RFC 2732 (rfc2732) - Page 2 of 5

Format for Literal IPv6 Addresses in URL's

Alternative Format: Original Text Document
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RFC 2732            IPv6 Literal Addresses in URL's        December 1999


   The format defined in this document has been implemented in the IPv6
   versions of several widely deployed browsers including Microsoft
   Internet Explorer, Mozilla, and Lynx.  It is also intended to be used
   in the IPv6 version of the service location protocol.

1.1 Requirements

   The keywords MUST, MUST NOT, REQUIRED, SHALL, SHALL NOT, SHOULD,
   SHOULD NOT, RECOMMENDED, MAY, and OPTIONAL, if and where they appear
   in this document, are to be interpreted as described in [KEYWORDS].

   World Wide Web browsers SHOULD implement the format of IPv6 literals
   in URL's defined in this document.  Other types of applications and
   protocols that use URL's MAY use this format.

2. Literal IPv6 Address Format in URL's Syntax

   To use a literal IPv6 address in a URL, the literal address should be
   enclosed in "[" and "]" characters.  For example the following
   literal IPv6 addresses:

      FEDC:BA98:7654:3210:FEDC:BA98:7654:3210
      1080:0:0:0:8:800:200C:4171
      3ffe:2a00:100:7031::1
      1080::8:800:200C:417A
      ::192.9.5.5
      ::FFFF:129.144.52.38
      2010:836B:4179::836B:4179

   would be represented as in the following example URLs:

      http://[FEDC:BA98:7654:3210:FEDC:BA98:7654:3210]:80/index.html
      http://[1080:0:0:0:8:800:200C:417A]/index.html
      http://[3ffe:2a00:100:7031::1]
      http://[1080::8:800:200C:417A]/foo
      http://[::192.9.5.5]/ipng
      http://[::FFFF:129.144.52.38]:80/index.html
      http://[2010:836B:4179::836B:4179]

3. Changes to RFC 2396

   This document updates the generic syntax for Uniform Resource
   Identifiers defined in RFC 2396 [URL].  It defines a syntax for IPv6
   addresses and allows the use of "[" and "]" within a URI explicitly
   for this reserved purpose.






Hinden, et al.              Standards Track
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