Virtual World Region Agent M. Hamrick
Protocol
Internet-Draft J. Hurliman
Intended status: Informational Intel Corporation
Expires: January 6, 2011 July 5, 2010
Virtual World Region Agent Protocol : Client Application Launch Message
draft-ietf-vwrap-launch-00
Abstract
This document describes the LLIDL interface description for the
Virtual World Region Agent Protocol (VWRAP) Client Application Launch
message format. Messages in this format are intended to be used in
conjunction with standard web authentication or authorization
technologies such as OpenID or OAuth. This document describes the
message format, the processing expectations and three MIME types that
may be used to identify requests to initiate a virtual worlds
session.
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 6, 2011.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2010 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
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publication of this document. Please review these documents
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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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1. Requirements Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. The VWRAP Client Application Launch Message Format . . . . . . 3
3. Message Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4. Processing Expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
6. MIME Type Registrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
6.1. MIME Type Registration for application/calm+xml . . . . . 7
6.2. MIME Type Registration for application/calm+json . . . . . 8
6.3. MIME Type Registration for application/calm+binary . . . . 9
7. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
8. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
8.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
8.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
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1. Introduction
Web authentication protocols such as OpenID [OPENID] and web
authorization protocols such as OAuth [RFC5849] are of increasing
interest to the internet community. They have great utility in web-
based application environments. Best practice for their use in
conjunction with applications that do not expose a HTML rendering
interface is less clear. Virtual World (VW) client applications, for
instance, are often implemented as "desktop applications" instead of
"web apps". This introduces difficulty in using web based
authentication and authorization protocols to initiate a virtual
world session.
OpenID and OAuth traditionally use a HTTP redirect [RFC2616] after
user or token authentication to begin an authorized session with a
web application. The problem in using desktop applications with "web
auth" technologies is that desktop applications do not generally have
a URL to act as the target of HTTP redirection.
One possible solution to this problem is to register a unique MIME
type [RFC2046] with the user's web browser and following successful
user or token authentication, redirect the user's web browser to a
resource with that MIME type. Upon receipt of such a resource, a
properly configured web browser could then launch the client desktop
application.
This document describes the format of a web resource suitable for
signaling the user's web browser to launch a virtual world client
application that uses Virtual World Region Agent Protocol (VWRAP)
Authentication [I-D.ietf-vwrap-authentication] to establish a session
between the client application and network resources implementing the
virtual world.
1.1. Requirements Language
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 RFC 2119 [RFC2119].
2. The VWRAP Client Application Launch Message Format
The Client Application Launch message is an LLSD
[I-D.ietf-vwrap-type-system] message, defined by the LLIDL below, but
is identified with a unique MIME type (described below.) It may be
transmitted in XML, JSON or Binary format, at the web server's
convenience. Compliant client applications SHOULD support XML, JSON
and Binary serialization formats.
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; note that the &request defined here uses named type &authenticator
; which is defined in draft-ietf-vwrap-authentication-00
&request = {
authenticator : &authenticator,
account_name : string,
loginurl : uri,
region : uri
}
%% launch_request << &request
Figure 1 : VWRAP Client Application Launch Message
3. Message Flow
The VWRAP Client Application Launch Message is intended to be sent by
a web server to a web browser following successful authentication.
Requirements for web authentication are explicitly not defined in
this document, and left as a responsibility of the authenticating web
service.
Two techniques for processing a client application launch message are
defined. The first requests a one time "single use only" secret from
an agent domain. This secret is used to authenticate the client to
the agent domain. The second technique uses possession of a web
capability to authenticate the client. The message flow for both
techniques is the same.
Figure 2 below shows message flows between four conceptual entities.
It is provided for expository purposes only; implementers may choose
to combine conceptual entities into fewer reified components. That
is, nothing in this specification should be interpreted to require
four distinct, deployed entities.
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+------------------+ 2. +--------------------+
| |---------------->| |
| Web Auth Service | 3. | VWRAP Agent Domain |
| |<----------------| |
+------------------+ +--------------------+
^ | ^
1. | | 4. | 6.
| v |
+------------------+ 5. +--------------------+
| |---------------->| |
| Web Browser | | VWRAP Client App |
| | | |
+------------------+ +--------------------+
Figure 2 : Message Flow For Client Application Launch Requests
0. Registering MIME types as Web Browser Helper Applications
The technique defined in this document depends on the traditional
web browser capability to define a "helper application" when the
browser receives a MIME type it cannot handle itself. Compliant
VWRAP Client Applications SHOULD register themselves as the
helper application for the three MIME types listed in IANA
Considerations (Section 5) below.
The exact technique used to register the client application with
the VWRAP Client Application Launch Message is beyond the scope
of this document.
1. Web Client to Web Server Authentication / Authorization
The process of launching an VWRAP client application using a web
based authentication or authorization system begins with
successful user authentication or token authentication. It is
traditional in these systems for the user's web browser to be
redirected to a web based application following authentication.
This document assumes the user's web browser will instead be
redirected to an HTTP or HTTPS URI that will eventually respond
with a Client Application Launch Message.
The exact nature of the web-based authentication or authorization
scheme used is beyond the scope of this document.
2. One Time Password or LoginURL Capability Request
Before the web service responsible for communicating the launch
message to the user's web browser may download the message, it
must first request a "single use only" shared secret or the
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LoginURL web capability.
The exact mechanism for this request is beyond the scope of this
document. However, the request from the authentication service
to the agent domain SHOULD contain an account or avatar name
known to the agent domain and SHOULD be communicated over a
secure channel.
3. One Time Password or LoginURL Capability Response
The agent domain responds with a One Time Password or web
capability. If the one time password is used, the password
SHOULD be a sequence of unguessable octets, thought the exact
encoding and transport of the request is beyond the scope of this
document.
4. Client Application Launch Download
After the One Time Password or web capability is passed from the
agent domain to the authorization service, it is included in the
Client Application Launch Message along with an account or avatar
identifier, a login URI for the agent domain and an initial
region URI indicating the avatar's initial location in the
virtual world.
5. Web Browser Launches Client Application
When the user's web browser receives the Client Application
Launch Message, it forwards the contents of the message AND the
message's MIME type to the registered Client Application.
6. VWRAP Authentication
In response to receipt of the Client Application Launch Message,
the client application uses the information in the message to
begin the VWRAP Authentication process and initial placement of
the user's avatar in the virtual world.
4. Processing Expectations
When a client application receives a client application launch
message, it is expected to request a seed capability from the service
endpoint from in the loginurl specified in message. The loginurl is
expected to identify the service endpoint for an agent_login resource
defined in the VWRAP Trust Model and User Authentication
[I-D.ietf-vwrap-authentication] specification. The client SHOULD
pass the &authenticator and account_name map entries to the
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agent_login resource unaltered.
5. IANA Considerations
In accordance with [RFC5226], this document registers the following
mime types:
application/calm+xml
application/calm+json
application/calm+binary
See the MIME Type Registrations section (Section 6) below for
detailed information on MIME Type registrations.
6. MIME Type Registrations
This section provides media-type registration applications (as per
RFC 4288 [RFC4288].)
6.1. MIME Type Registration for application/calm+xml
To: ietf-types@iana.org
Subject: Registration of media type application/calm+xml
Type name: application
Subtype name: calm+xml
Required Parameters: none
Optional Parameters: none
Encoding Considerations: The Extensible Markup Language (XML)
specification allows for the use of multiple character sets. The
character set used to encode the body of the message is defined
as part of the XML header. If no character set is indicated in
the XML header, compliant systems MUST assume UTF-8. When
encoding binary data using RFC 4648 [RFC4648], characters outside
the base alphabet are explicitly allowable and should be ignored.
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Security Considerations: The VWRAP Client Application Launch Request
Message contains sensitive information. Compliant systems SHOULD
ensure the confidentiality of the communications media between
the web authentication service and the VWRAP agent domain as well
as that between the web authentication service and the user's web
browser.
Interoperability Considerations: While it is possible for compliant
implementations to specify the use of character sets other than
UTF-8, such systems MUST accept UTF-8 input and SHOULD generate
UTF-8 output.
Published specification: this specification.
Applications that use this media type: Virtual world, tele-presence
and content management systems related to "virtual reality"
systems.
Additional Information:
Magic Number(s): none
File Extension: calmx
Macintosh File Type Code(s): CALX
Person & email address to contact for further information: Meadhbh
Hamrick <OhMeadhbh@gmail.com>
Intended Usage: COMMON
Author: IESG
Change Controller: IESG
6.2. MIME Type Registration for application/calm+json
To: ietf-types@iana.org
Subject: Registration of media type application/calm+json
Type name: application
Subtype name: calm+json
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Required Parameters: none
Optional Parameters: none
Encoding Considerations: Use of Unicode is Mandatory ECMA-262
[ECMA262r5] requires the use of Unicode, but allows the use of
UTF-8, UTF-16 or UTF-32 character encodings.
Security Considerations: The VWRAP Client Application Launch Request
Message contains sensitive information. Compliant systems SHOULD
ensure the confidentiality of the communications media between
the web authentication service and the VWRAP agent domain as well
as that between the web authentication service and the user's web
browser.
Interoperability Considerations: none
Published specification: This specification.
Applications that use this media type: Virtual world, tele-presence
and content management systems related to "virtual reality"
systems.
Additional Information:
Magic Number(s): none
File Extension: calmj
Macintosh File Type Code(s): CALJ
Person & email address to contact for further information: Meadhbh
Hamrick <OhMeadhbh@gmail.com>
Intended Usage: COMMON
Author: IESG
Change Controller: IESG
6.3. MIME Type Registration for application/calm+binary
To: ietf-types@iana.org
Subject: Registration of media type application/calm+binary
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Type name: application
Subtype name: calm+binary
Required Parameters: none
Optional Parameters: none
Encoding Considerations: LLSD Binary Serialization REQUIRES the use
of binary content-transfer-encoding Section 5 of RFC 2045 [RFC2045]
describes the binary Content-Transfer-Encoding header field.
This specification REQUIRES the use of this header to alert
intermediary systems that information being included in the
message should be interpreted as binary data with no end-of-line
semantics which could be considerably longer than allowed in an
RFC 821 transport.
Security Considerations: The VWRAP Client Application Launch Request
Message contains sensitive information. Compliant systems SHOULD
ensure the confidentiality of the communications media between
the web authentication service and the VWRAP agent domain as well
as that between the web authentication service and the user's web
browser.
Interoperability Considerations: none
Published specification: This specification.
Applications that use this media type: Virtual world, tele-presence
and content management systems related to "virtual reality"
systems.
Additional Information:
Magic Number(s): none
File Extension: calb
Macintosh File Type Code(s): CALB
Person & email address to contact for further information: Meadhbh
Hamrick <OhMeadhbh@gmail.com>
Intended Usage: COMMON
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Author: IESG
Change Controller: IESG
7. Security Considerations
Security considerations for this specification are, fortunately,
either simple or beyond the scope of this document. RFC 3552
[RFC3552] describes several aspects to use when evaluating the
security of a specification or implementation. The authors believe
most common security concerns users of this specification will
encounter are more appropriately considered as transport, network or
link layer issues. Or, as higher level "application security"
issues.
8. References
8.1. Normative References
[ECMA262r5]
ECMA International, "Standard ECMA-262, 5th Edition :
ECMAScript Language Specification", December 2009, <http:/
/www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/
Ecma-262.htm>.
[I-D.ietf-vwrap-authentication]
Hamrick, M., "VWRAP : Trust Model and User
Authentication", draft-ietf-vwrap-authentication-00 (work
in progress), July 2010.
[I-D.ietf-vwrap-type-system]
Brashears, A., Hamrick, M., and M. Lentczner, "VWRAP :
Abstract Type System for the Transmission of Dynamic
Structured Data", draft-ietf-vwrap-type-system-00 (work in
progress).
[OPENID] OpenID Foundation, "OpenID Authentication 2.0 - Final",
2007.
[RFC2045] Freed, N. and N. Borenstein, "Multipurpose Internet Mail
Extensions (MIME) Part One: Format of Internet Message
Bodies", RFC 2045, November 1996.
[RFC2046] Freed, N. and N. Borenstein, "Multipurpose Internet Mail
Extensions (MIME) Part Two: Media Types", RFC 2046,
November 1996.
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[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
[RFC4288] Freed, N. and J. Klensin, "Media Type Specifications and
Registration Procedures", BCP 13, RFC 4288, December 2005.
[RFC4648] Josefsson, S., "The Base16, Base32, and Base64 Data
Encodings", RFC 4648, October 2006.
8.2. Informative References
[RFC2616] Fielding, R., Gettys, J., Mogul, J., Frystyk, H.,
Masinter, L., Leach, P., and T. Berners-Lee, "Hypertext
Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.1", RFC 2616, June 1999.
[RFC3552] Rescorla, E. and B. Korver, "Guidelines for Writing RFC
Text on Security Considerations", BCP 72, RFC 3552,
July 2003.
[RFC5226] Narten, T. and H. Alvestrand, "Guidelines for Writing an
IANA Considerations Section in RFCs", BCP 26, RFC 5226,
May 2008.
[RFC5849] Hammer-Lahav, E., "The OAuth 1.0 Protocol", RFC 5849,
April 2010.
Authors' Addresses
Meadhbh Siobhan Hamrick
P.O. Box 783
Boulder Creek, CA 95006
US
Phone: +1 650 283 0344
Email: OhMeadhbh@gmail.com
John Hurliman
Intel Corporation
3600 Juliette Lane
Santa Clara, CA 95051
US
Phone: +1 408 123 4560
Email: john.hurliman@intel.com
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