RFC 1749 HISTORIC MANAGEMENT · TOKEN RING · MIB

802.5 SSR MIB: IEEE 802.5 Station Source Routing MIB using SMIv2

SNMP objects for reading and managing the source routes a Token Ring station has learned.

On rfc-editor.org ↗
PUBLISHED
December 1994
AUTHORS
K. McCloghrie, F. Baker, E. Decker
STREAM
IETF
BUILDS ON
RFC 1748 — 802.5 MIB
MIB MODULE IDENTIFIER
dot5SrMIB, mib-2 42
ROUTING DESCRIPTORS IN A RIF
0 to 8
RING AND BRIDGE NUMBER FIELDS
12 bits and 4 bits
SOURCEROUTE SIZE
OCTET STRING (SIZE(0..30))
ROUTING CONTROL FIELD SIZE
OCTET STRING (SIZE(2))
MODULE LAST UPDATED
9412161000Z
DOI
10.17487/RFC1749

RFC text

Contents
Original text · RFC Editor View on rfc-editor.org ↗
Network Working Group                                      K. McCloghrie
Request for Comments: 1749                                      F. Baker
Updates: 1748                                                  E. Decker
Category: Standards Track                            cisco Systems, Inc.
                                                           December 1994


           IEEE 802.5 Station Source Routing MIB using SMIv2

Status of this Memo

   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction .............................................    1
   2. The SNMPv2 Network Management Framework ..................    2
   2.1 Object Definitions ......................................    2
   3. Overview .................................................    2
   3.1 Source Routing ..........................................    2
   3.2 Relationship to RFC 1748 ................................    3
   3.3 Relationship to RFC 1525 ................................    3
   3.4 Static Source Routes ....................................    4
   3.5 Destinations on the Local Ring ..........................    4
   4. Definitions ..............................................    4
   5. Acknowledgements .........................................    8
   6. References ...............................................    8
   7. Security Considerations ..................................    9
   8. Authors' Addresses .......................................   10

1.  Introduction

   This memo defines a portion of the Management Information Base (MIB)
   for use with network management protocols in the Internet community.
   In particular, it describes managed objects used by IEEE 802.5 end-
   stations for managing source routes on a Token Ring network where
   IEEE source-routing is in use.  IEEE source-routing is described in
   802.5 Token Ring Access Method and Physical Layer Specifications [8]
   and related ISO publications [9, 10, 11].

   This memo is an incremental update to RFC 1748 [6].  It is documented
   separately from the RFC 1748 solely due to the latter's maturity
   within the Internet standardization process.

2.  The SNMPv2 Network Management Framework

   The SNMPv2 Network Management Framework consists of four major
   components.  They are:

      o    RFC 1442 [1] which defines the SMI, the mechanisms used for
           describing and naming objects for the purpose of management.

      o    STD 17, RFC 1213 [2] defines MIB-II, the core set of managed
           objects for the Internet suite of protocols.

      o    RFC 1445 [3] which defines the administrative and other
           architectural aspects of the framework.

      o    RFC 1448 [4] which defines the protocol used for network
           access to managed objects.

   The Framework permits new objects to be defined for the purpose of
   experimentation and evaluation.

2.1.  Object Definitions

   Managed objects are accessed via a virtual information store, termed
   the Management Information Base or MIB.  Objects in the MIB are
   defined using the subset of Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1)
   defined in the SMI.  In particular, each object type is named by an
   OBJECT IDENTIFIER, an administratively assigned name.  The object
   type together with an object instance serves to uniquely identify a
   specific instantiation of the object.  For human convenience, we
   often use a textual string, termed the descriptor, to refer to the
   object type.

3.  Overview

   This memo defines a single table: the 802.5 Station Source Routing
   Table, which contains the source routes known by a end-station on an
   IEEE 802.5 Token Ring network in which IEEE source-routing is in use.

3.1.  Source Routing

   Source routing extends the 802.5 protocol [8] by assigning a unique
   ring number to each ring within the extended LAN, and a bridge number
   to each source routing bridge's connection to a ring.  A Routing
   Information Field (RIF) must be included in frames which need to
   traverse multiple rings.  The format of the RIF is:

              octets octets octets         octets
               1&2    3&4    5&6            17&18
             +------+------+------+-------+------+
             |  RC  |  RD  |  RD  | ...   |  RD  |
             +------+------+------+-------+------+
                     <---- 0 to 8 RD fields ---->

   The format of the Routing Control (RC) field is:

                            octet 1         octet 2
                       +---------------+---------------+
                       |b b b l l l l l|d f f f 0 0 0 0|
                       +---------------+---------------+
                          ^       ^     ^   ^
                          |       |     |   |
     Explorer indicator --+       |     |   +-- Max frame length*
            Length of RIF field --+     +-- Direction to use RDs

     * Note that the length of the Maximum frame length subfield
       has recently been extended to 6 bits.

   The format of each Routing Descriptor (RD) field is:

                     octet 1         octet 2
                 +---------------+---------------+
                 |r r r r r r r r r r r r i i i i|
                 +---------------+---------------+
                  <---- ring number ----> <----->
                                             ^
                                             |
                             bridge number --+

3.2.  Relationship to RFC 1748

   RFC 1748 [6], the IEEE 802.5 MIB, defines managed objects used for
   interfaces to IEEE 802.5 Token Ring subnetworks.  This memo is an
   incremental update to RFC 1748, and is documented independently
   solely due to the maturity of the definitions contained within RFC
   1748.

3.3.  Relationship to RFC 1525

   RFC 1525 [7] defines the MIB objects specific to source-routing for
   source-routing and SRT bridges.  This memo defines the MIB objects
   specific to source-routing for source-routing end-stations.

3.4.  Static Source Routes

   It is unclear how many, if any, existing systems allow the creation
   or deletion of "static" 802.5 source routes by network management.
   However, SNMPv2 SMI defines that the MAX-ACCESS clause as specifying
   the maximal level of access which makes "protocol sense".  Thus, this
   memo provides support for static source routes through the
   dot5SrRouteStatus object, but the conformance statements allow for
   stations which do not support static source routes, by requiring that
   compliant agents only need provide read-access to dot5SrRouteStatus.

3.5.  Destinations on the Local Ring

   Entries should be included in the dot5SrRouteTable for destination
   MAC addresses which are on the same ring as the instrumented 802.5
   interface.  For such entries, dot5SrRouteDescr has the value of the
   zero-length string, and dot5SrRouteControl has the corresponding
   value.

4.  Definitions

TOKENRING-STATION-SR-MIB DEFINITIONS ::= BEGIN

IMPORTS
    MODULE-IDENTITY, OBJECT-TYPE
                                         FROM SNMPv2-SMI
    TEXTUAL-CONVENTION, RowStatus, MacAddress
                                         FROM SNMPv2-TC
    MODULE-COMPLIANCE, OBJECT-GROUP      FROM SNMPv2-CONF
    mib-2, ifIndex                       FROM RFC1213-MIB;

dot5SrMIB MODULE-IDENTITY
    LAST-UPDATED "9412161000Z"
    ORGANIZATION "IETF Interfaces MIB Working Group"
    CONTACT-INFO
            "       Keith McCloghrie
            Postal: Cisco Systems, Inc.
                    170 West Tasman Drive
                    San Jose, CA  95134-1706
                    US

             Phone: +1 408 526 5260
             Email: kzm@cisco.com"
    DESCRIPTION
            "The MIB module for managing source routes in
            end-stations on IEEE 802.5 Token Ring networks."
    ::= { mib-2 42 }

dot5SrMIBObjects OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { dot5SrMIB 1 }

SourceRoute ::= TEXTUAL-CONVENTION
    DISPLAY-HINT "1x:"
    STATUS       current
    DESCRIPTION
                 "Represents a Source Route, containing an
                 embedded sequence of bridge and ring ID's,
                 as used by 802.5 Source Routing."
    REFERENCE    "Annex C of ISO/IEC 10038: 1993,
                 [ANSI/IEEE Std 802.1D, 1993]"
    SYNTAX       OCTET STRING (SIZE(0..30))


--           The 802.5 Station Source Route Table
--

dot5SrRouteTable   OBJECT-TYPE
    SYNTAX      SEQUENCE OF Dot5SrRouteEntry
    MAX-ACCESS  not-accessible
    STATUS      current
    DESCRIPTION
               "The table of source-routing routes.
               This represents the 802.5 RIF database."
    ::= { dot5SrMIBObjects 1 }

dot5SrRouteEntry  OBJECT-TYPE
    SYNTAX      Dot5SrRouteEntry
    MAX-ACCESS  not-accessible
    STATUS      current
    DESCRIPTION
                "Information on a specific route.

                An entry is created whenever a 'Single Path
                Explorer' or an 'All Paths Explorer' discovers
                a route to a neighbor not currently in the table,
                or whenever an 'All Paths Explorer' discovers a
                better (e.g., shorter) route than the route currently
                stored in the table.  This is done on behalf of
                any network layer client.

                The ifIndex value in the INDEX clause refers to
                the value of MIB-II's ifIndex object for the
                interface on which the route is in effect."
    INDEX  { ifIndex, dot5SrRouteDestination }
    ::= { dot5SrRouteTable 1 }

Dot5SrRouteEntry ::= SEQUENCE {

    dot5SrRouteDestination   MacAddress,
    dot5SrRouteControl       OCTET STRING,
    dot5SrRouteDescr         SourceRoute,
    dot5SrRouteStatus        RowStatus
}

dot5SrRouteDestination  OBJECT-TYPE
    SYNTAX      MacAddress
    MAX-ACCESS  not-accessible
    STATUS      current
    DESCRIPTION
               "The destination of this route."
    ::= { dot5SrRouteEntry 2 }

dot5SrRouteControl  OBJECT-TYPE
    SYNTAX      OCTET STRING (SIZE(2))
    MAX-ACCESS  read-create
    STATUS      current
    DESCRIPTION
               "The value of Routing Control field for this
               route."
    REFERENCE  "Annex C of ISO/IEC 10038: 1993,
               [ANSI/IEEE Std 802.1D, 1993]"
    ::= { dot5SrRouteEntry 3 }

dot5SrRouteDescr  OBJECT-TYPE
    SYNTAX      SourceRoute
    MAX-ACCESS  read-create
    STATUS      current
    DESCRIPTION
               "The embedded sequence of bridge and ring ID's
               for this route.  For destinations on the
               local ring, the value of this object is
               the zero-length string."
    REFERENCE  "Annex C of ISO/IEC 10038: 1993,
               [ANSI/IEEE Std 802.1D, 1993]"
    ::= { dot5SrRouteEntry 4 }

dot5SrRouteStatus  OBJECT-TYPE
    SYNTAX      RowStatus
    MAX-ACCESS  read-create
    STATUS      current
    DESCRIPTION
             "The status of this row.  Values of the instances
             of dot5SrRouteControl and dot5SrRouteDescr can be
             modified while the row's status is 'active."
    ::= { dot5SrRouteEntry 5 }

-- conformance information

dot5SrConformance OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { dot5SrMIB 2 }

dot5SrGroups      OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { dot5SrConformance 1 }
dot5SrCompliances OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { dot5SrConformance 2 }


-- compliance statements

dot5SrCompliance MODULE-COMPLIANCE
    STATUS  current
    DESCRIPTION
        "The compliance statement for SNMPv2 entities
        which implement the IEEE 802.5 Station Source Route
        MIB."

    MODULE  -- this module
        MANDATORY-GROUPS { dot5SrRouteGroup }

        OBJECT      dot5SrRouteStatus
        SYNTAX      INTEGER { active(1) }   -- subset of values
        MIN-ACCESS  read-only
        DESCRIPTION
            "Write access is not required, and only the 'active'
            value need be supported."

        OBJECT      dot5SrRouteControl
        MIN-ACCESS  read-only
        DESCRIPTION
            "Write access is not required."

        OBJECT      dot5SrRouteDescr
        MIN-ACCESS  read-only
        DESCRIPTION
            "Write access is not required."

    ::= { dot5SrCompliances 1 }


-- units of conformance

dot5SrRouteGroup  OBJECT-GROUP
    OBJECTS   { dot5SrRouteControl,
                dot5SrRouteDescr,
                dot5SrRouteStatus
              }
    STATUS    current
    DESCRIPTION
        "A collection of objects providing for the management of
        source routes in stations on IEEE 802.5 source-routing
        networks."
    ::= { dot5SrGroups 1 }

END

5.  Acknowledgements

   The need for this MIB module was agreed upon by the members of the
   IETF Interfaces Working Group, and the definitions were derived from
   experience with enterprise-specific MIBs presented to the Working
   Group.

6.  References

   [1] Case, J., McCloghrie, K., Rose, M., and S. Waldbusser, "Structure
       of Management Information for version 2 of the Simple Network
       Management Protocol (SNMPv2)", RFC 1442, SNMP Research,Inc.,
       Hughes LAN Systems, Dover Beach Consulting, Inc., Carnegie Mellon
       University, April 1993.

   [2] McCloghrie, K., and M. Rose, Editors, "Management Information
       Base for Network Management of TCP/IP-based internets: MIB- II",
       STD 17, RFC 1213, Hughes LAN Systems, Performance Systems
       International, March 1991.

   [3] Galvin, J., and K. McCloghrie, "Administrative Model for version
       2 of the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMPv2)", RFC 1445,
       Trusted Information Systems, Hughes LAN Systems, April 1993.

   [4] Case, J., McCloghrie, K., Rose, M., and S. Waldbusser, "Protocol
       Operations for version 2 of the Simple Network Management
       Protocol (SNMPv2)", RFC 1448, SNMP Research,Inc., Hughes LAN
       Systems, Dover Beach Consulting, Inc., Carnegie Mellon
       University, April 1993.

   [5] Case, J., McCloghrie, K., Rose, M., and S. Waldbusser, "Textual
       Conventions for version 2 of the Simple Network Management
       Protocol (SNMPv2)", RFC 1443, SNMP Research Inc., Hughes LAN
       Systems, Dover Beach Consulting, Inc., Carnegie Mellon
       University, April 1993.

   [6] McCloghrie, K., and E. Decker, "IEEE 802.5 Token Ring MIB using
       SMIv2", RFC 1748 cisco Systems, Inc., December 1994.

   [7] McCloghrie, K., Decker, E., Langville, P., and A.  Rijsinghani,
       "Definitions of Managed Objects for Source Routing Bridges", RFC
       1525, Hughes LAN Systems, cisco Systems, Inc., Digital Equipment
       Corporation, September 1993.

   [8] "Token Ring Access Method and Physical Layer Specifications",
       IEEE Standard 802.5-1989, 1989.

   [9] "Information technology - Local and metropolitan area networks -
       Part 5: Token ring access method and physical layer
       specifications", ISO/IEC 8802-5, 1992.

  [10] "Information technology - Telecommunications and information
       exchange between systems - Local area networks - Media access
       control (MAC) bridges", ISO/IEC 10038, 1993 [ANSI/IEEE Std
       802.1D, 1993 Edition].

  [11] "Source Routing Operation by End Systems", ISO/IEC 8802-2 PDAM5.3
       (6N7721).

7.  Security Considerations

   Security issues are not discussed in this memo.

8.  Authors' Addresses

   Keith McCloghrie
   cisco Systems, Inc.
   170 West Tasman Drive,
   San Jose CA 95134-1706.

   Phone: (408) 526-5260
   EMail: kzm@cisco.com


   Fred Baker
   cisco Systems, Inc.
   519 Lado Drive
   Santa Barbara, CA 93111

   Phone: (805) 681-0115
   EMail: fred@cisco.com


   Eric B. Decker
   cisco Systems, Inc.
   1525 O'Brien Dr.
   Menlo Park, California 94025

   Phone: (415) 688-8241
   EMail: cire@cisco.com

ISO Plain Language

On this page
PROBLEMA station on a source-routing Token Ring network keeps a table of the routes it has learned, but there was no standard way for a network manager to see or change that table over SNMP.
MECHANISMThe memo defines one table, the 802.5 Station Source Route Table, with four objects per row: the destination MAC address, the Routing Control field, the sequence of bridge and ring identifiers, and the row status. The objects are named in SMIv2 and attached to an interface through the ifIndex value from MIB-II.
STATUS TODAYRFC 1749 is Historic and the RFC Editor recommends it for no further use. It was written as an incremental update to the IEEE 802.5 Token Ring MIB in RFC 1748, and it was separated from that document only because RFC 1748 had matured further in the standardisation process.

§1What This MIB Covers

The memo defines a portion of the Management Information Base, the MIB, for use with network management protocols in the Internet community. In particular it describes managed objects used by IEEE 802.5 end stations for managing source routes on a Token Ring network where IEEE source routing is in use. IEEE source routing itself is described in the 802.5 Token Ring Access Method and Physical Layer Specifications and related ISO publications.

The memo is an incremental update to RFC 1748, the IEEE 802.5 MIB, which defines managed objects for interfaces to IEEE 802.5 Token Ring subnetworks. It is documented separately from RFC 1748 solely because of the latter's maturity within the Internet standardisation process.

This MIB covers one thing: the source routes that a Token Ring station has learned. It was split out from the wider 802.5 MIB only because that document had already been through more of the standardisation process.

§2The SNMPv2 Network Management Framework

The SNMPv2 Network Management Framework has four major components. RFC 1442 defines the SMI, the mechanisms used for describing and naming objects for the purpose of management. STD 17, RFC 1213, defines MIB-II, the core set of managed objects for the Internet suite of protocols. RFC 1445 defines the administrative and other architectural aspects of the framework, and RFC 1448 defines the protocol used for network access to managed objects. The framework permits new objects to be defined for the purpose of experimentation and evaluation.

Managed objects are accessed through a virtual information store, the MIB. Objects in the MIB are defined using the subset of Abstract Syntax Notation One defined in the SMI. Each object type is named by an OBJECT IDENTIFIER, an administratively assigned name, and the object type together with an object instance serves to uniquely identify a specific instantiation of the object. For human convenience a textual string, termed the descriptor, is often used to refer to the object type.

The framework has four parts: a language for naming and describing managed objects, the core MIB of standard objects, the rules for who may do what, and the protocol used to reach the objects over the network. Each object has a numeric name, its object identifier, and an instance of that object stands for one particular value the manager can read or write.

§3Source Routing on a Token Ring

Source routing extends the 802.5 protocol by assigning a unique ring number to each ring within the extended LAN, and a bridge number to each source routing bridge's connection to a ring. A Routing Information Field, the RIF, must be included in frames that need to traverse multiple rings. The RIF begins with a Routing Control field and is followed by up to eight Routing Descriptor fields.

The Routing Control field is two octets. Its first octet holds a three bit explorer indicator and a five bit length of the RIF field. Its second octet holds a one bit direction field, to use the routing descriptors in one direction or the other, and a maximum frame length subfield, whose length has recently been extended to six bits.

Each Routing Descriptor field is two octets as well. The first twelve bits carry the ring number and the last four bits carry the bridge number, so that a frame can be handed from bridge to bridge and ring to ring until it reaches the destination.

Source routing gives every ring in the network a number and every bridge connection a number. When a frame has to cross more than one ring, the sender writes down the route in a field at the front of the frame: first a control byte that says how to read the route, then one pair of bytes per hop, each holding the ring to go to and the bridge to go through.

THE ROUTING CONTROL AND ROUTING DESCRIPTOR FIELDS AS DRAWN IN THE RFC
Routing Control field and Routing Descriptor field
Routing Control field:

                    octet 1         octet 2
               +---------------+---------------+
               |b b b l l l l l|d f f f 0 0 0 0|
               +---------------+---------------+

Routing Descriptor field:

                   octet 1         octet 2
               +---------------+---------------+
               |r r r r r r r r r r r r i i i i|
               +---------------+---------------+
                <---- ring number ----> <----->
                                                ^
                                                |
                                    bridge number --+

§3.4Relations to Other MIBs, Static Routes and Local Ring Destinations

RFC 1525 defines the MIB objects specific to source routing for source routing and SRT bridges, while this memo defines the MIB objects specific to source routing for source routing end stations. The two therefore cover opposite ends of the same mechanism.

The memo notes that it is unclear how many, if any, existing systems allow the creation or deletion of static 802.5 source routes by network management. SNMPv2 SMI defines the MAX-ACCESS clause as specifying the maximal level of access that makes protocol sense. The memo therefore provides support for static source routes through the dot5SrRouteStatus object, but the conformance statements allow for stations which do not support static source routes by requiring that compliant agents only need provide read access to dot5SrRouteStatus.

Entries should be included in the dot5SrRouteTable for destination MAC addresses which are on the same ring as the instrumented 802.5 interface. For such entries, dot5SrRouteDescr has the value of the zero-length string, and dot5SrRouteControl has the corresponding value.

Another document, RFC 1525, manages the bridges that carry source-routed frames; this one manages the stations at the ends. A station that cannot be told to create or delete routes only has to let a manager read the status of each row, and destinations on the station's own ring are listed with an empty route.

§4The 802.5 Station Source Route Table

The module is named dot5SrMIB and is assigned the object identifier mib-2 42. It defines one table, dot5SrRouteTable, which contains the source routes known by an end station on an IEEE 802.5 Token Ring network in which IEEE source routing is in use, and which represents the 802.5 RIF database. Each row is a Dot5SrRouteEntry, indexed by ifIndex and dot5SrRouteDestination, where the ifIndex value refers to the value of MIB-II's ifIndex object for the interface on which the route is in effect.

An entry is created whenever a Single Path Explorer or an All Paths Explorer discovers a route to a neighbour not currently in the table, or whenever an All Paths Explorer discovers a better, for example shorter, route than the one currently stored. This is done on behalf of any network layer client.

The row holds four objects. dot5SrRouteDestination is the destination, of type MacAddress, and is not accessible. dot5SrRouteControl is the value of the Routing Control field for this route, an OCTET STRING of size 2, with read and create access. dot5SrRouteDescr is the embedded sequence of bridge and ring identifiers, of the textual convention SourceRoute, which is an OCTET STRING of size 0 to 30, again with read and create access, and holds the zero-length string for destinations on the local ring. dot5SrRouteStatus is the status of the row, of type RowStatus, with read and create access; the values of the other two objects can be modified while the row's status is active.

The conformance section makes write access optional. The dot5SrRouteStatus object need only support the value active, with a minimum access of read-only, and write access is not required for dot5SrRouteControl or dot5SrRouteDescr either. All three objects form the dot5SrRouteGroup object group, whose description reads: a collection of objects providing for the management of source routes in stations on IEEE 802.5 source-routing networks.

The table has one row for each destination the station knows how to reach. Each row holds the destination's hardware address, the two control bytes that say how to read the route, the route itself as a list of bridge and ring numbers, and a status saying whether the row is in use. A manager can read all of these, and can write the route fields, but only while the row is marked active.

THE FOUR OBJECTS IN EACH ROW OF THE ROUTE TABLE
  • dot5SrRouteDestinationThe hardware address the route leads to. Read-only to the manager.
  • dot5SrRouteControlThe two bytes of the Routing Control field. Read and create.
  • dot5SrRouteDescrThe list of bridge and ring numbers, up to 30 bytes. Read and create.
  • dot5SrRouteStatusWhether the row is in use. The other two objects may change only while it is active.

§7Security Considerations

The memo has a Security Considerations section, and its whole content is one sentence: security issues are not discussed in this memo.

Nothing in the document describes authentication, access control or confidentiality for the management information it defines. What it does say about who may touch the table is set out in the conformance statements, where write access to the route objects is not required of a compliant agent.

The memo does not discuss security. Its Security Considerations section says only that security issues are not discussed, so nothing in it should be read as a claim that the management objects are protected.

§7References