Installation results in a pure IPv6 environment

[Andreas Maier <andi@cosy.sbg.ac.at>]

Dear all,

here are some results of the installation of Debian etch in a pure IPv6
environment. The tests have been done with version etch-beta-1 of the
Debian-Installer on a x86 system using Linux Kernel 2.6.

netinst (debian-testing-i386-netinst.iso):
-) Installer does not recognise the IPv6 network.
-) Kernel module for IPv6 (ipv6.ko) is not loaded but available.
-) Loading module manually and skipping regular network configuration
   in the Installer sets up IPv6 connectivity.
-) /etc/resolv.conf has to be set-up manually.
-) Installation continues as usual without problems.

netboot (mini.iso):
-) Installer does not recognise the IPv6 network.
-) Kernel module for IPv6 (ipv6.ko) is missing.
-) Copying and loading module manually and skipping regular network
   configuration in the Installer sets up IPv6 connectivity.
-) Installation does not continue because supplied "wget" (which is
   "busybox") can not deal with IPv6 addresses.


Remarks:
-) Debian installation in a pure IPv6 environment is possible but
   requires manual intervention.
-) Kernel module for IPv6 (ipv6.ko) would be needed on each
   installation media.
-) A package down-loader that supports IPv6 would be needed on each
   installation media. It is not clear to me if the "busybox" version
   of "wget" itself or a library fails on IPv6 because busybox seems
   to have built-in support for IPv6.
-) The Installer may be modified to open a selection box for IPv6 if
   the automatic configuration of IPv4 fails. If the IPv6 option is
   selected, a "modprobe ipv6" may assign a valid IPv6-address to an
   interface. This interface can than be used. A question for the
   DNS-server is still necessary.


I try to deal with the remarks above but it would be helpful to have
answers to the following questions:

-) Is someone working on the support for IPv6 in the Installer?
-) Is it possible to include kernel module "ipv6.ko" in each
   installation?
-) Are there package down-loaders that are known to work with IPv6
   which would be acceptable on all installation media?
-) How much time could it take for a novice to implement the extensions
   for the IPv6 network configuration to the Installer?
-) What would be an acceptable test environment for such a modified
   Installer?


Thank you for any comments, suggestions or help and please CC me as
I am not on the list.

Best regards,
-andi

--
| Andreas Maier               Paris-Lodron University of Salzburg   |
| (andi@cosy.sbg.ac.at)       Department of Scientific Computing    |
| Tel. +43/662/8044-6339      Jakob Haringerstr. 2                  |
| Fax. +43/662/8044-172       5020 Salzburg / Austria, Europe       |