Internet DRAFT - draft-mm-netconf-time-capability

draft-mm-netconf-time-capability



Network Working Group                                         T. Mizrahi
Internet Draft                                                  Y. Moses
Intended status: Experimental   Technion, Israel Institute of Technology
Expires: April 2016                                     October 15, 2015

                        Time Capability in NETCONF
                  draft-mm-netconf-time-capability-09.txt


Abstract

   This document defines a capability-based extension to the Network
   Configuration Protocol (NETCONF) that allows time-triggered
   configuration and management operations. This extension allows
   NETCONF clients to invoke configuration updates according to
   scheduled times, and allows NETCONF servers to attach timestamps to
   the data they send to NETCONF clients.

Status of this Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted to IETF in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
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   This Internet-Draft will expire on April 15, 2016.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2015 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



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   (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
   to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must
   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...................................................3
   2. Conventions used in this document..............................3
      2.1. Key words.................................................3
      2.2. Abbreviations.............................................4
      2.3. Terminology...............................................4
   3. Using Time in NETCONF..........................................4
      3.1. The Time Capability in a Nutshell.........................4
      3.2. Notifications and Cancellation Messages...................6
      3.3. Synchronization Aspects...................................8
      3.4. Scheduled Time Format.....................................9
      3.5. Scheduling Tolerance......................................9
      3.6. Near Future Scheduling vs. Far Future Scheduling.........10
      3.7. Time Interval Format.....................................12
   4. Time Capability...............................................13
      4.1. Overview.................................................13
      4.2. Dependencies.............................................13
      4.3. Capability Identifier....................................13
      4.4. New Operations...........................................13
      4.5. Modifications to Existing Operations.....................14
         4.5.1. Affected Operations.................................14
         4.5.2. Processing Scheduled Operations.....................15
      4.6. Interactions with Other Capabilities.....................15
   5. sched-max-futures.............................................16
      5.1. <scheduled-time> Example.................................16
      5.2. <get-time> Example.......................................17
      5.3. Error Example............................................17
   6. Security Considerations.......................................18
      6.1. General Security Considerations..........................18
      6.2. YANG Module Security Considerations......................19
   7. IANA Considerations...........................................20
   8. Acknowledgments...............................................20
   9. References....................................................21
      9.1. Normative References.....................................21
      9.2. Informative References...................................21
   Appendix A. YANG Module for the Time Capability..................22




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1. Introduction

   The Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF) defined in [RFC6241]
   provides mechanisms to install, manipulate, and delete the
   configuration of network devices. NETCONF allows clients to configure
   and monitor NETCONF servers using remote procedure calls (RPC).

   NETCONF, as defined in [RFC6241], is asynchronous; when a client
   invokes an RPC, it has no control over the time at which the RPC is
   executed, nor does it have any feedback from the server about the
   execution time.

   Time-based configuration ([HotSDN], [TimeTR]) can be a useful tool
   that enables an entire class of coordinated and scheduled
   configuration procedures. Time-triggered configuration allows
   coordinated network updates in multiple devices; a client can invoke
   a coordinated configuration change by sending RPCs to multiple
   servers with the same scheduled execution time. A client can also
   invoke a time-based sequence of updates by sending n RPCs with n
   different update times, T1, T2, ..., Tn, determining the order in
   which the RPCs are executed.

   This memo defines the :time capability in NETCONF. This extension
   allows clients to determine the scheduled execution time of RPCs they
   send. It also allows a server that receives an RPC to report its
   actual execution time to the client.

   The NETCONF time capability is intended for scheduling RPCs that
   should be performed in the near future, allowing to coordinate
   simultaneous configuration changes, or to specify an order of
   configuration updates. Time-of-day-based policies and far-future
   scheduling, e.g., [Cond], are outside the scope of this memo.

   This memo is defined for experimental purposes, and will allow the
   community to experiment with the NETCONF time capability. It is
   expected that based on the lessons learned from this experience the
   NETCONF working group will be able to consider whether to adopt the
   time capability.

2. Conventions used in this document

2.1. Key words

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].



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2.2. Abbreviations

   NETCONF  Network Configuration Protocol

   RPC      Remote Procedure Call

2.3. Terminology

   o  Capability [RFC6241]: A functionality that supplements the base
      NETCONF specification.

   o  Client [RFC6241]: Invokes protocol operations on a server.  In
      addition, a client can subscribe to receive notifications from a
      server.

   o  Execution time: The execution time of an RPC is defined as the
      time at which a server completes the execution of an RPC.

   o  Scheduled RPC: an RPC that is scheduled to be performed at a
      predetermined time, which is included in the <rpc> message.

   o  Scheduled time: The scheduled time of an RPC is the time at which
      the RPC should be invoked. The scheduled time is determined by the
      client, and enforced by the server.

   o  Server [RFC6241]: Executes protocol operations invoked by a
      client.  In addition, a server can send notifications to a client.

3. Using Time in NETCONF

3.1. The Time Capability in a Nutshell

   The :time capability provides two main functions:

   o  Scheduling:
      When a client sends an RPC to a server, the RPC message MAY
      include the scheduled-time element, denoted by Ts in Figure 1. The
      server then executes the RPC at the scheduled time Ts, and once
      completed the server can respond with an RPC reply message.

   o  Reporting:
      When a client sends an RPC to a server, the RPC message MAY
      include a get-time element (see Figure 2), requesting the server
      to return the execution time of the RPC. In this case, after the
      server performs the RPC it responds with an RPC reply that
      includes the execution time, Te.



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                      RPC _________
                    executed       \
                                   \/
                                   Ts
            server  ---------------+-------------        ----> time
                              /\      \
                          rpc /        \ rpc-reply
                         (Ts)/          \
                            /           \/
            client  -----------------------------

                          Figure 1 Scheduled RPC

                   RPC _________
                 executed       \
                                \/
                                Te
            server  ------------+----------------        ----> time
                              /\   \
                       rpc    /     \ rpc-reply
                   (get-time)/       \ (Te)
                            /        \/
            client  -----------------------------

              Figure 2 Reporting the Execution Time of an RPC

   Example 1. A client needs to trigger a commit at n servers, so that
   the n servers perform the commit as close as possible to
   simultaneously. Without the time capability, the client sends a
   sequence of n commit messages, and thus each server performs the
   commit at a different time. By using the time capability, the client
   can send commit messages that are scheduled to take place at a chosen
   time Ts, for example 5 seconds in the future, causing the servers to
   invoke the commit as close as possible to time Ts.

   Example 2. In many applications it is desirable to monitor events or
   collect statistics regarding a common time reference. A client can
   send a set of get-config messages that is scheduled to be executed at
   multiple servers at the same time, providing a simultaneous system-
   wide view of the state of the servers. Moreover, a client can use the
   get-time element in its get-config messages, providing a time
   reference to the sampled element.


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   The scenarios of Figure 1 and Figure 2 imply that a third scenario
   can also be supported (Figure 3), where the client invokes an RPC
   that includes a scheduled time, Ts, as well as the get-time element.
   This allows the client to receive feedback about the actual execution
   time, Te. Ideally, Ts=Te. However, the server may execute the RPC at
   a slightly different time than Ts, for example if the server is tied
   up with other tasks at Ts.

                      RPC _________
                    executed       \
                                   \/
                                Ts Te
            server  -------------+-+-------------        ----> time
                            /\        \
                   rpc      /          \ rpc-reply
            (Ts + get-time)/            \ (Te)
                          /             \/
            client  -----------------------------

                     Figure 3 Scheduling and Reporting

3.2. Notifications and Cancellation Messages

Notifications

   As illustrated in Figure 1, after a scheduled RPC is executed the
   server sends an rpc-reply. The rpc-reply may arrive a long period of
   time after the RPC was sent by the client, leaving the client without
   a clear indication of whether the RPC was received.

   This document defines a new notification, the netconf-scheduled-
   message notification, which provides an immediate acknowledgement of
   the scheduled RPC.

   The <netconf-scheduled-message> is sent to the client if it is
   subscribed to the NETCONF notifications [RFC6470]; as illustrated in
   Figure 4, when the server receives a scheduled RPC it sends a
   notification to the client.

   The <netconf-scheduled-message> notification includes a <schedule-id>
   element. The <schedule-id> is a unique identifier that the server
   assigns to every scheduled RPC it receives. Thus, a client can keep
   track of all the pending scheduled RPCs; a client can uniquely
   identify a scheduled RPC by the tuple {server, schedule-id}.



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                      RPC ____________
                    executed          \
                                      \/
                                      Ts
            server  -------------------+---------        ----> time
                        /\  \            \
                    rpc /    \notifi-     \ rpc-reply
                   (Ts)/      \cation      \
                      /       \/           \/
            client  -----------------------------

                 Figure 4 Scheduled RPC with Notification

Cancellation Messages

   A client can cancel a scheduled RPC by sending a <cancel-schedule>
   RPC. The <cancel-schedule> RPC includes the <schedule-id> of the
   scheduled RPC that needs to be cancelled.

   The <cancel-schedule> RPC, defined in this document, can be used to
   perform a coordinated all-or-none procedure, where either all the
   servers perform the operation on schedule, or the operation is
   aborted.

   Example 3. A client sends scheduled RPC messages to server 1 and
   server 2, both scheduled to be performed at time Ts. Server 1 sends a
   notification indicating that it has successfully scheduled the RPC,
   while server 2 replies with an unknown-element error [RFC6241] that
   indicates that it does not support the time capability. The client
   sends a <cancel-schedule> RPC to server 1, and receives an rpc-reply.
   The message exchange between the client and server 1 in this example
   is illustrated in Figure 5.















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                            RPC not __________
                            executed          \
                                              \/
                                               Ts
        server  --------------------------------+---      ----> time
                    /\ \            /\        \
                rpc /   \notifi-    /cancel-   \ rpc-reply
               (Ts)/     \cation   /schedule    \
                  /      \/       /             \/
        client  ------------------------------------

                       Figure 5 Cancellation Message

   A cancel-schedule message MUST NOT include the scheduled-time
   parameter. A server that receives a cancel-schedule should try to
   cancel the schedule as soon as possible. If the server is unable to
   cancel the scheduled RPC, for example because it has already been
   executed, it should respond with an rpc-error [RFC6241], in which the
   error-type is 'protocol', and the error-tag is 'operation-failed'.

3.3. Synchronization Aspects

   The time capability defined in this document requires clients and
   servers to maintain clocks. It is assumed that clocks are
   synchronized by a method that is outside the scope of this document,
   e.g., [NTP] or [IEEE1588].

   This document does not define any requirements pertaining to the
   degree of accuracy of performing scheduled RPCs. Note that two
   factors affect how accurately the server can perform a scheduled RPC;
   one factor is the accuracy of the clock synchronization method used
   to synchronize the clients and servers, and the second factor is the
   server's ability to execute real-time configuration changes, which
   greatly depends on how it is implemented. Typical networking devices
   are implemented by a combination of hardware and software. While the
   execution time of a hardware module can typically be predicted with a
   high level of accuracy, the execution time of a software module may
   be variable and hard to predict. A configuration update would
   typically require the server's software to be involved, thus
   affecting how accurately the RPC can be scheduled.

   Another important aspect of synchronization, is monitoring; a client
   should be able to check whether a server is synchronized to a
   reference time source. Typical synchronization protocols, such as the
   Network Time Protocol [NTP] provide the means ([RFC5907], [RFC7317])


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   to verify that a clock is synchronized to a time reference by
   querying its Management Information Base (MIB). The get-time feature
   defined in this document (see Figure 2) allows a client to obtain a
   rough estimate of the time offset between the client's clock and the
   server's clock.

   Since servers do not perform configuration changes instantaneously,
   the processing time of an RPC should not be overlooked. The scheduled
   time always refers to the start time of the RPC, and the execution
   time always refers to its completion time.

3.4. Scheduled Time Format

   The scheduled time and execution time fields in RPC messages use a
   common time format field.

   The time format used in this document is the date-and-time format,
   that is defined in Section 5.6 of [RFC3339] and in Section 3 of
   [RFC6991].


       leaf scheduled-time {
         type yang:date-and-time;
         description
         "The time at which the RPC is scheduled to be performed.";
       }


       leaf execution-time {
         type yang:date-and-time;
         description
         "The time at which the RPC was executed.";
       }

3.5. Scheduling Tolerance

   When a client sends an RPC that is scheduled to Ts, the server MUST
   verify that the value Ts is not too far in the past or in the future.
   As illustrated in Figure 6, the server verifies that Ts is within the
   scheduling tolerance range.







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                   RPC _________
                 received       \
                                \/
                                      Ts
             -----+--------------+-----+------------+-------> time

                   <------------> <---------------->
                   sched-max-past  sched-max-future


                   <------------------------------->
                        scheduling tolerance

                       Figure 6 Scheduling Tolerance

   The scheduling tolerance is determined by two parameters,
   sched-max-future and sched-max-past. These two parameters use the
   time-interval format (Section 3.7.), and their default value is 15
   seconds.

   If the scheduled time, Ts is within the scheduling tolerance range,
   the scheduled RPC is performed; if Ts occurs in the past and within
   the scheduling tolerance, the server performs the RPC as soon as
   possible, whereas if Ts is a future time, the server performs the RPC
   at Ts.

   If Ts is not within the scheduling tolerance range, the scheduled RPC
   is discarded, and the server responds with an error message [RFC6241]
   with a bad-element error-tag. An example is provided in Section 5.3.

3.6. Near Future Scheduling vs. Far Future Scheduling

   The scheduling bound defined by sched-max-future guarantees that
   every scheduled RPC is restricted to a near future scheduling time.

   The scheduling mechanism defined in this document is intended for
   near future scheduling, on the order of seconds. Far future
   scheduling is outside the scope of this document.

   Example 1 is a typical example of using near future scheduling; the
   goal in the example is to perform the RPC at multiple servers at the
   same time, and therefore it is best to schedule the RPC to be
   performed a few seconds in the future.




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The Challenges of Far Future Scheduling

   When an RPC is scheduled to be performed at a far-future time, during
   the long period between the time at which the RPC is sent and the
   time at which it is scheduled to be executed the following erroneous
   events may occur:

   o  The server may restart.

   o  The client's authorization level may be changed.

   o  The client may restart and send a conflicting RPC.

   o  A different client may send a conflicting RPC.

   In these cases if the server performs the scheduled operation it may
   perform an action that is inconsistent with the current network
   policy, or inconsistent with the currently active clients.

   Near future scheduling guarantees that external events such as the
   examples above have a low probability of occurring during the sched-
   max-future period, and even when they do, the period of inconsistency
   is limited to sched-max-future, which is a short period of time.

The Tradeoff in Setting the sched-max-future Value

   The sched-max-future parameter should be configured to a value that
   is high enough to allow the client to:

   1. Send the scheduled RPC, potentially to multiple servers.

   2. Receive notifications or rpc-error messages from the server(s), or
      wait for a timeout and decide that if no response has arrived then
      something is wrong.

   3. If necessary, send a cancellation message, potentially to multiple
      servers.

   On the other hand, sched-max-future should be configured to a value
   that is low enough to allow a low probability of the erroneous events
   above, typically on the order of a few seconds. Note that even if
   sched-max-future is configured to a low value, it is still possible
   (with a low probability) that an erroneous event will occur. However,
   this short potentially hazardous period is not significantly worse
   than in conventional (unscheduled) RPCs, as even a conventional RPC
   may in some cases be executed a few seconds after it was sent by the
   client.


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The Default Value of sched-max-future

   The default value of sched-max-future is defined to be 15 seconds.
   This duration is long enough to allow the scheduled RPC to be sent by
   the client, potentially to multiple servers, and in some cases to
   send a cancellation message, as described in Section 3.2. On the
   other hand, the 15 second duration yields a very low probability of a
   reboot or a permission change.

3.7. Time Interval Format

   The time-interval format is used for representing the length of a
   time interval, and is based on the date-and-time format. It is used
   for representing the scheduling tolerance parameters, as described in
   the previous section.

   While the date-and-time type uniquely represents a specific point in
   time, the time-interval type defined below can be used to represent
   the length of a time interval without specifying a specific date.

   The time-interval type is defined as follows:

      typedef time-interval {
        type string {
          pattern '\d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}(\.\d+)?';
        }
        description
          "Defines a time interval, up to 24 hours.
           The format is specified as HH:mm:ss.f,
           consisting of two digits for hours,
           two digits for minutes, two digits
           for seconds, and zero or more digits
           representing second fractions.";
      }

Example

   The sched-max-future parameter is defined (Appendix A) as a
   time-interval, as follows:

      leaf sched-max-future {
        type time-interval;
        default 00:00:15.0;
      }


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   The default value specified for sched-max-future is 0 hours, 0
   minutes, and 15 seconds.

4. Time Capability

   The structure of this section is as defined in Appendix D of
   [RFC6241].

4.1. Overview

   A server that supports the time capability can perform time-triggered
   operations as defined in this document.

   A server implementing the :time capability:

   o  MUST support the ability to receive <rpc> messages that include a
      time element, and perform a time-triggered operation accordingly.

   o  MUST support the ability to include a time element in the <rpc-
      reply> messages that it transmits.

4.2. Dependencies

With-defaults Capability

   The time capability YANG module (Appendix A.) uses default values,
   and thus it is assumed that the with-defaults capability [RFC6243] is
   supported.

4.3. Capability Identifier

   The :time capability is identified by the following capability string
   (to be assigned by IANA - see Section 0):

   urn:ietf:params:netconf:capability:time:1.0

4.4. New Operations

<cancel-schedule>

   The cancel-schedule RPC is used for cancelling an RPC that was
   previously scheduled.






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   A cancel-schedule RPC MUST include the <cancelled-message-id>
   element, which specifies the message ID of the scheduled RPC that
   needs to be cancelled.

   A cancel-schedule RPC MAY include the <get-time> element. In this
   case the rpc-reply includes the <execution-time> element, specifying
   the time at which the scheduled RPC was cancelled.

4.5. Modifications to Existing Operations

4.5.1. Affected Operations

   The :time capability defined in this memo can be applied to any of
   the following operations:

   o  get-config

   o  get

   o  copy-config

   o  edit-config

   o  delete-config

   o  lock

   o  unlock

   o  commit

   Three new elements are added to each of these operations:

   o  <scheduled-time>
      This element is added to the input of each operation, indicating
      the time at which the server is scheduled to invoke the operation.
      Every <rpc> message MAY include the <scheduled-time> element. A
      server that supports the :time capability and receives an <rpc>
      message with a <scheduled-time> element MUST perform the operation
      as close as possible to the scheduled time.

      The <scheduled-time> element uses the date-and-time format
      (Section 3.4.).






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   o  <get-time>
      This element is added to the input of each operation. An <rpc>
      message MAY include a <get-time> element, indicating that the
      server MUST include an <execution-time> in its corresponding <rpc-
      reply>.

   o  <execution-time>
      This element is added to the output of each operation, indicating
      the time at which the server completed the operation. An <rpc-
      reply> MAY include the <execution-time> element. A server that
      supports the :time capability and receives an operation with the
      <get-time> element MUST include the execution time in its
      response.

      The execution-time element uses the date-and-time format
      (Section 3.4.).

4.5.2. Processing Scheduled Operations

   A server that receives a scheduled RPC MUST start executing the RPC
   as close as possible to its scheduled execution time.

   If a session between a client and a server is terminated, the server
   MUST cancel all pending scheduled RPCs that were received in this
   session.

   Scheduled RPCs are processed serially, in an order that is defined by
   their scheduled times. Thus, the server sends <rpc-reply> messages to
   scheduled RPCs according to the order of their corresponding
   schedules. Note that this is a modification to the behavior defined
   in [RFC6241], which states that replies are sent in the order the
   requests were received. Interoperability with [RFC6241] is guaranteed
   by the NETCONF capability exchange; a server that does not support
   the :time capability responds to RPCs in the order the requestes were
   received. A server that supports the :time capability replies to
   conventional (non-scheduled) RPCs in the order they were received,
   and replies to scheduled RPCs in the order of their scheduled times.

   If a server receives two or more RPCs that are scheduled to be
   performed at the same time, the server executes the RPCs serially in
   an arbitrary order.

4.6. Interactions with Other Capabilities

Confirmed Commit Capability




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   The confirmed commit capability is defined in Section 8.4 of
   [RFC6241]. According to [RFC6241], a confirmed <commit> operation
   MUST be reverted if a confirming commit is not issued within the
   timeout period (which by default is 600 seconds).

   When the time capability is supported, and a confirmed <commit>
   operation is used with the <scheduled-time> element, the confirmation
   timeout MUST be counted from the scheduled time, i.e., the client
   begins the timeout measurement starting at the scheduled time.

5. Examples

5.1. <scheduled-time> Example

   The following example extends the example presented in Section 7.2 of
   [RFC6241] by adding the time capability. In this example, the
   <scheduled-time> element is used to specify the scheduled execution
   time of the configuration update (as shown in Figure 1).

   <rpc message-id="101"
       xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0">
     <edit-config>
       <target>
         <running/>
       </target>
       <scheduled-time
          xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-netconf-time">
           2015-10-21T04:29:00.235Z
       </scheduled-time>
       <config>
         <top xmlns="http://example.com/schema/1.2/config">
           <interface>
             <name>Ethernet0/0</name>
             <mtu>1500</mtu>
           </interface>
         </top>
       </config>
     </edit-config>
   </rpc>

   <rpc-reply message-id="101"
        xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0">
     <ok/>



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   </rpc-reply>


5.2. <get-time> Example

   The following example is similar to the one presented in Section 5.1.
   , except that in this example the client includes a <get-time>
   element in its RPC, and the server consequently responds with an
   <execution-time> element (as shown in Figure 2).

   <rpc message-id="101"
       xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0">
     <edit-config>
       <target>
         <running/>
       </target>
       <get-time
        xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-netconf-time">
       </get-time>
       <config>
         <top xmlns="http://example.com/schema/1.2/config">
           <interface>
             <name>Ethernet0/0</name>
             <mtu>1500</mtu>
           </interface>
         </top>
       </config>
     </edit-config>
   </rpc>

   <rpc-reply message-id="101"
        xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0">
     <ok/>
     <execution-time>
         2015-10-21T04:29:00.235Z
     </execution-time>
   </rpc-reply>

5.3. Error Example

   The following example presents a scenario in which the scheduled-time
   is not within the scheduling tolerance, i.e., it is too far in the
   past, and therefore an rpc-error is returned.


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   <rpc message-id="101"
       xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0">
     <edit-config>
       <target>
         <running/>
       </target>
       <scheduled-time
          xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-netconf-time">
           2010-10-21T04:29:00.235Z
       </scheduled-time>
       <config>
         <top xmlns="http://example.com/schema/1.2/config">
           <interface>
             <name>Ethernet0/0</name>
             <mtu>1500</mtu>
           </interface>
         </top>
       </config>
     </edit-config>
   </rpc>

   <rpc-reply message-id="101"
        xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0">
     <rpc-error>
       <error-type>application</error-type>
       <error-tag>bad-element</error-tag>
       <error-severity>error</error-severity>
       <error-info>
         <bad-element>scheduled-time</bad-element>
       </error-info>
     </rpc-error>
   </rpc-reply>

6. Security Considerations

6.1. General Security Considerations

   The security considerations of the NETCONF protocol in general are
   discussed in [RFC6241].

   The usage of the time capability defined in this document can assist
   an attacker in gathering information about the system, such as the


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   exact time of future configuration changes. Moreover, the time
   elements can potentially allow an attacker to learn information about
   the system's performance. Furthermore, an attacker that sends
   malicious RPC messages can use the time capability to amplify her
   attack; for example, by sending multiple RPC messages with the same
   scheduled time. It is important to note that the security measures
   described in [RFC6241] can prevent these vulnerabilities.

   The time capability relies on an underlying time synchronization
   protocol. Thus, by attacking the time protocol an attack can
   potentially compromise NETCONF when using the time capability. A
   detailed discussion about the threats against time protocols and how
   to mitigate them is presented in [TimeSec].

   The time capability can allow an attacker to attack a NETCONF server
   by sending malicious RPCs that are scheduled to take place in the
   future. For example, an attacker can send multiple scheduled RPCs
   that are scheduled to be performed at the same time. Another possible
   attack is to send a large number of scheduled RPCs to a NETCONF
   server, potentially causing the server's buffers to overflow. These
   attacks can be mitigated by a carefully designed NETCONF server; when
   a server receives a scheduled RPC that exceeds its currently
   available resources, it should reply with an rpc-error, and discard
   the scheduled RPC.

   Note that if an attacker has been detected and revoked, its future
   scheduled RPCs are not executed; as defined in Section 4.5.2. , once
   the session with the attacker has been terminated, the corresponding
   scheduled RPCs are discarded.

6.2. YANG Module Security Considerations

   This memo defines a new YANG module, as specified in Appendix A.

   The YANG module defined in this memo is designed to be accessed via
   the NETCONF protocol [RFC6241]. The lowest NETCONF layer is the
   secure transport layer and the mandatory to implement secure
   transport is SSH [RFC6242]. The NETCONF access control model
   [RFC6536] provides the means to restrict access for particular
   NETCONF users to a pre-configured subset of all available NETCONF
   protocol operations and content.

   This YANG module defines <sched-max-future> and <sched-max-past>,
   which are writable/creatable/deletable. These data nodes may be
   considered sensitive or vulnerable in some network environments. An
   attacker may attempt to maliciously configure these parameters to a
   low value, thereby causing all scheduled RPCs to be discarded. For


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   instance, if a client expects <sched-max-future> to be 15 seconds,
   but in practice it is maliciously configured to 1 second, then a
   legitimate scheduled RPC that is scheduled to be performed 5 seconds
   in the future will be discarded by the server.

   This YANG module defines the <cancel-schedule> RPC. This RPC may be
   considered sensitive or vulnerable in some network environments.
   Since the value of the <schedule-id> is known to all the clients that
   are subscribed to notifications from the server, the <cancel-
   schedule> RPC may be used maliciously to attack servers by canceling
   their pending RPCs. This attack is addressed in two layers: (i)
   security at the transport layer, limiting the attack only to clients
   that have successfully initiated a secure session with the server,
   and (ii) the authorization level required to cancel an RPC should be
   the same as the level required to schedule it, limiting the attack
   only to attackers with an authorization level that is equal to or
   higher than that of the client that initiated the scheduled RPC.

7. IANA Considerations

   This document proposes to register the following capability
   identifier URN in the 'Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF)
   Capability URNs' registry:

        urn:ietf:params:netconf:capability:time:1.0

   This document proposes to register the following XML namespace URN
   in the 'IETF XML registry', following the format defined in
   [RFC3688]:

         URI: urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-netconf-time

   This document proposes to register a module name in the 'YANG Module
   Names' registry, defined in [RFC6020].

         name: ietf-netconf-time

         prefix: nct

         namespace: urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-netconf-time

         RFC: TBD

8. Acknowledgments

   The authors gratefully acknowledge Joe Marcus Clarke, Andy Bierman,
   Balazs Lengyel, Jonathan Hansford, John Heasley, Robert Sparks, Al


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   Morton, Olafur Gudmundsson, Juergen Schoenwaelder, Joel Jaeggli,
   Alon Schneider and Eylon Egozi for their insightful comments.

   This work was supported in part by Israel Science Foundation grant
   ISF 1520/11.

   This document was prepared using 2-Word-v2.0.template.dot.

9. References

9.1. Normative References

   [RFC2119]     Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
                 Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

   [RFC3339]     Klyne, G., Ed. and C. Newman, "Date and Time on the
                 Internet: Timestamps", RFC 3339, July 2002.

   [RFC3688]     Mealling, M., "The IETF XML Registry", BCP 81, RFC
                 3688, January 2004.

   [RFC6991]     Schoenwaelder, J., "Common YANG Data Types", RFC 6991,
                 July 2013.

   [RFC6241]     Enns, R., Ed., Bjorklund, M., Ed., Schoenwaelder, J.,
                 Ed., Bierman, A., Ed., "Network Configuration Protocol
                 (NETCONF)", RFC 6241, June 2011.

   [RFC6470]     Bierman, A., "Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF)
                 Base Notifications", RFC 6470, February 2012.

9.2. Informative References

   [RFC6020]     Bjorklund, M., "YANG - A Data Modeling Language for
                 the Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF)", RFC
                 6020, October 2010.

   [RFC6242]     Wasserman, M., "Using the NETCONF Protocol over Secure
                 Shell (SSH)", RFC 6242, June 2011.

   [RFC6243]     Bierman, A., Lengyel, B., "With-defaults Capability
                 for NETCONF", RFC 6243, June 2011.

   [RFC6536]     Bierman, A. and M. Bjorklund, "Network Configuration
                 Protocol (NETCONF) Access Control Model", RFC 6536,
                 March 2012.



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   [RFC7317]     Bierman, A. and M. Bjorklund, "A YANG Data Model for
                 System Management", RFC 7317, August 2014.

   [Cond]        Watsen, K., "Conditional Enablement of Configuration
                 Nodes", draft-kwatsen-conditional-enablement-00
                 (expired), 2013.

   [HotSDN]      Mizrahi, T., Moses, Y., "Time-based Updates in
                 Software Defined Networks", the second workshop on hot
                 topics in software defined networks (HotSDN), 2013.

   [IEEE1588]    IEEE TC 9 Instrumentation and Measurement Society,
                 "1588 IEEE Standard for a Precision Clock
                 Synchronization Protocol for Networked Measurement and
                 Control Systems Version 2", IEEE Standard, 2008.

   [NTP]         Mills, D., Martin, J., Burbank, J., Kasch, W.,
                 "Network Time Protocol Version 4: Protocol and
                 Algorithms Specification", RFC 5905, June 2010.

   [RFC5907]     Gerstung, H., Elliott, C., Haberman, B., "Definitions
                 of Managed Objects for Network Time Protocol Version 4
                 (NTPv4", RFC 5907, June 2010.

   [TimeSec]     Mizrahi, T., "Security Requirements of Time Protocols
                 in Packet Switched Networks", RFC 7384, October 2014.

   [TimeTR]      Mizrahi, T., Moses, Y., "Time-based Updates in
                 OpenFlow: A Proposed Extension to the OpenFlow
                 Protocol", Technion - Israel Institute of Technology,
                 technical report, CCIT Report #835, EE Pub No. 1792,
                 2013.
                 http://tx.technion.ac.il/~dew/OFTimeTR.pdf



Appendix A.                 YANG Module for the Time Capability

   This section is normative.

   <CODE BEGINS> file "ietf-netconf-time@2015-09-01.yang"

   module ietf-netconf-time {

      namespace "urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-netconf-time";

      prefix nct;


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      import ietf-netconf { prefix nc; }

      import ietf-yang-types { prefix yang; }

      import ietf-netconf-monitoring { prefix ncm; }

      organization
        "IETF";

      contact
        "Editor: Tal Mizrahi
            <dew@tx.technion.ac.il>
         Editor: Yoram Moses
            <moses@ee.technion.ac.il>";

      description
        "This module defines a capability-based extension to the
         Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF) that allows
         time-triggered configuration and management operations.
         This extension allows NETCONF clients to invoke configuration
         updates according to scheduled times, and allows NETCONF
         servers to attach timestamps to the data they send to NETCONF
         clients.

         Copyright (c) 2015 IETF Trust and the persons identified as
         the document authors.  All rights reserved.

         Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or
         without modification, is permitted pursuant to, and subject
         to the license terms contained in, the Simplified BSD License
         set forth in Section 4.c of the IETF Trust's Legal Provisions
         Relating to IETF Documents
         (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info).";

      revision 2015-09-01 {
        description
          "Initial version.";
        reference
          "draft-mm-netconf-time-capability:
           Time Capability in NETCONF";
      }



      typedef time-interval {
        type string {


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          pattern '\d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}(\.\d+)?';
        }
        description
          "Defines a time interval, up to 24 hours.
           The format is specified as HH:mm:ss.f,
           consisting of two digits for hours,
           two digits for minutes, two digits
           for seconds, and zero or more digits
           representing second fractions.";
      }


      grouping scheduling-tolerance-parameters {
        leaf sched-max-future {
          type time-interval;
          default 00:00:15.0;
          description
            "When the scheduled time is in the future, i.e., greater
             than the present time, this leaf defines the maximal
             difference between the scheduled time
             and the present time that the server is willing to
             accept. If the difference exceeds this number, the
             server responds with an error.";
        }

        leaf sched-max-past {
          type time-interval;
          default 00:00:15.0;
          description
            "When the scheduled time is in the past, i.e., less
             than the present time, this leaf defines the maximal
             difference between the present time
             and the scheduled time that the server is willing to
             accept. If the difference exceeds this number, the
             server responds with an error.";
        }

        description
          "Contains the parameters of the scheduling tolerance.";
      }




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      // extending the get-config operation
      augment /nc:get-config/nc:input {
        leaf scheduled-time {
          type yang:date-and-time;
          description
            "The time at which the RPC is scheduled to be performed.";
        }

        leaf get-time {
          type empty;
          description
            "Indicates that the rpc-reply should include the
             execution-time.";
        }

        description
          "Adds the time element to <get-config>.";
      }

      augment /nc:get-config/nc:output {
        leaf execution-time {
          type yang:date-and-time;
          description
            "The time at which the RPC was executed.";
        }

        description
          "Adds the time element to <get-config>.";
      }


      augment /nc:get/nc:input {
        leaf scheduled-time {
          type yang:date-and-time;
          description
            "The time at which the RPC is scheduled to be performed.";
        }

        leaf get-time {
          type empty;


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          description
            "Indicates that the rpc-reply should include the
             execution-time.";
        }

        description
          "Adds the time element to <get>.";
      }

      augment /nc:get/nc:output {
        leaf execution-time {
          type yang:date-and-time;
          description
            "The time at which the RPC was executed.";
        }

        description
          "Adds the time element to <get>.";
      }

      augment /nc:copy-config/nc:input {
        leaf scheduled-time {
          type yang:date-and-time;
          description
            "The time at which the RPC is scheduled to be performed.";
        }

        leaf get-time {
          type empty;
          description
            "Indicates that the rpc-reply should include the
             execution-time.";
        }

        description
          "Adds the time element to <copy-config>.";
      }

      augment /nc:copy-config/nc:output {
        leaf execution-time {
          type yang:date-and-time;


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          description
            "The time at which the RPC was executed.";
        }

        description
          "Adds the time element to <copy-config>.";
      }

      augment /nc:edit-config/nc:input {
        leaf scheduled-time {
          type yang:date-and-time;
          description
            "The time at which the RPC is scheduled to be performed.";
        }

        leaf get-time {
          type empty;
          description
            "Indicates that the rpc-reply should include the
             execution-time.";
        }

        description
          "Adds the time element to <edit-config>.";
      }

      augment /nc:edit-config/nc:output {
        leaf execution-time {
          type yang:date-and-time;
          description
            "The time at which the RPC was executed.";
        }

        description
          "Adds the time element to <edit-config>.";
      }

      augment /nc:delete-config/nc:input {
        leaf scheduled-time {
          type yang:date-and-time;
          description


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            "The time at which the RPC is scheduled to be performed.";
        }

        leaf get-time {
          type empty;
          description
            "Indicates that the rpc-reply should include the
             execution-time.";
        }

        description
         "Adds the time element to <delete-config>.";
      }

      augment /nc:delete-config/nc:output {
        leaf execution-time {
          type yang:date-and-time;
          description
            "The time at which the RPC was executed.";
        }
        description
          "Adds the time element to <delete-config>.";
      }

      augment /nc:lock/nc:input {
        leaf scheduled-time {
          type yang:date-and-time;
          description
            "The time at which the RPC is scheduled to be performed.";
        }

        leaf get-time {
          type empty;
          description
            "Indicates that the rpc-reply should include the
             execution-time.";
        }

        description
          "Adds the time element to <lock>.";
      }


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      augment /nc:lock/nc:output {
        leaf execution-time {
          type yang:date-and-time;
          description
            "The time at which the RPC was executed.";
        }

        description
          "Adds the time element to <lock>.";
      }

      augment /nc:unlock/nc:input {
        leaf scheduled-time {
          type yang:date-and-time;
          description
            "The time at which the RPC is scheduled to be performed.";
        }

        leaf get-time {
          type empty;
          description
            "Indicates that the rpc-reply should include the
             execution-time.";
        }

        description
          "Adds the time element to <unlock>.";
      }

      augment /nc:unlock/nc:output {
        leaf execution-time {
          type yang:date-and-time;
          description
            "The time at which the RPC was executed.";
        }

        description
          "Adds the time element to <unlock>.";
      }



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      augment /nc:commit/nc:input {
        leaf scheduled-time {
          type yang:date-and-time;
          description
            "The time at which the RPC is scheduled to be performed.";
        }

        leaf get-time {
          type empty;
          description
            "Indicates that the rpc-reply should include the
             execution-time.";
        }

        description
          "Adds the time element to <commit>.";
      }

      augment /nc:commit/nc:output {
        leaf execution-time {
          type yang:date-and-time;
          description
            "The time at which the RPC was executed.";
        }

        description
          "Adds the time element to <commit>.";
      }

      augment /ncm:netconf-state {
        container scheduling-tolerance {
          uses scheduling-tolerance-parameters;
          description
            "The scheduling tolerance when the time capability
             is enabled.";
        }
        description
          "The scheduling tolerance of the server.";
      }

      rpc cancel-schedule {


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        description
          "Cancels a scheduled message.";
        reference
          "draft-mm-netconf-time-capability:
           Time Capability in NETCONF";

        input {
          leaf cancelled-message-id {
            type string;
            description
              "The ID of the message to be cancelled.";
          }
          leaf get-time {
            type empty;
            description
              "Indicates that the rpc-reply should include
               the execution-time.";
          }
        }
        output {
          leaf execution-time {
            type yang:date-and-time;
            description
              "The time at which the RPC was executed.";
          }
        }
      }

      notification netconf-scheduled-message {
        leaf schedule-id {
          type string;
          description
            "The ID of the scheduled message.";
        }

        leaf scheduled-time {
          type yang:date-and-time;
          description
            "The time at which the RPC is scheduled to be performed.";
        }



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        description
          "Indicates that a scheduled message was received.";
        reference
          "draft-mm-netconf-time-capability:
           Time Capability in NETCONF";
      }

   }
   <CODE ENDS>


Authors' Addresses

   Tal Mizrahi
   Department of Electrical Engineering
   Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
   Technion City, Haifa, 32000, Israel

   Email: dew@tx.technion.ac.il



   Yoram Moses
   Department of Electrical Engineering
   Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
   Technion City, Haifa, 32000, Israel

   Email: moses@ee.technion.ac.il




















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