Autoconfiguration of an IPv6 component in a segmented network

1. A method of autoconfiguration of an IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) component in a segmented network, the method comprising:

receiving, by a management module of the segmented network, an IPv6 packet;

wherein the management module comprises a module of automated computing machinery;

determining, by the management module of the segmented network, whether the received IPv6 packet is a router advertisement or a router solicitation;

if the received IPv6 packet is a router advertisement, then retrieving, by the management module, through an out-of-band link a destination Media Access Control (‘MAC’) address for an IPv6 component, removing, by the management module from the received IPv6 packet, a MAC address of a sending router, inserting, by the management module, in the packet instead an internal MAC address for forwarding packets to the IPv6 component, removing, by the management module, a multicast destination MAC address, inserting, by the management module, in the packet the destination MAC address of the IPv6 component, and forwarding, by the management module, the packet to the IPv6 component as a unicast message;

if the received IPv6 packet is a router solicitation, then removing, by the management module from the packet, the MAC address of the sending IPv6 component, inserting, by the management module, in the packet instead an external MAC address for forwarding packets to a router, and forwarding, by the management module, the packet to the router as a multicast message.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein if the received IPv6 packet is the router solicitation, the method further comprises:

receiving, by the management module, in response to the solicitation a router advertisement;

removing, by the management module from the packet, a MAC address of the router;

inserting, by the management module, in the packet instead an internal MAC address for forwarding packets to the IPv6 component; and

forwarding, by the management module, the packet to the IPv6 component as a unicast message.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein if the received IPv6 packet is the router solicitation, the method further comprises:

receiving, by the management module, in response to the solicitation a router advertisement;

removing, by the management module from the packet, a MAC address of the router;

inserting, by the management module, in the packet instead an internal MAC address for forwarding packets to the IPv6 component,

forwarding, by the management module, the packet to the IPv6 component as a multicast message.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein if the received IPv6 packet is the router advertisement, the method further comprises:

removing, by the management module, a multicast destination MAC address from a payload of the received packet; and

inserting, by the management module, in the payload of the packet the destination MAC address of the IPv6 component.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the IPv6 component is an input/output module for a blade server.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the segmented network comprises a blade server environment.

7. An apparatus for autoconfiguration of an IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) component in a segmented network, the apparatus comprising a computer processor, a computer memory operatively coupled to the computer processor, the computer memory having disposed within it computer program instructions for:

receiving, by a management module of the segmented network, an IPv6 packet;

wherein the management module comprises a module of automated computing machinery;

determining, by the management module of the segmented network, whether the received IPv6 packet is a router advertisement or a router solicitation;

if the received IPv6 packet is a router advertisement, then retrieving, by the management module, through an out-of-band link a destination Media Access Control (‘MAC’) address for the IPv6 component, removing, by the management module from the packet, a MAC address of a sending router, inserting, by the management module, in the packet instead an internal MAC address for forwarding packets to the IPv6 component, removing, by the management module, a multicast destination MAC address, inserting, by the management module, in the packet the destination MAC address of the IPv6 component, and forwarding, by the management module, the packet to the IPv6 component as a unicast message;

if the received IPv6 packet is a router solicitation, then removing, by the management module from the packet, the MAC address of the sending IPv6 component, inserting, by the management module, in the packet instead an external MAC address for forwarding packets to a router, and forwarding, by the management module, the packet to the router as a multicast message.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the computer memory also has disposed within it computer program instructions for:

receiving, by the management module, in response to the solicitation a router advertisement if the received IPv6 packet is the router solicitation;

removing, by the management module from the packet, a MAC address of the router;

inserting, by the management module, in the packet instead an internal MAC address for forwarding packets to the IPv6 component; and

forwarding, by the management module, the packet to the IPv6 component as a unicast message.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the computer memory also has disposed within it computer program instructions for:

receiving, by the management module, in response to the solicitation a router advertisement if the received IPv6 packet is the router solicitation;

removing, by the management module from the packet, a MAC address of the router;

inserting, by the management module, in the packet instead an internal MAC address for forwarding packets to the IPv6 component,

forwarding, by the management module, the packet to the IPv6 component as a multicast message.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the computer memory also has disposed within it computer program instructions for:

removing, by the management module, a multicast destination MAC address from a payload of the received packet if the received IPv6 packet is the router advertisement; and

inserting, by the management module, in the payload of the packet the destination MAC address of the IPv6 component.

11. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the IPv6 component is an input/output module for a blade server.

12. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the segmented network comprises a blade server environment.

13. A computer program product for autoconfiguration of an IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) component in a segmented network, the computer program product disposed in a computer readable recordable storage medium, the computer program product comprising computer program instructions that, when executed, cause a computer processor to perform the steps of:

receiving, by a management module of the segmented network, an IPv6 packet;

wherein the management module comprises a module of automated computing machinery;

determining, by the management module of the segmented network, whether the received IPv6 packet is a router advertisement or a router solicitation;

if the received IPv6 packet is a router advertisement, then retrieving, by the management module, through an out-of-band link a destination Media Access Control (‘MAC’) address for the IPv6 component, removing, by the management module from the packet, a MAC address of a sending router, inserting, by the management module, in the packet instead an internal MAC address for forwarding packets to the IPv6 component, removing, by the management module, a multicast destination MAC address, inserting, by the management module, in the packet the destination MAC address of the IPv6 component, and forwarding, by the management module, the packet to the IPv6 component as a unicast message;

if the received IPv6 packet is a router solicitation, then removing, by the management module from the packet, the MAC address of the sending IPv6 component, inserting, by the management module, in the packet instead an external MAC address for forwarding packets to a router, and forwarding, by the management module, the packet to the router as a multicast message.

14. The computer program product of claim 13 further comprising computer program instructions that, when executed, cause a computer processor to perform the steps of:

receiving, by the management module, in response to the solicitation a router advertisement if the received IPv6 packet is the router solicitation;

removing, by the management module from the packet, a MAC address of the router;

inserting, by the management module, in the packet instead an internal MAC address for forwarding packets to the IPv6 component; and

forwarding, by the management module, the packet to the IPv6 component as a unicast message.

15. The computer program product of claim 13 further comprising computer program instructions that, when executed, cause a computer processor to perform the steps of:

receiving, by the management module, in response to the solicitation a router advertisement if the received IPv6 packet is the router solicitation;

removing, by the management module from the packet, a MAC address of the router;

inserting, by the management module, in the packet instead an internal MAC address for forwarding packets to the IPv6 component,

forwarding, by the management module, the packet to the IPv6 component as a multicast message.

16. The computer program product of claim 13 further comprising computer program instructions that, when executed, cause a computer processor to perform the steps of:

removing, by the management module, a multicast destination MAC address from a payload of the received packet if the received IPv6 packet is the router advertisement; and

inserting, by the management module, in the payload of the packet the destination MAC address of the IPv6 component.

17. The computer program product of claim 13 wherein the IPv6 component is an input/output module for a blade server.

18. The computer program product of claim 13 wherein the segmented network comprises a blade server environment.