netconf WG charter proposal

[Andy Bierman <abierman@cisco.com>]

Hi,

This is the proposed charter for the netconf WG.
Comments welcome before it goes to the IESG for a decision.


Andy

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Network Configuration WG (netconf)

Chair(s):  

???
???

Operations and Management Area Directors:

Randy Bush  <randy@psg.com>
Bert Wijnen <bwijnen@lucent.com>

Operation and Management Area Advisor:

Bert Wijnen <bwijnen@lucent.com>

Mailing Lists:  [ed. these will change to netconf*]

General Discussion: xmlconf@ops.ietf.org
To Subscribe:       xmlconf-request@ops.ietf.org
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Archive:            http://ops.ietf.org/lists/xmlconf

Description of Working Group:

Configuration of networking devices has become a critical requirement for
operators in today's highly interoperable networks. Operators from large
to small have developed 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 a clear separation of configuration data
     from 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)
   - Has a robust transaction model, based on remote procedure 
     calls (RPC)
   - Uses a data representation that is easily manipulated
     using non-specialized text manipulation tools
   - Supports integration with existing user authentication
     methods
   - Can be easily integrated with existing configuration
     database systems
   - Provides support for multi-device configuration transactions
     (with locking and rollback capability)
   - Is as transport-independent as possible
   - Provides support for asynchronous notifications
   - Suitable for IP-reachable network devices

The Netconf protocol will 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 by this group:

   - identification of principals, such as user names or
     distinguished names
   - XML namespace conventions
   - XML usage guidelines

Although it should be possible to transport the Netconf protocol
using several different protocols, the group will initially
define a mapping for the Blocks Extensible Exchange Protocol (BEEP)
[RFC 3080]. Future work may standardize other transport mappings.

The initial work will be restricted to the following items:

   - Netconf Protocol Specification, which defines the
     operational model, protocol operations, RPC usage, 
     security requirements, and transport layer requirements.

   - Netconf over BEEP Specification, which defines how the
     Netconf protocol is used with the BEEP protocol.

The working group will use the XMLCONF Configuration Protocol
<draft-enns-xmlconf-spec-00.txt> as the starting point for
this work.

Goals and Milestones:

  MAY 03    Working Group formed
  JUL 03    Submit initial Netconf Protocol draft
  JUL 03    Submit initial Netconf over BEEP draft
  DEC 03    Begin Working Group Last Call for the Netconf Protocol
            draft
  DEC 03    Begin Working Group Last Call for the Netconf over
            BEEP draft
  MAR 04    Submit final version of the Netconf Protocol draft
            to the IESG
  MAR 04    Submit final version of the Netconf over BEEP draft
            to the IESG

Internet Drafts

Request for Comments


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