As of MySQL 8.0.14, Group Replication group members can use IPv6 addresses as an alternative to IPv4 addresses for communications within the group. To use IPv6 addresses, the operating system on the server host and the MySQL Server instance must both be configured to support IPv6. For instructions to set up IPv6 support for a server instance, see Section 7.1.13, “IPv6 Support”.

IPv6 addresses, or host names that resolve to them, can be specified as the network address that the member provides in the group_replication_local_address option for connections from other members. When specified with a port number, an IPv6 address must be specified in square brackets, for example:

group_replication_local_address= "[2001:db8:85a3:8d3:1319:8a2e:370:7348]:33061"

The network address or host name specified in group_replication_local_address is used by Group Replication as the unique identifier for a group member within the replication group. If a host name specified as the Group Replication local address for a server instance resolves to both an IPv4 and an IPv6 address, the IPv4 address is always used for Group Replication connections. The address or host name specified as the Group Replication local address is not the same as the MySQL server SQL protocol host and port, and is not specified in the bind_address system variable for the server instance. For the purpose of IP address permissions for Group Replication (see Section 20.6.4, “Group Replication IP Address Permissions”), the address that you specify for each group member in group_replication_local_address must be added to the list for the group_replication_ip_allowlist (from MySQL 8.0.22) or group_replication_ip_whitelist system variable on the other servers in the replication group.

A replication group can contain a combination of members that present an IPv6 address as their Group Replication local address, and members that present an IPv4 address. When a server joins such a mixed group, it must make the initial contact with the seed member using the protocol that the seed member advertises in the group_replication_group_seeds option, whether that is IPv4 or IPv6. If any of the seed members for the group are listed in the group_replication_group_seeds option with an IPv6 address when a joining member has an IPv4 Group Replication local address, or the reverse, you must also set up and permit an alternative address for the joining member for the required protocol (or a host name that resolves to an address for that protocol). If a joining member does not have a permitted address for the appropriate protocol, its connection attempt is refused. The alternative address or host name only needs to be added to the group_replication_ip_allowlist (from MySQL 8.0.22) or group_replication_ip_whitelist system variable on the other servers in the replication group, not to the group_replication_local_address value for the joining member (which can only contain a single address).

For example, server A is a seed member for a group, and has the following configuration settings for Group Replication, so that it is advertising an IPv6 address in the group_replication_group_seeds option:

group_replication_bootstrap_group=on
group_replication_local_address= "[2001:db8:85a3:8d3:1319:8a2e:370:7348]:33061"
group_replication_group_seeds= "[2001:db8:85a3:8d3:1319:8a2e:370:7348]:33061"

Server B is a joining member for the group, and has the following configuration settings for Group Replication, so that it has an IPv4 Group Replication local address:

group_replication_bootstrap_group=off
group_replication_local_address= "203.0.113.21:33061"
group_replication_group_seeds= "[2001:db8:85a3:8d3:1319:8a2e:370:7348]:33061"

Server B also has an alternative IPv6 address 2001:db8:8b0:40:3d9c:cc43:e006:19e8. For Server B to join the group successfully, both its IPv4 Group Replication local address, and its alternative IPv6 address, must be listed in Server A's allowlist, as in the following example:

group_replication_ip_allowlist=
"203.0.113.0/24,2001:db8:85a3:8d3:1319:8a2e:370:7348,
2001:db8:8b0:40:3d9c:cc43:e006:19e8"

As a best practice for Group Replication IP address permissions, Server B (and all other group members) should have the same allowlist as Server A, unless security requirements demand otherwise.

If any or all members of a replication group are using an older MySQL Server version that does not support the use of IPv6 addresses for Group Replication, a member cannot participate in the group using an IPv6 address (or a host name that resolves to one) as its Group Replication local address. This applies both in the case where at least one existing member uses an IPv6 address and a new member that does not support this attempts to join, and in the case where a new member attempts to join using an IPv6 address but the group includes at least one member that does not support this. In each situation, the new member cannot join. To make a joining member present an IPv4 address for group communications, you can either change the value of group_replication_local_address to an IPv4 address, or configure your DNS to resolve the joining member's existing host name to an IPv4 address. After you have upgraded every group member to a MySQL Server version that supports IPv6 for Group Replication, you can change the group_replication_local_address value for each member to an IPv6 address, or configure your DNS to present an IPv6 address. Changing the value of group_replication_local_address takes effect only when you stop and restart Group Replication.

IPv6 addresses can also be used as distributed recovery endpoints, which can be specified in MySQL 8.0.21 and later using the group_replication_advertise_recovery_endpoints system variable. The same rules apply to addresses used in this list. See Section 20.5.4.1, “Connections for Distributed Recovery”.