INET6_GETSCOPEID(3)

INET6_GETSCOPEID(3) | Library Functions Manual | INET6_GETSCOPEID(3)

# NAME

inet6_getscopeid, inet6_putscopeid — IPv6 scope id encoding and decoding functions

# SYNOPSIS

#include <netinet/in.h>
void
inet6_getscopeid(struct sockaddr_in6 *sin6, int flags);
void
inet6_putscopeid(struct sockaddr_in6 *sin6, int flags);

# DESCRIPTION

These functions implement a KAME-specific extension that encodes and decodes the scope id inside in the 3rd and 4th byte of the address, for link-local, site-local, and multicast-link-local addresses. The scope id helps deciding which interface is used for packets of that type.
Typically those two bytes are `0` for these kinds of addresses. The scope id is stored in network byte order.
The inet6_getscopeid() function retrieves the scope id from the 3rd and the 4th address bytes (from the sin6_addr member of sin6), and sets the sin6_scope_id from them. It then clears the two address bytes.
The inet6putscopeid() function stores the scope id found in sin6_scope_id into the 3rd and 4th byte of the address (into the sin6_addr member of sin6). It then clears the sin6_scope_id member of sin6.
The flags argument controls for which addresses this action is performed. It can be a combination of:

- `INET6_IS_ADDR_LINKLOCAL`
- `INET6_IS_ADDR_MC_LINKLOCAL`
- `INET6_IS_ADDR_SITELOCAL`

# HISTORY

These functions first appeared in NetBSD 7.0.

October 31, 2013 | NetBSD 8.3