Re: [MIB-DOCTORS] RFC 4001 question

[Juergen Schoenwaelder <j.schoenwaelder at jacobs-university.de>]

On Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 09:48:50AM +0200, Romascanu, Dan (Dan) wrote:
> A question from a colleague of mine (copied) raised an issue I was not
> able to answer and I would appreciate some help. 
> 
>          Implementations must ensure that InetAddressType objects
>          and any dependent objects (e.g., InetAddress objects) are
>          consistent.  An inconsistentValue error must be generated
>          if an attempt to change an InetAddressType object would,
>          for example, lead to an undefined InetAddress value.  In
>          particular, InetAddressType/InetAddress pairs must be
>          changed together if the address type changes (e.g., from
>          ipv6(2) to ipv4(1))."
> 
>          The value of an InetAddress object must always be
>          consistent with the value of the associated InetAddressType
>          object.  Attempts to set an InetAddress object to a value
>          inconsistent with the associated InetAddressType
>          must fail with an inconsistentValue error.
> 
> 'InetAddressType/InetAddress pairs must be changed together if the
> address type changes' sounds to me like multiple SetRequest operations
> should be used with pairs of objects Type/Address part of the varbind.
> What happens if the only tool the operator has at hand is a MIB browser
> that does not support multiple set operations? Should we always assume
> that browsers MUST support multiple set? If they do the association
> between corresponding  InetAddressType/InetAddress is still the
> responsibility of the operator? 

With "multiple SetRequest" you probably mean a single SetRequest with
multiple varbinds. If that interpretation is correct, then yes a MIB
browser that can do only single varbind SetRequests might have a
problem with a compliant implementation.

/js

-- 
Juergen Schoenwaelder           Jacobs University Bremen gGmbH
Phone: +49 421 200 3587         Campus Ring 1, 28759 Bremen, Germany
Fax:   +49 421 200 3103         <http://www.jacobs-university.de/>