February 1994 - db-wg - mailman.ripe.net

NSAP address registration/authorization
by Victor Reijs 25 Feb '94

25 Feb '94

Hello all of you, Because we now have the RIPE database, I am investigating how we could registrate the addressing including defining the authorities. I hope to do thing together with the NNI (the NSO of the Netherlands). What do I have in mind (and please provide you remarks on this!): - I define 'domain' in this case as: part of the NSAP address starting at the beginning of the NSAP address and ending at some hierarchical point in the NSAP address structure. - - try to stimulate ISO, to put in the top level 'domains' in the RIPE database. They are the 'domain' authority of e.g. 38, 38, 47, etc. So dom-prefix, dom-name, descr, admin-c, source, remark, changed and guardian are under authority of ISO. No routing info is allowed. - try to stimulate ISO to put in the 'domains' that are part of the authority of ISO, e.g. 38 xxx (where XXX is DCC). So every country (like Holland) gets an entry in the RIPE database. So dom-prefix, dom-name, descr, admin-c, source, remark, changed, guardian are under authority of ISO. tech-c could be under authority of NSO. No routing info is allowed. - try to stimulate BSI to put in 'domain' 47 xxx (where xxx= ICD). So every international organization (like NORDUNET) gets an RIPE database entry. So dom-prefix, dom-name, descr, admin-c, source, remark, changed and guardian are under authority of BSI. tech-c could be under authority of intern. organization. No routing info is allowed. - - try to stimulate the NSO (in case of DCC, like NNI, AFNOR) to input their 'domains'. So every national organization (like SURFnet bv) gets an entry in the database. So dom-prefix, dom-name, descr, admin-c, source, remark, changed and guardian are under authority of NSO. Routing information will be given under authority of the national organization. tech-c could be under authority of national organization. - - the national organization (like SURFnet bv) inputs its 'domains' in the RIPE database. So every institute/etc. (like SARA) gets an entry. So dom-prefix, dom-name, descr, admin-c, source, remark, changed and guardian are under authority of nat. organization. tech-c could be under authority of institute. Routing information (if different from the nat.organization) can inputed by insitute, only with the consent of the nat. organization. So NO change may be made to this information without agreement with national organization. Remark: I interpretated 'guardian' as a person that gets information when something is changed. I think no more leveling is needed. If so let me know. Is the above scene workable? All the best, Victor

1 0

New Document available: ripe-108
by RIPE NCC Document Annoucement Service 11 Feb '94

11 Feb '94

New/Revised RIPE Document Announcement -------------------------------------- A revised/new document is available from the RIPE document store. Ref: ripe-108 Title: Support of Guarded fields within the RIPE Database Author: Tony Bates Date: 11 February 1994 Format: PS=45180 TXT=18019 bytes Obsoletes: Obsoleted by: Updates: Updated by: Old: Short content description ------------------------- This document describes an overview of the RIPE database attributes which are guarded, the procedure for updating these guarded attri- butes and the general use of "guarded" fields within the RIPE data- base. FTP Access ---------- All RIPE documents and Internet RFC`s are available via anonymous FTP from host ftp.ripe.net. Type "ftp ftp.ripe.net". Login with username "anonymous" supplying your email address as the password. After logging in, type "cd ripe/docs/ripe-docs" followed by the command "get filename". The relevant filenames for this document are: ripe-108.txt for the ASCII version ripe-108.ps for the PostScript version Electronic Mail Retrieval of Documents -------------------------------------- Documents can also be retrieved from the RIPE document store using a mail server program. For more information on how to use the program, send email to: mail-server(a)ripe.net with "send HELP" in the body text. RIPE NCC Interactive Information Server --------------------------------------- Type "telnet info.ripe.net". This is a menu driven service allows the document store to be browsed. After reading documents you are prompted as to whether you would like to receive an email copy of the document you have just read. If you would, you simply enter your email address and the document will be mailed to you. Below are details of alternative methods of access. Gopher Access ------------- The same documents are available via a "gopher" server at "gopher gopher.ripe.net". WAIS Access ----------- There is also a "WAIS" server at wais.ripe.net, where there is a WAIS index for RIPE documents "ripe-docs.src" WWW Access ---------- For those who wish to add this home page at the RIPE NCC to their own customized home pages, it can be accessed as: http://www.ripe.net MIME Mail Reader ---------------- Below is the data which will enable a MIME compliant Mail Reader implementation to automatically retrieve the ASCII version of the RIPE document. SEND ripe/docs/ripe-docs/ripe-108.txt

1 0

Guarded Attributes (IMPORTANT)
by Marten Terpstra 03 Feb '94

03 Feb '94

[Apologies for wide distribution, think it is important though] Folks, Please find below a slightly updated version of the guarded attribute procedure document. For those of you who manage an AS, please not that starting coming Monday, the aut-sys field in the network object will become guarded, and can only be updated thru the procedure described below. We have created accounts for all ASes we currently see routed in Europe, and if you do not have your account yet, please come and get it as soon as possible and check out the files we have created for you. Please send requests for these accounts to <ripe-dbm(a)ripe.net>. Also if you know some of your AS neighbors have not got their account yet, and are perhaps not on any of these lists, pass this message. If you have questions, send them to ripe-dbm(a)ripe.net as well, or directly to me. -Marten Support of Guarded fields within the RIPE Database * FINAL DRAFT * Tony Bates Document-ID: ripe-1nn 1. Introduction The RIPE database contains several significant attributes which make it well suited for use as part of operational procedures and confi- guration. Most significantly are the attributes which make up the RIPE Routing Registry (RR) as specified in RIPE-81 [1][2], namely the "aut-sys" and "comm-list" attributes. For these attributes to be of use to service providers they must be: o Properly authorised. o Efficient for both maintainers of the attributes and the main- tainers of the whole database. This document describes an overview of the RIPE database attributes which are guarded, the procedure for updating these guarded attri- butes and the general use of "guarded" fields within the RIPE data- base. 2. The Database Guarded Attributes All the guarded attributes currently supported in the RIPE database are contained within the "inetnum" or network object. However, the association corresponds to their relevant guarded database objects. If we look at a simple example this becomes clear: inetnum: 192.87.45.0 netname: RIPE-NCC descr: RIPE Network Coordination Centre descr: Amsterdam, Netherlands country: NL admin-c: Daniel Karrenberg tech-c: Marten Terpstra connect: RIPE NSF WCW ripe-1nn.txt February 3, 1994 - 2 - aut-sys: AS1104 comm-list: SURFNET ias-int: 192.87.45.80 AS1104 ias-int: 192.87.45.6 AS2122 ias-int: 192.87.45.254 AS2600 rev-srv: ns.ripe.net rev-srv: ns.eu.net notify: ops(a)ripe.net changed: tony(a)ripe.net 940110 source: RIPE This shows that the RIPE-NCC network belongs to autonomous system 1104 and is in a community known as SURFNET. This is valuable infor- mation that could easily be used for example for routing policy pur- poses (as well as other operational uses). Currently support for the following set of guarded attributes is implemented: aut-sys The "aut-sys" attribute has a direct mapping to "aut-num" objects as defined in RIPE-81. That is the Autonomous System (AS) that the network number is a part of. As defined in RIPE- 81, a network can only belong to one AS and hence the "aut-sys" attribute can only contain one AS number. The syntax of the "aut-sys" attribute is: AS<positive integer between 1 and 65535> (1). i.e. AS1104 comm-list The "comm-list" attribute has a direct mapping to "community" objects as defined in RIPE-81. A network can belong to more than one community. The syntax of "comm-list" is: Multiple text strings which cannot start with "AS" or any of the <routing policy expression> KEYWORDS defined in RIPE-81. routpr-l (2) The "routpr-l" attribute has a direct mapping to "rout-pr" objects as defined in RIPE-60 [4]. Networks can belong to more than one routing privilege. The list of networks within a rout- ing privilege represents the group of networks accepted/allowed by a set of routers described by the information in the "rout- pr" object. The syntax for "routpr-l" is as follows: _________________________ (1) This represents a change from RIPE-50 [3] where the "aut-sys" attribute was defined to be a positive integer only, not containing the string "AS" at the start. This change has been made to be consistent with the "aut-num" object syntax. ripe-1nn.txt February 3, 1994 - 3 - Multiple text strings representing the routing privilege. bdrygw-l The "bdrygw-l" attribute has a direct mapping to "bdry-gw" objects as defined in RIPE-60 [4]. Networks can belong to more than one boundary gateway. The list of networks within a boun- dary gateway represents the group of networks advertised by a set of routers described by the information in the "bdry-gw" object. The syntax for "bdrygw-l" is as follows: Multiple text strings representing the boundary gateways iden- tification. As these attributes are tightly coupled to their associated objects it makes sense for these attributes to be updated not by the network maintainer but by the maintainer of the referenced object(s). The basic premise behind this is that these attributes should be used for various operational procedures such as setting routing policy, accounting and so on. For these attributes to be used by network operators for day to day operations they need to be guarded in such a way that can be trusted and are guaranteed to be unique - with any conflicts quickly and easily resolved. The procedure for achieving this is detailed below. 3. The Basic Procedure For each of the guarded attributes detailed above, a list of all networks having this attribute is kept separately from the general database itself. These lists (also called `guarded files') will be maintained and be served as the `only' source of membership informa- tion used in the database. Normal database updates `never' change these attributes. If an update includes such an attribute and a discrepancy between the values in the update and those in the data- base is found, a diagnostic message will be sent to the originator of the update and the guarded value(s) will not be affected. The attributes as defined in these files are incorporated in the data- base once a day. To ensure proper control and authorisation, these lists will be maintained at the RIPE NCC on the same machine that contains the RIPE database. The "guardians" of the corresponding database objects will have to maintain their own guarded files. The guardians are provided with individually assigned login accounts at the RIPE NCC. The guardians can themselves decide in what manner they want to update their file. The NCC will offer interactive logins, ftp logins or any other means that might be deemed useful. _________________________ (2) It should be noted that both "routpr-l" and "bdrygw-l" attributes have been agreed to be phased out in preference of the "aut-sys" and "comm-list" attri- butes as soon as the `guarded field' mechanism is in place. ripe-1nn.txt February 3, 1994 - 4 - 3.1. Some Details As stated each guardian will be issued with an account on the cen- tral NCC machine known as `guardian.ripe.net'. This account will contain a `restricted' environment which will allow the guardian of the relevant object to update their associated guardian file (3). Wherever possible the account name issued to the guardian will be the same as the object name. For example, the guardian of the AS1104 aut-num object will receive an account known as "AS1104". With each guardian account the corresponding file will be parsed at each update run (once a day). This file will contain the list on networks associated with the object. See appendix A for details of the format and syntax of the guardian files. A tool will also be provided within the restricted environment to syntax check the guarded file to avoid against possible typos and errors. With each account, an electronic mail address (this is a mandatory attribute for all guarded objects) will be used by the NCC and data- base software. To make this flexible for the guardian a ".forward" file with the account which can be change when required. This will mean mail sent to <guardian-name(a)guardian.ripe.net> will go the to correct guardian. 3.2. How does it work ? For each of the guarded files found on `guardian.ripe.net' the data- base software will load any guarded attribute value(s) for the net- work object(s) listed in the guarded file. This will take place at the same time as the database is garbage collected (currently at 0500 MET). If a conflict is found (i.e if more than one entry exists for an attribute which can only contain one entry, currently only "aut-sys" contains this property), the current value will remain unchanged and all guardians involved in the conflict will be sent an electronic mail message informing them of the conflict. See Appendix B for an example. If no conflict is found the attribute will be updated with the guarded value. Correspondingly, to remove a guarded attribute just remove the net- work entry from the relevant guarded file and it will be deleted at the next update run. To be notified of this delete the "notify" attribute should be used. _________________________ (3) As stated, the mechanism for updating the guardi- an file will initially be by interactive login or file transfer. However, this doesn't preclude other mechan- isms in the future. ripe-1nn.txt February 3, 1994 - 5 - If a guardian file contains an entry which is not in the database then the guardian will be notified as part of the conflict handling procedure. If an update is sent to the database software using another mechan- ism (i.e. mail to auto-dbm(a)ripe.net) that contains a guarded attri- bute, this will not be allowed to change the guarded attribute. If the value of the attribute is the same as what is currently registered in the database then no warnings will be given. However, if the update contains a value for a guarded attribute that is dif- ferent to that registered in the database, a warning will be sent to the originator and the guarded value will remain unchanged. Any changes of other (unguarded) fields in the update will be checked for syntactic correctness and if they pass will go through to the database irrespective of any conflicts for the guarded fields. When through the normal database update procedure an object with guarded attributes is deleted, the guardians of these guarded attri- butes will be notified of this deletion. Only deletions will be notified in this way to guardians. For normal changes the "notify" attribute of the database should be used. Although the guarded process will run once a day as part of the database garbage collection procedure it will also be possible to, "on request to the NCC", run an emergency guarded update process for a particular guarded object. To have complete guardian accounts removed from the NCC machine, and thus all references to this guarded value, please contact the RIPE NCC at <ripe-dbm(a)ripe.net>. Removing an account and the guardian file that goes with it means that this guarded value will not be added any longer to any of the objects in the database. 4. Getting it started As this is a new (and much needed, especially for the "aut-sys" attribute) mechanism, a degree of `bootstrapping' is needed to make it easier for network providers and IRs to transition to using the guarded file procedure. The NCC has built an automated generation scheme for attributes that are known to be in use (currently, this means AS numbers). For all the AS numbers seen to be routed in Europe, accounts for the guardians have already been put in place having the guardian's mailbox point to a mailbox at the RIPE NCC. For these ASs currently guarded files are generated on a daily basis by analyzing European full routing tables. This means there could (and almost certainly will) be some conflicts within the generated guardian files. As soon as the account is handed over, the auto-generation for that guardian account stops and the mailbox is changed to the correct guardian mailbox. Guardians can of course make use of the auto- generated guarded files if they wish to check against their own records. From the moment of `hand-over' it is now the guardians responsibility to make sure their associated network(s) get the ripe-1nn.txt February 3, 1994 - 6 - correct guarded attributes by listing them in the guarded files. The advantage of having this `bootstrap' method is that it will allow population of the guarded "aut-sys" attribute to take place immediately this functionality is enabled in the RIPE database software. It also acts as an incentive for networks operators and local IR's to transition to the guarded file procedure as soon as possible. 5. Conclusion The update procedure as detailed above has the following advantages: o Authorisation of adding/deleting is guaranteed. o No need for mailing back and forth of authorisation messages. o Simple procedure for both database maintainers and guardians. o Guardians keep full control of their attribute. It allows for the addition of any number of guarded attributes in the future. It describes a simple but effective procedure for main- taining the guarded files whilst not precluding alternate mechanisms in the future. 6. References [1] Bates, T., Jouanigot, J-M., Karrenberg, D., Lothberg, P., Terpstra, M., "Representation of IP Routing Policies in the RIPE Database", RIPE-81, February 1993. [2] Bates, T., Karrenberg, D., "Description of Inter-AS Networks in the RIPE Routing Registry", RIPE-103, December 1993. [3] Karrenberg, D., "RIPE Database Template for Networks", RIPE-50, April 1992. [4] J.-M. Jouanigot, "Policy based routing within RIPE", May 1992. ripe-1nn.txt February 3, 1994 - 7 - Appendix A - Format of Guardian Files. We propose to keep the file format as simple as possible. The name of the file is identical to the name of guarded object. The format used within the file is kept simple. It allows lines to be either comments or the actual object entry that is to be guarded. A comment must contain either a semi-colon (;) or hash (#) at the beginning of the comment line. The object name entries must be exactly the same as they are in the database. Currently, the only object containing guarded attributes is the "inetnum" object so the file can contain either the `well-known' dotted quad network notation or RIPE dotted quad range notation. Here is a simple example of what the AS1104 guarded file would look like. The file would be stored in the home directory of the AS1104 account on guardian.ripe.net and be called AS1104 (told you it was simple). It would contain something like the following: # # File : AS1104 # ; An alternate comment format ; ; This file was updated jan.dijkstra(a)gouda.nl ; on 940109 ; 192.16.183.0 192.16.185.0 - 192.16.186.0 192.16.194.0 192.16.199.0 192.87.45.0 Empty lines in the file are also ignored but you are encouraged to keep the file as concise as possible. As stated above, a tool known as `checkguard' will be available to make it simple to check the syntax of the guarded file. ripe-1nn.txt February 3, 1994 - 8 - Appendix B - Example of conflict handling If a conflict occurs (e.g. by listing the same network number in more han one AS guarded file), then each of the guardians involved will be notified on the conflict by electronic mail. Let's look at a simple example. Suppose the guardians for AS1104 and AS2122 update their relevant guardian files and create a conflict by having the same network in them. For this example he network in question is "192.16.183.0". Here is the AS1104 guardian file: # 192.16.183.0 192.16.185.0 192.16.186.0 192.16.194.0 192.16.199.0 192.87.45.0 And here is the AS2122 guardian file: # 192.16.183.0 193.0.0.0 - 193.0.7.0 As you can see "192.16.183.0 exists in both files. At update time the following mails are generated. Firstly, to the guardian of AS2122. Date: Fri, 14 Jan 1994 13:22:43 +0100 Message-Id: <9401141222.AA07125(a)ns.ripe.net> From: RIPE Database Conflict Handler <ripe-dbm(a)ripe.net> Subject: Guarded attributes conflicts found To: as2122(a)ripe.net Dear Guardian, One or more conflicts have been found regarding guarded attributes in the RIPE database. Some of the conflicts concern the guarded values you are a guardian for. Please verify and correct the conflicts below. The guarded values for objects below have been set to the value they had in the database before this guarded attributes run. Kind Regards, RIPE Database Conflict Department ------ "192.16.183.0" also appears in guardian files: AS1104 And similarly to the AS1104 guardian. ripe-1nn.txt February 3, 1994 - 9 - Date: Fri, 14 Jan 1994 13:22:42 +0100 Message-Id: <9401141222.AA07121(a)ns.ripe.net> From: RIPE Database Conflict Handler <ripe-dbm(a)ripe.net> Subject: Guarded attributes conflicts found To: as1104(a)ripe.net Dear Guardian, One or more conflicts have been found regarding guarded attributes in the RIPE database. Some of the conflicts concern the guarded values you are a guardian for. Please verify and correct the conflicts below. The guarded values for objects below have been set to the value they had in the database before this guarded attributes run. Kind Regards, RIPE Database Conflict Department ------ "192.16.183.0" also appears in guardian files: AS2122 >From this you can see conflict can be quickly and easily resolved, assuming good collaboration between the guardians. The existing database entry will of course not be changed with regard to the guarded attribute) as long as there exists a conflict. ripe-1nn.txt February 3, 1994

1 0

Revised proposol CLNS domain object:
by Henk Steenman 02 Feb '94

02 Feb '94

Based on the outcome of some discussion during the presentation of the dom-prefix at the last RIPE database workgroup meeting I have added/changed the following. 1: Prefixes or NSAPs are to be formatted with dots. The first dot defines the AFI and comes after the first two digits. Every next four digits should be seperated by dots. 2: The cost associated with default routing should be interpreted such that the prefered path has the lowest cost. - Henk Steenman ----------------------------- Cut here ------------------------------------- CLNS routing-domain object for the RIPE database Version 1.3 Feb 1994 Henk Steenman Henk_Steenman(a)sara.nl +31 20 5928038 CLNS routing-domain object Page 2 Introduction. ____________ In the RARE lower layer technology work group for CLNS it was recognised that in order to coordinate routing between CLNS routing domains a central registry for such domains was necessary. At a meeting of the work group at the 27 IETF in Amsterdam it was decided to write a registry specification. At this meeting the RIPE NCC offered to extend their database for IP domains/networks with CLNS related objects if a sound proposal came forward. Below a description of a database object for CLNS routing domains is defined. The object can be used to describe some general information of a CLNS routing domain such as NSAP prefix, name, description and responsible persons. It can also be used to describe routing policies in a manner comparable to that for IP domains ( AS's ) as defined in the paper RIPE 81 [1]. The attributes describing routing policy are intended to be set-up such that routing tables for static inter-domain routing can be derived from them or excisting routing can be checked against the described policy. It is desired that tools are made to serve these tasks. It is understood that the object as described below is subject to change when CLNS routing developes. An example of this could be the future availability of IDRP for dynamic inter-domain routing. In an appendix, some generally used combinations of the Authority and Format Identifier (AFI) and the Initial Domain Identifier (IDI) are shown. The RIPE database expects NSAPs or prefixes to be formatted with dots, seperating the first two and then every next four digits. CLNS routing-domain object Page 3 Object Description _________________ dom-prefix: Defines an unique routing domain, characterised by a NSAP prefix , within a certain prefix hierarchy. Example: dom-prefix: 39.528f.1100 dom-name: String representing the routing domain. Format: Text string. Example: dom-name: SURFnet-CLNS descr: Description of the organisation and place of its location Format is equal to the descr attribute as defined for IP autonomous systems in [1]. bis: Format : < bis NET > < dom-prefix > NET of boundary intermediate system to between two domains Example: SURFnet BIS for EuropaNet bis: 39.528f.1100.1000.2000.0000.0001.0000.0c04.29b4.00 39.528f.1103 CLNS routing-domain object Page 4 dom-in: Description of accepted routing domain prefixes, from other domain BIS. Analogue to "as-in" in [1]. Format:< dom-prefix > < cost> <routing policy expression > For every BIS you peer with, there should be such an entry <dom-prefix> is the routing domain prefix where the BIS you peer with belongs to. <cost> is a relative cost to discriminate between different routes to the same domain. The lowest cost gives the most preferred route. <routing policy expression > can be expressed in the following way's 1: list of "dom-prefixes" Example: dom-in: 39.528f.1103 100 39.124F 47.0005 2: KEYWORD Only one keyword for the moment ANY - accept everything you get announced. 3: A logical expression of 1 and/or 2. The following operators should be defined AND OR NOT Parenthesis are used to group rules. Example: dom-in: 39.528f.1103 ANY AND NOT 39.756f Accept all announcements from EMPB BIS except for the Switzerland routing domain. CLNS routing-domain object Page 5 dom-out: Routing domain prefixes announced to other BIS'. Analogue to the "as-out' tag in [1]. Format : < dom-prefix > <routing policy expression > <dom-prefix> is the routing domain prefix where the BIS you peer with belongs to. <routing policy expression > As defined with the dom-in tag. Example: dom-out: 39.528f.1103 39.528f.1100 AND NOT 39.528f.1100.0009.10 Advertise to Europanet the SURFnet-CLNS routing domain but not the PTT-Research routing domain. default: Indication how default routing is done default: < dom-prefix> <cost> <dom-prefix> again is the prefix of the domain where the BIS peer is in. <cost> indicates which default path is preferred. The lower cost gives the preffered path Example: default: 39.528f.1103 10 Default everything is routed to 39.528f.1103 CLNS routing-domain object Page 6 admin-c: Administrative contact. Format equal to admin-c in [1]. tech-c: Technical contact Format equal to tech-c in [1]. guardian: e-mail and/or postal address of domain guardian. Analogue to AS guardian in [1]. source: Source of the information. Equal to source field in [1]. remark: remarks or comments Equal to remark field in [1] changed: Who and when of last change. Equal to change field in [1]. CLNS routing-domain object Page 7 Example: _________ dom-prefix: 39.528f.1100 descr: SURFnet-CLNS domain. bis: 39.528f.1100.1000.2000.0000.0001.0000.0c04.29b4.00 39.528f.1103 dom-in: 39.528f.1103 100 ANY AND NOT 39.528f.1100.0009.10 dom-in: 39.528f.1100.0009.10 100 39.528f.1100.0009.10 dom-out: 39.528f.1103 39.528f.1100 AND NOT 39.528f.1100.0009.10 dom-out: 39.528f.1100.0009.10 39.528f.1100 default: 39.528f.1103 10 admin-c: Victor Reijs tech-c: Henk Steenman guardian: domain-guardian(a)surfnet.nl source: RIPE changed: henk(a)sara.nl 930716 SURFnet accepts from EMPB ( 39528f1103 ) all prefixes but one, 39.528f.1100.0009.10, which is PTT-research that is connected to both EMPB and SURFnet. From PTT-research SURFnet only accepts the PTT-research prefix. SURFnet announces to EMPB, 39.528f.1100 but not 39.528f.1100.0009.10. To PTT-research only 39.528f.1100 is announced. Translated to static routing; on the SURFnet BIS connected to PTT- research, there is a static route to 39.528f.1100.0009.10. And on the SURFnet BIS connected to EMPB there is a static route to all other know prefixes. On both the PTT-reserach and EMPB BIS's connected to SURFnet there is a static route to 39.528f.1100. CLNS routing-domain object Page 8 Appendix A. ___________ Definition of NSAP structure is defined in OSI 8348 Ad2 [2]. In general: NSAP's are always an integer number of octets where the AFI is always one octet and the IDI is always an integer number of octets. NSAP's are hierarchical structured and once the AFI is decided upon, structuring of the rest of the NSAP is up to authorities down the tree. Two common AFI are 47 and 39 and can be described by some general rules. AFI: 39 Describes that the following two octets are the ISO DCC country codes. Since these codes are always described by three digits, padding with an "f" is necessary to complete the 2 octets. Further structure is done by the authority for each country and there is no general rule. AFI: 47 IDI: 4 defines OSINET. Followed by a two byte organisation identifier. IDI: 5 defines US-GOSIP Version 1 defines a two byte organisation identifier. Version 2 defines a one byte data format identifier, a two byte zero field a three byte administrative authority a two byte routing domain id. CLNS routing-domain object Page 9 References __________ [1] : RIPE-81, Representation of IP routing Policies in the RIPE database, Tony Bates, Jean-Michel Jouanigot, Daniel Karrenberg, Peter Lothberg and Marten Terpstra, Feb. 1993 [2] : OSI 8348 Ad2 Network Services Definition, Addendum 2, covering Network Layer Addressing. --------

1 0

Draft minutes 17th RIPE meeting: DB-WG
by Wilfried Woeber, UniVie/ACOnet 02 Feb '94

02 Feb '94

Dear all, this is the draft minutes of the Database-WG meeting(s) at the 17th RIPE meeting. Any input and comments welcome, especially from those being affected by these things in one way or the other :-). Best regards, Wilfried. -------------------- start of draft minutes -------------------- 17th RIPE Meeting: Draft minutes for the DB-Working-Group meeting 25.1.1993, Amsterdam. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Due to the scheduling (and the un-avoidable overlap) of some WG meetings, the items on the agenda were treated in a different order than originally proposed. However the minutes follow the original ordering. 0. Opening, Scribe, Admin The DB-WG meeting was opened and Ruediger Volk volunteered to take notes. As a direct result of the preceding meeting of the Routing-WG and following other discussions the proposed agenda was amended (DB statistics for Domain-Object, maintainance of e-mail attribute and .forward files for guarded objects, timing considerations for guarded objects and values, aspects of ownership of objects and deletions and inter-dependancies). 1. New Databse software 1.1 . current status Marten Terpstra gave a concise report on the current state of the "new" database software. Due to timing constraints (and the lack of documentation) there is still no official distribution of the "New DB Software". However it has already been successfully installed at a couple of sites. The slides for the presentation can be found in ftp.ripe.net:ripe/presentations/ripe-m17-marten-DB.ps.Z 1.2 . experiences No operational problems were mentioned. Operation of the software, including the organizational environment, is going very smooth and was generally appreciated. 1.3 . documentation (who, how, when, what) Documentation is still missing. A new effort is needed and will be made early February. It has to be taken into account, that Marten Terpstra will primarily work on the PRIDE project, reducing his involvement with the DB software. Action (Wilfried Woeber, NCC): produce the necessary documentation for the new DB software. 2. RIPE-Handles RIPE-Handles are urgently needed to make progress in the area of Database Exchange. Several possible methods of assigning these handles were discussed. the group reached consensus that the RIPE-Handles will be of the form RIPE-XYZ9999. It was decided that from the DB's point of view, there exists only ONE handle: the RIPE-Handle. Thus this handle is stored in the person object in the "nic-hdl:" attribute. For the initial population/conversion of the current entries, the value of the NIC-Handle will be taken and converted to a RIPE-Handle by appending the string "-RIPE". E.g. the NIC-Handle for Wilfried Woeber (WW144) will be converted to form the RIPE-Handle (WW144-RIPE). This conversion will be done only once for the inital population. There will then be a short period, when missing handles can be provided by means of "vanity-handles". After a to-be-announced flag-day, RIPE-Handles will be required for any operation on person objects in the Database. Any vanity handles used MUST be properly registered with the NCC! The same syntax has already been adopted by the JPNIC and the AUNIC. *** Please note that during the discussion (by accident) we all were talking about a prefix format *** The NCC was mandated to circulate an updated proposal, including operational aspects, and after a short review-process (e-mail), go ahead with the implementation. Action (NCC): update and re-circulate the RIPE-Handle proposal and then go ahead with the implementation. 3. PRIDE - DB Interaction Editorial comment: RIPE-81++ was treated in the Routing-WG. Currently there is no real pending issue with regard to the interaction between the PRIDE project and the RIPE-DB. After discussing possible future modifications or additions to DB objects, the NCC was mandated to go ahead and implement changes/additions to support the PRIDE project (like the hidden flags/options), unless there is a direct influence on operational aspects or changes to the user interface to the RIPE-DB. 4. Future needs 4.2 . Delete Operation vs Guarded Field interaction Various aspects of implementation of guarded objects were reviewed. With regard to possible "delete:" operation on network objects that are tagged with a guarded AS-value, consensus was to automatically notify the guardian of the AS-value. Changes to such objects do NOT generate a notification message. This functionality can be achieved by using the "notify:" attribute. The "notify:" attribute for an object is evaluated before the update is made. The technical issues of RIPE-81 was treated in the Routing-WG. Generally the transaction of deleting an object must be described. The document with the proposal for implementing guarded attributes is to be updated and recirculated for comment (e-mail, 14 days comment period). Then the NCC goes ahead with the implementation as soon as possible. Action (NCC): update and re-circulate the Guarded Fields proposal and then go ahead with the implementation. 4.3 . Phase-out of RIPE-60 stuff Jean-Michel Jouanigot continues to coordinate the migration to the RIPE-81 functionality. Any technical issues treated in the Routing-WG. 4.4 . Tools A proposal to have a certain kind of "template-mode" for checking and/or updating database objects was discussed. Several possible ways of implementing this were discussed (like a special flag for the whois-client, an interactive method at the NCC, providing a full template for further processing). Any solution proposed should be usable on most platforms. Action (NCC): investigate and propose facilities for a "template-mode" to support the maintaining database objects. 4.5 . Syntax checkers (distributed, and/or @ the NCC) The need for syntax-checking facilites for objects was again stated. The NCC was asked to look into providing this functionality and come up with a proposal. Action (NCC): Investigate and propose a syntax-checking facility for the new database software. 5. New/Revised Objects 5.1 . CLNS Routing "dom-prefix:" Henk Steenman provided an introduction to the current version of the proposal to have a database object for CLNS Routing. The only technical amendment discussed was to present the CLNP addresses in the format of xx.xxxx.xxxx.xxxx (no trailing dots). The NCC may have to review the current shell of scripts supporting the database operations for limitations in line-length. The NCC was mandated to go ahead with implementing this object after another short round of review (e-mail) of Henk's updated specification. Action (Henk Steenman): update and re-circulate the "dom-prefix:" proposal. Action (NCC): implement the CLNS Routing Object. >>>>>>>>>>>> I'm going to ask Henk to provide the (updated) proposal for the presentations directory!? 5.2 . status of "connect:" and value "LOCAL" Decision about the future of the "connect:" attribute for a Network Object was postponed after full deployment of the RIPE-81 stuff. It is expected that the "connect:" will be phased out and be replaced by a different mechanism (community?). The "connect:" attribute is no longer mandatory. 5.3 . Domain Object The status of the Domain Object was reviewed, prompted by the fact of poor coverage in the database. Again the object was felt to be useful, although currently there is little operational influence of registering (or NOT registering) domains in the database. Consensus was to ask the DNS-WG to review and maybe update the definition of the Domain Object. Action (Francis Dupont): Have the DNS group review the Domain Object and come up with either a recommendation for retirement or with an updated functionality 5.4 . others The "notify:" attribute is already implemented and is already used by the database software. The "maintainer:" attribute is already implemented but currently not used by the databse software. 6. Exchange Format 6.1 . current status No progress has been made due to the lack of RIPE-Handles. Can be progressed after implementation of RIPE-Handles. 6.2 . recommendations for further action As an aside - the group propsed to NOT enforce uniqueness of network names. 7. DB statistics (Domain-Object) Having stistics about the DB coverage of domains was seen to be potentially useful. Postponed to wait for the Domain Object review by the DNS-WG. 8. Maint. of e-mail: and .forward for guarded objects After evaluating possible szenarios it was decided that an automatic modification of either the "e-mail:" attribute of a guarded object or the .forward file for the guardian's account is not desirable. Responsibility of the maintainance remains with the guardians. 9. Timing considerations for guarded objects, values, secondary DBs Some operational issues of implementing guarded fileds were reviewed. Aspects discussed in more detail were: - timing and interlock: Some mechanism must be set up by the NCC to allow for checking the merge/update status of the current version of the database. This should allow for an automatic delay of retrieving the DB for local use and/or providing read-only copies. The NCC will come up with a technical proposal how to do this. - change control: in order to preserve the update history for databse objects a structured scheme was proposed. This method preserves the "changed:" attributes supplied by any manual update process. In addition to that any automatic up-date and/or merge operation done by the database software maintains a single related "changed:" attribute describing the "agent" performing the modification. From a formal point of view, regular maintainance and/or merge operations are NOT treated as update operations, thus e.g. they do not trigger (automatic) notification messages. Action (NCC): Propose and implement a mechanism to check the current state of the database with regard to garbage-collection and merging of guarding values. Action (NCC): Propose and implement a mechanism to properly keep track of individual updates of objects and automatic merge/modification operations. 10. Deletions, Ownership of Objects, Interdependency This was a more general discussion, focussing on issues of "ownership" of objects, inter-dependency of various components and quality of the information in the database. >From a formal point of view, there was agreement that we should stick with the concept that the responsibility for maintaining objects remains with the owner of the object. From an operational point of view it was felt necessary to perform automatic modifications to certain attributes of an objects. In the long run this could eventually lead to splitting objects along the lines of maintainance. This is for further discussion. Concern was voiced that we do not have the concept of winding down the use of methods, removing out-dated information and/or deleting objects, closing guardian's accounts, etc. It was felt that there is a need to analyze, discuss and document these issues. For the time being these aspects have to be covered in individual documents describing certain procedures, in the long run this should be an intrinsic part of the documentation. The aspect of "sanity checking" the information in the databse was shortly touched. Given the current shortage of manpower in the NCC and the important changes to be implemented in the near future this issue was postponed. Z. AOB None. -------------------- end of draft minutes --------------------

1 0