Guidelines for IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Testing
RFC 5471

Network Working Group                                         C. Schmoll
Request for Comments: 5471                              Fraunhofer FOKUS
Category: Informational                                        P. Aitken
                                                               B. Claise
                                                     Cisco Systems, Inc.
                                                              March 2009

       Guidelines for IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Testing

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   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
   not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
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Schmoll, et al.              Informational                      [Page 1]
RFC 5471              Guidelines for IPFIX Testing            March 2009

Abstract

   This document presents a list of tests for implementers of IP Flow
   Information eXport (IPFIX) compliant Exporting Processes and
   Collecting Processes.  This document specifies guidelines for a
   series of tests that can be run on the IPFIX Exporting Process and
   Collecting Process in order to probe the conformity and robustness of
   the IPFIX protocol implementations.  These tests cover all important
   functions, in order to gain a level of confidence in the IPFIX
   implementation.  Therefore, they allow the implementer to perform
   interoperability or plug tests with other IPFIX Exporting Processes
   and Collecting Processes.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ....................................................4
      1.1. Document Scope .............................................4
      1.2. IPFIX Documents Overview ...................................5
   2. Terminology .....................................................5
      2.1. Conventions Used in This Document ..........................5
   3. Test Specifications .............................................5
      3.1. Exporting Process/Collecting Process Connectivity Tests ....6
           3.1.1. Connectivity Tests between the Exporting
                  Process and Collecting ..............................6
      3.2. Template and Data Record Tests .............................6
           3.2.1. Transmission of Template with Fixed-Size
                  Information Elements ................................7
           3.2.2. Transmission of Template with
                  Variable-Length Information Elements ................7
           3.2.3. Set Padding .........................................7
           3.2.4. Record Padding ......................................8
           3.2.5. Template Withdrawal Message .........................9
      3.3. Information Element Tests .................................11
           3.3.1. Enterprise-Specific Information Elements ...........11
           3.3.2. Reduced Size Encoding of Information Elements ......11
           3.3.3. Multiple Instances of the Same Information
                  Element in One Template.............................12
      3.4. Options Template Tests ....................................12
           3.4.1. Using Any Information Elements as Scope ............12
           3.4.2. Using Multiple Scopes ..............................13
           3.4.3. Metering Process Statistics Option Template ........13
           3.4.4. Metering Process Reliability Statistics
                  Option Template ....................................14
           3.4.5. Exporting Process Reliability Statistics
                  Option Template ....................................14
           3.4.6. Flow Keys Option Template ..........................14