ADDITIONAL SYSTEM INFORMATION :
paul@sprocket:~$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Debian
Description: Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye)
Release: 11
Codename: bullseye
paul@sprocket:~$

paul@sprocket:~$ java -version
openjdk version "11.0.14" 2022-01-18
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 11.0.14+9-post-Debian-1deb11u1)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 11.0.14+9-post-Debian-1deb11u1, mixed mode, sharing)
paul@sprocket:~$

paul@sprocket:~$ readlink -f `which jshell`
/usr/lib/jvm/java-11-openjdk-amd64/bin/jshell
paul@sprocket:~$

paul@sprocket:~$ dpkg -S /usr/lib/jvm/java-11-openjdk-amd64/bin/jshell
openjdk-11-jdk-headless:amd64: /usr/lib/jvm/java-11-openjdk-amd64/bin/jshell
paul@sprocket:~$

paul@sprocket:~$ jshell -version
jshell 11.0.14
paul@sprocket:~$

Note that, on my system, "localhost" resolves to the following list of IP address:
    `::1` (an IPv6 address),
    `127.0.0.1` (an IPv4 address).

A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :
Specifying the `java.net.preferIPv6Addresses` system configuration property as either `true` or `system` causes jshell to report a stack-trace and die.

The value of `system` may depend on the OS configuration; in particular, whether the OS (itself) is configured to prefer IPv6 addresses.

STEPS TO FOLLOW TO REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM :
Run either:

    jshell -J-Djava.net.preferIPv6Addresses=true

or

    jshell -J-Djava.net.preferIPv6Addresses=system

EXPECTED VERSUS ACTUAL BEHAVIOR :
EXPECTED -
I expect jshell to show a prompt and support REPL-like interaction.
ACTUAL -
paul@sprocket:~$ jshell -J-Djava.net.preferIPv6Addresses=system
Launching JShell execution engine threw: FailOverExecutionControlProvider: FAILED: 0:jdi:hostname(0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1) --
  Exception: java.lang.InternalError: Failed remote listen: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: unable to parse port number in address @ com.sun.jdi.SocketListen (defaults: timeout=, port=, localAddress=) -- {timeout=timeout=5000, port=port=, localAddress=localAddress=0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1}
                  jdk.jshell/jdk.jshell.execution.JdiInitiator.reportLaunchFail(JdiInitiator.java:300)
                  jdk.jshell/jdk.jshell.execution.JdiInitiator.listenTarget(JdiInitiator.java:199)
                  jdk.jshell/jdk.jshell.execution.JdiInitiator.<init>(JdiInitiator.java:111)
                  jdk.jshell/jdk.jshell.execution.JdiDefaultExecutionControl.create(JdiDefaultExecutionControl.java:103)
                  jdk.jshell/jdk.jshell.execution.JdiExecutionControlProvider.generate(JdiExecutionControlProvider.java:152)
      cause: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: unable to parse port number in address
FailOverExecutionControlProvider: FAILED: 1:jdi:launch(true) --
  Exception: java.net.SocketTimeoutException: Accept timed out
                  java.base/java.net.PlainSocketImpl.socketAccept(Native Method)
                  java.base/java.net.AbstractPlainSocketImpl.accept(AbstractPlainSocketImpl.java:474)
                  java.base/java.net.ServerSocket.implAccept(ServerSocket.java:565)
                  java.base/java.net.ServerSocket.accept(ServerSocket.java:533)
                  jdk.jshell/jdk.jshell.execution.JdiDefaultExecutionControl.create(JdiDefaultExecutionControl.java:116)
FailOverExecutionControlProvider: FAILED: 2:jdi --
  Exception: java.net.SocketTimeoutException: Accept timed out
                  java.base/java.net.PlainSocketImpl.socketAccept(Native Method)
                  java.base/java.net.AbstractPlainSocketImpl.accept(AbstractPlainSocketImpl.java:474)
                  java.base/java.net.ServerSocket.implAccept(ServerSocket.java:565)
                  java.base/java.net.ServerSocket.accept(ServerSocket.java:533)
                  jdk.jshell/jdk.jshell.execution.JdiDefaultExecutionControl.create(JdiDefaultExecutionControl.java:116)

paul@sprocket:~$

A similar result is obtained by specifying java.net.preferIPv6Addresses has the value `true`

---------- BEGIN SOURCE ----------
The source code for jshell is part of the JDK repo (see, for example, jdk11u repo).
---------- END SOURCE ----------

CUSTOMER SUBMITTED WORKAROUND :
By default if `java.net.preferIPv6Addresses` is not specified then Java will prefer IPv4 addresses.

jshell starts up correctly if "localhost" resolves to an IPv4 address (e.g., '127.0.0.1')

FREQUENCY : always