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Add an IPv6 NIC to a Running Instance

This guide helps you attach an additional Network Interface Card (NIC) with an IPv6 address to a running Instance.

Before you start​

  • Logged in to the Console Portal with the instance:Update permission
  • The Instance is in the Running state
  • You have a dual-stack subnet (ipv6Enabled = true) with ipv6Remaining > 0

Steps​

  1. Go to Compute Engine → Instances → click the name of the Instance you want to add a NIC to.
  2. Open the Network interface tab and click Create NIC.
  3. In the Add NIC dialog, select the dual-stack subnet from the Subnet dropdown — dual-stack subnets are labelled name (ipv4) | (ipv6) - Dual Stack.
    • A green hint appears: "1 IPv6 address will be attached to this VM from this dual-stack subnet."
    • The read-only IPv6 address field shows Auto-assign from <ipv6-cidr> (DHCPv6). The address is assigned automatically by DHCPv6.
  4. Click Add NIC.

Add NIC dialog with a dual-stack subnet selected and the auto-assigned IPv6 address field

Result​

  • The new NIC is attached to the Instance with both an IPv4 and an IPv6 address.
  • The Network interface table on the Instance Detail page shows the new NIC with its IPv6 address.

Network interface tab listing NICs with their IPv6 addresses

note

If you select an IPv4-only subnet, no IPv6 address is attached and the NIC has IPv4 only.