Restrictions and guidelines

After you configure an IPv6 global unicast address for an interface, the interface automatically generates a link-local address. This link-local address is the same as the one generated by using the ipv6 address auto link-local command. If a link-local address is manually assigned to an interface, this manual assigned link-local address takes effect. If the manually assigned link-local address is deleted, the automatically generated link-local address takes effect.

Using the undo ipv6 address auto link-local command on an interface deletes only the link-local address generated by the ipv6 address auto link-local command. If the interface has an IPv6 global unicast address, it still has a link-local address. If the interface has no IPv6 global unicast address, it has no link-local address.

An interface can have only one link-local address. As a best practice, use the automatic generation method to avoid link-local address conflicts. If both the automatic generation and manual assignment methods are used, the manual assignment takes precedence.

• If you first use automatic generation and then manual assignment, the manually assigned link-local address overwrites the automatically generated one.

• If you first use manual assignment and then automatic generation, both of the following occur:

  • The link-local address is still the manually assigned one.

  • The automatically generated link-local address does not take effect. If you delete the manually assigned address, the automatically generated link-local address takes effect.