AICCU
Encyclopedia
AICCU is a popular cross-platform utility for automatically configuring an IPv6
tunnel
. It is free software
available under a BSD license
. The utility is originally provided for the SixXS Tunnel Broker but it can also be used by a variety of other tunnel broker
s.
-only and Linux/BSD-variety of the Heartbeat tool that was provided by SixXS, solely to use the Heartbeat protocol. When the AYIYA protocol came into existence it was decided that to support this new protocol it would be better to merge the Windows and Unix trees into one program and give it a bit flashier appearance. The name of the Heartbeat tool was then changed to reflect that it did more than providing mere support for the heartbeats.
AICCU primarily uses the TIC protocol to retrieve the configuration parameters of the tunnel automatically that the user wants to have configured.
s by looking up the TXT DNS
records from "_aiccu.sixxs.net". The latter allows a local network to add their own tunnel broker(s) by adding records in the domains configured in their search path. Non-local tunnel brokers can be added by requesting the SixXS staff to add an entry to the global DNS records.
Various distributions have an AICCU package included in their distribution.
IPv6
Internet Protocol version 6 is a version of the Internet Protocol . It is designed to succeed the Internet Protocol version 4...
tunnel
Tunneling protocol
Computer networks use a tunneling protocol when one network protocol encapsulates a different payload protocol...
. It is free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
available under a BSD license
BSD licenses
BSD licenses are a family of permissive free software licenses. The original license was used for the Berkeley Software Distribution , a Unix-like operating system after which it is named....
. The utility is originally provided for the SixXS Tunnel Broker but it can also be used by a variety of other tunnel broker
Tunnel broker
In the context of computer networking, a tunnel broker is a service which provides a network tunnel. These tunnels can provide encapsulated connectivity over existing infrastructure to a new infrastructure....
s.
History and development
AICCU is written and maintained by Jeroen Massar. Various patches from other persons have been incorporated, these persons are acknowledged in the field for their contributions. AICCU is the successor of the WindowsMicrosoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
-only and Linux/BSD-variety of the Heartbeat tool that was provided by SixXS, solely to use the Heartbeat protocol. When the AYIYA protocol came into existence it was decided that to support this new protocol it would be better to merge the Windows and Unix trees into one program and give it a bit flashier appearance. The name of the Heartbeat tool was then changed to reflect that it did more than providing mere support for the heartbeats.
Award of excellence
AICCU has won the Award of Excellence in the Implementation Category of the 2004 Edition of the IPv6 Application Contest.Supported protocols
The following tunneling protocols are currently supported:- 6in46in46in4 is an Internet transition mechanism for migrating from Internet Protocol version 4 to IPv6. 6in4 uses tunneling to encapsulate IPv6 traffic over explicitly-configured IPv4 links as defined in RFC 4213 . The 6in4 traffic is sent over the IPv4 Internet inside IPv4 packets whose IP headers have...
- Standard IPv6 in IPv4 tunnels using protocol 41 in the IPv4 protocol header. - AYIYA - For IPv6 over IPv4 UDP in a secure manner and being able to work through a NAT.
- 6in4 Heartbeat - used for dynamic 6in4 tunnels
AICCU primarily uses the TIC protocol to retrieve the configuration parameters of the tunnel automatically that the user wants to have configured.
Support for other tunnel brokers
AICCU finds available tunnel brokerTunnel broker
In the context of computer networking, a tunnel broker is a service which provides a network tunnel. These tunnels can provide encapsulated connectivity over existing infrastructure to a new infrastructure....
s by looking up the TXT DNS
Domain name system
The Domain Name System is a hierarchical distributed naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. It associates various information with domain names assigned to each of the participating entities...
records from "_aiccu.sixxs.net". The latter allows a local network to add their own tunnel broker(s) by adding records in the domains configured in their search path. Non-local tunnel brokers can be added by requesting the SixXS staff to add an entry to the global DNS records.
Supported platforms
The following operating systems/platforms/distributions are supported by AICCU:- IBMIBMInternational Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
AIX - DragonFlyBSD
- FreeBSDFreeBSDFreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via BSD UNIX. Although for legal reasons FreeBSD cannot be called “UNIX”, as the direct descendant of BSD UNIX , FreeBSD’s internals and system APIs are UNIX-compliant...
- PC-BSDPC-BSDPC-BSD is a Unix-like, desktop-oriented operating system based on FreeBSD. It aims to be easy to install by using a graphical installation program, and easy and ready-to-use immediately by providing KDE SC as the pre-installed graphical user interface. PC-BSD provides official binary nVidia and...
- NetBSDNetBSDNetBSD is a freely available open source version of the Berkeley Software Distribution Unix operating system. It was the second open source BSD descendant to be formally released, after 386BSD, and continues to be actively developed. The NetBSD project is primarily focused on high quality design,...
- OpenBSDOpenBSDOpenBSD is a Unix-like computer operating system descended from Berkeley Software Distribution , a Unix derivative developed at the University of California, Berkeley. It was forked from NetBSD by project leader Theo de Raadt in late 1995...
- LinuxLinuxLinux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
- Mac OS XMac OS XMac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
- SunSun MicrosystemsSun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
SolarisSolaris Operating SystemSolaris is a Unix operating system originally developed by Sun Microsystems. It superseded their earlier SunOS in 1993. Oracle Solaris, as it is now known, has been owned by Oracle Corporation since Oracle's acquisition of Sun in January 2010....
(no AYIYA support) - WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
Various distributions have an AICCU package included in their distribution.