xinetd configuration guide

The IPv6 support in xinetd started at release 2.1.8.8.pre*.

How can I configure a service to run over IPv6?

You can enable IPv6 support by adding a new service instance with the flags=IPv6 option, e.g:

service imap
{
        id            = imap-IPv4
        flags         = IPv4
        socket_type   = stream
        protocol      = tcp
        wait          = no
        user          = root
        server        = /usr/sbin/imapd
}
service imap
{
        id            = imap-IPv6
        flags         = IPv6
        socket_type   = stream
        protocol      = tcp
        wait          = no
        user          = root
        server        = /usr/sbin/imapd
}

Help! I did as you wrote above and get 'bind failed (Address already in use' messages from xinetd

It means that your system bind also to IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses (i.e. IPv4 addresses) in case of binding IPv6 addresses. Simply get rid of the imap-IPv4 instance above (or add the disable = yes option to the instance) and reload xinetd.

In Linux 2.6.* the IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses bind is the default. You can disable (but you shouldn't) IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses binding by the command

# echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv6/bindv6ony

-  ⇤ ← Revision 1 as of 2006-12-04 13:49:10 → 
  Size: 1256
  Editor: kadlecsik
  Comment:
+   ← Revision 8 as of 2008-04-10 15:29:31 → ⇥
  Size: 1359
  Editor: localhost
  Comment: converted to 1.6 markup
-Deletions are marked like this.
+Additions are marked like this.
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+#acl All:read
<<TableOfContents>>
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-== How to configure a service to run over IPv6? ==
+== How can I configure a service to run over IPv6? ==
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+Line 32:
-It means that your system supports IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses. Simply get rid of the {{{imap-IPv4}}} instance from above (or add the {{{disable = yes}}} flag to the instance) and reload xinetd.
+It means that your system bind also to IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses (i.e. IPv4 addresses) in case of binding IPv6 addresses. Simply get rid of the {{{imap-IPv4}}} instance above (or add the {{{disable = yes}}} option to the instance) and reload xinetd.
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+Line 34:
-In Linux 2.6.* IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses are supported by default. You '''can''' disable (but you shouldn't) IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses by the command
+In Linux 2.6.* the IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses bind is the default. You '''can''' disable (but you shouldn't) IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses binding by the command