NEC's Simple Middlebox Configuration (SIMCO) Protocol Version 3.0
RFC 4540
Document | Type | RFC - Experimental (May 2006; No errata) | |
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Authors | Juergen Quittek , Martin Stiemerling , Cristian Cadar | ||
Last updated | 2015-10-14 | ||
Stream | Independent Submission | ||
Formats | plain text html pdf htmlized (tools) htmlized bibtex | ||
Stream | ISE state | (None) | |
Consensus Boilerplate | Unknown | ||
Document shepherd | No shepherd assigned | ||
IESG | IESG state | RFC 4540 (Experimental) | |
Action Holders |
(None)
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Telechat date | |||
Responsible AD | Jon Peterson | ||
Send notices to | (None) |
Network Working Group M. Stiemerling Request for Comments: 4540 J. Quittek Category: Experimental NEC C. Cadar May 2006 NEC's Simple Middlebox Configuration (SIMCO) Protocol Version 3.0 Status of This Memo This memo defines an Experimental Protocol for the Internet community. It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Discussion and suggestions for improvement are requested. Distribution of this memo is unlimited. Copyright Notice Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006). IESG Note The content of this RFC was at one time considered by the IETF, and therefore it may resemble a current IETF work in progress or a published IETF work. This RFC is not a candidate for any level of Internet Standard. The IETF disclaims any knowledge of the fitness of this RFC for any purpose and in particular notes that the decision to publish is not based on IETF review for such things as security, congestion control, or inappropriate interaction with deployed protocols. The RFC Editor has chosen to publish this document at its discretion. Readers of this RFC should exercise caution in evaluating its value for implementation and deployment. See RFC 3932 [RFC3932] for more information. Abstract This document describes a protocol for controlling middleboxes such as firewalls and network address translators. It is a fully compliant implementation of the Middlebox Communications (MIDCOM) semantics described in RFC 3989. Compared to earlier experimental versions of the SIMCO protocol, this version (3.0) uses binary message encodings in order to reduce resource requirements. Stiemerling, et al. Experimental [Page 1] RFC 4540 NEC's SIMCO Protocol Version 3.0 May 2006 Table of Contents 1. Introduction ....................................................4 1.1. Terminology ................................................4 1.2. Binary Encodings ...........................................4 2. Compliance with MIDCOM Protocol Semantics .......................5 3. SIMCO Sessions ..................................................6 4. SIMCO Message Components ........................................6 4.1. Message Types ..............................................7 4.2. The SIMCO Header ...........................................7 4.2.1. Basic Message Types .................................8 4.2.2. Message Sub-types for Requests and Positive Replies .............................................8 4.2.3. Message Sub-types for Negative Replies ..............8 4.2.4. Message Sub-types for Notifications .................9 4.2.5. Transaction Identifier ..............................9 4.3. The SIMCO Payload .........................................10 4.3.1. SIMCO Protocol Version Attribute ...................11 4.3.2. Authentication Attributes ..........................11 4.3.3. Middlebox Capabilities Attribute ...................12 4.3.4. Policy Rule Identifier Attribute ...................13 4.3.5. Group Identifier Attribute .........................13 4.3.6. Policy Rule Lifetime Attribute .....................13 4.3.7. Policy Rule Owner Attribute ........................14 4.3.8. Address Tuple Attribute ............................14 4.3.9. PRR Parameter Set Attribute ........................16 4.3.10. PER Parameter Set Attribute .......................18 5. SIMCO Message Formats ..........................................19 5.1. Protocol Error Replies and Notifications ..................19 5.1.1. BFM Notification ...................................19 5.1.2. Protocol Error Negative Replies ....................19 5.2. Session Control Messages ..................................20 5.2.1. SE Request .........................................20 5.2.2. SE Positive Reply ..................................21 5.2.3. SA Positive Reply ..................................21 5.2.4. SA Request .........................................21 5.2.5. ST Request and ST Positive Reply ...................22 5.2.6. SE Negative Replies ................................22 5.2.7. AST Notification ...................................23 5.3. Policy Rule Control Messages ..............................23 5.3.1. Policy Events and Asynchronous Notifications .......24 5.3.2. PRR Request ........................................24Show full document text