses
   instead of 32-bit IPv4 addresses.  In particular, the following
   illustration shows the TCP and UDP "pseudo-header" for IPv6:

   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                                                               |
   +                                                               +
   |                                                               |
   +                         Source Address                        +
   |                                                               |
   +                                                               +
   |                                                               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                                                               |
   +                                                               +
   |                                                               |
   +                      Destination Address                      +
   |                                                               |
   +                                                               +
   |                                                               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                   Upper-Layer Packet Length                   |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                      zero                     |  Next Header  |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      o  If the IPv6 packet contains a Routing header, the Destination
         Address used in the pseudo-header is that of the final
         destination.  At the originating node, that address will be in
         the last element of the Routing header; at the recipient(s),
         that address will be in the Destination Address field of the
         IPv6 header.

      o  The Next Header value in the pseudo-header identifies the
         upper-layer protocol (e.g., 6 for TCP, or 17 for UDP).  It will
         differ from the Next Header value in the IPv6 header if there
         are extension headers between the IPv6 header and the upper-
         layer header.

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      o  The Upper-Layer Packet Length in the pseudo-header is the
         length of the upper-layer header and data (e.g., TCP header
         plus TCP data).  Some upper-layer protocols carry their own
         length information (e.g., the Length field in the UDP header);
         for such protocols, that is the length used in the pseudo-
         header.  Other protocols (such as TCP) do not carry their own
         length information, in which case the length used in the
         pseudo-header is the Payload Length from the IPv6 header, minus
         the length of any extension headers present between the IPv6
         header and the upper-layer header.

      o  Unlike IPv4, the default behavior when UDP packets are
         originated by an IPv6 node, is that the UDP checksum is not
         optional.  That is, whenever originating a UDP packet, an IPv6
         node must compute a UDP checksum over the packet and the
         pseudo-header, and, if that computation yields a result of
         zero, it must be changed to hex FFFF for placement in the UDP
         header.  IPv6 receivers must discard UDP packets containing a
         zero checksum, and should log the error.

      o  As an exception to the default behaviour, protocols that use
         UDP as a tunnel encapsulation may enable zero-checksum mode for
         a specific port (or set of ports) for sending and/or receiving.
         Any node implementing zero-checksum mode must follow the
         requirements specified in "Applicability Statement for the use
         of IPv6 UDP Datagrams with Zero Checksums" [RFC6936].

   The IPv6 version of ICMP [RFC2463] includes the above pseudo-header
   in its checksum computation; this is a change from the IPv4 version
   of ICMP, which does not include a pseudo-header in its checksum.  The
   reason for the change is to protect ICMP from misdelivery or
   corruption of those fields of the IPv6 header on which it depends,
   which, unlike IPv4, are not covered by an internet-layer checksum.
   The Next Header field in the pseudo-header for ICMP contains the
   value 58, which identifies the IPv6 version of ICMP.

8.2.  Maximum Packet Lifetime

   Unlike IPv4, IPv6 nodes are not required to enforce maximum packet
   lifetime.  That is the reason the IPv4 "Time to Live" field was
   renamed "Hop Limit" in IPv6.  In practice, very few, if any, IPv4
   implementations conform to the requirement that they limit packet
   lifetime, so this is not a change in practice.  Any upper-layer
   protocol that relies on the internet layer (whether IPv4 or IPv6) to
   limit packet lifetime ought to be upgraded to provide its own
   mechanisms for detecting and discarding obsolete packets.

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8.3.  Maximum Upper-Layer Payload Size

   When computing the maximum payload size available for upper-layer
   data, an upper-layer protocol must take into account the larger size
   of the IPv6 header relative to the IPv4 header.  For example, in
   IPv4, TCP's MSS option is computed as the maximum packet size (a
   default value or a value learned through Path MTU Discovery) minus 40
   octets (20 octets for the minimum-length IPv4 header and 20 octets
   for the minimum-length TCP header).  When using TCP over IPv6, the
   MSS must be computed as the maximum packet size minus 60 octets,
   because the minimum-length IPv6 header (i.e., an IPv6 header with no
   extension headers) is 20 octets longer than a minimum-length IPv4
   header.

8.4.  Responding to Packets Carrying Routing Headers

   When an upper-layer protocol sends one or more packets in response to
   a received packet that included a Routing header, the response
   packet(s) must not include a Routing header that was automatically
   derived by "reversing" the received Routing header UNLESS the
   integrity and authenticity of the received Source Address and Routing
   header have been verified (e.g., via the use of an Authentication
   header in the received packet).  In other words, only the following
   kinds of packets are permitted in response to a received packet
   bearing a Routing header:

      o  Response packets that do not carry Routing headers.

      o  Response packets that carry Routing headers that were NOT
         derived by reversing the Routing header of the received packet
         (for example, a Routing header supplied by local
         configuration).

      o  Response packets that carry Routing headers that were derived
         by reversing the Routing header of the received packet IF AND
         ONLY IF the integrity and authenticity of the Source Address
         and Routing header from the received packet have been verified
         by the responder.

9.  IANA Considerations

   None.

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10.  Security Considerations

   The security features of IPv6 are described in the Security
   Architecture for the Internet Protocol [RFC2401].

11.  Acknowledgments

   The authors gratefully acknowledge the many helpful suggestions of
   the members of the IPng working group, the End-to-End Protocols
   research group, and the Internet Community At Large.

12.  References

12.1.  Normative References

   [RFC0791]  Postel, J., "Internet Protocol", STD 5, RFC 791, DOI
              10.17487/RFC0791, September 1981,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc791>.

   [RFC1700]  Reynolds, J. and J. Postel, "Assigned Numbers", RFC 1700,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC1700, October 1994,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1700>.

   [RFC1981]  McCann, J., Deering, S., and J. Mogul, "Path MTU Discovery
              for IP version 6", RFC 1981, DOI 10.17487/RFC1981, August
              1996, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1981>.

   [RFC2373]  Hinden, R. and S. Deering, "IP Version 6 Addressing
              Architecture", RFC 2373, DOI 10.17487/RFC2373, July 1998,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2373>.

   [RFC2401]  Kent, S. and R. Atkinson, "Security Architecture for the
              Internet Protocol", RFC 2401, DOI 10.17487/RFC2401,
              November 1998, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2401>.

   [RFC2402]  Kent, S. and R. Atkinson, "IP Authentication Header", RFC
              2402, DOI 10.17487/RFC2402, November 1998,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2402>.

   [RFC2406]  Kent, S. and R. Atkinson, "IP Encapsulating Security
              Payload (ESP)", RFC 2406, DOI 10.17487/RFC2406, November
              1998, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2406>.

   [RFC2463]  Conta, A. and S. Deering, "Internet Control Message
              Protocol (ICMPv6) for the Internet Protocol Version 6
              (IPv6) Specification", RFC 2463, DOI 10.17487/RFC2463,
              December 1998, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2463>.

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   [RFC2474]  Nichols, K., Blake, S., Baker, F., and D. Black,
              "Definition of the Differentiated Services Field (DS
              Field) in the IPv4 and IPv6 Headers", RFC 2474, DOI
              10.17487/RFC2474, December 1998,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2474>.

   [RFC3168]  Ramakrishnan, K., Floyd, S., and D. Black, "The Addition
              of Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) to IP", RFC
              3168, DOI 10.17487/RFC3168, September 2001,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3168>.

   [RFC6437]  Amante, S., Carpenter, B., Jiang, S., and J. Rajahalme,
              "IPv6 Flow Label Specification", RFC 6437, DOI 10.17487/
              RFC6437, November 2011,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6437>.

12.2.  Informative References

   [IANA-RH]  "IANA Routing Types Parameter Registry",
              <https://www.iana.org/assignments/ipv6-parameters/
              ipv6-parameters.xhtml#ipv6-parameters-3>.

   [RFC1661]  Simpson, W., Ed., "The Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP)", STD
              51, RFC 1661, DOI 10.17487/RFC1661, July 1994,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1661>.

   [RFC5871]  Arkko, J. and S. Bradner, "IANA Allocation Guidelines for
              the IPv6 Routing Header", RFC 5871, DOI 10.17487/RFC5871,
              May 2010, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5871>.

   [RFC6936]  Fairhurst, G. and M. Westerlund, "Applicability Statement
              for the Use of IPv6 UDP Datagrams with Zero Checksums",
              RFC 6936, DOI 10.17487/RFC6936, April 2013,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6936>.

Appendix A.  Formatting Guidelines for Options

   This appendix gives some advice on how to lay out the fields when
   designing new options to be used in the Hop-by-Hop Options header or
   the Destination Options header, as described in section 4.2.  These
   guidelines are based on the following assumptions:

      o  One desirable feature is that any multi-octet fields within the
         Option Data area of an option be aligned on their natural
         boundaries, i.e., fields of width n octets should be placed at

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         an integer multiple of n octets from the start of the Hop-by-
         Hop or Destination Options header, for n = 1, 2, 4, or 8.

      o  Another desirable feature is that the Hop-by-Hop or Destination
         Options header take up as little space as possible, subject to
         the requirement that the header be an integer multiple of 8
         octets long.

      o  It may be assumed that, when either of the option-bearing
         headers are present, they carry a very small number of options,
         usually only one.

   These assumptions suggest the following approach to laying out the
   fields of an option: order the fields from smallest to largest, with
   no interior padding, then derive the alignment requirement for the
   entire option based on the alignment requirement of the largest field
   (up to a maximum alignment of 8 octets).  This approach is
   illustrated in the following examples:

   Example 1

   If an option X required two data fields, one of length 8 octets and
   one of length 4 octets, it would be laid out as follows:

                                   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                                   | Option Type=X |Opt Data Len=12|
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                         4-octet field                         |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                                                               |
   +                         8-octet field                         +
   |                                                               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   Its alignment requirement is 8n+2, to ensure that the 8-octet field
   starts at a multiple-of-8 offset from the start of the enclosing
   header.  A complete Hop-by-Hop or Destination Options header
   containing this one option would look as follows:

   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |  Next Header  | Hdr Ext Len=1 | Option Type=X |Opt Data Len=12|
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                         4-octet field                         |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                                                               |
   +                         8-octet field                         +
   |                                                               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

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   Example 2

   If an option Y required three data fields, one of length 4 octets,
   one of length 2 octets, and one of length 1 octet, it would be laid
   out as follows:

                                                   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                                                   | Option Type=Y |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |Opt Data Len=7 | 1-octet field |         2-octet field         |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                         4-octet field                         |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   Its alignment requirement is 4n+3, to ensure that the 4-octet field
   starts at a multiple-of-4 offset from the start of the enclosing
   header.  A complete Hop-by-Hop or Destination Options header
   containing this one option would look as follows:

   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |  Next Header  | Hdr Ext Len=1 | Pad1 Option=0 | Option Type=Y |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |Opt Data Len=7 | 1-octet field |         2-octet field         |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                         4-octet field                         |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   | PadN Option=1 |Opt Data Len=2 |       0       |       0       |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   Example 3

   A Hop-by-Hop or Destination Options header containing both options X
   and Y from Examples 1 and 2 would have one of the two following
   formats, depending on which option appeared first:

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   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |  Next Header  | Hdr Ext Len=3 | Option Type=X |Opt Data Len=12|
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                         4-octet field                         |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                                                               |
   +                         8-octet field                         +
   |                                                               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   | PadN Option=1 |Opt Data Len=1 |       0       | Option Type=Y |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |Opt Data Len=7 | 1-octet field |         2-octet field         |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                         4-octet field                         |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   | PadN Option=1 |Opt Data Len=2 |       0       |       0       |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |  Next Header  | Hdr Ext Len=3 | Pad1 Option=0 | Option Type=Y |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |Opt Data Len=7 | 1-octet field |         2-octet field         |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                         4-octet field                         |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   | PadN Option=1 |Opt Data Len=4 |       0       |       0       |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |       0       |       0       | Option Type=X |Opt Data Len=12|
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                         4-octet field                         |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                                                               |
   +                         8-octet field                         +
   |                                                               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Appendix B.  CHANGES SINCE RFC2460

   This memo has the following changes from RFC2460.  Numbers identify
   the Internet-Draft version in which the change was made.

      04)  The purpose of this draft is to update the document to
           incorporate the update made by RFC6935 "UDP Checksums for
           Tunneled Packets".

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      04)  Remove Routing (Type 0) header from the list of required
           extension headers.

      04)  Editorial changes.

   --------------------------------------------------------

      03)  The purpose of this draft is to update the document for the
           deprecation of the RH0 Routing Header as specified in RFC5095
           and the allocations guidelines for routing headers as
           specified in RFC5871.  Both of these RFCs updated RFC2460.

   --------------------------------------------------------

      02)  The purpose of this version of the draft is to update the
           document to resolve the open Errata on RFC2460.

              Errata ID: 2541: This errata notes that RFC2460 didn't
              update RFC2205 when the length of the Flow Label was
              changed from 24 to 20 bits from RFC1883.  This issue was
              resolved in RFC6437 where the Flow Label is defined.  This
              draft now references RFC6437.  No change is required.

              Errata ID: 4279: This errata noted that the specification
              doesn't handle the case of a forwarding node receiving a
              packet with a zero Hop Limit.  This is fixed in
              Section 3.0 of this draft.  Note: No change was made
              regarding host behaviour.

              Errata ID: 2843: This errata is marked rejected.  No
              change is required.

      02)  Editorial changes to the Flow Label and Traffic Class text.

   --------------------------------------------------------

      01)  The purpose of this version of the draft is to update the
           document to point to the current specifications of the IPv6
           Flow Label field as defined in [RFC6437]  and the Traffic
           Class as defined in [RFC2474] and [RFC3168].

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   --------------------------------------------------------

      00)  The purpose of this version is to establish a baseline from
           RFC2460.  The only intended changes are formatting (XML is
           slightly different from .nroff), differences between an RFC
           and Internet Draft, fixing a few ID Nits, and updates to the
           authors information.  There should not be any content changes
           to the specification.

   --------------------------------------------------------

Authors' Addresses

   Stephen E. Deering
   Retired
   Vancouver, British Columbia
   Canada

   Robert M. Hinden
   Check Point Software
   959 Skyway Road
   San Carlos, CA  94070
   USA

   Email: bob.hinden@gmail.com

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