Network Working Group Senthil K Balasubramanian Internet-Draft Hewlett-Packard Company Expires: December 2004 Michael Alexander Gustaf Neumann Wirtschaftsuniversitaet Wien July 2004 DHCP Option for Proxy Server Configuration draft-ietf-dhc-proxyserver-opt-01.txt Status of this Memo This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with all provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026. Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts. Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference material or to cite them other than as "work in progress." The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at http:// www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt. The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html. This Internet-Draft will expire on December 2004. Copyright Notice Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004). All Rights Reserved. Abstract This document defines a new Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) option, which can be used to configure the TCP/IP host's Proxy Server configuration for standard protocols like HTTP, FTP, NNTP, SOCKS, Gopher, SLL and etc. Proxy Server provides controlled and efficient access to the Internet by access control mechanism for different types of user requests and caching frequently accessed information (Web pages and possibly files that might have been downloaded using FTP and other protocols). 1. Terminologies Used DHCP Client: A DHCP [RFC-2131] client is an Internet host that uses DHCP to obtain configuration information such as network address. Senthil, Michael, Neumann Expires Dec, 2004 [Page 1] Internet-Draft DHCP Option for Proxy Server Configuration Dec 2004 DHCP Server: A DHCP server [RFC-2131] is an Internet host that returns configuration parameters to DHCP clients. Proxy Server: In a enterprise network that connects to Internet, a proxy server is a server that acts as an intermediary between a workstation user and the Internet so that the enterprise can ensure security, administrative control, and caching service. A Proxy server MAY be associated with or part of a gateway server that separates the enterprise network from the outside network (Usually Internet) and a firewall server that protects the enterprise network from outside intrusion. RDF:A language (Resource Description Framework [RDF-SYN]) for describing properties of web resources. 2. Introduction The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol [RFC-2131] provides a framework for passing configuration information to hosts on a TCP/IP network. This document describes a DHCP configuration option that can be used to inform a DHCP client, the IP addresses of one or more proxy services that are either available to it or that must be used in order to access internet services, for example through a coporate firewall. The following diagram depicts the typical setup providing proxy service to clients on a network that is protected by a firewall. +---------------------------+ +-----------+ | | |Remote HTTP| | | HTTP |Server | | +------------+ +-------------+<--->+-----------+ | | Clients | |Proxy Server | | | Inside the |<------>| + | FTP +-----------+ | | Firewall | |Firewall |<--->|Remote FTP | | +------------+ +-------------+ |Server | | | ^ +-----------+ | | | | | | +-----------+ +---------------------------+ | NNTP |Remote NNTP| +------------>|Server | +-----------+ The primary use of proxies is to allow access to the World Wide Web from within a firewall. A proxy service typically runs on firewall machine. It waits for a request from inside the firewall, forwards the request to the remote server outside the firewall, reads the response and then sends it back to the client. Usually, all the clients use the same proxy within a given network, which helps in efficient caching of documents that are requested by a number of clients. This behavior makes proxies attractive to clients not inside a firewall. Senthil, Michael, Neumann Expires Dec, 2004 [Page 2] Internet-Draft DHCP Option for Proxy Server Configuration Dec 2004 A proxy server increases the network security and user productivity by content filtering and controlling both internal and external access to information. Also, it provides several other functionalities that are not discussed here. 3. Requirements terminology 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 [RFC 2119]. 4. Proxy Server Configuration Option This document defines a new DHCP Option called the Proxy Server Configuration Option. The format of the Proxy Server configuration option is: Code Len Proxy Server Configuration Entry +-------+------+------+------+------+------+-....-+------+ | TBD | N | e1 | e2 | e3 | e4 | | en | +-------+------+------+------+------+------+-....-+------+ Code is TBD and will be assigned by IANA according to [RFC-2939]. The length N gives the total number of octets in the Proxy Server Configuration entries. The format of Proxy Server Configuration Entry can be either protocol/encoding/Address/port tuple or RDF [RDF-SYN] Metadata type. The minimum length is 8 octets. The Proxy Server Configuration entry consists of a sequence of Protocol Type (p), Encoding (e), IP address and port. +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+ |p |e |IP address |port | +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+ The Protocol(p) and encodig (e) are on octet each; each IP address is four octets, and each port number is a two-octet integer encoded in network byte order. The protocol type(p) specifies the type of Protocol and MUST be one of the following assigned numbers. Senthil, Michael, Neumann Expires Dec, 2004 [Page 3] Internet-Draft DHCP Option for Proxy Server Configuration Dec 2004 +-------------------------------+ | protocol | Number | +-------------------------------+ | HTTP | 80 | +-------------------------------+ | FTP | 21 | +-------------------------------+ | NNTP | 119 | +-------------------------------+ | Gopher | 70 | +-------------------------------+ | SSL | TBD | +-------------------------------+ | SOCKS | 1080 | +-------------------------------+ | WAIS | 210 | +-------------------------------+ | IMAP | 220 | +-------------------------------+ | RDF | TBD | +-------------------------------+ The encoding field (e) is by default 0. Otherwise, it can either have "-" or "#". If it is "-", then the entry becomes a destination address for exclusion from forwarding to the proxy. If it is "#", then the proxy requires authentication. In cases where it makes sense to specify more than one proxy server for a given protocol, these proxy servers MUST be specifies as additional IP addresses and ports within the same entry. The list is ordered by precedence, with the most preferred proxy server appearing first in the list, andthe least preferred proxy server appearing last in the list. The DHCP client SHOULD honor this ordering. More than one Proxy Server Configuration Entries MAY be specified in the option. In that case, the list is ordered by precedence, with the most preferred proxy server appearing first in the list, and the least preferred proxy server appearing last in the list. The DHCP client SHOULD honor this ordering. The format of the Proxy Server Configuration using Metadata type is: p Len RDF Metadata for the Proxy +-------+------+----------------------------------+ | RDF | N | RDF | +-------+------+----------------------------------+ Senthil, Michael, Neumann Expires Dec, 2004 [Page 4] Internet-Draft DHCP Option for Proxy Server Configuration Dec 2004 The RDF payload is freeform RDF metadata for describing proxy properties. The length N gives the number of octets in the RDF metadata field. The following entries specifies the sample format of the RDF data field HTTP proxy: ]> License Gate Proxy John Doe Duke OIT Offsite Campus Resource Access Proxy Service Current Duke faculty, staff, and students 2004-06-15 FTP proxy: ]> License Gate FTP Proxy John Doe Duke OIT Offsite Campus Resource Access Proxy Service Current Duke faculty, staff, and students 2004-06-15 As such there is no minimum length to specify a proxy using RDF metadata. But the minimum sensible statement would be a literal description of the proxy (License Gate Proxy) giving a total of 418 characters including the overhead. Senthil, Michael, Neumann Expires Dec, 2004 [Page 5] Internet-Draft DHCP Option for Proxy Server Configuration Dec 2004 For example, with a description element of 60 characters, an URI of 80 characters plus a minimum XML/RDF syntax conformation/namespace declaration of: 21 Octets 70 Octets ]> 64 Octets 109 Octets 81 Octets ..60 characters.. 18 Octets 10 Octets ,the minimum length would be 418 octes. 5. Option Usage The Proxy Server Configuration entries SHOULD not repeat the same type of proxy entries. The port MUST be a valid TCP/UDP port. 6. Security Considerations The DHCP Options defined here allow an intruder DHCP server to misdirect a client, causing it to access a nonexistent or malicious proxy server. This allows for a denial of service or man-in-the-middle attack. This is a well known property of the DCHP protocol; this option does not create any additional risk of such attacks. DHCP provides an authentication mechanism, as described in RFC 3118 [3], which may be used if authentication is required. 7. IANA Considerations IANA is requested to assign an option code to the Proxy Server Configuration Option and protocol numbers for the SSL and RDF protocol. 8. Acknowledgements Thanks to Srinivas Reddy and Sridhar Ramamoorthy of Satyam InfoWay for their extended help in technical Queries. 9. Normative References [RFC-2131] Droms, R., "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol", RFC 2131, March 1997. [RFC-2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997. Senthil, Michael, Neumann Expires Dec, 2004 [Page 6] Internet-Draft DHCP Option for Proxy Server Configuration Dec 2004 10. Informative References [RFC-3118] Droms, R. and W. Arbaugh, "Authentication for DHCP Messages", RFC 3118, June 2001. [RFC-2939] Droms, R., "Procedures and IANA Guidelines for Definition of New DHCP Options and Message Types", BCP 43, RFC 2939, September 2000. [RFC-2616] Fielding, R., Gettys, J., Mogul, J., Frystyk, H., Masinter, L., Leach, P. and T. Berners-Lee, "Hypertext Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.1" RFC 2616, June 1999. [RFC-959] Postel, J. and J. Reynolds, "File Transfer Protocol (FTP)", STD 9, RFC 959, October 1985. [RFC-1436] F. Anklesaria, M. McCahill, P. Lindner, D. Johnson, D. Torrey and B. Albert, "The Internet Gopher Protocol (a distributed document search and retrieval protocol)", RFC 1436, March 1993. [RFC-977] Kantor, B and P. Lapsley, "Network News Transfer Protocol", RFC 977, February 1986. [RFC-1928] Leech, M., Ganis, M., Lee, Y., Kuris, R., Koblas, D., and L. Jones, "SOCKS Protocol V5", RFC 1928, April 1996. [SSL2] Hickman, Kipp, "The SSL Protocol", Netscape Communications Corp., Feb 9, 1995. [SSL3] A. Frier, P. Karlton, and P. Kocher, "The SSL 3.0 Protocol", Netscape Communications Corp., Nov 18, 1996. [RFC-1625] M. St. Pierre, J. Fullton, K. Gamiel, J. Goldman, B. Kahle, J. Kunze, H. Morris, F. Schiettecatte, "WAIS over Z39.50-1988", RFC 1625, June 1994. [RDF-SYN] Becket, D. and B. McBride, Ed., "RDF/XML Syntax Specification", W3C REC-rdf-syntax, February 2004, . Author's Address Senthil K Balasubramanian Hewlett Packard 29 Cunnigham Road, Bangalore India 560 052 Phone: +91 80 2205 3103 EMail: ksenthil@india.hp.com Senthil, Michael, Neumann Expires Dec, 2004 [Page 7] Internet-Draft DHCP Option for Proxy Server Configuration Dec 2004 Michael Alexander Wirtschaftsuniversitaet Wien Augasse 2-6 A-1090 Vienna, Austria Phone: +43 31336 4467 Email: malexand@wu-wien.ac.at Gustaf Neumann Wirtschaftsuniversitaet Wien Augasse 2-6 A-1090 Vienna, Austria Phone: +43 31336 4671 Email: neumann@wu-wien.ac.at Senthil, Michael, Neumann Expires Dec, 2004 [Page 8] Internet-Draft DHCP Option for Proxy Server Configuration Dec 2004 Intellectual Property Statement The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any intellectual property or other rights that might be claimed to pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in this document or the extent to which any license under such rights might or might not be available; neither does it represent that it has made any effort to identify any such rights. 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