How to connect to a website that has only IPv6 addresses without a domain name?

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

Solution 1:

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).

Solution 2:

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).

Solution 3:

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