Guidelines for Authors and Reviewers of MIB Documents
RFC 4181

Network Working Group                                      C. Heard, Ed.
Request for Comments: 4181                                September 2005
BCP: 111
Category: Best Current Practice

         Guidelines for Authors and Reviewers of MIB Documents

Status of This Memo

   This document specifies an Internet Best Current Practices for the
   Internet Community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).

Abstract

   This memo provides guidelines for authors and reviewers of IETF
   standards-track specifications containing MIB modules.  Applicable
   portions may be used as a basis for reviews of other MIB documents.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ....................................................3
   2. Terminology .....................................................3
   3. General Documentation Guidelines ................................4
      3.1. MIB Boilerplate Section ....................................4
      3.2. Narrative Sections .........................................5
      3.3. Definitions Section ........................................5
      3.4. Security Considerations Section ............................5
      3.5. IANA Considerations Section ................................6
           3.5.1. Documents that Create a New Name Space ..............6
           3.5.2. Documents that Require Assignments in
                  Existing Namespace(s) ...............................7
           3.5.3. Documents with No IANA Requests .....................8
      3.6. References Sections ........................................8
      3.7. Copyright Notices ..........................................9
      3.8. Intellectual Property Section .............................10
   4. SMIv2 Usage Guidelines .........................................10
      4.1. Module Names ..............................................10
      4.2. Descriptors, TC Names, and Labels .........................10
      4.3. Naming Hierarchy ..........................................11
      4.4. IMPORTS Statement .........................................11
      4.5. MODULE-IDENTITY Invocation ................................12
      4.6. Textual Conventions and Object Definitions ................14

Heard                    Best Current Practice                  [Page 1]
RFC 4181              Guidelines for MIB Documents        September 2005

           4.6.1. Usage of Data Types ................................14
                  4.6.1.1. INTEGER, Integer32, Gauge32, and
                           Unsigned32 ................................14
                  4.6.1.2. Counter32 and Counter64 ...................16
                  4.6.1.3. CounterBasedGauge64 .......................17
                  4.6.1.4. OCTET STRING ..............................17
                  4.6.1.5. OBJECT IDENTIFIER .........................18
                  4.6.1.6. The BITS Construct ........................19
                  4.6.1.7. IpAddress .................................19
                  4.6.1.8. TimeTicks .................................19
                  4.6.1.9. TruthValue ................................19
                  4.6.1.10. Other Data Types .........................19
           4.6.2. DESCRIPTION and REFERENCE Clauses ..................20
           4.6.3. DISPLAY-HINT Clause ................................21
           4.6.4. Conceptual Table Definitions .......................21
           4.6.5. OID Values Assigned to Objects .....................23
           4.6.6. OID Length Limitations and Table Indexing ..........24
      4.7. Notification Definitions ..................................24
      4.8. Compliance Statements .....................................25
           4.8.1. Note Regarding These Examples and RFC 2578 .........27
      4.9. Revisions to MIB Modules ..................................28
   5. Acknowledgments ................................................31
   6. Security Considerations ........................................32
   7. IANA Considerations ............................................32
   Appendix A:  MIB Review Checklist .................................33
   Appendix B:  Commonly Used Textual Conventions ....................34
   Appendix C:  Suggested Naming Conventions .........................36
   Appendix D:  Suggested OID Layout .................................37
   Normative References ..............................................38
   Informative References ............................................40

Heard                    Best Current Practice                  [Page 2]
RFC 4181              Guidelines for MIB Documents        September 2005