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123 lines
5.0 KiB
Markdown
123 lines
5.0 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: IPv4/IPv6 Dual-stack
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---
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<head>
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<link rel="canonical" href="https://ranchermanager.docs.rancher.com/reference-guides/dual-stack/"/>
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</head>
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Kubernetes supports IPv4-only, IPv6-only, and dual-stack networking configurations.
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For more details, refer to the official [Kubernetes documentation](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/services-networking/dual-stack/).
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## Installing Rancher on IPv6-Only or Dual-Stack Clusters
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Rancher can run on clusters using:
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- IPv4-only
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- IPv6-only
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- Dual-stack (IPv4 + IPv6)
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When you install Rancher on an **IPv6-only cluster**, it can communicate externally **only over IPv6**. This means it can provision:
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- IPv6-only clusters
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- Dual-stack clusters
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_(IPv4-only downstream clusters are not possible in this case)_
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When you install Rancher on a **dual-stack cluster**, it can communicate over both IPv4 and IPv6, and can therefore provision:
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- IPv4-only clusters
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- IPv6-only clusters
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- Dual-stack clusters
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For installation steps, see the guide: **[Installing and Upgrading Rancher](../getting-started/installation-and-upgrade/installation-and-upgrade.md)**.
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### Requirement for the Rancher Server URL
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When provisioning IPv6-only downstream clusters, the **Rancher Server URL must be reachable over IPv6** because downstream nodes connect back to the Rancher server using IPv6.
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## Provisioning IPv6-Only or Dual-Stack Clusters
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You can provision RKE2 and K3s **Node driver** (machine pools) or **Custom cluster** (existing hosts) clusters using IPv4-only, IPv6-only, or dual-stack networking.
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### Network Configuration
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To enable IPv6-only or dual-stack networking, you must configure:
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- Cluster CIDR
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- Service CIDR
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- Stack Preference
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Configuration references:
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- [K3s Cluster Configuration Reference](cluster-configuration/rancher-server-configuration/k3s-cluster-configuration.md)
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- [RKE2 Cluster Configuration Reference](cluster-configuration/rancher-server-configuration/rke2-cluster-configuration.md)
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### Support for Windows
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Kubernetes on Windows:
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| Feature | Support Status |
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|---------------------|-------------------------------|
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| IPv6-only clusters | Not supported |
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| Dual-stack clusters | Supported |
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| Services | Limited to a single IP family |
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For more information, see the [Kubernetes Documentation](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/services-networking/dual-stack/#windows-support).
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K3s does **not** support Windows ([FAQ](https://docs.k3s.io/faq#does-k3s-support-windows))
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RKE2 supports Windows, but requires using either `Calico` or `Flannel` as the CNI.
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Note that Windows installations of RKE2 do not support dual-stack clusters using BGP.
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For more details, see [RKE2 Network Options](https://docs.rke2.io/networking/basic_network_options).
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### Provisioning Node Driver Clusters
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Rancher currently supports assigning IPv6 addresses in **node driver** clusters with:
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- [Amazon EC2](../how-to-guides/new-user-guides/launch-kubernetes-with-rancher/use-new-nodes-in-an-infra-provider/create-an-amazon-ec2-cluster.md)
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- [DigitalOcean](../how-to-guides/new-user-guides/launch-kubernetes-with-rancher/use-new-nodes-in-an-infra-provider/create-a-digitalocean-cluster.md)
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Support for additional providers will be introduced in future releases.
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:::note DigitalOcean Limitation
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Creating an **IPv6-only cluster** using the DigitalOcean node driver is currently **not supported**.
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For more details, please see [rancher/rancher#52523](https://github.com/rancher/rancher/issues/52523#issuecomment-3457803572).
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:::
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#### Infrastructure Requirements
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Cluster nodes must meet the requirements listed in the [Node Requirements for Rancher Managed Clusters](../how-to-guides/new-user-guides/kubernetes-clusters-in-rancher-setup/node-requirements-for-rancher-managed-clusters.md).
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Machine pool configuration guides:
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- [Amazon EC2 Configuration](cluster-configuration/downstream-cluster-configuration/machine-configuration/amazon-ec2.md)
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- [DigitalOcean Configuration](cluster-configuration/downstream-cluster-configuration/machine-configuration/digitalocean.md)
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### Provisioning Custom Clusters
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To provision on your own nodes, follow the instructions in [Provision Kubernetes on Existing Nodes](cluster-configuration/rancher-server-configuration/use-existing-nodes/use-existing-nodes.md).
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:::note
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- **Node Public IP** and **Node Private IP** fields accept IPv4, IPv6, or both (comma-separated).
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> Example: `10.0.0.5,2001:db8::1`
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- In **IPv6-only** and **dual-stack** clusters, specify the node’s **IPv6 address** as the **Private IP**.
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:::
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#### Infrastructure Requirements
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Infrastructure requirements are the same as above for node-driver clusters.
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## Other Limitations
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### GitHub.com
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GitHub.com does **not** support IPv6. As a result:
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- Any application repositories ( `ClusterRepo.catalog.cattle.io/v1` CR) hosted on GitHub.com will **not be reachable** from IPv6-only clusters.
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- Similarly, any **non-builtin node drivers** hosted on GitHub.com will also **not be accessible** in IPv6-only environments.
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