Network Working Group A.L. Newton
Internet-Draft ARIN
Intended status: Standards Track S. Hollenbeck
Expires: September 15, 2013 Verisign Labs
March 14, 2013
Registration Data Access Protocol Lookup Format
draft-ietf-weirds-rdap-query-03
Abstract
This document describes uniform patterns to construct HTTP URLs that
may be used to retrieve registration information from registries
(including both Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) and Domain Name
Registries (DNRs)) using "RESTful" web access patterns.
Status of This Memo
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This Internet-Draft will expire on September 15, 2013.
Copyright Notice
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Table of Contents
1. Conventions Used in This Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1. Acronyms and Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3. Path Segment Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.1. IP Network Path Segment Specification . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2. Autonomous System Path Segment Specification . . . . . . 5
3.3. Domain Path Segment Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.4. Name Server Path Segment Specification . . . . . . . . . 6
3.5. Entity Path Segment Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4. Extensibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5. Internationalization Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
6. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
7. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
8. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
9. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
9.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
9.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Appendix A. Path Segment Specification for Search Queries . . . 10
Appendix B. Change Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1. Conventions Used in This Document
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].
1.1. Acronyms and Abbreviations
IDN: Internationalized Domain Name
IDNA: Internationalized Domain Names in Applications
DNR: Domain Name Registry
RDAP: Registration Data Access Protocol
REST: Representational State Transfer State Transfer. The term
was first described in a doctoral dissertation [REST].
RESTful: an adjective that describes a service using HTTP and the
principles of REST.
RIR: Regional Internet Registry
2. Introduction
This document describes a specification for querying registration
data using a RESTful web service and uniform query patterns. The
service is implemented using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
[RFC2616].
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The protocol described in this specification is intended to address
deficiencies with the WHOIS protocol [RFC3912] that have been
identified over time, including:
o Lack of standardized command structures,
o lack of standardized output and error structures,
o lack of support for internationalization and localization, and
o lack of support for user identification, authentication, and
access control.
The patterns described in this document purposefully do not encompass
all of the methods employed in the WHOIS and RESTful web services of
all of the RIRs and DNRs. The intent of the patterns described here
are to enable lookups of:
o networks by IP address,
o autonomous system numbers by number,
o reverse DNS meta-data by domain,
o name servers by name,
o registrars by name, and
o entities (such as contacts) by identifier.
It is envisioned that each registry will continue to maintain NICNAME
/WHOIS and/or RESTful web services specific to their needs and those
of their constituencies, and the information retrieved through the
patterns described here may reference such services.
Likewise, future IETF standards may add additional patterns for
additional query types (for example, "/domains" for a domain search
query). And Section 4 defines a simple pattern namespacing scheme to
accomodate custom extensions that will not interfere with the
patterns defined in this document or patterns defined in future IETF
standards.
WHOIS services, in general, are read-only services. Therefore URL
[RFC3986] patterns specified in this document are only applicable to
the HTTP [RFC2616] GET and HEAD methods.
This document does not describe the results or entities returned from
issuing the described URLs with an HTTP GET. It is envisioned that
other documents will describe these entities in various serialization
formats, such as JavaScript Object Notation (JSON, [RFC4627]).
Additionally, resource management, provisioning and update functions
are out of scope for this document. Registries have various and
divergent methods covering these functions, and it is unlikely a
uniform approach for these functions will ever be possible.
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HTTP contains mechanisms for servers to authenticate clients and for
clients to authenticate servers (from which authorization schemes may
be built) so such mechanisms are not described in this document.
Policy, provisioning, and processing of authentication and
authorization are out-of-scope for this document as deployments will
have to make choices based on local criteria. Specified
authentication mechanisms MUST use HTTP.
3. Path Segment Specification
The uniform patterns start with a base URL [RFC3986] specified by
each registry or any other service provider offering this service.
The base URL is followed by a resource-type-specific path segment.
The base URL may contain its own path segments (e.g. http://
example.com/... or http://example.com/restful-WHOIS/... ). The
characters used to form a path segment are limited to those that can
be used to form a URI as specified in RFC 3986 [RFC3986].
The resource type path segments are:
o 'ip': IP networks and associated data referenced using either an
IPv4 or IPv6 address.
o 'autnum': Autonomous system registrations and associated data
referenced using an AS Plain autonomous system number.
o 'domain': Reverse DNS (RIR) or domain name (DNR) information and
associated data referenced using a fully-qualified domain name.
o 'nameserver': Used to identify a name server information query.
o 'entity': Used to identify an entity information query.
3.1. IP Network Path Segment Specification
Syntax: ip/<IP address> or ip/<CIDR prefix>/<CIDR length>
Queries for information about IP networks are of the form /ip/XXX/...
or /ip/XXX/YY/... where the path segment following 'ip' is either an
IPv4 [RFC1166] or IPv6 [RFC5952] address (i.e. XXX) or an IPv4 or
IPv6 CIDR [RFC4632] notation address block (i.e. XXX/YY).
Semantically, the simpler form using the address can be thought of as
a CIDR block with a bitmask length of 32 for IPv4 and a bitmask
length of 128 for IPv6. A given specific address or CIDR may fall
within multiple IP networks in a hierarchy of networks, therefore
this query targets the "most-specific" or smallest IP network which
completely encompasses it in a hierarchy of IP networks.
The IPv4 and IPv6 address formats supported in this query are
described in section 3.2.2 of [RFC3986], as IPv4address and
IPv6address ABNF definitions. Any valid IPv6 text address format
[RFC4291] can be used, compressed or not compressed. The restricted
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rules to write a text representation of an IPv6 address [RFC5952] are
not mandatory. However, the zone id [RFC4007] is not appropriate in
this context and therefore prohibited.
This is an example URL for the most specific network containing
192.0.2.0:
/ip/192.0.2.0
This is an example of a URL the most specific network containing
192.0.2.0/24:
/ip/192.0.2.0/24
This is an example URL for the most specific network containing
2001:db8:1:1::1:
/ip/2001:db8:1:1::1
3.2. Autonomous System Path Segment Specification
Syntax: autnum/<autonomous system number>
Queries for information regarding autonomous system number
registrations are of the form /autnum/XXX/... where XXX is an asplain
autonomous system number [RFC5396]. In some registries, registration
of autonomous system numbers is done on an individual number basis,
while other registries may register blocks of autonomous system
numbers. The semantics of this query are such that if a number falls
within a range of registered blocks, the target of the query is the
block registration, and that individual number registrations are
considered a block of numbers with a size of 1.
For example, to find information on autonomous system number 65551,
the following path would be used:
/autnum/65551
The following path would be used to find information on 4-byte
autonomous system number 65538:
/autnum/65538
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3.3. Domain Path Segment Specification
Syntax: domain/<domain name>
Queries for domain information are of the form /domain/XXXX/...,
where XXXX is a fully-qualified domain name [RFC4343] in either the
in-addr.arpa or ip6.arpa zones (for RIRs) or a fully-qualified domain
name in a zone administered by the server operator (for DNRs).
Internationalized domain names represented in either A-label or
U-label format [RFC5890] are also valid domain names.
If the client sends the server an IDN U-label, servers that support
IDNs MUST convert the IDN into A-label format and perform IDNA
processing as specified in RFC 5891 [RFC5891]. The server should
perform an exact match lookup using the A-label.
The following path would be used to find information describing the
zone serving the network 192.0.2/24:
/domain/2.0.192.in-addr.arpa
The following path would be used to find information describing the
zone serving the network 2001:db8:1::/48:
/domain/1.0.0.0.8.b.d.0.1.0.0.2.ip6.arpa
The following path would be used to find information for the
example.com domain name:
/domain/example.com
3.4. Name Server Path Segment Specification
Syntax: nameserver/<name server name>
The <name server name> parameter represents a fully qualified name as
specified in RFC 952 [RFC0952] and RFC 1123 [RFC1123].
Internationalized names represented in either A-label or U-label
format [RFC5890] are also valid name server names.
If the client sends the server an IDN U-label, servers that support
IDNs MUST convert the IDN into A-label format and perform IDNA
processing as specified in RFC 5891 [RFC5891]. The server should
perform an exact match lookup using the A-label.
The following path would be used to find information for the
ns1.example.com name server:
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/nameserver/ns1.example.com
The following path would be used to find information for the IDN
ns1.xn--xemple-9ua.com name server:
/nameserver/ns1.xn--xemple-9ua.com
3.5. Entity Path Segment Specification
Syntax: entity/<handle>
The <handle> parameter represents an entity (such as a contact,
registrant, or registrar) identifier. For example, for some DNRs
contact identifiers are specified in RFC 5730 [RFC5730] and RFC 5733
[RFC5733].
The following path would be used to find information for the entity
associated with handle CID-4005:
/entity/CID-4005
4. Extensibility
This document describes path segment specifications for a limited
number of objects commonly registered in both RIRs and DNRs. It does
not attempt to describe path segments for all of the objects
registered in all registries. Custom path segments can be created
for objects not specified here using the process described in
Section TBD of "Using HTTP for RESTful Whois Services by Internet
Registries" [I-D.ietf-weirds-using-http].
Custom path segments can be created by prefixing the segment with a
unique identifier followed by an underscore character (0x5F). For
example, a custom entity path segment could be created by prefixing
"entity" with "custom_", producing "custom_entity". Servers MUST
return an appropriate failure status code for a request with an
unrecognized path segment.
5. Internationalization Considerations
There is value in supporting the ability to submit either a U-label
(Unicode form of an IDN label) or an A-label (ASCII form of an IDN
label) as a query argument to an RDAP service. Clients capable of
processing non-ASCII characters may prefer a U-label since this is
more visually recognizable and familiar than A-label strings, but
clients of programmatic interfaces may wish to submit and display
A-labels or may not be able to input U-labels with their keyboard
configuration. .
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Internationalized domain and name server names can contain character
variants and variant labels as described in RFC 4290 [RFC4290].
Clients that support queries for internationalized domain and name
server names MUST accept service provider responses that describe
variants as specified in "JSON Responses for the Registration Data
Access Protocol" [I-D.ietf-weirds-json-response].
6. IANA Considerations
This document does not specify any IANA actions.
7. Security Considerations
Security services for the operations specified in this document are
described in "Security Services for the Registration Data Access
Protocol" [I-D.ietf-weirds-rdap-sec]. As we identify specific use
cases for which security services are needed they will be described
here.
8. Acknowledgements
This document is derived from original work on RIR query formats
developed by Byron J. Ellacott of APNIC, Arturo L. Servin of
LACNIC, Kaveh Ranjbar of the RIPE NCC, and Andrew L. Newton of ARIN.
Additionally, this document incorporates DNR query formats originally
described by Francisco Arias and Steve Sheng of ICANN and Scott
Hollenbeck of Verisign.
The authors would like to acknowledge the following individuals for
their contributions to this document: Francisco Arias, Marc Blanchet,
Jean-Philippe Dionne, Edward Lewis, and John Levine.
9. References
9.1. Normative References
[I-D.ietf-weirds-json-response]
Newton, A. and S. Hollenbeck, "JSON Responses for the
Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP)", draft-ietf-
weirds-json-response-02 (work in progress), January 2013.
[I-D.ietf-weirds-rdap-sec]
Hollenbeck, S. and N. Kong, "Security Services for the
Registration Data Access Protocol", draft-ietf-weirds-
rdap-sec-01 (work in progress), November 2012.
[I-D.ietf-weirds-using-http]
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Newton, A., Ellacott, B., and N. Kong, "Using the
Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP) with HTTP",
draft-ietf-weirds-using-http-01 (work in progress),
December 2012.
[RFC0952] Harrenstien, K., Stahl, M., and E. Feinler, "DoD Internet
host table specification", RFC 952, October 1985.
[RFC1123] Braden, R., "Requirements for Internet Hosts - Application
and Support", STD 3, RFC 1123, October 1989.
[RFC1166] Kirkpatrick, S., Stahl, M., and M. Recker, "Internet
numbers", RFC 1166, July 1990.
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
[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.
[RFC3986] Berners-Lee, T., Fielding, R., and L. Masinter, "Uniform
Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax", STD 66, RFC
3986, January 2005.
[RFC4290] Klensin, J., "Suggested Practices for Registration of
Internationalized Domain Names (IDN)", RFC 4290, December
2005.
[RFC4291] Hinden, R. and S. Deering, "IP Version 6 Addressing
Architecture", RFC 4291, February 2006.
[RFC4343] Eastlake, D., "Domain Name System (DNS) Case Insensitivity
Clarification", RFC 4343, January 2006.
[RFC4632] Fuller, V. and T. Li, "Classless Inter-domain Routing
(CIDR): The Internet Address Assignment and Aggregation
Plan", BCP 122, RFC 4632, August 2006.
[RFC5396] Huston, G. and G. Michaelson, "Textual Representation of
Autonomous System (AS) Numbers", RFC 5396, December 2008.
[RFC5730] Hollenbeck, S., "Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP)",
STD 69, RFC 5730, August 2009.
[RFC5733] Hollenbeck, S., "Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP)
Contact Mapping", STD 69, RFC 5733, August 2009.
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[RFC5890] Klensin, J., "Internationalized Domain Names for
Applications (IDNA): Definitions and Document Framework",
RFC 5890, August 2010.
[RFC5891] Klensin, J., "Internationalized Domain Names in
Applications (IDNA): Protocol", RFC 5891, August 2010.
[RFC5952] Kawamura, S. and M. Kawashima, "A Recommendation for IPv6
Address Text Representation", RFC 5952, August 2010.
9.2. Informative References
[REST] Fielding, R. and R. Taylor, "Principled Design of the
Modern Web Architecture", ACM Transactions on Internet
Technology Vol. 2, No. 2, May 2002.
[RFC3912] Daigle, L., "WHOIS Protocol Specification", RFC 3912,
September 2004.
[RFC4007] Deering, S., Haberman, B., Jinmei, T., Nordmark, E., and
B. Zill, "IPv6 Scoped Address Architecture", RFC 4007,
March 2005.
[RFC4627] Crockford, D., "The application/json Media Type for
JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)", RFC 4627, July 2006.
Appendix A. Path Segment Specification for Search Queries
All of the path segments described in this document identify patterns
for exact-match lookups of data elements. We have explicitly omitted
specifications for search queries in the interest of first focusing
on more basic protocol operations. Once we understand how exact-
match queries will work we will attempt to define specifications for
search queries.
It is important to note that there are already multiple
implementations of RESTful RDAP-like prototypes that provide search
capabilities. For example:
ARIN: The American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) has
published an API [1] (see Section 4.4.2) that describes using
plural forms of path segment identifiers (e.g. "domains") and
Matrix URIs [2] to indicate that a client is requesting a list of
values when searching for RIR registration data. A prototype
service [3] that implements this API is up and running.
Verisign: Verisign has deployed a prototype service [4] that
implements searches for DNR registration data using HTML query
strings (e.g. "?_PRE") to identify search parameters. For
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example, "http://dnrd.verisignlabs.com/dnrd-ap/domain/
verisign?_PRE" performs a search for domain names with a
"verisign" prefix.
Appendix B. Change Log
Initial -00: Adopted as working group document.
-01: Added "Conventions Used in This Document" section. Added
normative reference to draft-ietf-weirds-rdap-sec and some
wrapping text in the Security Considerations section.
-02: Removed "unified" from the title. Rewrote the last paragraph
of section 2. Edited the first paragraph of section 3 to more
clearly note that only one path segement is provided. Added
"bitmask" to "length" in section 3.1. Changed "lowest IP network"
to "smallest IP network" in section 3.1. Added "asplain" to the
description of autonomous system numbers in section 3.2. Minor
change from "semantics is" to "semantics are" in section 3.2.
Changed the last sentence in section 4 to more clearly specify
error response behavior. Added acknowledgements. Added a
paragraph in the introduction regarding future IETF standards and
extensibility.
-03: Changed 'query' to 'lookup' in document title to better
describe the 'exact match lookup' purpose of this document.
Included a multitude of minor additions and clarifications
provided by Marc Blanchet and Jean-Philippe Dionne. Modified the
domain and name server sections to include support for IDN
U-labels.
Authors' Addresses
Andrew Lee Newton
American Registry for Internet Numbers
3635 Concorde Parkway
Chantilly, VA 20151
US
Email: andy@arin.net
URI: http://www.arin.net
Scott Hollenbeck
Verisign Labs
12061 Bluemont Way
Reston, VA 20190
US
Email: shollenbeck@verisign.com
URI: http://www.verisignlabs.com/
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