Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2018 / ib / Paper 4 / 2G / a / Solution

Use the presentation $D_6=⟨r,s:r^3=s^2=1,srs=r^{-1}⟩$. Its subgroup $⟨r⟩$ is the unique subgroup of order $3$, hence is a characteristic subgroup. An automorphism must send $r$ to $r$ or $r^{-1}$ and $s$ to one of the three reflections $r^{j}s$. Thus there are at most six automorphisms.

The center of a group of $D_6$ is trivial, so conjugation embeds $D_6$ as a group of six inner automorphisms. These exhaust the possibilities. Hence every automorphism of $D_6$ is inner.