Skip to main content

Network Information Service (NIS) Configuration Options for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for IPv6 (DHCPv6)
RFC 3898

Document Type RFC - Proposed Standard (October 2004)
Author a Vijayabhaskar
Last updated 2013-03-02
RFC stream Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
Formats
Additional resources Mailing list discussion
IESG Responsible AD Margaret Cullen
Send notices to (None)
RFC 3898
Network Working Group                                  V. Kalusivalingam
Request for Comments: 3898         Cisco Systems (India) Private Limited
Category: Standards Track                                   October 2004

                   Network Information Service (NIS)
                       Configuration Options for
         Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for IPv6 (DHCPv6)

Status of this Memo

   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004).

Abstract

   This document describes four options for Network Information Service
   (NIS) related configuration information in Dynamic Host Configuration
   Protocol for IPv6 (DHCPv6): NIS Servers, NIS+ Servers, NIS Client
   Domain Name, NIS+ Client Domain name.

1.  Introduction

   This document describes four options for passing configuration
   information related to Network Information Service (NIS) [3] in
   DHCPv6 (RFC 3315 [1]).

   The options defined in this document can only be used to configure
   information about NIS servers that can be reached using IPv6.  The
   DHCP option to configure information about IPv4 NIS servers can be
   found in RFC 2132 [4].  Mechanisms for configuring IPv4/IPv6 dual-
   stack applications are being considered, but are not specified in
   this document.

2.  Terminology

   The key words MUST, MUST NOT, REQUIRED, SHALL, SHALL NOT, SHOULD,
   SHOULD NOT, RECOMMENDED, MAY, and OPTIONAL in this document are to be
   interpreted as described in BCP 14, RFC 2119 [2].

Kalusivalingam              Standards Track                     [Page 1]
RFC 3898          NIS Configuration Options for DHCPv6      October 2004

   Throughout this document, unless otherwise specified, the acronym
   DHCP refers to DHCP as specified in RFC 3315.

   This document uses terminology specific to IPv6 and DHCP as defined
   in section "Terminology" of RFC 3315.

3.  Network Information Service (NIS) Servers Option

   The Network Information Service (NIS) Servers option provides a list
   of one or more IPv6 addresses of NIS servers available to the client.
   Clients MUST treat the list of NIS servers as an ordered list.  The
   server MAY list the NIS servers in the order of preference.

   The format of the Network Information Service Servers option is as
   shown below:

    0                   1                   2                   3
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |      OPTION_NIS_SERVERS       |         option-len            |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                                                               |
   |                   NIS server (IPv6 address)                   |
   |                                                               |
   |                                                               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                                                               |
   |                   NIS server (IPv6 address)                   |
   |                                                               |
   |                                                               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                              ...                              |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   option-code:  OPTION_NIS_SERVERS (27)

   option-len:   Length of the 'NIS server' fields in octets; It must be
                 a multiple of 16

   NIS server:   IPv6 address of NIS server

4.  Network Information Service V2 (NIS+) Servers Option

   The Network Information Service V2 (NIS+) Servers option provides a
   list of one or more IPv6 addresses of NIS+ servers available to the
   client.  Clients MUST treat the list of NIS+ servers as an ordered
   list.  The server MAY list the NIS+ servers in the order of
   preference.

Kalusivalingam              Standards Track                     [Page 2]
RFC 3898          NIS Configuration Options for DHCPv6      October 2004

   The format of the Network Information Service V2 (NIS+) Servers
   option is as shown below:

    0                   1                   2                   3
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |      OPTION_NISP_SERVERS      |         option-len            |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                                                               |
   |                   NIS+ server (IPv6 address)                  |
   |                                                               |
   |                                                               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                                                               |
   |                   NIS+ server (IPv6 address)                  |
   |                                                               |
   |                                                               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                              ...                              |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   option-code: OPTION_NISP_SERVERS (28)

   option-len:  Length of the 'NIS+ server' fields in octets; It must be
                a multiple of 16

   NIS+ server: IPv6 address of NIS+ server

5.  Network Information Service (NIS) Domain Name Option

   The Network Information Service (NIS) Domain Name option is used by
   the server to convey client's NIS Domain Name info to the client.

   The format of the NIS Domain Name option is as shown below:

    0                   1                   2                   3
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |    OPTION_NIS_DOMAIN_NAME     |         option-len            |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                       nis-domain-name                         |
   |                              ...                              |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   option-code:      OPTION_NIS_DOMAIN_NAME (29)

   option-len:       Length of the 'nis-domain-name' field in octets

Kalusivalingam              Standards Track                     [Page 3]
RFC 3898          NIS Configuration Options for DHCPv6      October 2004

   nis-domain-name:  NIS Domain name for client

   The 'nis-domain-name' MUST be encoded as specified in section
   "Representation and Use of domain names" of the DHCPv6 specification
   [1].

6.  Network Information Service V2 (NIS+) Domain Name Option

   The Network Information Service V2 (NIS+) Domain Name option is used
   by the server to convey client's NIS+ Domain Name info to the client.

   The format of the NIS+ Domain Name option is as shown below:

    0                   1                   2                   3
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |    OPTION_NISP_DOMAIN_NAME    |         option-len            |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                       nisp-domain-name                        |
   |                              ...                              |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   option-code:      OPTION_NISP_DOMAIN_NAME (30)

   option-len:       Length of the 'nisp-domain-name' field in octets

   nisp-domain-name: NIS+ Domain name for client

   The 'nisp-domain-name' MUST be encoded as specified in section
   "Representation and Use of domain names" of the DHCPv6 specification
   [1].

7.  Appearance of these Options

   The NIS servers, NIS+ servers, NIS domain name and NIS+ domain name
   options MUST NOT appear in other than the following messages:
   Solicit, Advertise, Request, Renew, Rebind, Information-Request and
   Reply.

   The option number for these options MAY appear in the Option Request
   Option [1] in the following messages: Solicit, Request, Renew,
   Rebind, Information-Request and Reconfigure.

8.  Security Considerations

   The NIS servers, NIS+ servers, NIS domain name and NIS+ domain name
   options may be used by an intruder DHCPv6 server to assign invalid
   NIS parameters, resulting in clients unable to use NIS service.

Kalusivalingam              Standards Track                     [Page 4]
RFC 3898          NIS Configuration Options for DHCPv6      October 2004

   The NIS servers and NIS+ servers options may be used by an intruder
   DHCPv6 server to cause the DHCPv6 clients to send their queries to an
   intruder NIS/NIS+ server.  This misdirected searches may be used to
   spoof NIS/NIS+ names.

   The NIS domain name and NIS+ domain name options may be used by an
   intruder DHCPv6 server to cause the DHCPv6 clients to search through
   invalid domains for incompletely specified domain names.  The results
   of these misdirected searches may be used to spoof NIS/NIS+ names.

   To avoid attacks through these options, the DHCPv6 client SHOULD use
   authenticated DHCP (see section "Authentication of DHCP messages" in
   the DHCPv6 specification [1]).

9.  IANA Considerations

   The IANA has assigned option codes to the following options from the
   option-code space defined in "DHCPv6 Options" section of the DHCPv6
   specification [1].

            Option Name            Value    Described in
         OPTION_NIS_SERVERS          27       Section 3
         OPTION_NISP_SERVERS         28       Section 4
         OPTION_NIS_DOMAIN_NAME      29       Section 5
         OPTION_NISP_DOMAIN_NAME     30       Section 6

10.  References

10.1.  Normative References

   [1]  Droms, R., Ed., Bound, J., Volz, B., Lemon, T., Perkins, C., and
        M. Carney, "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for IPv6
        (DHCPv6)", RFC 3315, July 2003.

   [2]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement
        Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

10.2.  Informative References

   [3]  Sun Microsystems, "System and Network Administration", March
        1990.

   [4]  Alexander, S. and R. Droms, "DHCP Options and BOOTP Vendor
        Extensions", RFC 2132, March 1997.

Kalusivalingam              Standards Track                     [Page 5]
RFC 3898          NIS Configuration Options for DHCPv6      October 2004

Acknowledgements

   Thanks to the DHC Working Group for their time and input into the
   specification.  In particular, thanks to (in alphabetical order)
   Bernie Volz, Jim Bound, Margaret Wasserman, Pekka Savola, Ralph
   Droms, and Thomas Narten for their thorough review.

Author's Address

   Vijayabhaskar A Kalusivalingam
   Cisco Systems (India) Private Limited,
   No: 9, Brunton Road,
   Bangalore - 560025
   India

   Phone: +91-80-51036615
   EMail: vibhaska@cisco.com

Kalusivalingam              Standards Track                     [Page 6]
RFC 3898          NIS Configuration Options for DHCPv6      October 2004

Full Copyright Statement

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004).

   This document is subject to the rights, licenses and restrictions
   contained in BCP 78, and except as set forth therein, the authors
   retain all their rights.

   This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
   "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS
   OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET
   ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM 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.

Intellectual Property

   The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
   Intellectual Property Rights 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; nor does it represent that it has
   made any independent effort to identify any such rights.  Information
   on the IETF's procedures with respect to rights in IETF Documents can
   be found in BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat 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
   such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this
   specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository at
   http://www.ietf.org/ipr.

   The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
   copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary
   rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement
   this standard.  Please address the information to the IETF at ietf-
   ipr@ietf.org.

Acknowledgement

   Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
   Internet Society.

Kalusivalingam              Standards Track                     [Page 7]