A Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) client, such as a network element, includes one or more processors and memory comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to configure an unnumbered interface to communicate via Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) and communicate to a server over a network, wherein the unnumbered interface is an interface which does not have an IPv6 address which is routable in the network, auto provision Open Shortest Path First version 3 (OSPFv3) based on a reply from a DHCPv6 relay agent, and request data from the network for provisioning.