The charter of the Network Configuration (netconf) working group in the Operations and Management Area of the IETF has been updated. For additional information, please contact the Area Directors or the working group Chairs. +++ Network Configuration (netconf) ================================ Current Status: Active Working Group Chair(s): Simon Leinen <simon@switch.ch> Andy Bierman <ietf@andybierman.com> Operations and Management Area Director(s): Bert Wijnen <bwijnen@lucent.com> David Kessens <david.kessens@nokia.com> Operations and Management Area Advisor: Bert Wijnen <bwijnen@lucent.com> Technical Advisor(s): Wesley Hardaker <hardaker@tislabs.com> Mailing Lists: General Discussion: netconf@ops.ietf.org To Subscribe: netconf-request@ops.ietf.org In Body: in msg body: subscribe Archive: https://ops.ietf.org/lists/netconf Description of Working Group: Wes Hardaker is Technical Advisor for Security Matters Configuration of networks of devices has become a critical requirement for operators in today's highly interoperable networks. Operators from large to small have developed their own mechanims or used vendor specific mechanisms to transfer configuration data to and from a device, and for examining device state information which may impact the configuration. Each of these mechanisms may be different in various aspects, such as session establishment, user authentication, configuration data exchange, and error responses. The Netconf Working Group is chartered to produce a protocol suitable for network configuration, with the following characteristics: - Provides retrieval mechanisms which can differentiate between configuration data and non-configuration data - Is extensible enough that vendors will provide access to all configuration data on the device using a single protocol - Has a programmatic interface (avoids screen scraping and formatting-related changes between releases) - Uses a textual data representation, that can be easily manipulated using non-specialized text manipulation tools. - Supports integration with existing user authentication methods - Supports integration with existing configuration database systems - Supports network wide configuration transactions (with features such as locking and rollback capability) - Is as transport-independent as possible - Provides support for asynchronous notifications The Netconf protocol will use XML for data encoding purposes, because XML is a widely deployed standard which is supported by a large number of applications. XML also supports hierarchical data structures. The Netconf protocol should be independent of the data definition language and data models used to describe configuration and state data. However, the authorization model used in the protocol is dependent on the data model. Although these issues must be fully addressed to develop standard data models, only a small part of this work will be initially addressed. This group will specify requirements for standard data models in order to fully support the Netconf protocol, such as: - identification of principals, such as user names or distinguished names - mechanism to distinguish configuration from non-configuration data - XML namespace conventions - XML usage guidelines It should be possible to transport the Netconf protocol using several different protocols. The group will select at least one suitable transport mechanism, and define a mapping for the selected protocol(s). The initial work will be restricted to the following items: - Netconf Protocol Specification, which defines the operational model, protocol operations, transaction model, data model requirements, security requirements, and transport layer requirements. - Netconf over <Transport-TBD> Specification, which defines how the Netconf protocol is used with the transport protocol selected by the group, and how it meets the security and transport layer requirements of the Netconf Protocol Specification.. There will be a document of this type for each selected transport protocol. The working group will take the XMLCONF Configuration Protocol <draft-enns-xmlconf-spec-00.txt> as a starting point. Goals and Milestones: Done Working Group formed Done Submit initial Netconf Protocol draft Done Submit initial Netconf over (transport-TBD) draft Done Begin Working Group Last Call for the Netconf Protocol draft Done Begin Working Group Last Call for the Netconf over (transport-TBD) draft Done Submit final version of the Netconf Protocol draft to the IESG Done Submit final version of the Netconf over SOAP draft to the IESG Done Submit final version of the Netconf over BEEP draft to the IESG Done Submit final version of the Netconf over SSH draft to the IESG Dec 2005 Update charter Jan 2006 Submit first version of NETCONF Notifications document Sep 2006 Begin WGLC of NETCONF Notifications document Dec 2006 Submit final version of NETCONF Notifications document to IESG for consideration as Proposed Standard _______________________________________________ IETF-Announce@ietf.org https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf-announce
