Merge "CI: Remove IPv6 testing"

doc/source/admin/networking.rst

@@ -96,8 +96,10 @@ the Ironic service:
   support for the switches attached to the baremetal servers so they can be
   programmed. This interface generally requires use of ML2 plugins or other
   Neutron SDN integrations to facilitate the port configuration actions in
-  the network fabric. When using IPv6, use of the ``neutron`` interface
+  the network fabric. When using IPv6, use of the ``neutron`` interface is
-  is preferred.
+  highly recommended as use of the ``dhcpv6-stateful`` configuration model
+  for IPv6 with Neutron also automatically creates multiple address records
+  for stateful address resolution.
 
 To use these interfaces, they need to be enabled in *ironic.conf* utilizing
 the :oslo.config:option:`enabled_network_interfaces` setting.

doc/source/install/configure-ipv6-networking.rst

@@ -6,6 +6,13 @@ configuration. This page covers the IPv6 specifics only. Please refer to
 :doc:`/install/configure-tenant-networks` and
 :doc:`/install/configure-networking` for general networking configuration.
 
+.. WARNING::
+   IPv6 Networking is not actively tested in upstream Continuous
+   Integration pipelines, in large part because test virtual machines
+   have limited support and known issues. Hardware vendors often have
+   better firmware which enables this functionality, but may require
+   specific operating modes, such as ``stateless`` or ``stateful``
+   depending on the requirements placed upon them by their customers.
 
 Configure ironic PXE driver for provisioning using IPv6 addressing
 ==================================================================

releasenotes/notes/remove-ipv6-testing-9f8209d57a9e9320.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+---
+issues:
+  - |
+    IPv6 testing in the upstream Continuous Integration (CI) pipelines has
+    been removed. This was the result of the move to UEFI booting in general,
+    combined with the the state of the EDK2 virtual machine firmware which
+    is known to have
+    `many issues with IPv6 <https://github.com/tianocore/edk2/issues?q=is%3Aissue%20state%3Aopen%20ipv6>`_,
+    and thus cannot be tested in an automated fashion upstream.
+    Previously Ironic tested IPv6 utilizing BIOS boot, but recent move to
+    leverage Ubuntu Noble in upstream CI also limited the community's
+    options as the BIOS ROM firmware images no longer contain IPv6 support.
+
+    As a result of this, we are forced to remove the CI job from testing.
+
+    We hope to restore this testing at some point in the future, should
+    EDK2 fix some of the known issues. This issue does not impact support
+    for physical machines which has long been validated as known working
+    through operator reports and downstream vendor testing activities.

zuul.d/ironic-jobs.yaml

@@ -874,6 +874,13 @@
         SWIFT_TEMPURL_KEY: secretkey
         IRONIC_BOOT_MODE: bios
 
+# NOTE(TheJulia): This job does not work on Ubuntu Noble, much less
+# newer EDK2 images when in UEFI mode. As such is being disabled.
+# Reasons: EDK2 has a ton of ipv6 bugs. IPv6 support not in qemu/ipxe
+# bios roms *either*. Concurrently, this means we can't test realistic
+# deployment and booting, nor can we test a short circuited ipxe workflow
+# upstream. In case this situation changes, keeping the job configuration
+# below.
 - job:
     name: ironic-tempest-ipxe-ipv6
     description: ironic-tempest-ipxe-ipv6
@@ -930,6 +937,7 @@
         BUILD_TIMEOUT: 2000
         IRONIC_TEMPEST_BUILD_TIMEOUT: 2000
         IRONIC_PING_TIMEOUT: 1440
+        IRONIC_BOOT_MODE: bios
 
 # NOTE(rpittau): OLD TINYIPA JOBS
 # Those jobs are used by other projects, we leave them here until

zuul.d/project.yaml

@@ -61,8 +61,6 @@
             voting: false
         - ironic-tempest-ipa-wholedisk-bios-ipmi-direct-dib:
             voting: false
-        - ironic-tempest-ipxe-ipv6:
-            voting: false
         - ironic-standalone-anaconda:
             voting: false
         - bifrost-integration-tinyipa-ubuntu-noble: