SNMP Configuration Working Group Bob Moore INTERNET-DRAFT IBM Category: Standards Track Kwok Ho Chan Nortel Networks November, 2000 Textual Conventions for SNMP Configuration Wednesday, November 15, 2000, 8:27 AM Status of this Memo This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with all provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026. Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts. Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference material or to cite them other than as "work in progress." The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html Copyright Notice Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2000). All Rights Reserved. Abstract This document defines two textual conventions similar to the RowPointer textual convention defined in RFC2579. These two textual conventions indicate how the conceptual row to which an object points is to be handled when the object is cloned to create an instance- specific configuration. This cloning may involve the scripting-based techniques defined under the SMNP Configuration umbrella, but it need not: cloning can also be realized with ordinary SNMP Get and Set operations. Moore and Chan Expires: Nov 2000 + 6 months [Page 1] Internet Draft SNMP Configuration Textual Conventions November 2000 Table of Contents 1. Introduction......................................................2 2. Definitions.......................................................3 3. Intellectual Property.............................................5 4. Acknowledgements..................................................6 5. Security Considerations...........................................6 6. References........................................................6 7. Authors' Addresses................................................7 8. Full Copyright Statement..........................................8 1. Introduction This document defines two textual conventions similar to the RowPointer textual convention defined in RFC2579. These two textual conventions indicate how the conceptual row to which an object points is to be handled when the object is cloned to create an instance- specific configuration. This cloning may involve the scripting-based techniques defined under the SMNP Configuration umbrella, but it need not: cloning can also be realized with ordinary SNMP Get and Set operations. The process of creating instance-specific configuration from an implementation-specific template is presented in [some snmpconf document]. (EDITOR'S NOTE: Since these textual conventions can also be used with "ordinary" SNMP Get and Set operations, I think we can treat this reference as non-normative for the purposes of advancing these two textual conventions to Proposed Standard.) Briefly, a template involves rows in several tables, tied together with OID- valued objects that function as pointers to other tables. Rather than being defined with the RowPointer textual convention, however, each of these pointer objects is defined using one of the two textual conventions defined in this document. These two textual conventions embody additional semantics, to tell the process doing the cloning how it should treat the conceptual row that an object is pointing to. For more details, see reference [the same snmpconf document as before]. A different type of cloning can also benefit from these textual conventions. Using only SNMP Get and Set operations, it is possible to retrieve one instance-specific conceptual row, and then use the values that were retrieved to create another instance-specific row "just like it." The textual conventions tell the process doing the cloning whether a pointer in a newly created conceptual row should point to another newly created conceptual row, or to the same conceptual row pointed to by the object from which the pointer was cloned. There is a natural mapping between the two textual conventions defined here and the association cardinalities in an information model. If an association has a 1:1 cardinality (each A is associated with a Moore and Chan Expires: Nov 2000 + 6 months [Page 2] Internet Draft SNMP Configuration Textual Conventions November 2000 separate B), then the pointer from a conceptual row representing an A to a conceptual row representing a B would have the syntax DynamicRowPointer. This means that when a new A is created, it must be associated with a new B, rather than with a B that is already associated with another A. On the other hand, if the association has a n:1 cardinality (several A's may be associated with the same B), then the pointer from a conceptual row representing an A to a conceptual row representing a B would have the syntax StaticRowPointer. This means that when a new A is created, it may be associated with a B that is already associated with other A's. The MIB module defined in this document is cast as a general-purpose module for all the textual conventions that might be defined to support large-scale configuration via SNMP. Currently the module contains only the two RowPointer-like textual conventions used in the process of creating instance-level configurations via cloning. 2. Definitions SNMP-CONFIGURATION-TCS-MIB DEFINITIONS ::= BEGIN IMPORTS MODULE-IDENTITY, mib-2 FROM SNMPv2-SMI TEXTUAL-CONVENTION FROM SNMPv2-TC; snmpConfigurationTCsMIB MODULE-IDENTITY LAST-UPDATED "200011140000Z" -- November 14, 2000 ORGANIZATION "SNMP Configuration WG" CONTACT-INFO "Bob Moore IBM Corporation, BRQA/502 PO Box 12195 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA Phone: +1 919 254 4436 EMail: remoore@us.ibm.com Kwok Ho Chan Nortel Networks 600 Technology Park Drive Billerica, MA 01821, USA E-mail: khchan@nortelnetworks.com Send comments to smnpconf@ops.ietf.org." DESCRIPTION "This MIB module defines textual conventions useful Moore and Chan Expires: Nov 2000 + 6 months [Page 3] Internet Draft SNMP Configuration Textual Conventions November 2000 for policy-based configuration using SNMP." REVISION "200011140000Z" -- November 14, 2000 DESCRIPTION "Initial version, published as RFCnnnn." ::= { mib-2 67890 } -- to be assigned by IANA DynamicRowPointer ::= TEXTUAL-CONVENTION STATUS current DESCRIPTION "Like a RowPointer, this textual convention represents a pointer to a conceptual row. The value is the name of the instance of the first accessible columnar object in the conceptual row. The additional semantics of this textual convention, relative to RowPointer, are related to the creation of instance-specific objects by cloning. The objects being cloned may either be special ones that express configuration information at the implementation-specific level, or simply instance-specific ones that already exist at the time the cloning is done. When an object with the syntax DynamicRowPointer is cloned, a new conceptual row is created based on the conceptual row pointed to by the DynamicRowPointer in the cloned-from object, and the DynamicRowPointer in the newly cloned object is set to point to this new conceptual row. The cloning operations may be accomplished either with the script-based technique defined by SNMP Configuration, or by ordinary SNMP Get and Set operations. When cloning is not involved, this textual convention behaves identically to the RowPointer textual convention. Specifically, once an object with this syntax has been created, either by cloning or by other means, its value may be updated in the same way that the value of any other object with read-write or read-create access may be updated." SYNTAX OBJECT IDENTIFIER StaticRowPointer ::= TEXTUAL-CONVENTION STATUS current DESCRIPTION Moore and Chan Expires: Nov 2000 + 6 months [Page 4] Internet Draft SNMP Configuration Textual Conventions November 2000 "Like a RowPointer, this textual convention represents a pointer to a conceptual row. The value is the name of the instance of the first accessible columnar object in the conceptual row. The additional semantics of this textual convention, relative to RowPointer, are related to the creation of instance-specific objects by cloning. The objects being cloned may either be special ones that express configuration information at the implementation-specific level, or simply instance-specific ones that already exist at the time the cloning is done. When an object with the syntax StaticRowPointer is cloned, the StaticRowPointer in the newly cloned object is set to point to the same conceptual row that the StaticRowPointer in the cloned-from object pointed to. The cloning operations may be accomplished either with the script-based technique defined by SNMP Configuration, or by ordinary SNMP Get and Set operations. When cloning is not involved, this textual convention behaves identically to the RowPointer textual convention. Specifically, once an object with this syntax has been created, either by cloning or by other means, its value may be updated in the same way that the value of any other object with read-write or read-create access may be updated." SYNTAX OBJECT IDENTIFIER END 3. Intellectual Property The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any intellectual property or other rights that might be claimed to pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in this document or the extent to which any license under such rights might or might not be available; neither does it represent that it has made any effort to identify any such rights. Information on the IETF's procedures with respect to rights in standards-track and standards- related documentation can be found in BCP-11. Copies of claims of rights made available for publication and any assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use of Moore and Chan Expires: Nov 2000 + 6 months [Page 5] Internet Draft SNMP Configuration Textual Conventions November 2000 such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this specification can be obtained from the IETF Secretariat. The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary rights which may cover technology that may be required to practice this standard. Please address the information to the IETF Executive Director. 4. Acknowledgements This document grew out of the work of the SNMP Configuration working group. 5. Security Considerations This module does not define any management objects. Instead, it defines a set of textual conventions that may be used by other MIB modules to define management objects. Meaningful security considerations can only be written in the modules that define management objects. 6. References [1] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997. [2] Harrington, D., Presuhn, R. and B. Wijnen, "An Architecture for Describing SNMP Management Frameworks", RFC 2571, April 1999. [3] Rose, M. and K. McCloghrie, "Structure and Identification of Management Information for TCP/IP-based Internets", STD 16, RFC 1155, May 1990. [4] Rose, M. and K. McCloghrie, "Concise MIB Definitions", STD 16, RFC 1212, March 1991. [5] Rose, M., "A Convention for Defining Traps for use with the SNMP", RFC 1215, March 1991. [6] McCloghrie, K., Perkins, D., Schoenwaelder, J., Case, J., Rose, M. and S. Waldbusser, "Structure of Management Information Version 2 (SMIv2)", STD 58, RFC 2578, April 1999. [7] McCloghrie, K., Perkins, D., Schoenwaelder, J., Case, J., Rose, M. and S. Waldbusser, "Textual Conventions for SMIv2", STD 58, RFC 2579, April 1999. Moore and Chan Expires: Nov 2000 + 6 months [Page 6] Internet Draft SNMP Configuration Textual Conventions November 2000 [8] McCloghrie, K., Perkins, D., Schoenwaelder, J., Case, J., Rose, M. and S. Waldbusser, "Conformance Statements for SMIv2", STD 58, RFC 2580, April 1999. [9] Case, J., Fedor, M., Schoffstall, M. and J. Davin, "A Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)", STD 15, RFC 1157, May 1990. [10] Case, J., McCloghrie, K., Rose, M. and S. Waldbusser, "Introduction to Community-based SNMPv2", RFC 1901, January 1996. [11] Case, J., McCloghrie, K., Rose, M. and S. Waldbusser, "Transport Mappings for Version 2 of the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMPv2)", RFC 1906, January 1996. [12] Case, J., Harrington, D., Presuhn, R. and B. Wijnen, "Message Processing and Dispatching for the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)", RFC 2572, April 1999. [13] Blumenthal, U. and B. Wijnen, "User-based Security Model (USM) for version 3 of the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMPv3)", RFC 2574, April 1999. [14] Case, J., McCloghrie, K., Rose, M. and S. Waldbusser, "Protocol Operations for Version 2 of the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMPv2)", RFC 1905, January 1996. [15] Levi, D., Meyer, P. and B. Stewart, "SNMP Applications", RFC 2573, April 1999. [16] Wijnen, B., Presuhn, R. and K. McCloghrie, "View-based Access Control Model (VACM) for the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)", RFC 2575, April 1999. [17] Case, J., Mundy, R., Partain, D. and B. Stewart, "Introduction to Version 3 of the Internet-standard Network Management Framework", RFC 2570, April 1999. 7. Authors' Addresses Bob Moore IBM Corporation, BRQA/502 4205 S. Miami Blvd. Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 Phone: +1 919-254-4436 Fax: +1 919-254-6243 E-mail: remoore@us.ibm.com Kwok Ho Chan Nortel Networks 600 Technology Park Drive Moore and Chan Expires: Nov 2000 + 6 months [Page 7] Internet Draft SNMP Configuration Textual Conventions November 2000 Billerica, MA 01821, USA E-mail: khchan@nortelnetworks.com 8. Full Copyright Statement Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2000). All Rights Reserved. This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are included on all such copies and derivative works. However, this document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than English. The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns. This document and the information contained herein is provided on an "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Moore and Chan Expires: Nov 2000 + 6 months [Page 8]