Re: [netmod] Common etag, timestamp on all interfaces (draft-lindblad-netconf-transaction-id)

On Wed, Mar 23, 2022 at 4:33 PM Balázs Lengyel <balazs.lengyel=
40ericsson.com@dmarc.ietf.org> wrote:

> *From:* Kent Watsen <kent@watsen.net>
> *Sent:* Thursday, 24 March, 2022 00:05
> *To:* Balázs Lengyel <balazs.lengyel@ericsson.com>
> *Cc:* netmod@ietf.org
> *Subject:* Re: [netmod] Common etag, timestamp on all interfaces
> (draft-lindblad-netconf-transaction-id)
>
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> I assume that the etag defined in your I-D is the same as the one defined
> in Restconf. Does or should your draft include a statement like:
>
> “The etag values maintained by the server are protocol/interface
> independent. If requested the same etag values will be visible on all
> interface including Restconf, Netconf, CLI etc.”
>
>
>
> While it makes sense that a server would use the same values across
> protocols, I'm unsure if it's needed and, if we do, if we could state it in
> a NETCONF-specific draft.
>
> BALAZS2: I see it as a VERY important advantage of the whole
> YANG/Netconf/Restconf ecosystem that the separate protocols (practically
> including the CLI and possibly a gui too) are just views of the same
> central configuration datastore. So IMO this is important and should be
> stated.
>
>
>

I strongly support this approach.
It applies to the entire server API, including notifications.
E.g., a client should be able to reuse code for processing NETCONF
notifications,
even if the protocol is RESTCONF or the new YANG-Push over UDP.

The RESTCONF mechanisms adapted from HTTP should be extended to be
protocol-independent.  Our goal should be code to the YANG models, NOT the
protocols.

>
> Restconf also includes timestamps. What was your reason to exclude them
> from your I-D ? IMHO if the server maintains timestamps they would be
> protocol/interface independent just as etags, so the task is to make them
> available on Netconf too (and maybe the CLI).
>
>
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> I agree and have mentioned before.  LastModified either needs to be added,
> or justified why not added, to get my adoption support.
>
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>

I agree. They both need to be supported in RESTCONF.
A timestamp can be applied to multiple servers, unlike the ETag values.
Typical usage is for the client to track its own polling timestamps,
and use If-Modified-Since to retrieve data only if needed.
The same timestamp can also be used with If-Unmodified-Since for edits.

>
> Regards Balazs
>
>
>
> Kent // contributor
>
>
>

Andy

>
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