Guidelines for Authors and Reviewers of IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Information Elements
RFC 7013

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Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                       B. Trammell
Request for Comments: 7013                                    ETH Zurich
BCP: 184                                                       B. Claise
Category: Best Current Practice                      Cisco Systems, Inc.
ISSN: 2070-1721                                           September 2013

                Guidelines for Authors and Reviewers of
        IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Information Elements

Abstract

   This document provides guidelines for how to write definitions of new
   Information Elements for the IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX)
   protocol.  It provides instructions on using the proper conventions
   for Information Elements to be registered in the IANA IPFIX
   Information Element registry, and provides guidelines for expert
   reviewers to evaluate new registrations.

Status of This Memo

   This memo documents an Internet Best Current Practice.

   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
   received public review and has been approved for publication by the
   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Further information on
   BCPs is available in Section 2 of RFC 5741.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7013.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2013 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Trammell & Claise         Best Current Practice                 [Page 1]
RFC 7013                    IPFIX IE-DOCTORS              September 2013

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ....................................................3
      1.1. Intended Audience and Usage ................................3
      1.2. Overview of Relevant IPFIX Documents .......................4
   2. Terminology .....................................................4
   3. How to Apply IPFIX ..............................................5
   4. Defining New Information Elements ...............................6
      4.1. Information Element Naming .................................7
      4.2. Information Element Data Types .............................7
      4.3. Information Element Numbering ..............................8
      4.4. Ancillary Information Element Properties ...................9
      4.5. Internal Structure in Information Elements .................9
      4.6. Information Element Multiplicity ..........................10
      4.7. Enumerated Values and Subregistries .......................11
      4.8. Reversibility as per RFC 5103 .............................11
      4.9. Avoiding Bad Ideas in Information Element Design ..........11
   5. The Information Element Life Cycle .............................13
      5.1. The Process for Review by the IE-DOCTORS ..................13
      5.2. Revising Information Elements .............................14
      5.3. Deprecating Information Elements ..........................15
   6. When Not to Define New Information Elements ....................16
      6.1. Maximizing Reuse of Existing Information Elements .........16
      6.2. Applying Enterprise-Specific Information Elements .........18
   7. Information Element Definition Checklist .......................18
   8. Applying IPFIX to Non-Flow Applications ........................21
   9. Writing Internet-Drafts for IPFIX Applications .................21
      9.1. Example Information Element Definition ....................22
      9.2. Defining Recommended Templates ............................22
   10. A Textual Format for Specifying Information Elements
       and Templates .................................................23
      10.1. Information Element Specifiers ...........................24
      10.2. Specifying Templates .....................................26
      10.3. Specifying IPFIX Structured Data .........................27
   11. Security Considerations .......................................27
   12. Acknowledgments ...............................................28
   13. References ....................................................29
      13.1. Normative References .....................................29
      13.2. Informative References ...................................29