[dns-operations] Enabling the IPv6-only Internet: the Final TLDs

[Shane Kerr]

All,

tl;dr IPv6 for TLD - help!!!

I'd like all TLD to have IPv6 name servers, so that the entire Internet
is potentially reachable via IPv6. I'd like some advice or help in
getting the last few TLD sorted out.

It's not necessary for all TLD to allow AAAA records as glue for
delegations in their domain, since someone under such a TLD can add an
out-of-bailiwick name server and their zone can be reachable under
IPv6. But if the TLD has no IPv6 name servers itself, then IPv6-only
resolution cannot work.

Of the 1055 TLD in the root zone today, 1022 have at least one name
server with IPv6 glue in the root zone. That's almost 97%... not too
shabby! :) (Although 33 of them only have a single IPv6 name server, so
don't have any redundancy. One step at a time...)

All of the remaining non-IPv6 TLD are ccTLD. Except for .MIL, of course.
($600 billion in the 2015 US military budget and we can't sort out a
freaking IPv6 address.)

A few years ago when I was still at ISC, I tried to contact all of the
registries and see what I could do to help. One of the many public
benefit things that ISC does is to secondary TLD who need this kind of
service, which would give IPv6 to those TLD. There were a couple of
special cases that were problematic, like North Korea or the
Persian-language version of Iran, which US law forbids ISC from helping
(probably). But I figured I could send those to some other friendly
secondary provider.

I only got a couple of responses. It was pretty grim. (I never got to
the point of calling or using physical letters before I left ISC.) A
couple of these are especially frustrating because it is the same
organization that has some other domains that *do* support IPv6 (like
Mongolia or Palestine).

Anyway, I am hoping for ideas on how to solve this. There are plenty of
great people who will give IPv6 secondary support for free to help
out. There are also people who would be more than happy to figure out
how to get other IPv6 solutions in place. My own feeling is that it can
really be a simple as a few hours of time from someone at the registry
plus a few hours from an IPv6 secondary... if only I can figure out who
to ask!

I kind of think this is something that ICANN *could* help with,
although it is not clear at all to me that this is something that ICANN
is *allowed* to help with.

Anyway, if you know someone involved with any non-IPv6 TLD, please let
me know and/or explain the wonders of IPv6 to them. Thanks!

The list:

ai			# Anguilla
ax			# Åland Islands
bb			# Barbados
bd			# Bangladesh
bf			# Burkina Faso
bh			# Bahrain
ck			# Cook Islands
dj			# Djibouti
fk			# Falkland Islands
gf			# French Guiana
hm			# Heard Island and McDonald Islands
kp			# North Korea
mh			# Marshall Islands
mil			# MIL gTLD
mp			# Northern Mariana Islands
mq			# Martinique
mv			# Maldives
ni			# Nicaragua
pf			# French Polynesia
pk			# Pakistan
sl			# Sierra Leone
sr			# Suriname
st			# São Tomé and Príncipe
uz			# Uzbekistan
vu			# Vanuatu
ws			# Samoa
xn--l1acc		# Mongolia IDN
xn--lgbbat1ad8j		# Algeria IDN
xn--mgba3a4f16a		# Iran IDN
xn--wgbh1c		# Egypt IDN
xn--ygbi2ammx		# Palestine IDN
ye			# Yemen
zw			# Zimbabwe

--
Shane