Network Configuration BOF (netconf) Monday, March 17 at 0900-1130 ============================== CHAIR: Andy Bierman Randy Bush AGENDA: Agenda bashing : 5 minutes NetConf Scope Discussion : 25 minutes XMLCONF I-D presentation : 35 minutes XMLCONF I-D Q&A : 40 minutes Next Steps : 15 minutes FULL DESCRIPTION: Configuration of networking devices has become a critical requirement for operators in today's highly interoperable networks. Operators from large to small have developed 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. Utilities built upon tools such as Perl and "Expect" are used to control devices via the CLI, but are prone to failure due to the instability and lack of uniformity inherent in a CLI. Investigations conducted within the IETF, at OPS area meetings and in an IAB workshop over the past two years have identified operator requirements for a standard configuration protocol that: - Provides a clear separation of configuration data from non-configuration data - Is extensible enough that vendors will provide access to all configuration data on the box from a single protocol - Has a programmatic interface (avoids screen scraping and formatting-related changes between releases) - Uses a data representation that is easily manipulated using non-specialized text manipulation tools (perl, awk, etc.) - Supports integration with existing user authentication methods, such as RADIUS - Can be easily integrated with existing configuration database systems, such as RANCID - Provides support for multi-box configuration transactions (with locking and rollback capability) This BOF will focus on discussion of a protocol for the management of network device configuration that meets many of the operator requirements identified through these efforts. A draft that may serve as a useful starting point for this work can be found at http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-enns-xmlconf-spec-00.txt. This BOF will discuss whether a working group should be chartered to develop a configuration protocol with the properties described above.