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Extended Message support for BGP
draft-ietf-idr-bgp-extended-messages-03

The information below is for an old version of the document.
Document Type
This is an older version of an Internet-Draft that was ultimately published as RFC 8654.
Authors Keyur Patel , David Ward , Randy Bush
Last updated 2012-07-03
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IESG IESG state Became RFC 8654 (Proposed Standard)
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draft-ietf-idr-bgp-extended-messages-03
IDR Working Group                                               K. Patel
Internet-Draft                                                   D. Ward
Intended status: Standards Track                           Cisco Systems
Expires: January 02, 2013                                        R. Bush
                                               Internet Initiative Japan
                                                            July 3, 2012

                    Extended Message support for BGP
                draft-ietf-idr-bgp-extended-messages-03

Abstract

   The BGP specification mandates a maximum BGP message size of 4096
   octets.  As BGP is extended to support newer AFI/SAFIs, there is a
   need to extend the maximum message size beyond 4096 octets.  This
   draft provides an extension to BGP to extend its current message size
   from 4096 octets to 65535 octets.

Requirements Language

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" are to
   be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [RFC2119] only when they
   appear in all upper case.  They may also appear in lower or mixed
   case as English words, without any normative meaning.

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute
   working documents as Internet-Drafts.  The list of current Internet-
   Drafts is at http://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on January 02, 2013.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2012 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

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   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.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
   2.  Extended message Capability for BGP  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
   3.  Operation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
   4.  Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   5.  IANA Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   6.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   7.  References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     7.1.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     7.2.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3

1.  Introduction

   The BGP specification [RFC4271] mandates a maximum BGP message size
   of 4096 octets.  As BGP is extended to support newer AFI/SAFIs and
   newer capabilities (e.g., [I-D.ietf-sidr-bgpsec-overview]), there is
   a need to extend the maximum message size beyond 4096 octets.  This
   draft provides an extension to BGP to extend its current message size
   from 4096 octets to 65535 octets.

2.  Extended message Capability for BGP

   To advertise BGP Extended Message Capability to a peer, a BGP speaker
   uses BGP Capabilities Advertisement [RFC5492].  By advertising the
   BGP Extended Message Capability to a peer, a BGP speaker conveys that
   it is able to send, receive, and properly handle BGP Extended
   Messages.

   A peer which does not advertise this capability MUST NOT send BGP
   Extended Messages, and BGP Extended Messages MUST NOT be sent to it.

   The BGP Extended Message Capability is a new BGP Capability [RFC5492]
   defined with Capability code TBD and Capability length 0.

3.  Operation

   A BGP speaker that is willing to send and receive BGP Extended
   Messages from its peer should advertise the BGP Extended Message
   Capability to its peer using BGP Capabilities Advertisement
   [RFC5492].  A BGP speaker may send extended messages to its peer only
   if it has received the Extended Message Capability from its peer.

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   All BGP extended messages have maximum message size of 65535 octets.
   The smallest message that may be sent consists of a BGP header
   without a data portion (19 octets). All multi-octet fields are in
   network byte order.

   Applications generating messages which might be encapsulated within
   BGP messages MUST limit the size of their payload to take into
   account the maximum message size and all encapsulation overheads on
   the path the encapsulated data are expected to traverse.

4.  Acknowledgements

   The authors thank John Scudder and John Levine for their input.

5.  IANA Considerations

   The IANA is requested to register a new BGP Capability Code in the
   upper range named BGP Extended Message Capability referring to this
   document.

6.  Security Considerations

   This extension to BGP does not change BGP's underlying security
   issues.

7.  References

7.1.  Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

   [RFC4271]  Rekhter, Y., Li, T. and S. Hares, "A Border Gateway
              Protocol 4 (BGP-4)", RFC 4271, January 2006.

   [RFC5492]  Scudder, J. and R. Chandra, "Capabilities Advertisement
              with BGP-4", RFC 5492, February 2009.

7.2.  Informative References

   [I-D.ietf-sidr-bgpsec-overview]
              Lepinski, M. and S. Turner, "An Overview of BGPSEC",
              Internet-Draft draft-ietf-sidr-bgpsec-overview-02, May
              2012.

Authors' Addresses

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   Keyur Patel
   Cisco Systems
   170 W. Tasman Drive
   San Jose, CA 95134
   USA
   
   Email: keyupate@cisco.com

   Dave Ward
   Cisco Systems
   170 W. Tasman Drive
   San Jose, CA 95134
   USA
   
   Email: dward@cisco.com

   Randy Bush
   Internet Initiative Japan
   5147 Crystal Springs
   Bainbridge Island, Washington 98110
   US
   
   Email: randy@psg.com

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