Subject: [Netconf] Pls bring this new NETCONF WG charter to the IESG for approval.

From: Bert Wijnen <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2010 18:03:03 +0200

The charter is also attached as an ASCIi txt file.

Bert and Mehmet

--------------- rquested approval for this new charter:

Network Configuration (netconf)
-------------------------------

  Charter

  Current Status: Active

  Chairs:
      Bert Wijnen <[email-masked]>
      Mehmet Ersue <[email-masked]>

  Operations and Management Area Directors:
      Dan Romascanu <[email-masked]>
      Ronald Bonica <[email-masked]>

  Operations and Management Area Advisor:
      Dan Romascanu <[email-masked]>

  Mailing Lists:
      General Discussion: [email-masked]
      To Subscribe:       [email-masked]
         or:              https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/netconf
      Archive:            http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/netconf/

Description of Working Group:

   Configuration of networks of devices has become a critical requirement
   for operators in today's highly interoperable networks. Operators from
   large to small have developed their own mechanisms or used vendor
   specific mechanisms to transfer configuration data to and from a
   device, and for examining device state information which may impact
   the configuration. Each of these mechanisms may be different in
   various aspects, such as session establishment, user authentication,
   configuration data exchange, and error responses.

   The NETCONF Working Group has produced a protocol suitable for
   network configuration, with the following characteristics:

   - Provides retrieval mechanisms which can differentiate between
     configuration data and non-configuration data
   - Is extensible enough so that vendors can provide access to all
     configuration data on the device using a single protocol
   - Has a programmatic interface (avoids screen scraping and
     formatting-related changes between releases)
   - Uses an XML-based data representation, that can be easily manipulated
     using non-specialized XML manipulation tools.

   - Supports integration with existing user authentication methods
   - Supports integration with existing configuration database systems
   - Supports multiple (e.g. candidate and running) data-stores to
     optimize configuration preparation and activation

   - Supports network wide configuration transactions (with features such
     as locking and rollback capability)
   - Runs over a secure transport; SSH is mandatory to implement
     while TLS, BEEP, and SOAP are optional transports.
   - Provides support for asynchronous notifications.

   The NETCONF protocol has been designed independent of the data
   modeling language. The IETF recommends to use YANG as the NETCONF
   modeling language, which introduces advanced language features for
   configuration management.

   In the current phase of the incremental development of NETCONF the
   workgroup will focus on following items:

   1. NETCONF implementations have shown that the specification in RFC4741
      is not 100% clear and has lead to different interpretations and
      implementations. Also some errors have been uncovered. So the WG
      will do an rfc4741bis with following constraints:

        - bug fixes are to be done
        - clarifications can be done
        - extensions can be done only when needed to fix bugs
          or inconsistencies (i.e. we are not doing a NETCONF V2)
        - The work was started based on the discussion in IETF #73 (see
          http://www.ietf.org/proceedings/08nov/slides/netconf-3.pdf).

   2. A technical errata has been posted on rfc4742. The work on
      rfc4741bis also uncovered some additional fixes/clarifications that
      need to be made to rfc4742, the WG has been working on rfc4742bis
      and is nearly done with this work item.

   3. Netconf Access Control Model (NACM) Requirements and Solution.

      There is a need for standard mechanisms to restrict
      NETCONF protocol access for particular users to a pre-
      configured (by operator) subset of all available NETCONF
      operations and content.

      The WG will produce a document which identifies the access
      control requirements specific to the NETCONF protocol, as
      defined in [4741bis].  This document will also provide a
      standard YANG data model which addresses these
      requirements.

      It is possible that the WG will not reach solution consensus
      on every possible requirement identified in the document.
      In this case, it is expected that the solution will evolve
      over time to meet the the remaining unmet requirements.

   4. The NETCONF server may want to notify interested clients about
      particular NETCONF protocol/server events.  The WG will work on
      a NETCONF specific YANG module(s) to define suitable
      notifications.

   5. As implementation and deployment experience gained with the
      NETCONF monitoring data model, the WG may revise the NETCONF
      monitoring data model to add additional objects that can be used
      to check the status of the server and to discover additional
      information about the server implementation. The WG may choose
      to revise the NETCONF monitoring data model.

Goals and Milestones:
   Aug 2010 - Send with-defaults to IESG for consideration as Proposed Standard
   Aug 2010 - WG Last Call on rfc4741bis
   Sep 2010 - rfc4741bis to IESG for consideration as Proposed Standard
   Sep 2010 - Send rfc4742bis to IESG for consideration as proposed Standard.
   Sep 2010 - first WG draft (rev 00) on NACM posted
   Sep 2010 - first WG draft (rev 00) on NETCONF specific YANG modules posted
   Jan 2011 - WGLC for NACM document
   Jan 2011 - WGLC for NETCONF specific notifications document
   Mar 2011 - (if needed last) WGLC for NACM document
   Mar 2011 - (if needed last) WGLC for NETCONF specific notifications document
   Apr 2011 - submit NACM document to IESG for consideration as Proposed Standard
   Apr 2011 - submit NETCONF specific notifications  document to IESG for consideration as Proposed Standard
Network Configuration (netconf)
-------------------------------

 Charter

 Current Status: Active

 Chairs:
     Bert Wijnen <[email-masked]>
     Mehmet Ersue <[email-masked]>

 Operations and Management Area Directors:
     Dan Romascanu <[email-masked]>
     Ronald Bonica <[email-masked]>

 Operations and Management Area Advisor:
     Dan Romascanu <[email-masked]>

 Mailing Lists:
     General Discussion: [email-masked]
     To Subscribe:       [email-masked]
        or:              https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/netconf
     Archive:            http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/netconf/

Description of Working Group:

  Configuration of networks of devices has become a critical requirement
  for operators in today's highly interoperable networks. Operators from
  large to small have developed their own mechanisms or used vendor
  specific mechanisms to transfer configuration data to and from a
  device, and for examining device state information which may impact
  the configuration. Each of these mechanisms may be different in
  various aspects, such as session establishment, user authentication,
  configuration data exchange, and error responses.

  The NETCONF Working Group has produced a protocol suitable for
  network configuration, with the following characteristics:

  - Provides retrieval mechanisms which can differentiate between
    configuration data and non-configuration data
  - Is extensible enough so that vendors can provide access to all
    configuration data on the device using a single protocol
  - Has a programmatic interface (avoids screen scraping and
    formatting-related changes between releases)
  - Uses an XML-based data representation, that can be easily manipulated
    using non-specialized XML manipulation tools.
  - Supports integration with existing user authentication methods
  - Supports integration with existing configuration database systems
  - Supports multiple (e.g. candidate and running) data-stores to
    optimize configuration preparation and activation 
  - Supports network wide configuration transactions (with features such
    as locking and rollback capability)
  - Runs over a secure transport; SSH is mandatory to implement
    while TLS, BEEP, and SOAP are optional transports.
  - Provides support for asynchronous notifications.

  The NETCONF protocol has been designed independent of the data 
  modeling language. The IETF recommends to use YANG as the NETCONF
  modeling language, which introduces advanced language features for 
  configuration management.

  In the current phase of the incremental development of NETCONF the
  workgroup will focus on following items:

  1. NETCONF implementations have shown that the specification in RFC4741
     is not 100% clear and has lead to different interpretations and
     implementations. Also some errors have been uncovered. So the WG
     will do an rfc4741bis with following constraints:

       - bug fixes are to be done
       - clarifications can be done
       - extensions can be done only when needed to fix bugs
         or inconsistencies (i.e. we are not doing a NETCONF V2)
       - The work was started based on the discussion in IETF #73 (see
         http://www.ietf.org/proceedings/08nov/slides/netconf-3.pdf).

  2. A technical errata has been posted on rfc4742. The work on 
     rfc4741bis also uncovered some additional fixes/clarifications that
     need to be made to rfc4742, the WG has been working on rfc4742bis
     and is nearly done with this work item.

  3. Netconf Access Control Model (NACM) Requirements and Solution.
  
     There is a need for standard mechanisms to restrict 
     NETCONF protocol access for particular users to a pre-  
     configured (by operator) subset of all available NETCONF
     operations and content. 

     The WG will produce a document which identifies the access 
     control requirements specific to the NETCONF protocol, as 
     defined in [4741bis].  This document will also provide a 
     standard YANG data model which addresses these 
     requirements. 
 
     It is possible that the WG will not reach solution consensus
     on every possible requirement identified in the document.
     In this case, it is expected that the solution will evolve
     over time to meet the the remaining unmet requirements.

  4. The NETCONF server may want to notify interested clients about
     particular NETCONF protocol/server events.  The WG will work on
     a NETCONF specific YANG module(s) to define suitable
     notifications.

  5. As implementation and deployment experience gained with the
     NETCONF monitoring data model, the WG may revise the NETCONF
     monitoring data model to add additional objects that can be used
     to check the status of the server and to discover additional
     information about the server implementation. The WG may choose
     to revise the NETCONF monitoring data model.

Goals and Milestones:
  Aug 2010 - Send with-defaults to IESG for consideration as Proposed Standard
  Aug 2010 - WG Last Call on rfc4741bis
  Sep 2010 - rfc4741bis to IESG for consideration as Proposed Standard
  Sep 2010 - Send rfc4742bis to IESG for consideration as proposed Standard.
  Sep 2010 - first WG draft (rev 00) on NACM posted
  Sep 2010 - first WG draft (rev 00) on NETCONF specific YANG modules posted
  Jan 2011 - WGLC for NACM document
  Jan 2011 - WGLC for NETCONF specific notifications document
  Mar 2011 - (if needed last) WGLC for NACM document
  Mar 2011 - (if needed last) WGLC for NETCONF specific notifications document
  Apr 2011 - submit NACM document to IESG for consideration as Proposed Standard
  Apr 2011 - submit NETCONF specific notifications  document to IESG for consideration as Proposed Standard