Changing IPv6 addresses of nodes

Q: Is there a procedure to change IPv6 addresses of nodes without redeploying the nodes?

A: Thats sadly not possible at the moment. The IPv6 address is a read only record in the registry for the node, so the only way to change it at the moment (2024) is to redeploy a node.

Steps would be something along the following lines:

1. Communicate the intention and get the green light (e.g. to make sure there are enough healthy nodes in subnets to prevent a bigger incident)
2. Disconnect nodes from the Internet to prevent them from re-registering automatically
3. Remove nodes assigned to subnets via NNS proposals, using DRE tool https://github.com/dfinity/dre
4. Remove all unassigned nodes from the registry by following Removing_a_Node_From_the_Registry
5. Redeploy all nodes as new nodes via standard USB installation.

For the node redeployment, you will need to update the config file in the installation USB to use the new IPv6 prefix.

You do not have to change the rewards configuration if you are not changing the number of nodes