I recently got a small pc for my Jellyfin Server.

Ideally, I want to reach it from everywhere, but alas, I got no static Ipv4 Address with which I am more familiar.

Can I just expose my Ipv6 Address through that damned Vodafone and use the IP Address together with the Port, or do I need an DNS with AAAA record?
And are there any pitfalls I need to take care of?

I am definitely not the most experienced Dude when it comes to these things, so I would appreciate it if you could hold my hand here a little bit :)

  • @StrawberryPigtailsEnglish
    2•1 year ago

    I’ve actually been looking into this some myself. There seems to be nothing in terms of documentation or walk throughs aimed at the average home based self-hoster.

    I haven’t tried setting my home systems up with IPv6 yet, been working on other projects, but here is what I have figured out so far.

    While they are not compatible with each other, IPv6 is essentially a 1 for 1 drop-in replacement for IPv4. The symbols are different, but they do the exact same thing in the exact same way with DNS still only providing the server’s “phone number” and the client saying which port it wants. Instead of an A record, you would use an AAAA record at the DNS provider to point to your server.

    This is fine and straight forward if your running off a VPS, just point the DNS to your server’s IPv6 address. Where I’m lost at is what happens when IPv6 packets hits your home network.

    Unanswered Questions:

    • Are my home servers behind a NAT firewall or is the server’s address that I get from my gateway (IPv6) directly accessible from the internet.
    • If I’m behind a NAT, how do I designate the port number in my reverse proxy config (Caddy Server in my case).
    • If the server’s address is directly accessible via the internet without a firewall at the router, WTF is my ISP thinking!?
    • elmichaEnglish
      1•1 year ago

      I don’t know how it works with your or OP’s router, but my router has a firewall for IPv6, too. There’s no NAT for IPv6, so if I open a port I have to use the server’s IP address, and that’s also the IP address that I have to use from the outside.

  • @StrawberryPigtailsEnglish
    2•1 year ago

    Sorry for breaking this into two posts. My employer insists on my working when I’m on the clock for some obscure reason. :-)

    My guess is that what happens when IPv6 packets hit your home network depends on how your ISP decided to hand out addresses. If they gave you a single IPv6 address for your account, the there is absolutely no change from how IPv4 works, it’s just using different symbols. As usual you’ll need to forward the correct port to your Jellyfin or reverse proxy.

    If they’ve given you a range of IP6 addresses, I suspect there would be some sort of “drop all inbound” firewall at your gateway/router” that you would have to modify. Either way you will need to dig into your modem settings or call your ISP for “help”.

    Like I said in the other comment, I haven’t played with v6 much, but I hope these posts help you some.