Textual Conventions for IPv6 Flow Label
RFC 3595

Network Working Group                                          B. Wijnen
Request for Comments: 3595                           Lucent Technologies
Category: Standards Track                                 September 2003

                Textual Conventions for IPv6 Flow Label

Status of this Memo

   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This MIB module defines textual conventions to represent the commonly
   used IPv6 Flow Label.  The intent is that these textual conventions
   (TCs) will be imported and used in MIB modules that would otherwise
   define their own representations.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
   2.  The Internet-Standard Management Framework . . . . . . . . . .  2
   3.  Definitions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
   4.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   5.  Intellectual Property Statement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   6.  References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
       6.1.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
       6.2.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   7.  Acknowledgments  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   8.  Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   9.  Full Copyright Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6

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RFC 3595        Textual Conventions for IPv6 Flow Label   September 2003

1.  Introduction

   Several standards-track MIB modules have defined objects to represent
   an IPv6 Flow Label (sometimes referred to as Flow ID) [RFC2460]
   [FLOWLABEL] and IPv6 Flow Label filters.  Unfortunately the result is
   a set of different definitions for the same piece of management
   information.  This may lead to confusion and unnecessary complexity.

   This document defines a set of textual conventions (TCs) that can and
   should be (re-)used in MIB modules, so that they all represent an
   IPv6 Flow Label in the same way.  In fact, PIB modules can and should
   also use these TCs when they need to represent an IPv6 Flow label.

2.  The Internet-Standard Management Framework

   For a detailed overview of the documents that describe the current
   Internet-Standard Management Framework, please refer to section 7 of
   RFC 3410 [RFC3410].

   Managed objects are accessed via a virtual information store, termed
   the Management Information Base or MIB.  MIB objects are generally
   accessed through the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).
   Objects in the MIB are defined using the mechanisms defined in the
   Structure of Management Information (SMI).  This memo specifies a MIB
   module that is compliant to the SMIv2, which is described in STD 58,
   RFC 2578 [RFC2578], STD 58, RFC 2579 [RFC2579] and STD 58, RFC 2580
   [RFC2580].

3.  Definitions

   IPV6-FLOW-LABEL-MIB DEFINITIONS ::= BEGIN

   IMPORTS

       MODULE-IDENTITY, mib-2, Integer32           FROM SNMPv2-SMI
       TEXTUAL-CONVENTION                          FROM SNMPv2-TC;

   ipv6FlowLabelMIB   MODULE-IDENTITY

       LAST-UPDATED  "200308280000Z"  -- 28 August 2003
       ORGANIZATION  "IETF Operations and Management Area"
       CONTACT-INFO  "Bert Wijnen (Editor)
                      Lucent Technologies
                      Schagen 33
                      3461 GL Linschoten
                      Netherlands

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RFC 3595        Textual Conventions for IPv6 Flow Label   September 2003

                      Phone: +31 348-407-775
                      EMail: bwijnen@lucent.com

                      Send comments to <mibs@ops.ietf.org>.
                     "
       DESCRIPTION   "This MIB module provides commonly used textual
                      conventions for IPv6 Flow Labels.

                      Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003).  This
                      version of this MIB module is part of RFC 3595,
                      see the RFC itself for full legal notices.
                     "
       -- Revision History

       REVISION      "200308280000Z"  -- 28 August 2003
       DESCRIPTION   "Initial version, published as RFC 3595."

       ::= { mib-2 103 }

   IPv6FlowLabel      ::= TEXTUAL-CONVENTION
       DISPLAY-HINT  "d"
       STATUS         current
       DESCRIPTION   "The flow identifier or Flow Label in an IPv6
                      packet header that may be used to discriminate
                      traffic flows.
                     "
       REFERENCE     "Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6) specification,
                      section 6.  RFC 2460.
                     "
       SYNTAX         Integer32 (0..1048575)

   IPv6FlowLabelOrAny ::= TEXTUAL-CONVENTION
       DISPLAY-HINT  "d"
       STATUS         current
       DESCRIPTION   "The flow identifier or Flow Label in an IPv6
                      packet header that may be used to discriminate
                      traffic flows.  The value of -1 is used to
                      indicate a wildcard, i.e. any value.
                     "
       SYNTAX         Integer32 (-1 | 0..1048575)

   END

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4.  Security Considerations

   The MIB module contained in this memo does not define any management
   objects.  Instead, it defines a set of textual conventions which may
   be used by other MIB modules to define management objects.

   Meaningful security considerations can only be written for MIB
   modules that define concrete management objects.  This document has
   therefore no impact on the security of the Internet.

5.  Intellectual Property Statement

   The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
   intellectual property or other rights that might be claimed to
   pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in
   this document or the extent to which any license under such rights
   might or might not be available; neither does it represent that it
   has made any effort to identify any such rights.  Information on the
   IETF's procedures with respect to rights in standards-track and
   standards-related documentation can be found in BCP-11.  Copies of
   claims of rights made available for publication and any assurances of
   licenses to be made available, or the result of an attempt made to
   obtain a general license or permission for the use of such
   proprietary rights by implementors or users of this specification can
   be obtained from the IETF Secretariat.

   The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
   copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary
   rights which may cover technology that may be required to practice
   this standard.  Please address the information to the IETF Executive
   Director.

6.  References

6.1.  Normative References

   [RFC2460]   Deering, S. and R. Hinden, "Internet Protocol, Version 6
               (IPv6) Specification", RFC 2460, December 1998.

   [RFC2578]   McCloghrie, K., Perkins, D. and Schoenwaelder, "Structure
               of Management Information Version 2 (SMIv2)", STD 58, RFC
               2578, April 1999.

   [RFC2579]   McCloghrie, K., Perkins, D. and J. Schoenwaelder,"Textual
               Conventions for SMIv2", STD 58, RFC 2579, April 1999.

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RFC 3595        Textual Conventions for IPv6 Flow Label   September 2003

   [RFC2580]   McCloghrie, K., Perkins, D. and J. Schoenwaelder,
               "Conformance Statements for SMIv2", STD 58, RFC 2580,
               April 1999.

6.2.  Informative References

   [FLOWLABEL] Carpenter, B., Conta, A., Deering, S. and J. Rajahalme,
               "IPv6 Flow Label Specification", Work in Progress.

   [RFC3410]   Case, J., Mundy, R., Partain, D. and B. Stewart,
               "Introduction and Applicability Statements for Internet-
               Standard Management Framework", RFC 3410, December 2002.

7.  Acknowledgments

   This document was produced as a result of a review of the use of
   FlowID in a PIB module and a MIB module.  Further investigation found
   that FlowID and FlowLabel objects were defined in a few other MIB
   modules.  The editor would like to thank all who contributed to the
   discussion that resulted in this document, particularly Juergen
   Schoenwaelder for finding and reporting most of the other MIB modules
   that were using/defining a FlowLabel object.  Juergen also suggested
   the very first direction for a common TC for these objects.  Further
   contributions were received from Fred Baker, Dan Romascanu, Kwok Ho
   Chan, Margaret Wasserman, Brian Carpenter, Andy Bierman, Randy
   Presuhn, Branislav Meandzija, Brian Williams, Ravi Sahita.  We also
   received initial input from 3GPP that expressed the requirement to be
   able to specify a wildcard for FlowID or FlowLabel.  Further helpful
   review comments were received from Brian Carpenter, John Loughney,
   Pekka Savola.

8.  Author's Address

   Bert Wijnen
   Lucent Technologies
   Schagen 33
   3461 GL Linschoten
   Netherlands

   Phone: +31-348-407-775
   EMail: bwijnen@lucent.com

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RFC 3595        Textual Conventions for IPv6 Flow Label   September 2003

9.  Full Copyright Statement

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003).  All Rights Reserved.

   This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
   others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
   or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
   and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
   kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
   included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this
   document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
   the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
   Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
   developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
   copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
   followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
   English.

   The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
   revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assignees.

   This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
   "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
   TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
   BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
   HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
   MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Acknowledgement

   Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
   Internet Society.

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