Network Working Group                                            B. Volz
Internet-Draft                                       Cisco Systems, Inc.
Intended status: Standards Track                           July 07, 2008
Expires: January 8, 2009


                      DHCP Vendor-specific Message
             <draft-volz-dhc-dhcpv6-vendor-message-01.txt>

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Abstract

   This document requests a vendor-specific DHCPv6 message assignment.
   This message can be used for vendor specific and experimental
   purposes.












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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
   2.  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
   3.  Vendor-specific Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
   4.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
   5.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
   6.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
     6.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
     6.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
   Intellectual Property and Copyright Statements  . . . . . . . . . . 6







































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1.  Introduction

   The DHCPv6 [RFC3315] protocol specifies a mechanism for the
   assignment of addresses and configuration information to nodes.  The
   protocol provides for 256 possible message codes, of which a small
   number are assigned ([DHCPv6Params]).  Each of the assigned message
   codes have specific purposes.  New message codes are assigned through
   IETF Standards Action as defined in [RFC2434] (see Section 24 of
   [RFC3315]).

   There may be a need for vendors of DHCPv6 clients, relay agents, or
   servers to experiment with new capabilities that require new messages
   to be exchanged between these elements.  Thus, this document defines
   the format for and requests that a new message code be reserved for
   vendor-specific and experimental purposes.


2.  Terminology

   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 [RFC2119].


3.  Vendor-specific Message

   The vendor-specific message may be exchanged between clients, relay
   agents, and/or servers and allows multiple vendors to make use of the
   message for completely different and independent purposes.

   Clients and servers MAY chose to support this message; those that do
   not, MUST discard the message.  Relay agents SHOULD relay these
   messages as they would other DHCPv6 messages unless the relay agent
   understands the specific message and knows that the message was
   directed at it.

   Applications using these messages MUST NOT assume that all DHCPv6
   clients, relay agents, and servers support them and MUST use good
   networking practices when transmitting and retransmitting these
   messages (see Section 14 of [RFC3315] for recommendations).  For some
   applications, it may be appropriate to use a Vendor Class or Vendor-
   specific Information Option ([RFC3315]) in a standard DHCPv6 exchange
   to negotiate whether the end-points support the vendor-specific
   message.







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   The format of the DHCPv6 Vendor-specific Message is shown below:


        0                   1                   2                   3
        0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
       +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
       |    msg-type   |               enterprise-number               |
       +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
       |  enterprise-  |                                               |
       | number (contd)|                                               .
       +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                                               .
       .                          vendor-data                          .
       .                       (variable length)                       .
       |                                                               |
       +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

       msg-type             VENDOR-SPECIFIC (to-be-assigned)

       enterprise-number    The vendor's registered Enterprise Number as
                            registered with [EID].

       vendor-data          The vendor's message data.


   The contents and format of the vendor-data field is up to the vendor.


4.  Security Considerations

   The Security Considerations of [RFC3315] apply.

   This new message does potentially open up new avenues of attacking
   clients, relay agents, or servers.  The exact nature of these attacks
   will depend on what functions and capabilities the message exposes
   and are thus not possible to describe in this document.  Clients and
   servers that have no use for these messages SHOULD discard them and
   thus the threat is no different than before this message was
   assigned.

   Vendors using this new message should use the DHCPv6 security
   mechanisms (the Auth option or IPsec [RFC3315] as appropriate) and
   carefully consider the security implications of the functions and
   capabilities exposed.


5.  IANA Considerations

   IANA is requested to assign DHCPv6 Message type 254 to the Vendor-



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   specific Message in the registry maintained in [DHCPv6Params]:

      254 VENDOR-SPECIFIC


6.  References

6.1.  Normative References

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

   [RFC3315]  Droms, R., Bound, J., Volz, B., Lemon, T., Perkins, C.,
              and M. Carney, "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for
              IPv6 (DHCPv6)", RFC 3315, July 2003.

   [EID]      IANA, "Private Enterprise Numbers.
              http://www.iana.org/assignments/enterprise-numbers".

6.2.  Informative References

   [RFC2434]  Narten, T. and H. Alvestrand, "Guidelines for Writing an
              IANA Considerations Section in RFCs", BCP 26, RFC 2434,
              October 1998.

   [DHCPv6Params]
              IANA, "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for IPv6
              (DHCPv6).
              http://www.iana.org/assignments/dhcpv6-parameters".


Author's Address

   Bernard Volz
   Cisco Systems, Inc.
   1414 Massachusetts Ave.
   Boxborough, MA  01719
   USA

   Phone: +1 978 936 0000
   Email: volz@cisco.com










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