Specification of the IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Protocol for the Exchange of Flow Information
RFC 7011

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                    B. Claise, Ed.
Request for Comments: 7011                           Cisco Systems, Inc.
STD: 77                                                 B. Trammell, Ed.
Obsoletes: 5101                                               ETH Zurich
Category: Standards Track                                      P. Aitken
ISSN: 2070-1721                                      Cisco Systems, Inc.
                                                          September 2013

    Specification of the IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Protocol
                  for the Exchange of Flow Information

Abstract

   This document specifies the IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX)
   protocol, which serves as a means for transmitting Traffic Flow
   information over the network.  In order to transmit Traffic Flow
   information from an Exporting Process to a Collecting Process, a
   common representation of flow data and a standard means of
   communicating them are required.  This document describes how the
   IPFIX Data and Template Records are carried over a number of
   transport protocols from an IPFIX Exporting Process to an IPFIX
   Collecting Process.  This document obsoletes RFC 5101.

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/rfc7011.

Claise, et al.               Standards Track                    [Page 1]
RFC 7011              IPFIX Protocol Specification        September 2013

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2013 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
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
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   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ....................................................5
      1.1. Changes since RFC 5101 .....................................5
      1.2. IPFIX Documents Overview ...................................6
   2. Terminology .....................................................7
      2.1. Terminology Summary Table .................................13
   3. IPFIX Message Format ...........................................13
      3.1. Message Header Format .....................................15
      3.2. Field Specifier Format ....................................16
      3.3. Set and Set Header Format .................................18
           3.3.1. Set Format .........................................18
           3.3.2. Set Header Format ..................................19
      3.4. Record Format .............................................20
           3.4.1. Template Record Format .............................20
           3.4.2. Options Template Record Format .....................23
                  3.4.2.1. Scope .....................................23
                  3.4.2.2. Options Template Record Format ............24
           3.4.3. Data Record Format .................................27
   4. Specific Reporting Requirements ................................28
      4.1. The Metering Process Statistics Options Template ..........29
      4.2. The Metering Process Reliability Statistics
           Options Template ..........................................29
      4.3. The Exporting Process Reliability Statistics
           Options Template ..........................................31
      4.4. The Flow Keys Options Template ............................32
   5. Timing Considerations ..........................................32
      5.1. IPFIX Message Header Export Time and Flow Record Time .....32
      5.2. Supporting Timestamp Wraparound ...........................33

Claise, et al.               Standards Track                    [Page 2]
RFC 7011              IPFIX Protocol Specification        September 2013

   6. Linkage with the Information Model .............................34