





Network Working Group                                         E. Guttman
Request for Comments: 3111                              Sun Microsystems
Category: Standards Track                                       May 2001


            Service Location Protocol Modifications for IPv6

Status of this Memo

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

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2001).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This document defines the Service Location Protocol Version 2's
   (SLPv2) use over IPv6 networks.  Since this protocol relies on UDP
   and TCP, the changes to support its use over IPv6 are minor.

   This document does not describe how to use SLPv1 over IPv6 networks.
   There is at the time of this publication no implementation or
   deployment of SLPv1 over IPv6.  It is RECOMMENDED that SLPv2 be used
   in general, and specifically on networks which support IPv6.






















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Table of Contents

   1.   Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
   2.   Eliminating support for broadcast SLP requests  . . . . .  3
   3.   Address Specification for IPv6 Addresses in URLs  . . . .  3
   4.   SLP multicast behavior over IPv6  . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   4.1.    SLPv2 Multicast Group-IDs for IPv6 . . . . . . . . . .  4
   4.2.    SLPv2 Scoping Rules for IPv6 . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   4.2.1   Joining SLPv2 Multicast Groups . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   4.2.2   Sending SLPv2 Multicast Messages . . . . . . . . . . .  6
   4.2.3   Rules for Message Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
   4.2.4   SLPv2 Agents with multiple interfaces  . . . . . . . .  7
   4.2.4.1 General Rules  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
   4.2.4.2 Multihomed UA  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
   4.2.4.3 Multihomed SA  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
   4.2.4.4 Multihomed DA  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
   5.   IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
   6.   Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
        Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
        References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
        Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
        Full Copyright Statement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

1. Introduction

   The Service Location Protocol (SLP) provides a scalable framework for
   the discovery and selection of network services.  Using this
   protocol, computers using IP based networks no longer need so much
   static configuration of network services for network based
   applications.  This is especially important as computers become more
   portable, and users less tolerant of or less able to fulfill the
   demands of network administration.

   The following are changes required to have the Service Location
   Protocol work over IPv6.  These changes include:

      -  Eliminating support for broadcast SLP requests

      -  Address Specification for IPv6 Addresses in URLs

      -  Use of IPv6 multicast addresses and IPv6 address scopes

      -  Restricted Propagation of Service Advertisements

   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 [4].




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2. Eliminating support for broadcast SLP requests

   Service Location over IPv4 allows broadcasts to send Service Location
   request messages.  IPv6 makes use of link-local multicast in place of
   broadcast.  Broadcast-only configuration for SLP is not supported
   under IPv6.  If a User Agent wishes to make a request to discover
   Directory Agents or make a request of multiple Service Agents, the
   User Agent must multicast the request to the appropriate multicast
   address.

   This change modifies the requirements described in Section 6.1 (Use
   of Ports, UDP and Multicast) of the Service Location Protocol [2].

3. Address Specification for IPv6 Addresses in URLs

   Whenever possible the DNS [5] name of the service should be used
   rather than the numerical representation described in this section.

   Service Location allows the use of the protocol without the benefit
   of DNS.  This is relevant when a group of systems is connected to
   build a network without any previous configuration of servers to
   support this network.  When Service Location is used in this manner,
   numerical addresses must be used to identify the location of
   services.

   The format of a "service:" URL is defined in [6].  This URL is an
   "absolute URI" as defined by [7].

   A numerical IPv6 address, such as may be used in a "service:" URL, is
   specified as in [8].  The textual representation defined for literal
   IPv6 addresses in [9]:

      ipv6-addr  =  "[" num-addr "]"
      num-addr   =  ; Text represented IPv6 address syntax is as
                    ; specified in RFC 2373 [8], Section 2.2,

   Examples:

      This is a site-local scoped address, as could be used in a SLP
      DAAdvert message.

         service:directory-agent://[FEC0::323:A3F9:25ff:fe91:109D]

      This is a link-local scoped address, as could be used by a SA to
      advertise its service on a IPv6 network with no routers or DNS
      service.

         service:printer:ipp://[FE80::a15A:93ff:fe5D:B098]:8080/path



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4. SLP multicast and unicast behavior over IPv6

   Section 4.1 describes how different multicast addresses are used for
   transmitting and receiving SLPv2 messages over IPv6.  Section 4.2
   defines rules for the use of these addresses and covers scoped
   address issues in general.

4.1 SLPv2 Multicast Group-IDs for IPv6

   SLPv2 for IPv4 specifies only one multicast address, relative to an
   Administratively Scoped Address range [11].  The reason only one
   address was used is that there are only 256 relative assignments
   available for this purpose.  IPv6, on the other hand, has scoped
   addresses and enough space for a range of assignments.

   SLPv2 for IPv6 uses the following multicast group-id assignments:

      FF0X:0:0:0:0:0:0:116     SVRLOC
      FF0X:0:0:0:0:0:0:123     SVRLOC-DA
      FF0X:0:0:0:0:0:1:1000    Service Location
       -FF0X:0:0:0:0:0:1:13FF

   These group-ids are combined with the scope prefix of the scope to
   which the multicast message is to be sent.

   The SVRLOC group-id is used for the following messages: Service Type
   Request and Attribute Request messages.

   The SVRLOC-DA group-id is used for multicast Service Requests for the
   "service:directory-agent" service type.  Also, DAs send unsolicited
   DA Advert messages to the SVRLOC-DA multicast group-id.

   All other multicast Service Request messages are sent to the
   appropriate Service Location multicast group-id.  SAs join the groups
   which correspond to the Service Types of the services they advertise.
   The group-id is determined using the algorithm provided in SLPv1 [3].
   The Service Type string used in the SrvRqst is hashed to a value from
   0-1023.  This determines the offset into the FF0X::1:1000-13FF range.

   The hash algorithm is defined as follows:

   An unsigned 32 bit value V is initialized to 0.  Each byte of the
   Service Type UTF-8 [12] encoded string value is considered
   consecutively.  The current value V is multiplied by 33, then the
   value of the current string byte is added.  Each byte in the Service
   Type string is processed in this manner.  The result is contained in
   the low order 10 bits of V.  For example, the following code
   implements this algorithm:



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      unsigned long slp_hash(const char *pc, unsigned int len) {
          unsigned long h = 0;
          while (len-- != 0) {
              h *= 33;
              h += *pc++;
          }
          return (0x3FF & h); /* round to a range of 0-1023 */
      }

4.2 SLPv2 Scoping Rules for IPv6

   IPv6 provides different scopes for interface address configuration
   and multicast addresses.  A SLPv2 Agent might discover services that
   it cannot use or not discover services which it could use unless
   rules are given to prevent this.

   Say a SLPv2 UA, for example, could request a service using site-local
   scope multicast and obtain a service: URL containing a link-local
   literal address.  If the service referred to were not on the same
   link as the SLPv2 UA, the service could not be reached.

4.2.1 Joining SLPv2 Multicast Groups

   A SLPv2 Agent MAY send a multicast message using any scope which it
   is allowed to (see section 4.2.2).  A SA and a DA MUST join all
   groups to which a SLPv2 Agent may send a message.  This ensures that
   the SA or DA will be able to receive all multicast messages.

   Specifically, a SLPv2 Agent MUST NOT join a multicast group which has
   greater scope for an interface than it is configured with for use
   with unicast.  For example, an interface which is only configured
   with a link-local address joins groups in scopes with FF01 and FF02.
   If the interface is configured with a site-local or global address,
   the scope of all multicast groups joined can be no greater than scope
   FF05.  In this case, SLPv2 SAs and DAs MUST join multicast groups in
   all the following scopes: FF01 - FF05.

   A DA MUST join the SVRLOC-DA group to receive SrvRqst messages
   requesting DAAdverts.

   A SA MUST join the SVRLOC-DA group to receive DAAdvert messages.

   A SA MUST join the groups from the Service Location range of group-
   ids to receive SrvRqst messages.  The SA only joins those groups
   corresponding to services it advertises.  For example, a service
   agent which responds to requests for "service:service-agent" (used
   for SA discovery), would join groups with the group-id derived from
   the hash function defined in section 4.1:



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   group-id to join = slp_hash("service:service-agent") + base address
                    = 0x01d8 + FF0X:0:0:0:0:0:1:1000
                    = FF0X:0:0:0:0:0:1:11d8

   The SA MAY join the SVRLOC group in order to receive SrvTypeRqst and
   AttrRqst messages; these features are OPTIONAL for the SA to
   implement.

   A UA MAY join the SVRLOC-DA group at any or all of these scopes in
   order to receive DAAdvert messages.

4.2.2 Sending SLPv2 Multicast Messages

   The maximum scope for a SLPv2 multicast message is site-local (FF05).

   Multicast SLPv2 messages are sent using a particular scope.  An SLPv2
   agent MUST issue this request using a source address with a scope no
   less than the scope of the multicast group.

   This prevents, for example, a site-local multicast message being sent
   from a link-local source address.

   A SLPv2 UA with an interface configured with at least one global
   address could multicast a SrvRqst to any scope up to and including
   site-local, for instance.

4.2.3 Rules for Message Processing

   SLPv2 SAs and DAs MUST determine which scope a service: URL address
   is in.  This may be possible by examining the URL if it contains a
   numerical IPv6 address.  If the URL contains a host name, the SA or
   DA MUST resolve that name to a set of addresses.

   A SLPv2 SA or DA MUST NOT respond to a SrvRqst with a service: URL
   for a service with an address scope less than the request's source
   address scope.  The rules are given in Figure 1, below.















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                               Request Source Address Scope
                          +------------+------------+---------+
                          | Link-Local | Site-Local | Global  |
            +-------------+------------+------------+---------+
   Service  | Link-Local  |  Respond   |    Drop    |   Drop  |
   Address  +-------------+------------+------------+---------+
   Scope    | Site-Local  |  Respond   |   Respond  |   Drop  |
            +-------------+------------+------------+---------+
            | Global      |  Respond   |   Respond  | Respond |
            +-------------+------------+------------+---------+

                      Figure 1:  Out-of-Scope Rules

   This prevents UAs from being able discover service: URLs for services
   which cannot be accessed.

4.2.4 SLPv2 Agents with multiple interfaces

   A scope zone, or a simply a zone, is a connected region of topology
   of a given scope.  For example, the set of links connected by routers
   within a particular site, and the interfaces attached to those links,
   comprise a single zone of site-local scope.  To understand the
   distinction between scopes and zones, observe that the topological
   regions within two different sites are considered to be two DIFFERENT
   zones, but of the SAME scope.

   A host which has multiple interfaces attached to different links is
   by definition is attached to two link-local zones.  A host may also
   be attached to multiple zones of other scopes.

   A SLPv2 Agent MUST NOT propagate service advertisements from one zone
   to another.  Another way of saying this is a SLPv2 SA or DA MUST NOT
   respond to a request from one zone with service information
   associated with a service in a different zone.

   The specific implication of these rules is discussed in the sections
   which follow.

4.2.4.1 General rules

   Service Locations (in SrvReg, SrvRply, AttrRst, SAAdvert or DAAdvert
   messages) whose locations are literal addresses MUST only be sent to
   SLP agents located on the same zone.

   For example, a service: URL containing a link-local address on link A
   may be sent in a SLPv2 message on link A, to a link-local destination
   address only.




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   Each interface of a multihomed device is potentially on a separate
   link.  It is often difficult to determine whether two interfaces are
   connected to the same link.  For that reason a prudent implementation
   strategy is to not issue SLP messages containing link-local service
   locations except on the interface where the service is known to
   reside.

4.2.4.2 Multihomed UA

                   +----+        +----+        +----+
                   | SA |--------| UA |--------| DA |
                   +----+ Link 1 +----+ Link 2 +----+

                      (Zone 1)            (Zone 2)

                       Figure 2:  Multihomed UA

   In Figure 2 the UA is multihomed.  The UA can issue a service request
   in Zone 1 and discover services on the SA or in Zone 2 and discover
   services advertised by the DA.  For example, if the request is issued
   from a link-local source address, the SA will only reply with a
   service available on link 1, the DA only with a service available on
   link 2.

   The UA MUST use active discovery to detect DAs before issuing
   multicast requests, as per SLPv2 [2].  The UA MUST issue requests
   using increasing multicast scopes starting at FF01 and increasing to
   a maximum scope of FF05, to solicit DAAdvertisements.  Note the
   restrictions in Section 4.2.2.

   If the UA is unable to discover any DAs using multicast discovery, it
   may issue site-local scope (FF05) or less multicast requests.  (Note
   that the source address of the request must be of at least the scope
   of the multicast, as described in section 4.2.2.)

   If the UA wishes to discover all services, it must issue requests
   into both Zone 1 and 2.

4.2.4.3 Multihomed SA

                   +----+        +----+        +----+
                   | UA |--------| SA |--------| DA |
                   +----+ Link 1 +----+ Link 2 +----+

                      (Zone 1)            (Zone 2)

                        Figure 3: Multihomed SA




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   In Figure 3, the SA is multihomed.  The SA may receive a request from
   the UA on Link 1 (Zone 1).  The SA MUST NOT return service
   information for services offered on a different zone as a request.
   For example, the UA could discover services offered in Zone 1 not
   Zone 2.

   The SA may receive a DAAdvert on Link 2 (Zone 2).  The SA MUST NOT
   send a service registration to the DA for a service which is present
   in Zone 1.  The SA MUST register a service with the DA which is
   present in Zone 2.

   The SA MUST NOT include an address in a SAAdvert message which is
   sent on a zone where the address is not valid.  For example, the SA
   MUST NOT send a SAAdvert onto link 2, if the SAADvert contains a
   service: URL with a literal link-local scoped IPv6 address for Link
   1.

   The SA performs active DA discovery, as described in SLPv2 [2].  The
   SA MUST issue requests using multicast scope FF02 to solicit
   DAAdvertisements.  If the SA has a site-local or global source
   address, it MUST reissue the request with increasing scopes up to a
   maximum scope of FF05.  Active DA discovery must be attempted in both
   Zone 1 and 2.  This ensures that the SA will discover as many DAs in
   its scope as possible.

4.2.4.4 Multihomed DA

                   +----+        +----+        +----+
                   | UA |--------| DA |--------| SA |
                   +----+ Link 1 +----+ Link 2 +----+

                      (Zone 1)            (Zone 2)

                        Figure 4: Multihomed DA

   In Figure 4, the DA is multihomed.  The DA MUST keep track of which
   interface registrations were made on.  The DA MUST prevent a
   registration from the SA which contains a service information valid
   in one zone from being discovered in another zone.  For example,
   services registered by the SA in Zone 2 would not be discoverable by
   the UA in Zone 1.

   Care must be taken when issuing DAAdverts.  The DA must respond to
   active DA discovery requests using the same scope as the request.
   For instance, if the SA issues a SrvRqst message for service type
   "service:directory" from a link-local source address, the DA MUST
   respond with a link-local (link 2) source address.




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   The DA MUST multicast unsolicited DAAdverts on each interface using
   link-local and site-local source addresses, unless it is only
   configured with a link-local address.  In that case, the DA MUST
   issue DAAdverts with link-local scope only.

   The DA URL MUST contain the address of the greatest scope the DA is
   configured with in the zone.  For instance, if the DA is configured
   with a link-local, site-local and global address in Zone 2, it would
   use the global address in the DA URL (as a literal IPv6 address).

5. IANA Considerations

   The IPv6 multicast group-id range FF05::1:1000 - FF05::1:13FF was
   previously assigned by IANA in RFC 2375 for use by SLP [10].

   This document defines how the range of addresses FF0X::1:1000 -
   FF0X::1:13FF is used.  IANA has assigned this range of addresses for
   use by Service Location Protocol.

   This document fully defines the multicast addresses that this
   protocol will use.  There is no requirement for the IANA to establish
   a registry to assign additional addresses.

6. Security Considerations

   User Agents and Directory Agents MAY ignore all unauthenticated
   Service Location messages when a valid IPSec association exists.

   Service Agents and Directory Agents MUST be able to use the IP
   Authentication and IP Encapsulating Security Payload for issuing and
   processing Service Location messages whenever an appropriate IPSec
   Security Association exists [13].

   SLP allows digital signatures to be produced to allow the
   verification of the contents of messages.  There is nothing in the
   Modifications for IPv6 document which weakens or strengthens this
   technique.

Acknowledgments

   Thanks to Dan Harrington, Jim Wood and Alain Durand, Thomas Narten,
   Dave Thaler and Erik Nordmark for their reviews of this document.
   John Veizades contributed to the original version of this document.
   The hash function is modified from a code fragment attributed to
   Chris Torek.  Text on Scope Zones is taken from writing by Steve
   Deering, Brian Haberman and Brian Zill.





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References

   [1]  Bradner, S., "The Internet Standards Process -- Version 3", BCP
        9, RFC 2026, October 1996.

   [2]  Guttman, E., Perkins, C., Veizades, J. and M. Day, "Service
        Location Protocol, Version 2", RFC 2608, June 1999.

   [3]  Veizades, J., Guttman, E., Perkins, C. and S. Kaplan, "Service
        Location Protocol", RFC 2165, June 1997.

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

   [5]  Mockapetris, P., "Domain Names - Concepts and Facilities", STD
        13, RFC 1034, November 1987.

        Mockapetris, P., "Domain Names - Implementation and
        Specification", STD 13, RFC 1035,  November 1987.

   [6]  Guttman, E., Perkins, C. and J. Kempf, "Service Templates and
        URLs", RFC 2609, July 1999.

   [7]  Berners-Lee, T., Fielding, R. and L. Masinter, "Uniform Resource
        Identifiers (URI): Generic Syntax", RFC 2396, August 1998.

   [8]  Hinden, R. and B. Carpenter, "Format for Literal IPv6 Addresses
        in URL's", RFC 2732, December 1999.

   [9]  Hinden, R. and S. Deering, "IP Version 6 Addressing
        Architecture", RFC 2373, July 1998.

   [10] Hinden, R. and S. Deering, "IPv6 Multicast Address Assignments",
        RFC 2375, July 1997.

   [11] Meyer, D., "Administratively Scoped IP Multicast", RFC 2365,
        July 1998.

   [12] Yergeau, F., "UTF-8, a transformation format of ISO 10646", RFC
        2279, January 1998.

   [13] Kent, S. and R. Atkinson, "Security Architecture for the
        Internet Protocol", RFC 2401, November 1998.








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Author's Address

   Erik Guttman
   Sun Microsystems
   Eichhoelzelstr. 7
   74915 Waibstadt, Germany

   Phone:  +49 7263 911701
   EMail:  Erik.Guttman@germany.sun.com










































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Full Copyright Statement

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2001).  All Rights Reserved.

   This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
   others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
   or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
   and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
   kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
   included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this
   document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
   the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
   Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
   developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
   copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
   followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
   English.

   The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
   revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.

   This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
   "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
   TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
   BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
   HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
   MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Acknowledgement

   Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
   Internet Society.



















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