Network Working Group T.G.Smith
INTERNET-DRAFT Gecko Software
Expire in six months 20 November 1996
Orbit Shadow TM - Data Transport Protocol
for
Java Thin Client Applications
to access
Network Management Platforms
<draft-smith-java-appl-00.txt>
_1. _S_t_a_t_u_s _o_f _t_h_i_s _M_e_m_o
This document is an Internet-Draft. Internet-Drafts are working docu-
ments of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its areas, and
its working groups. Note the other groups may also distribute working
documents as Internet-Drafts.
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 the other than as "work in progress".
To learn the current status of any Internet-Draft, please check the
"lid-abstracts.txt" listing contained in the Internet-Drafts Shadow
Directories on ftp.is.oc.za (Africa), nic.nordu.net (Europe),
munnari.oz.au (Pacific Rim), ds.internic.net (US East Coast), or
ftp.isi.edu (US West Coast).
_2. _A_b_s_t_r_a_c_t
_2._1. _I_n_t_e_r_e_s_t
This document is of interest to vendors of network management platforms
and network management applications, for the management of intranets,
private internetworks and the public Internet.
_2._2. _S_t_a_t_u_s _R_e_p_o_r_t
This is the first submission of this RFC.
_2._3. _P_r_o_t_o_c_o_l
This protocol is an application layer protocol for the interchange of
data between a network management server and a network management
client application. The protocol is intended to be used in operating
system independant implementations of "thin" client applications.
This protocol is currently implemented by one manufacturer - Gecko
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Software, but is being placed in the public domain as it is of
interest to other manufacturers dealing with network management
issues.
_3. _I_n_t_r_o_d_u_c_t_i_o_n _t_o _O_R_B_I_T
A GeckoWare product from Gecko Software
ORBIT is an architecture that integrates information technology
management platforms, the World Wide Web, HTML browser applications
and Java to provide operating system independant access to mission
critical management information. Designed to be used with enterprise
systems and network management platforms such as
SPECTRUM from Cabletron Systems
HP OpenView from Hewlett Packard
SunNET Manager from Sun Microsystems
ORBIT Planet provides a public domain Java API to access information
on a remote management platform, using the ORBIT Star server. The
ORBIT Star and Satellite are Java powered, and communicate using
ORBIT Shadow an application layer protocol that is implemented using
TCP/IP sockets. Any Java compatabile application, specifically HTML
browsers, can implement Java applets that access management applica-
tion information through ORBIT Planet, Shadow and Star.
_3._1. _O_R_B_I_T _S_t_a_r
A server application (daemon) that co-exists with the management
application, or remote from the management application where sup-
ported by the API or CLI. ORBIT Star accepts API or CLI calls from
one or more ORBIT Satellites vi a ORBIT Shadow. These calls are
passed to the management application by ORBIT Star and the results
passed back to the relevant ORBIT Planet.
_3._2. _O_R_B_I_T _P_l_a_n_e_t
A public domain Java package, consisting of class, method and inter-
face definitions that implement the Application Program Interfaces or
Command Line Interfaces of a management application. Communication
with a management application is through ORBIT Shadow to an ORBIT
Star.
_3._3. _O_R_B_I_T _S_h_a_d_o_w
An application layer protocol, implemented uding TCP/IP sockets, that
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controls data requests and responses between ORBIT Stars and ORBIT
Planets.
_4. _U_s_e _C_a_s_e _f_o_r _O_r_b_i_t _S_h_a_d_o_w
An example of the application of Orbit Shadow is given as a use case.
In this use case, the Orbit implementation is Orbit for SPECTRUM8r9,
Cabletron Systems, Inc, enterprise management system. Fred, a net-
work Manager, wishes to be able to view the state of all Cisco
routers in his company's network using the Netscape browser that he
has installed on his Apple Macintosh. Fred asks Cathy, an applica-
tion programmer, to build him an application to perform this func-
tion.
Cathy designs a series of Java applets that Fred will access from an
page on their corporate WWW server. One of the applets that she
writes needs to be able to query the state of a specific router (a
managed object).Cathy uses Orbit Planet as the interface to interro-
gate a SPECTRUM system, installed on their network, as to the state
of the required router.
Orbit Planet (a public domain Java package) provides Cathy with
object classes, methods and interfaces to interrogate and update her
SPECTRUM server, using an Orbit Star application on the SpectroSERVER
host[1]. Cathy includes the Orbit Planet Java packages in her applet
that needs to be able to query the state of a specific router. When
the relevant method is invoked[2] Orbit Shadow packages the request
into an Orbit Shadow protocol frame and communicates the request to
the relevant Orbit Star. From the above, you can see that Orbit Sha-
dow is embedded in Orbit Planet. There is also a corresponding Orbit
Shadow embedded in Orbit Star. When this Orbit Shadow receives the
request from Cathy's applet, it executes the request and returns the
data to the applet. To execute the request, Orbit Star calls the
relevant SPECTRUM interface[3], parses and formats the resulting out-
put before handing the data to Orbit Shadow. Orbit Shadow packages
the data into an Orbit Shadow protocol frame and communicates the
response to the relevant Orbit Planet.
END-NOTES
---------
1 Orbit Star - SPECTRUM does not necessarily have to co-
reside with a SpectroSERVER. V1.x of Orbit Star - SPECTRUM
uses the SPECTRUM Command Line Interface and can reside on a
separate host to the SpectroSERVER, provided that the
SPECTRUM CLI is installed on the same host as Orbit Star -
SPECTRUM. Compatabile versions of SpectroSERVER and
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SPECTRUM CLI can be on different Operating System platforms,
which implies that Orbit Star - SPECTRUM can be deployed on
a different host operating system to that of the
SpectroSRVER.
2 The method that corresponds to the SPECTRUM Command Line
Interface (CLI) show attributes [mh=<model handle>]
attr=<attribute id>
3 This would be the same interface as invoked by the Orbit
Planet method in footnote 2.
_5. _P_r_o_t_o_c_o_l _D_e_f_i_n_i_t_i_o_n
_5._1. _F_r_a_m_e _S_t_r_u_c_t_u_r_e
An Orbit Shadow protocol frame contains the fields set out in "Table
1 - Orbit Shadow Protocol Frame".
Field number Field descriptor
8 ______________________________________________________________
0 version
1 sequence
2 command
3 final
4 platform
5 interface
6 database
7 object
8 attribute
9 attribute type
10 value
Table 1 - Orbit Shadow Protocol Frame
Each of the fields in the protocol frame are described below.
_5._1._1. _V_e_r_s_i_o_n
The field version identifies the revision of Orbit Shadow that is in
use. The field is an signed integer value with a length of eight (8)
bits.
_5._1._2. _S_e_q_u_e_n_c_e
The field sequence is used ensure that information sent between the
Orbit Star and the Orbit Planet remains in sequence. The field is a
signed integer value with a length of thiry-two (32) bits.
9
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_5._1._3. _C_o_m_m_a_n_d
The command field identifies the protocol action to be carried out by
the receipient of the protocol frame. The defined commands are
Command Abbreviation Integer Value
8 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________
authorise AUTH 0
request REQ 1
response RES 2
positive acknowledge ACK 3
negative acknowledge NACK 4
wait WAIT 5
terminate TERM 6
Table 2 - Defined values for field: command
These commands are implemented in the protocol frame as a signed
integer value with a length of eight (8) bits. Detailed examples of
the use of these commands is given in section "Protocol State Model".
_5._1._4. _F_i_n_a_l
The final field is a boolean flag, implemented as a single bit. This
flag is set to true (1) if the protocol frame is the last frame for
the specified command and is set to false (0) if the frame is not the
last frame in an exchange for a specified command. This flag is used
when sending bulk data in a request or a response.
_5._1._5. _P_l_a_t_f_o_r_m
The platform field defines the network or systems management platform
that Orbit Star interfaces with and is implemented as an signed
integer of length eight (8) bits. Currently defined values for plat-
form are
Value Application Platform Abbreviation
8 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
-128 Reserved - -
..
-1 Reserved - -
0 Cabletron SPECTRUM Command Line Interface csiCLI
1 Cabletron SPECTRUM SSAPI ver 4.0 csiSSAPI
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Value Application Platform Abbreviation
8 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2 SunNET Manager - sunNET
3 Sun Solstice - sunENT
Enterprise Manager
4 HP Network Node - hpNNM3
Manager ver 3.x
5 HP Network Node - hpNNM4
Manager ver 4.x
Table 3 - Defined values for field: platform
_5._1._6. _I_n_t_e_r_f_a_c_e
The field interface defines the specific interface on the specified
platform that this protocol frame refers to and is implemented as a
signed integer eight (8) bits in length. Interface values are unique
when used in conjunction with a specific platform value. Currently
defined values for the field "interface" are set out in Table 4. The
"interface" values for platform "csiCLI" use the typographical con-
ventions from the SPECTRUM "Command Line Interface User Guide".
Platform Interface Interface
Value Description
8 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
csiCLI 000 reserved
csiCLI 001 connect [hostname]
[lh=landscape_handle]
csiCLI 002 disconnect
csiCLI 003 ack alarm aid=alarm_id
[lh=landscape_handle]
csiCLI 004 create alarm
cond=alarm_condition
cause=alarm_cause
mh=model_handle
csiCLI 005 create association
rel=relation
lmh=left_model_handle
rmh=right_model_handle.
csiCLI 006 create event
type=event_type
text=event_text
[mh=model_handle |
lh=landscape_handle ]
csiCLI 007 create model
mth=model_type_handle
[attr=attribute_id,
val=value ...]
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Platform Interface Interface
Value Description
8 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[lh=landscape_handle]
csiCLI 008 current [mh=model_handle |
lh=landscape_handle ]
csiCLI 009 destroy alarm [-n]
aid=alarm_id
[lh=landscape_handle]
csiCLI 010 destroy association [-n]
rel=relation
lmh=left_model_handle
rmh=right_model_handle.
csiCLI 011 destroy model [-n]
mh=model_handle
csiCLI 012 jump [text_string]
csiCLI 013 seek attr=attribute_id,
val=value
[lh=landscape_handle]
csiCLI 014 setjump [-n] text_string
csiCLI 015 show alarms [-x]
[mh=model_handle |
lh=landscape_handle ]
csiCLI 016 show associations
[mh=model_handle]
csiCLI 017 show attributes
[attr=attribute_id
[,iid=instance_id][,next]]
[attr=attribute_id
[,iid=instance_id][,next]...]
[mh=model_handle]
csiCLI 018 show attributes
mth=model_type_handle
[lh=landscape_handle]
csiCLI 019 show children [rel=relation]
[mh=model_handle]
csiCLI 020 show events [-x]
[mh=model_handle |
lh=landscape_handle ]
csiCLI 021 show inheritance
mth=model_type_handle
[lh=landscape_handle]
csiCLI 022 show models [lh=landscape_handle]
csiCLI 023 show parents [rel=relation]
[mh=model_handle]
csiCLI 024 show relations [lh=landscape_handle]
csiCLI 025 show rules rel=relation
csiCLI 026 show types [lh=landscape_handle]
csiCLI 027 show landscapes
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Platform Interface Interface
Value Description
8 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
csiCLI 028 update [mh=model_handle]
attr=attribute_id
[,iid=instance_id],val=value
[attr=attribute_id
[,iid=instance_id],val=value...]
csiCLI 029 update [-n]
mth=model_type_handle
attr=attribute_id,val=value
[attr=attribute_id,val=value...]
[lh=landscape_handle]
Table 4 - Defined values for field: interface
_5._1._7. _D_a_t_a_b_a_s_e
The field database defines the target database on the platform for
which the interface is to be invoked, and is implemented as a signed
integer thirty two (32) bits in length. This field is used when the
target platform supports distributed databases or has multiple data
sources. The usage of this field is dependant on the value of plat-
form. The semantic definitions for database that are currently
defined are
Platform Semantic value of database
8 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
csiCLI SPECTRUM VNM Landscape Handle
csiSSAPI SPECTRUM VNM Landscape Handle
Table 5 'Defined Values for field: database'
_5._1._8. _O_b_j_e_c_t
The field object defines an object in the "database" on the "plat-
form", and is implemented as an signed integer thirty two (32) bits
in length. The semantic value of object is specific for each plat-
form. The semantic definitions for object that are currently defined
are
Platform Semantic value of object
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8 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
csiCLI SPECTRUM VNM model handle
csiSSAPI SPECTRUM VNM model handle
Table 6 'Defined values for field: object'
_5._1._9. _A_t_t_r_i_b_u_t_e
The field attribute defines an attribute of an object, and is imple-
mented as a signed integer thirty two (32) bits in length. The seman-
tic value of attribute is specific for each platform. The semantic
definitions for object that are currently defined are
Platform Semantic value of attribute
8 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
csiCLI SPECTRUM VNM attribute handle
csiSSAPI SPECTRUM VNM attribute handle
Table 7 'Defined values for field: attribute'
_5._1._1_0. _A_t_t_r_i_b_u_t_e _T_y_p_e
The field "attribute type" describes the data type implemented by the
"attribute". This field is implemented as a signed integer eight (8)
bits in length. The Orbit Shadow protocol uses primitive data types
as defined by Sun Microsystem's Java TM programming language. The
definition of these primitive data types can be found at
http://www.javasoft.com
Field Value Data type
8 __________________________________________________
0 Boolean
1 Char
2 Integer
3 Long
4 Float
5 Double
6 String
Table 8 'Defined values for field: attribute type'
9
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_5._1._1_1. _V_a_l_u_e
The field value contains the data which is the value of the attribute
specified in the Orbit Shadow protocol frame, and is implemented as a
variable length sequence of bytes.
_5._2. _P_r_o_t_o_c_o_l _S_t_a_t_e _M_o_d_e_l
_5._2._1. _O_v_e_r_v_i_e_w
The exchange of Orbit Shadow frames between an Orbit Star and an
Orbit Planet is described by a series of data flow diagrams. Data
exchange between the Orbit Planet and Orbit Star is asynchronous and
bi-directional, and is always initiated by an Orbit Planet. For every
exchange that is initiated by an Orbit Planet, an Orbit Star will
reply with either a positive or negative acknowledgement. A session
between an Orbit Planet and an Orbit Star is initiated with a user
authentication exchange, followed by a sequence of requests and
responses. The session is not necessarily explicitly terminated, but
can be terminated by the Orbit Planet, or the Orbit Star.
_5._2._2. _S_e_s_s_i_o_n _I_n_i_t_i_a_t_i_o_n
A session between an Orbit Planet and an Orbit Star requires that
user authentication take place at least once, before any other
requests are serviced. If no authentication has occured, then the
Orbit Star will deny service to the Orbit Planet. Table 9 "Initial
state - no authorisation", shows the protocol exchange where an Orbit
Star denies service when no authentication has taken place.
Frame Orbit Planet Orbit Star Frame detail
8 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________
1 REQ object=<..>,
attribute=<..>,
value=..
2 NACK object=<..>,
attribute=<..>,
value=..
Table 9 "Initial state - no authorisation"
An authorisation exchange is shown in Table 10 "Initial state -
authorisation exchange". In this exchange, both the user name and the
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user password are accepted by the Orbit Star as valid.
Frame Orbit Planet Orbit Star Frame detail
8 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1 AUTH object=null,
attribute=<user name>,
value=user name
2 ACK object=<user object>,
attribute=<user name>,
value=user name
3 AUTH object=<user object>,
attribute=<user password>,
value=password
4 ACK object=<user object>,
attribute=<user password>,
value=password
Table 10 "Initial state - authorisation exchange"
If either the user name or user password is invalid, the Orbit Star
will send a negative acknowledgement of the authentication request.
An example of this is shown in
Frame Orbit Planet Orbit Star Frame detail
8 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1 AUTH object=null,
attribute=<user name>,
value=user name
2 ACK object=<user object>,
attribute=<user name>,
value=user name
3 AUTH object=<user object>,
attribute=<user password>,
value=password
4 NACK object=<user object>,
attribute=<user password>,
value=password
Table 11 "Initial state - authentication failure"
_5._2._3. _R_e_s_q_u_e_s_t _A_n_d _R_e_s_p_o_n_s_e
After the Orbit Planet has successfully identified the end-user to
the Orbit Star, requests for access to the Orbit Star platform
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interfaces can be made. On receiving a request, the Orbit Star will
acknowledge that the request is to be serviced, or refuse the request
through a negative acknowledgement. Table 12 "Request - service
refusal" shows the protocol exchange when the Orbit Star refuses to
service an Orbit Planet request.
Frame Orbit Planet Orbit Star Frame detail
8 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________
1 REQ object=<..>,
attribute=<..>,
value=..
2 NACK object=<..>,
attribute=<..>,
value=..
Table 12 "Request - service refusal"
Assuming that the Orbit Star is able to service the request from the
Orbit Planet, the exchange might be as set out in Table 13 "Request -
simple response".
Frame Orbit Planet Orbit Star Frame detail
8 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1 REQ object=<..>,
attribute=<..>,
value=..
2 ACK object=<..>,
attribute=<..>,
value=..
3 RES object=<..>,
attribute=<..>,
value=..
4 ACK object=<..>,
attribute=<..>,
value=..
Table 13 "Request - simple response"
_5._2._4. _S_e_s_s_i_o_n _T_e_r_m_i_n_a_t_i_o_n
To be completed.
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_6. _S_e_c_u_r_i_t_y _C_o_n_s_i_d_e_r_a_t_i_o_n_s
There is a possible requirement for encryption of passwords in the
user authentication exchange in session initiation.
_7. _R_e_f_e_r_e_n_c_e_s
_8. _A_u_t_h_o_r'_s _A_d_d_r_e_s_s
Tony Gordon Smith
Gecko Software
17 Paragon Place
Blackheath
London
SE3 0SP
United Kingdom
Phone: +44-(0)700 0GECKO
+44-(0)700 043256
Fax: +44-(0)700 740175
EMail: tony@geckoware.com
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