Description: Address status. The preferred(1) state indicates that this is a valid address that can appear as the destination or source address of a packet. The deprecated(2) state indicates that this is a valid but deprecated address that should no longer be used as a source address in new communications, but packets addressed to such an address are processed as expected. The invalid(3) state indicates that this is not valid address which should not appear as the destination or source address of a packet. The inaccessible(4) state indicates that the address is not accessible because the interface to which this address is assigned is not operational. The tentative(6) state indicates the uniqueness of the address on the link is being verified. The duplicate(7) state indicates the address has been determined to be non-unique on the link and so must not be used.

In the absence of other information, an IPv4 address is always preferred(1).