RFC 7895 PROPOSED STANDARD DATA MODELS · YANG · NETWORK MANAGEMENT

YANG Library: YANG Module Library

A standard way for clients to discover which YANG data models a network device supports.

On rfc-editor.org ↗
PUBLISHED
June 2016
AUTHORS
A. Bierman, M. Bjorklund, K. Watsen
STREAM
IETF
OBSOLETED BY
RFC 8525 — YANG Library
MODULE YANG VERSION
1.0
DATA STRUCTURE
modules-state container
REVISION IDENTIFIER FORMAT
YYYY-MM-DD
MODULE IDENTIFIER TYPES
YANG identifiers (alphanumeric and hyphen)
DOI
10.17487/RFC7895

RFC text

Contents
Original text · RFC Editor View on rfc-editor.org ↗
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                        A. Bierman
Request for Comments: 7895                                     YumaWorks
Category: Standards Track                                   M. Bjorklund
ISSN: 2070-1721                                           Tail-f Systems
                                                               K. Watsen
                                                        Juniper Networks
                                                               June 2016


                          YANG Module Library

Abstract

   This document describes a YANG library that provides information
   about all the YANG modules used by a network management server (e.g.,
   a Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF) server).  Simple caching
   mechanisms are provided to allow clients to minimize retrieval of
   this information.

Status of This Memo

   This is an Internet Standards Track document.

   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
   received public review and has been approved for publication by the
   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Further information on
   Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 7841.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7895.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2016 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
   (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  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
     1.1.  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     1.2.  Tree Diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   2.  YANG Module Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     2.1.  modules-state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
       2.1.1.  modules-state/module-set-id . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
       2.1.2.  modules-state/module  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     2.2.  YANG Library Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   3.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
     3.1.  YANG Module Registry  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
   4.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
   5.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     5.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     5.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
   Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13

1.  Introduction

   There is a need for standard mechanisms to identify the YANG modules
   and submodules that are in use by a server that implements YANG data
   models.  If a large number of YANG modules are utilized by the
   server, then the YANG library contents needed can be relatively
   large.  This information changes very infrequently, so it is
   important that clients be able to cache the YANG library contents and
   easily identify whether their cache is out of date.

   YANG library information can be different on every server and can
   change at runtime or across a server reboot.

   If the server implements multiple protocols to access the YANG-
   defined data, each such protocol has its own conceptual instantiation
   of the YANG library.

   The following information is needed by a client application (for each
   YANG module in the library) to fully utilize the YANG data modeling
   language:

   o  name: The name of the YANG module.

   o  revision: Each YANG module and submodule within the library has a
      revision.  This is derived from the most recent revision statement
      within the module or submodule.  If no such revision statement
      exists, the module's or submodule's revision is the zero-length
      string.

   o  submodule list: The name and revision of each submodule used by
      the module MUST be identified.

   o  feature list: The name of each YANG feature supported by the
      server MUST be identified.

   o  deviation list: The name of each YANG module used for deviation
      statements MUST be identified.

1.1.  Terminology

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

   The following terms are defined in [RFC6241]:

   o  client

   o  server

   The following terms are defined in [YANG1.1]:

   o  module

   o  submodule

   The following terms are used within this document:

   o  YANG library: A collection of YANG modules and submodules used by
      a server.

1.2.  Tree Diagrams

   A simplified graphical representation of the data model is used in
   this document.  The meaning of the symbols in these diagrams is as
   follows:

   o  Brackets "[" and "]" enclose list keys.

   o  Abbreviations before data node names: "rw" means configuration
      data (read-write) and "ro" state data (read-only).

   o  Symbols after data node names: "?" means an optional node, "!"
      means a presence container, and "*" denotes a list and leaf-list.

   o  Parentheses enclose choice and case nodes, and case nodes are also
      marked with a colon (":").

   o  Ellipsis ("...") stands for contents of subtrees that are not
      shown.

2.  YANG Module Library

   The "ietf-yang-library" module provides information about the YANG
   library used by a server.  This module is defined using YANG version
   1, but it supports the description of YANG modules written in any
   revision of YANG.

   Following is the YANG Tree Diagram for the "ietf-yang-library"
   module:

      +--ro modules-state
         +--ro module-set-id    string
         +--ro module* [name revision]
            +--ro name                yang:yang-identifier
            +--ro revision            union
            +--ro schema?             inet:uri
            +--ro namespace           inet:uri
            +--ro feature*            yang:yang-identifier
            +--ro deviation* [name revision]
            |  +--ro name        yang:yang-identifier
            |  +--ro revision    union
            +--ro conformance-type    enumeration
            +--ro submodule* [name revision]
               +--ro name        yang:yang-identifier
               +--ro revision    union
               +--ro schema?     inet:uri

2.1.  modules-state

   This mandatory container holds the identifiers for the YANG data
   model modules supported by the server.

2.1.1.  modules-state/module-set-id

   This mandatory leaf contains a unique implementation-specific
   identifier representing the current set of modules and submodules on
   a specific server.  The value of this leaf MUST change whenever the
   set of modules and submodules in the YANG library changes.  There is
   no requirement that the same set always results in the same "module-
   set-id" value.

   This leaf allows a client to fetch the module list once, cache it,
   and only refetch it if the value of this leaf has been changed.

   If the value of this leaf changes, the server also generates a
   "yang-library-change" notification, with the new value of
   "module-set-id".

   Note that for a NETCONF server that implements YANG 1.1 [YANG1.1], a
   change of the "module-set-id" value results in a new value for the
   :yang-library capability defined in [YANG1.1].  Thus, if such a
   server implements NETCONF notifications [RFC5277], and the
   notification "netconf-capability-change" [RFC6470], a
   "netconf-capability-change" notification is generated whenever the
   "module-set-id" changes.

2.1.2.  modules-state/module

   This mandatory list contains one entry for each YANG data model
   module supported by the server.  There MUST be an entry in this list
   for each revision of each YANG module that is used by the server.  It
   is possible for multiple revisions of the same module to be imported,
   in addition to an entry for the revision that is implemented by the
   server.

2.2.  YANG Library Module

   The "ietf-yang-library" module defines monitoring information for the
   YANG modules used by a server.

   The "ietf-yang-types" and "ietf-inet-types" modules from [RFC6991]
   are used by this module for some type definitions.

   <CODE BEGINS> file "ietf-yang-library@2016-06-21.yang"

   module ietf-yang-library {
     namespace "urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-yang-library";
     prefix "yanglib";

     import ietf-yang-types {
       prefix yang;
     }
     import ietf-inet-types {
       prefix inet;
     }
     organization
       "IETF NETCONF (Network Configuration) Working Group";

     contact
       "WG Web:   <https://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/netconf/>
        WG List:  <mailto:netconf@ietf.org>

        WG Chair: Mehmet Ersue
                  <mailto:mehmet.ersue@nsn.com>

        WG Chair: Mahesh Jethanandani
                  <mailto:mjethanandani@gmail.com>

        Editor:   Andy Bierman
                  <mailto:andy@yumaworks.com>

        Editor:   Martin Bjorklund
                  <mailto:mbj@tail-f.com>

        Editor:   Kent Watsen
                  <mailto:kwatsen@juniper.net>";

     description
       "This module contains monitoring information about the YANG
        modules and submodules that are used within a YANG-based
        server.

        Copyright (c) 2016 IETF Trust and the persons identified as
        authors of the code.  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).

        This version of this YANG module is part of RFC 7895; see
        the RFC itself for full legal notices.";

     revision 2016-06-21 {
       description
         "Initial revision.";
       reference
         "RFC 7895: YANG Module Library.";
     }
     /*
      * Typedefs
      */

     typedef revision-identifier {
       type string {
         pattern '\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}';
       }
       description
         "Represents a specific date in YYYY-MM-DD format.";
     }

     /*
      * Groupings
      */

     grouping module-list {
       description
         "The module data structure is represented as a grouping
          so it can be reused in configuration or another monitoring
          data structure.";

       grouping common-leafs {
         description
           "Common parameters for YANG modules and submodules.";

         leaf name {
           type yang:yang-identifier;
           description
             "The YANG module or submodule name.";
         }
         leaf revision {
           type union {
             type revision-identifier;
             type string { length 0; }
           }
           description
             "The YANG module or submodule revision date.
              A zero-length string is used if no revision statement
              is present in the YANG module or submodule.";
         }
       }

       grouping schema-leaf {
         description
           "Common schema leaf parameter for modules and submodules.";

         leaf schema {
           type inet:uri;
           description
             "Contains a URL that represents the YANG schema
              resource for this module or submodule.

              This leaf will only be present if there is a URL
              available for retrieval of the schema for this entry.";
         }
       }

       list module {
         key "name revision";
         description
           "Each entry represents one revision of one module
            currently supported by the server.";

         uses common-leafs;
         uses schema-leaf;

         leaf namespace {
           type inet:uri;
           mandatory true;
           description
             "The XML namespace identifier for this module.";
         }
         leaf-list feature {
           type yang:yang-identifier;
           description
             "List of YANG feature names from this module that are
              supported by the server, regardless of whether they are
              defined in the module or any included submodule.";
         }
         list deviation {
           key "name revision";
           description
             "List of YANG deviation module names and revisions
              used by this server to modify the conformance of
              the module associated with this entry.  Note that
              the same module can be used for deviations for
              multiple modules, so the same entry MAY appear
              within multiple 'module' entries.

              The deviation module MUST be present in the 'module'
              list, with the same name and revision values.
              The 'conformance-type' value will be 'implement' for
              the deviation module.";
           uses common-leafs;

         }
         leaf conformance-type {
           type enumeration {
             enum implement {
               description
                 "Indicates that the server implements one or more
                  protocol-accessible objects defined in the YANG module
                  identified in this entry.  This includes deviation
                  statements defined in the module.

                  For YANG version 1.1 modules, there is at most one
                  module entry with conformance type 'implement' for a
                  particular module name, since YANG 1.1 requires that,
                  at most, one revision of a module is implemented.

                  For YANG version 1 modules, there SHOULD NOT be more
                  than one module entry for a particular module name.";
             }
             enum import {
               description
                 "Indicates that the server imports reusable definitions
                  from the specified revision of the module but does
                  not implement any protocol-accessible objects from
                  this revision.

                  Multiple module entries for the same module name MAY
                  exist.  This can occur if multiple modules import the
                  same module but specify different revision dates in
                  the import statements.";
             }
           }
           mandatory true;
           description
             "Indicates the type of conformance the server is claiming
              for the YANG module identified by this entry.";
         }
         list submodule {
           key "name revision";
           description
             "Each entry represents one submodule within the
              parent module.";
           uses common-leafs;
           uses schema-leaf;
         }
       }
     }
     /*
      * Operational state data nodes
      */

     container modules-state {
       config false;
       description
         "Contains YANG module monitoring information.";

       leaf module-set-id {
         type string;
         mandatory true;
         description
           "Contains a server-specific identifier representing
            the current set of modules and submodules.  The
            server MUST change the value of this leaf if the
            information represented by the 'module' list instances
            has changed.";
       }

       uses module-list;
     }

     /*
      * Notifications
      */

     notification yang-library-change {
       description
         "Generated when the set of modules and submodules supported
          by the server has changed.";
       leaf module-set-id {
         type leafref {
           path "/yanglib:modules-state/yanglib:module-set-id";
         }
         mandatory true;
         description
           "Contains the module-set-id value representing the
            set of modules and submodules supported at the server at
            the time the notification is generated.";
       }
     }

   }

   <CODE ENDS>

3.  IANA Considerations

3.1.  YANG Module Registry

   This document registers one URI in the "IETF XML Registry" [RFC3688].
   Following the format in RFC 3688, the following registration has been
   made.

     URI: urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-yang-library
     Registrant Contact: The NETCONF WG of the IETF.
     XML: N/A, the requested URI is an XML namespace.

   This document registers one YANG module in the "YANG Module Names"
   registry [RFC6020].

     name:         ietf-yang-library
     namespace:    urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-yang-library
     prefix:       yanglib
     reference:    RFC 7895

4.  Security Considerations

   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.

   Some of the readable data nodes in this YANG module may be considered
   sensitive or vulnerable in some network environments.  It is thus
   important to control read access (e.g., via get, get-config, or
   notification) to these data nodes.  These are the subtrees and data
   nodes and their sensitivity/vulnerability:

   o  /modules-state/module: The module list used in a server
      implementation may help an attacker identify the server
      capabilities and server implementations with known bugs.  Although
      some of this information may be available to all users via the
      NETCONF <hello> message (or similar messages in other management
      protocols), this YANG module potentially exposes additional
      details that could be of some assistance to an attacker.  Server
      vulnerabilities may be specific to particular modules, module
      revisions, module features, or even module deviations.  This
      information is included in each module entry.  For example, if a
      particular operation on a particular data node is known to cause a
      server to crash or significantly degrade device performance, then
      the module list information will help an attacker identify server
      implementations with such a defect, in order to launch a denial-
      of-service attack on the device.

5.  References

5.1.  Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.

   [RFC3688]  Mealling, M., "The IETF XML Registry", BCP 81, RFC 3688,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC3688, January 2004,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3688>.

   [RFC6020]  Bjorklund, M., Ed., "YANG - A Data Modeling Language for
              the Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF)", RFC 6020,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC6020, October 2010,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6020>.

   [RFC6241]  Enns, R., Ed., Bjorklund, M., Ed., Schoenwaelder, J., Ed.,
              and A. Bierman, Ed., "Network Configuration Protocol
              (NETCONF)", RFC 6241, DOI 10.17487/RFC6241, June 2011,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6241>.

   [RFC6242]  Wasserman, M., "Using the NETCONF Protocol over Secure
              Shell (SSH)", RFC 6242, DOI 10.17487/RFC6242, June 2011,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6242>.

   [RFC6536]  Bierman, A. and M. Bjorklund, "Network Configuration
              Protocol (NETCONF) Access Control Model", RFC 6536,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC6536, March 2012,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6536>.

   [RFC6991]  Schoenwaelder, J., Ed., "Common YANG Data Types",
              RFC 6991, DOI 10.17487/RFC6991, July 2013,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6991>.

5.2.  Informative References

   [RFC5277]  Chisholm, S. and H. Trevino, "NETCONF Event
              Notifications", RFC 5277, DOI 10.17487/RFC5277, July 2008,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5277>.

   [RFC6470]  Bierman, A., "Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF)
              Base Notifications", RFC 6470, DOI 10.17487/RFC6470,
              February 2012, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6470>.

   [YANG1.1]  Bjorklund, M., "The YANG 1.1 Data Modeling Language", Work
              in Progress, draft-ietf-netmod-rfc6020bis-12, April 2016.

Acknowledgements

   Contributions to this material by Andy Bierman are based upon work
   supported by the Space & Terrestrial Communications Directorate
   (S&TCD) under Contract No. W15P7T-13-C-A616.  Any opinions, findings,
   conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those
   of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the
   Space & Terrestrial Communications Directorate (S&TCD).

Authors' Addresses

   Andy Bierman
   YumaWorks

   Email: andy@yumaworks.com


   Martin Bjorklund
   Tail-f Systems

   Email: mbj@tail-f.com


   Kent Watsen
   Juniper Networks

   Email: kwatsen@juniper.net

AI ELI5

On this page
PROBLEMNetwork management clients need to know which YANG modules (data models) a server supports, but there was no standard way to get this information. Without caching, clients had to repeatedly fetch a potentially large list of modules.
MECHANISMThis RFC defines a YANG library data structure that lists all modules on a server, includes a change identifier so clients can cache the list and only refetch it when the identifier changes.
STATUS TODAYClients can now discover server capabilities once and reuse that information, reducing bandwidth and latency. RFC 8525 later replaced this with an improved version.

§1What Is a YANG Library

YANG is a data modeling language used to describe the configuration and state data of network devices. A large network device might implement hundreds of YANG modules, each describing a different feature or subsystem. When a client connects to a device via a management protocol like NETCONF, it needs to understand which modules the device supports and which features of those modules are enabled.

The YANG library is a standardized data structure that a server publishes to tell clients exactly which YANG modules and submodules it supports, what revisions are in use, what optional features are enabled, and which deviation statements have been applied. This information is essential for clients to correctly interpret the configuration and state data they retrieve from the server.

A server supports many different data models (YANG modules). The library is just a list that says "I support module X version 1.5, module Y version 2.0, and for module X I have features A and B turned on."

§2Caching with Module Set Identifiers

The YANG library includes a module-set-id, a unique identifier that represents the current set of modules and submodules supported by the server. Whenever the set of modules changes—for example, if a new feature is loaded or an old module is unloaded—the server generates a new module-set-id value.

Clients can fetch the YANG library once, cache the module list, and store the module-set-id. On subsequent connections, the client queries only the module-set-id value. If it matches the cached value, the module list has not changed. If it is different, the client refetches the full list. This caching mechanism is especially important for servers with hundreds of modules, where transmitting the full list every time would be expensive.

When the module-set-id changes, the server also sends a notification (if notifications are enabled) to inform any connected clients that the module list has been updated. For NETCONF servers implementing YANG 1.1, this change also affects the NETCONF server capabilities advertised in the server hello message.

The server assigns a number to its module list. If the number changes, the list changed; if not, it is the same. Clients keep the old list cached and only download a new one when the number changes.

§3Module List Structure

The YANG library data is provided by the ietf-yang-library YANG module, which defines a read-only container called modules-state. For each module, the library records the module name, the revision date (in YYYY-MM-DD format), the XML namespace, the list of supported features, the list of used deviation modules, and the conformance type (either "implement" or "import").

A module with conformance type "implement" means the server actually implements the protocol-accessible objects from that module. A conformance type "import" means the server imports definitions from the module (for reuse) but does not implement any protocol-accessible objects from it. The library also lists all submodules used by each module, with their names and revisions.

For each module, the list says its name, date, features turned on, which other modules it uses, and whether the server actually uses it or just borrowed some definitions from it.

Information in the YANG library for each module
  • Module nameThe identifier for the YANG module.
  • RevisionThe date of the module's current revision.
  • FeaturesOptional YANG features that the server enables.
  • DeviationsOther modules that define changes to this module.
  • ConformanceWhether the server implements it or just imports definitions.

§4Accessing the YANG Library

Clients retrieve the YANG library via the standard NETCONF get operation (or equivalent management protocol operations). Since the library is read-only state data, it cannot be configured. The server maintains it automatically based on its current module configuration.

The library information can differ on each server and can change at runtime if the server loads or unloads modules. If a server implements multiple management protocols (such as NETCONF and RESTCONF), each protocol has its own conceptual instantiation of the YANG library, though they typically reflect the same underlying module set.

Clients can also subscribe to the yang-library-change notification to be alerted whenever the module-set-id changes, eliminating the need to periodically poll the server for updates.

When you connect to a server, you ask for the module list. The server tells you. If you connect again later and the number hasn't changed, you use your old copy. If it changed, you ask again.

§5Security and Access Control

The YANG library is read-only state data. Because it reveals which modules and features are available on a server, it may be sensitive in some network environments. Some system operators might not want to advertise their configuration capabilities to all clients. Access control to the YANG library should be configured according to the NETCONF access control model defined in RFC 6536 or equivalent controls in other management protocols.

The YANG library itself does not contain sensitive data like configuration values or statistics; it only describes the structure and capabilities of the data model. However, a hostile client could use the library information to target attacks against specific modules or features known to be enabled.

The list of modules is read-only and mostly harmless, but knowing what a server supports helps an attacker pick a target. Network administrators might want to restrict who can see the list.

§6References