How to disable IPv6 on Linux

While both internet service providers and IT experts caution users against disabling IPv6 on Linux devices permanently, it’s OK to turn the protocol off temporarily when troubleshooting network issues. In this article, we will teach you how to disable IPv6 on your Linux device.

Red Hat-based distributions

Here's how to disable IPv6 on Linux if you’re running a Red Hat-based system:

1. Open the terminal window.
2. Change to the root user.
3. Type these commands: 
   
   sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6=1
sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6=1
sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.tun0.disable_ipv6=1
    
4. To re-enable IPv6, type these commands:
   
   sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6=0
sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6=0
sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.tun0.disable_ipv6=0
sysctl -p

Debian-based distributions

Here's how to disable IPv6 on Linux if you’re running a Debian-based machine.

1. Open the terminal window.
2. Type this command:
   
   sudo nano /etc/sysctl.conf
    
3. Add the following at the bottom of the file:
   
   net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6 = 1
net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6 = 1
net.ipv6.conf.lo.disable_ipv6 = 1
net.ipv6.conf.tun0.disable_ipv6 = 1
    
4. Save and close the file.
5. Reboot your device.
6. To re-enable IPv6, remove the above lines from /etc/sysctl.conf and reboot your device.