Expressing SNMP SMI Datatypes in XML Schema Definition Language
RFC 5935
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) M. Ellison
Request for Comments: 5935 Ellison Software Consulting
Category: Standards Track B. Natale
ISSN: 2070-1721 MITRE
August 2010
Expressing SNMP SMI Datatypes in XML Schema Definition Language
Abstract
This memo defines the IETF standard expression of Structure of
Management Information (SMI) base datatypes in XML Schema Definition
(XSD) language. The primary objective of this memo is to enable the
production of XML documents that are as faithful to the SMI as
possible, using XSD as the validation mechanism.
Status of This Memo
This is an Internet Standards Track document.
This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF). It represents the consensus of the IETF community. It has
received public review and has been approved for publication by the
Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Further information on
Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 5741.
Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5935.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2010 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
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the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
described in the Simplified BSD License.
Ellison & Natale Standards Track [Page 1]
RFC 5935 Expressing SNMP SMI Datatypes in XSD August 2010
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ....................................................2
2. Conventions .....................................................4
3. Requirements ....................................................4
4. XSD for SMI Base Datatypes ......................................5
5. Rationale .......................................................8
5.1. Numeric Datatypes ..........................................8
5.2. OctetString ................................................9
5.3. Opaque ....................................................10
5.4. IpAddress .................................................10
5.5. ObjectIdentifier ..........................................10
6. Security Considerations ........................................11
7. IANA Considerations ............................................11
7.1. SMI Base Datatypes Namespace Registration .................12
7.2. SMI Base Datatypes Schema Registration ....................12
8. Acknowledgements ...............................................12
9. References .....................................................13
9.1. Normative References ......................................13
9.2. Informative References ....................................13
1. Introduction
Numerous use cases exist for expressing the management information
described by SMI Management Information Base (MIB) modules in XML
[XML]. Potential use cases reside both outside and within the
traditional IETF network management community. For example,
developers of some XML-based management applications may want to
incorporate the rich set of data models provided by MIB modules.
Developers of other XML-based management applications may want to
access MIB module instrumentation via gateways to SNMP agents. Such
applications benefit from the IETF standard mapping of SMI datatypes
to XML datatypes via XSD [XMLSchema], [XSDDatatypes].
MIB modules use SMIv2 [RFC2578] to describe data models. For legacy
MIB modules, SMIv1 [RFC1155] was used. MIB data conveyed in variable
bindings ("varbinds") within protocol data units (PDUs) of SNMP
messages use the primitive, base datatypes defined by the SMI.
The SMI allows for the creation of derivative datatypes, "textual
conventions" ("TCs") [RFC2579]. A TC has a unique name, has a syntax
that either refines or is a base SMI datatype, and has relatively
precise application-level semantics. TCs facilitate correct
application-level handling of MIB data, improve readability of MIB
modules by humans, and support appropriate renderings of MIB data.
Ellison & Natale Standards Track [Page 2]
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