IPv6 support
IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) is the updated system for IP addresses on the internet. It's slowly replacing IPv4.
Both versions of the system use a series of numbers to identify devices that are connected to the internet, similar to how street addresses identify homes or businesses.
With IPv4, each device address is comprised of four numbers separated by dots, such as 192.168.0.1 for example. IPv6 uses a much longer series of numbers and letters for each device, allowing for many more available addresses.
IPv6 also offers the following technical benefits:
- You can expect a slight increase in performance for some of your customers.
- You can expect improved resiliency for your domain:
- Most browsers fall back to IPv4 should the IPv6 network path fail.
- There's no requirement for an IPv6 to IPv4 Gateway for some of your customers that might be on an IPv6-only network.
Activating IPv6 on your domain
Shopify-managed domains
IPv6 is automatically activated for any domain that you purchase through Shopify or that you transfer over to Shopify.
You can confirm that IPv6 is activated by going to the DNS settings for your domain and locating the AAAA record.
Third-party domains
When you connect your domain, create an AAAA DNS record. The AAAA record activates IPv6 for your domain, as well as for any subdomains that you have configured with a CNAME record pointing towards shops.myshopify.com. Learn more about connecting third-party domains.
Deactivate IPv6 for your domain
Because of the benefits of IPv6, deactivation isn't recommended. However, the following are a few reasons why you might want to deactivate IPv6:
- You use a third-party service that doesn't support IPv6-formatted client addresses.
- You have an integration that doesn't support IPv6-formatted client addresses.
To deactivate IPv6 for your domain, complete the following steps:
- Remove the AAAA DNS record for your root domain.
- Update the CNAME record from
shops.myshopify.comtoshops-v4.myshopify.comon any subdomains.