$re = '/^\s*((((([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})|\*):){7}((([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})|\*)|:))|(((([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})|\*):){6}(:(([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})|\*)|((25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d\d|[1-9]?\d)(\.(25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d\d|[1-9]?\d)){3})|:))|(((([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})|\*):){5}(((:(([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})|\*)){1,2})|:((25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d\d|[1-9]?\d)(\.(25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d\d|[1-9]?\d)){3})|:))|(((([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})|\*):){4}(((:(([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})|\*)){1,3})|((:(([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})|\*))?:((25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d\d|[1-9]?\d)(\.(25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d\d|[1-9]?\d)){3}))|:))|(((([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})|\*):){3}(((:(([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})|\*)){1,4})|((:(([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})|\*)){0,2}:((25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d\d|[1-9]?\d)(\.(25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d\d|[1-9]?\d)){3}))|:))|(((([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})|\*):){2}(((:(([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})|\*)){1,5})|((:(([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})|\*)){0,3}:((25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d\d|[1-9]?\d)(\.(25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d\d|[1-9]?\d)){3}))|:))|(((([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})|\*):){1}(((:(([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})|\*)){1,6})|((:(([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})|\*)){0,4}:((25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d\d|[1-9]?\d)(\.(25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d\d|[1-9]?\d)){3}))|:))|(:(((:(([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})|\*)){1,7})|((:(([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})|\*)){0,5}:((25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d\d|[1-9]?\d)(\.(25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d\d|[1-9]?\d)){3}))|:)))\s*$/m';
$str = '2404:6800:4003:c02::8a
2404:6800:4003:804::200e
2001:4998:c:a06::2:4008
fe80::21d8:f50:c295:c4be
2001:cdba::e:9652
2001:cdba:0:0:0:0:3257:9652
2001:cdba::3257:9652
2001:cdba::1222
21DA:D3:0:2F3B:2AA:FF:FE28:9C5A
2001:cdba::1:2:3:3257:9652
2404::4003:804::200e
1234:Fd2:2:1:89::4500
1234:Fd2:12:1:89::4500
2001:DB8:0:0:0:0:0:*
2001:DB8:0:0:0:*:*:*
2001:DB8::0:*
2001:DB8:0:0:0:*:0:1
::
2001:DB8:0:0:0:*
2001:*:1
*
';
preg_match_all($re, $str, $matches, PREG_SET_ORDER, 0);
// Print the entire match result
var_dump($matches);
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php