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Network Configuration
charter-ietf-netconf-17-01

The information below is for an older proposed charter
Document Proposed charter Network Configuration WG (netconf) Snapshot
Title Network Configuration
Last updated 2015-10-15
State Start Chartering/Rechartering (Internal Steering Group/IAB Review) Rechartering
WG State Active
IESG Responsible AD Mahesh Jethanandani
Charter edit AD Benoît Claise
Send notices to (None)

charter-ietf-netconf-17-01

Configuration of networks of devices has become a critical requirement
for operators in today's highly interconnected networks. Large and small
operators alike have developed their own mechanisms or have used vendor
specific mechanisms to transfer configuration data to and from a device
and to examine 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 protocol (RFC 6241) provides mechanisms to install, manipulate,
and delete the configuration of network devices. NETCONF is based on the
secure transport (SSH is mandatory to implement while TLS is an optional
transport) and uses an XML-based data representation. The NETCONF protocol
is data modeling language independent, but YANG (RFC 6020) is the recommended
NETCONF modeling language, which introduces advanced
language features for configuration management.

Based on the implementation, deployment experience and interoperability
testing, the WG aims to produce a NETCONF status report in a later stage.
The result may be clarifications for RFC6241 and RFC6242 and addressing
any reported errata.

In the current phase of NETCONF's incremental development the workgroup
will focus on following items:

  1. Combine the server configuration data models from the Call Home and RFC5539bis drafts in a separate Server Configuration YANG module by addressing the need for NETCONF as well as RESTCONF.

  2. Develop RESTCONF, a protocol based on NETCONF in terms of capabilities, but over secure HTTP and with some REST characteristics, for accessing YANG data in NETCONF datastores. An "ordered edit list" approach is needed (the YANG patch) to provide client developers with a simpler edit request format that can be more efficient and also allow more precise client control of the transaction procedure than existing mechanisms. The YANG patch operation, based on the HTTP PATCH method, will be prepared in a separate draft.
    In addition develop a YANG library, which identifies the information about all YANG modules used by a server. Furthermore develop a collection resource for the RESTCONF protocol to provide enhanced filtering features for the retrieval of data nodes with the GET method.
    RESTCONF should not deviate from the NETCONF capabilities unless proper justification is provided and documented. The RESTCONF work will consider requirements suggested by the other working groups (for example I2RS).

  3. Develop a zero touch configuration document (a technique to establish a secure network management relationship between a newly delivered network device configured with just its factory default settings, and the Network Management System), specific to the NETCONF use case.

  4. Develop a subscription and push mechanism that allows client applications to request notifications for changes in the datastore. These updates will be pushed by the server to the client based on a subscription policy.

  5. Update RFC 6536 (NETCONF Access Control Model) to introduce access control rights associated with actions.

  6. Enhance RFC 5277 with the ability to delete subscriptions without closing the client session, to modify existing subscriptions, and to have multiple subscriptions on a established client session. These changes should not affect older clients that do not support these particular subscription requirements. The RPCs and the data models in RFC 5277 should be converted to YANG.

Goals and Milestones:

Done - Submit RFC5539bis to AD/IESG for consideration as Proposed Standard

Done - Submit NETCONF call home mechanism to AD/IESG for consideration as Proposed Standard

Oct 2015 - WGLC for RESTCONF, YANG patch operation and YANG Library drafts

Nov 2015 - Submit RESTCONF to AD/IESG for consideration as Proposed Standard

Jan 2015 - WGLC for RFC5277bis draft

Jan 2015 - Submit RFC5277bis to AD/IESG for consideration as Proposed Standard

Jan 2015 - WGLC for YANG datastore push update draft

Feb 2015 - Submit YANG datastore push update to AD/IESG for consideration as Proposed Standard

Feb 2016 - WGLC for RFC6536bis draft

Feb 2016 - Submit RFC6536bis to AD/IESG for consideration as Proposed Standard

Feb 2015 - WGLC for zero touch configuration

Feb 2015 - WGLC for RESTCONF Collection Resource draft

Mar 2016 - Submit zero touch configuration to AD/IESG for consideration as Proposed Standard

Mar 2016 - Submit RESTCONF Collection to AD/IESG for consideration as Proposed Standard

Mar 2016 - WGLC for NETCONF server configuration data model

Apr 2016 - Submit server configuration data model to AD/IESG for consideration as