SNMP Administrative Model: ASCII
James M Galvin <galvin@tis.com> Wed, 18 December 1991 18:43 UTC
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Subject: SNMP Administrative Model: ASCII
Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1991 11:49:17 -0500
From: James M Galvin <galvin@tis.com>
SNMP Administrative Model
James R. Davin
MIT Laboratory for Computer Science
James M. Galvin
Trusted Information Systems, Inc.
Keith McCloghrie
Hughes LAN Systems, Inc.
December 18, 1991
Contents
1 Status of this Memo 1
2 Abstract 1
3 Introduction 1
4 Elements of the Model 2
4.1 SNMP Party 2
4.2 SNMP Protocol Entity 6
4.3 SNMP Management Station 7
4.4 SNMP Agent 7
4.5 View Subtree 8
4.6 MIB View 8
4.7 SNMP Management Communication 8
4.8 SNMP Authenticated Management Communica-
tion 10
4.9 SNMP Private Management Communication 11
4.10 SNMP Management Communication Class 12
4.11 SNMP Access Control Policy 12
4.12 SNMP Proxy Party 14
4.13 Procedures 16
4.13.1 Generating a Request 16
4.13.2 Processing a Received Communication 17
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4.13.3 Generating a Response 20
5 Application of the Model 21
5.1 Non-Secure Minimal Agent Configuration 21
5.2 Secure Minimal Agent Configuration 24
5.3 Proxy Configuration 26
5.3.1 Foreign Proxy Configuration 27
5.3.2 Native Proxy Configuration 31
5.4 Public Key Configuration 34
6 Compatibility 37
7 Security Considerations 37
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1 Status of this Memo
This draft document will be submitted to the RFC editor as a
protocol specification. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Please send comments to the SNMP Security Developers
mailing list (snmp-sec-dev@tis.com) or to the authors ( James
R. Davin <jrd@ptt.lcs.mit.edu>, James M. Galvin
<galvin@tis.com>, and Keith McCloghrie <kzm@hls.com>).
2 Abstract
This memo presents an elaboration of the SNMP
administrative model set forth in [1]. This model provides a
unified conceptual basis for administering SNMP protocol
entities to support
o authentication and integrity,
o privacy,
o access control, and
o the cooperation of multiple protocol entities.
3 Introduction
This memo presents an elaboration of the SNMP
administrative model set forth in [1]. It describes how the
elaborated administrative model is applied to realize effective
network management in a variety of configurations and
environments.
The model described here entails the use of distinct identities
for peers that exchange SNMP messages. Thus, it represents a
departure from the community-based administrative model set
forth in [1]. By unambiguously identifying the source and
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intended recipient of each SNMP message, this new strategy
improves upon the historical community scheme both by
supporting a more convenient access control model and
allowing for effective use of asymmetric (public key) security
protocols in the future.
4 Elements of the Model
4.1 SNMP Party
A SNMP party is a conceptual, virtual execution context
whose operation is restricted (for security or other purposes)
to an administratively defined subset of all possible operations
of a particular SNMP protocol entity (see Section 4.2).
Whenever a SNMP protocol entity processes a SNMP
message, it does so by acting as a SNMP party and is thereby
restricted to the set of operations defined for that party. The
set of possible operations specified for a SNMP party may be
overlapping or disjoint with respect to the sets of other SNMP
parties; it may also be a proper or improper subset of all
possible operations of the SNMP protocol entity.
Architecturally, each SNMP party comprises
o a single, unique party identity,
o a single authentication protocol and associated
parameters by which all protocol messages originated by
the party are authenticated as to origin and integrity,
o a single privacy protocol and associated parameters by
which all protocol messages received by the party are
protected from disclosure,
o a single MIB view (see Section 4.6) to which all
management operations performed by the party are
applied, and
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o a logical network location at which the party executes,
characterized by a transport protocol domain and
transport addressing information.
Conceptually, each SNMP party may be represented by an
ASN.1 value with the syntax (This representation of a SNMP
party is an abstraction that provides a convenient syntax to
use in the discussions in this memo.)
SnmpParty ::= SEQUENCE {
partyIdentity
OBJECT IDENTIFIER,
partyTDomain
OBJECT IDENTIFIER,
partyTAddr
OCTET STRING,
partyProxyFor
OBJECT IDENTIFIER,
partyMaxMessageSize
INTEGER,
partyAuthProtocol
OBJECT IDENTIFIER,
partyAuthClock
INTEGER,
partyAuthLastMsg
INTEGER,
partyAuthNonce
INTEGER,
partyAuthPrivate
OCTET STRING,
partyAuthPublic
OCTET STRING,
partyAuthLifetime
INTEGER,
partyPrivProtocol
OBJECT IDENTIFIER,
partyPrivPrivate
OCTET STRING,
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partyPrivPublic
OCTET STRING
}
For each SnmpParty value that represents a SNMP party,
the following statements are true:
o Its partyIdentity component is called the identity of
the party and corresponds to the party identity.
o Its partyTDomain component is called the transport
domain and indicates the kind of transport service by
which the party receives network management traffic.
An example of a transport domain is
rfcXXXXDomain (SNMP over UDP).
o Its partyTAddr component is called the transport
addressing information and represents a transport
service address by which the party receives network
management traffic.
o Its partyProxyFor component is called the proxied
party and represents the identity of a second SNMP
party or other management entity with which
interaction may be necessary to satisfy received
management requests. In this context, the value
noProxy signifies that the party responds to received
management requests by entirely local mechanisms.
o Its partyMaxMessageSize component is called the
maximum message size and identifies the maximum
length in octets of a SNMP message this party is
prepared to accept.
o Its partyAuthProtocol component is called the
authentication protocol and identifies a protocol and a
mechanism by which all messages generated by the party
are authenticated as to integrity and origin. In this
context, the value noAuth signifies that messages
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generated by the party are not authenticated as to
integrity and origin.
o Its partyAuthClock component is called the
authentication clock and represents a notion of the
current time that is specific to the party. The
significance of this component is specific to the
authentication protocol.
o Its partyAuthLastMsg component is called the
last-timestamp and represents a notion of time
associated with the most recent, authentic protocol
message generated by the party. The significance of this
component is specific to the authentication protocol.
o Its partyAuthNonce component is called the nonce
and represents a monotonically increasing integer
associated with the most recent, authentic protocol
message generated by the party. The significance of this
component is specific to the authentication protocol.
o Its partyAuthPrivate component is called the private
authentication key and represents any secret value
needed to support the authentication protocol. The
significance of this component is specific to the
authentication protocol.
o Its partyAuthPublic component is called the public
authentication key and represents any public value that
may be needed to support the authentication protocol.
The significance of this component is specific to the
authentication protocol.
o Its partyAuthLifetime component is called the
lifetime and represents an administrative upper bound
on acceptable delivery delay for protocol messages
generated by the party. The significance of this
component is specific to the authentication protocol.
o Its partyPrivProtocol component is called the privacy
protocol and identifies a protocol and a mechanism by
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which all protocol messages received by the party are
protected from disclosure. In this context, the value
noPriv signifies that messages received by the party are
not protected from disclosure.
o Its partyPrivPrivate component is called the private
privacy key and represents any secret value needed to
support the privacy protocol. The significance of this
component is specific to the privacy protocol.
o Its partyPrivPublic component is called the public
privacy key and represents any public value that may be
needed to support the privacy protocol. The significance
of this component is specific to the privacy protocol.
If, for all SNMP parties realized by a SNMP protocol entity,
the authentication protocol is noAuth and the privacy
protocol is noPriv, then that protocol entity is called
non-secure.
4.2 SNMP Protocol Entity
A SNMP protocol entity is an actual process which performs
network management operations by generating and/or
responding to SNMP protocol messages in the manner
specified in [1]. When a protocol entity is acting as a
particular SNMP party (see Section 4.1), the operation of that
entity must be restricted to the subset of all possible
operations that is administratively defined for that party.
By definition, the operation of a SNMP protocol entity
requires no concurrency between processing of any single
protocol message (by a particular SNMP party) and
processing of any other protocol message (by a potentially
different SNMP party). Accordingly, implementation of a
SNMP protocol entity to support more than one party need
not be multi-threaded. However, there may be situations
where implementors may choose to use multi-threading.
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Architecturally, every SNMP protocol entity maintains a local
database that represents all SNMP parties known to it --
those whose operation is performed locally, those whose
operation is performed through communication with remote
proxied parties, and those whose operation is performed by
remote parties. In addition, every SNMP protocol entity
maintains a local database that represents an access control
policy (see Section 4.11) that defines the access privileges
associated with known SNMP parties.
4.3 SNMP Management Station
A SNMP management station is the operational role assumed
by a SNMP party when it initiates SNMP management
operations by the generation of appropriate SNMP protocol
messages or when it receives and processes trap notifications.
Sometimes, the term SNMP management station is applied to
partial implementations of the SNMP (in graphics
workstations, for example) that focus upon this operational
role. Such partial implementations may provide for
convenient, local invocation of management services, but they
may provide little or no support for performing SNMP
management operations on behalf of remote protocol users.
4.4 SNMP Agent
A SNMP agent is the operational role assumed by a SNMP
party when it performs SNMP management operations in
response to received SNMP protocol messages such as those
generated by a SNMP management station (see Section 4.3).
Sometimes, the term SNMP agent is applied to partial
implementations of the SNMP (in embedded systems, for
example) that focus upon this operational role. Such partial
implementations provide for realization of SNMP management
operations on behalf of remote users of management services,
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but they may provide little or no support for local invocation
of such services.
4.5 View Subtree
A view subtree is the set of all MIB object instances which
have a common ASN.1 OBJECT IDENTIFIER prefix to
their names. A view subtree is identified by the OBJECT
IDENTIFIER value which is the longest OBJECT
IDENTIFIER prefix common to all (potential) MIB object
instances in that subtree.
4.6 MIB View
A MIB view is a subset of the set of all instances of all object
types defined according to the Internet-standard SMI [2] (i.e.,
of the universal set of all instances of all MIB objects), subject
to the following constraints:
o Each element of a MIB view is uniquely named by an
ASN.1 OBJECT IDENTIFIER value. As such,
identically named instances of a particular object type
(e.g., in different agents) must be contained within
different MIB views. That is, a particular object
instance name resolves within a particular MIB view to
at most one object instance.
o Every MIB view is defined as a collection of view
subtrees.
4.7 SNMP Management Communication
A SNMP management communication is a communication
from one specified SNMP party to a second specified SNMP
party about management information that is represented in
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the MIB view of the appropriate party. In particular, a SNMP
management communication may be:
o a query by the originating party about information in
the MIB view of the addressed party (e.g., getRequest
and getNextRequest);
o an indicative assertion to the addressed party about
information in the MIB view of the originating party
(e.g., getResponse or trapNotification); or
o an imperative assertion by the originating party about
information in the MIB view of the addressed party
(e.g., setRequest).
A management communication is represented by an ASN.1
value with the syntax
SnmpMgmtCom ::= [1] IMPLICIT SEQUENCE {
dstParty
OBJECT IDENTIFIER,
srcParty
OBJECT IDENTIFIER,
pdu
PDUs
}
For each SnmpMgmtCom value that represents a SNMP
management communication, the following statements are
true:
o Its dstParty component is called the destination and
identifies the SNMP party to which the communication
is directed.
o Its srcParty component is called the source and
identifies the SNMP party from which the
communication is originated.
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o Its pdu component has the form and significance
attributed to it in [1].
4.8 SNMP Authenticated Management
Communication
A SNMP authenticated management communication is a
SNMP management communication (see Section 4.7) for
which the originating SNMP party is (possibly) reliably
identified and for which the integrity of the transmission of
the communication is (possibly) protected. An authenticated
management communication is represented by an ASN.1 value
with the syntax
SnmpAuthMsg ::= [1] IMPLICIT SEQUENCE {
authInfo
ANY, - defined by authentication protocol
authData
SnmpMgmtCom
}
For each SnmpAuthMsg value that represents a SNMP
authenticated management communication, the following
statements are true:
o Its authInfo component is called the authentication
information and represents information required in
support of the authentication protocol used by the
SNMP party originating the message. The detailed
significance of the authentication information is specific
to the authentication protocol in use; it has no effect on
the application semantics of the communication other
than its use by the authentication protocol in
determining whether the communication is authentic or
not.
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o Its authData component is called the authentication
data and represents a SNMP management
communication.
4.9 SNMP Private Management Communication
A SNMP private management communication is a SNMP
authenticated management communication (see Section 4.8)
that is (possibly) protected from disclosure. A private
management communication is represented by an ASN.1 value
with the syntax
SnmpPrivMsg ::= [1] IMPLICIT SEQUENCE {
privDst
OBJECT IDENTIFIER,
privData
[1] IMPLICIT OCTET STRING
}
For each SnmpPrivMsg value that represents a SNMP
private management communication, the following statements
are true:
o Its privDst component is called the private destination
and identifies the SNMP party to which the
communication is directed.
o Its privData component is called the private data and
represents the (possibly encrypted) serialization
(according to the conventions of [3] and [1]) of a SNMP
authenticated management communication (see
Section 4.8).
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4.10 SNMP Management Communication Class
A SNMP management communication class corresponds to a
specific SNMP PDU type defined in [1]. A management
communication class is represented by an ASN.1 INTEGER
value according to the type of the identifying PDU (see
Table 1).
The value by which a communication class is represented is
computed as 2 raised to the value of the ASN.1
context-specific tag for the appropriate SNMP PDU.
A set of management communication classes is represented by
the ASN.1 INTEGER value that is the sum of the
representations of the communication classes in that set. The
null set is represented by the value zero.
In general, it is expected that the communication classes Get
and GetNext will be assigned together.
4.11 SNMP Access Control Policy
A SNMP access control policy is a specification of a local
access policy in terms of the network management
communication classes which are authorized between pairs of
SNMP parties. Architecturally, such a specification comprises
three parts:
Get 1
GetNext 2
GetResponse 4
Set 8
Trap 16
Table 1: Management Communication Classes
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o the targets of SNMP access control - the SNMP parties
that may perform management operations as requested
by management communications received from other
parties,
o the subjects of SNMP access control - the SNMP parties
that may request, by sending management
communications to other parties, that management
operations be performed, and
o the policy that specifies the SNMP management
communications classes that a particular subject is
authorized to request of a particular target.
Access to individual MIB object instances is determined
implicitly since by definition each (target) SNMP party
performs operations on exactly one MIB view. Thus, defining
the permitted access of a (reliably) identified subject party to
a particular target party effectively defines the access
permitted by that subject to that target's MIB view and,
accordingly, to particular MIB object instances.
Conceptually, a SNMP access policy is represented by a
collection of ASN.1 values with the following syntax:
AclEntry ::= SEQUENCE {
aclTarget
OBJECT IDENTIFIER,
aclSubject
OBJECT IDENTIFIER,
aclPrivileges
INTEGER
}
For each such value that represents one part of a SNMP access
policy the following statements are true:
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o Its aclTarget component is called the target and
identifies the SNMP party to which the partial policy
permits access.
o Its aclSubject component is called the subject and
identifies the SNMP party to which the partial policy
grants privileges.
o Its aclPrivileges component is called the privileges and
represents a set of SNMP management communication
classes that are authorized to be processed by the
specified target party when received from the specified
subject party.
4.12 SNMP Proxy Party
A SNMP proxy party is a SNMP party that performs
management operations by communicating with another,
logically remote party.
When communication between a logically remote party and a
SNMP proxy party is via the SNMP (over any transport
protocol), then the proxy party is called a SNMP native proxy
party. Deployment of SNMP native proxy parties is a means
whereby the processing or bandwidth costs of management
may be amortized or shifted -- thereby facilitating the
construction of large management systems.
When communication between a logically remote party and a
SNMP proxy party is not via the SNMP, then the proxy party
is called a SNMP foreign proxy party. Deployment of foreign
proxy parties is a means whereby otherwise unmanageable
devices or portions of an internet may be managed via the
SNMP.
The transparency principle that defines the behavior of a
SNMP party in general applies to a SNMP proxy party. In
particular:
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The manner in which one SNMP party processes
SNMP protocol messages received from another
SNMP party is entirely transparent to the latter.
The transparency principle derives directly from the historical
SNMP philosophy of divorcing architecture from
implementation. To this dichotomy are attributable many of
the most valuable benefits in both the information and
distribution models of the management framework, and it is
the architectural cornerstone upon which large management
systems may be built. Consistent with this philosophy,
although the implementation of SNMP proxy agents in certain
environments may resemble that of a transport-layer bridge,
this particular implementation strategy (or any other!) does
not merit special recognition either in the SNMP management
architecture or in standard mechanisms for proxy
administration.
Implicit in the transparency principle is the requirement that
the semantics of SNMP management operations are preserved
between any two SNMP peers. In particular, the "as if
simultaneous" semantics of a Set operation are extremely
difficult to guarantee if its scope extends to management
information resident at multiple network locations. For this
reason, proxy configurations that admit Set operations that
apply to information at multiple locations are discouraged,
although such operations are not explicitly precluded by the
architecture in those rare cases where they might be
supported in a conformant way.
Also implicit in the transparency principle is the requirement
that the interaction between a management station and a
proxy agent not supply information to the station about the
nature or progress of the mechanisms by which its requests are
realized. That is, it should seem -- except for any distinction
in an underlying transport address -- to the management
station as if it were interacting directly with the proxied
device. Thus, a timeout in the communication between a
proxy agent and its proxied device should be represented as a
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timeout in the communication between the management
station and the proxy agent. Similarly, an error response from
a proxied device should -- as much as possible -- be
represented by the corresponding error response in the
interaction between the proxy agent and management station.
4.13 Procedures
This section describes the procedures followed by a SNMP
protocol entity in processing SNMP messages. These
procedures are independent of the particular authentication
and privacy protocols that may be in use.
4.13.1 Generating a Request
This section describes the procedure followed by a SNMP
protocol entity whenever either a management request or a
trap notification is to be transmitted by a SNMP party.
1. An ASN.1 SnmpMgmtCom value is constructed for
which the srcParty component identifies the originating
party, for which the dstParty component identifies the
receiving party, and for which the other component
specifies the desired management operation.
2. The local database is consulted to determine the
authentication protocol and other relevant information
for the originating SNMP party.
3. An ASN.1 SnmpAuthMsg value is constructed with
the following properties:
o Its authInfo component is constructed according
to the authentication protocol specified for the
originating party.
In particular, if the authentication protocol for the
originating SNMP party is identified as noAuth,
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then this component corresponds to the OCTET
STRING value of zero length.
o Its authData component is the constructed
SnmpMgmtCom value.
4. The local database is consulted to determine the privacy
protocol and other relevant information for the receiving
SNMP party.
5. An ASN.1 SnmpPrivMsg value is constructed with the
following properties:
o Its privDst component identifies the receiving
SNMP party.
o Its privData component is the (possibly
encrypted) serialization of the SnmpAuthMsg
value according to the conventions of [3] and [1].
In particular, if the privacy protocol for the
receiving SNMP party is identified as noPriv, then
the privData component is unencrypted.
Otherwise, the privData component is processed
according to the privacy protocol.
6. The constructed SnmpPrivMsg value is serialized
according to the conventions of [3] and [1].
7. The serialized SnmpPrivMsg value is transmitted
using the transport address and transport domain for
the receiving SNMP party.
4.13.2 Processing a Received Communication
This section describes the procedure followed by a SNMP
protocol entity whenever a management communication is
received.
1. If the received message is not the serialization (according
to the conventions of [3] and [1]) of an ASN.1
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SnmpPrivMsg value, then that message is discarded
without further processing.
2. The local database is consulted for information about
the receiving SNMP party identified by the privDst
component of the SnmpPrivMsg value.
3. If information about the receiving SNMP party is absent
from the local database, or specifies a transport domain
and address which indicates that the receiving party's
operation is not performed by the local SNMP protocol
entity, then the received message is discarded without
further processing.
4. An ASN.1 OCTET STRING value is constructed
(possibly by decryption) from the privData component
of said SnmpPrivMsg value according to the privacy
protocol in use.
In particular, if the privacy protocol recorded for the
party is identified as noPriv, then the OCTET
STRING value corresponds exactly to the privData
component of the SnmpPrivMsg value.
5. If the OCTET STRING value is not the serialization
(according to the conventions of [3] and [1]) of an ASN.1
SnmpAuthMsg value, then the received message is
discarded without further processing.
6. If the dstParty component of the authData
component of the obtained SnmpAuthMsg value is
not the same as the privDst component of the
SnmpPrivMsg value, then the received message is
discarded without further processing.
7. The local database is consulted for information about
the originating SNMP party identified by the srcParty
component of the authData component of the
SnmpAuthMsg value.
8. If information about the originating SNMP party is
absent from the local database, then the received
message is discarded without further processing.
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9. The obtained SnmpAuthMsg value is evaluated
according to the authentication protocol and other
relevant information associated with the originating
SNMP party in the local database.
In particular, if the authentication protocol is identified
as noAuth, then the SnmpAuthMsg value is always
evaluated as authentic.
10. If the SnmpAuthMsg value is evaluated as
unauthentic, then the received message is discarded
without further processing, and an authentication failure
is noted.
11. The ASN.1 SnmpMgmtCom value is extracted from
the authData component of the SnmpAuthMsg
value.
12. The local database is consulted for access privileges
permitted by the local access policy to the originating
SNMP party with respect to the receiving SNMP party.
13. The management communication class is determined
from the ASN.1 tag value associated with the
SnmpMgmtCom value.
14. If the management communication class of the received
message is either 16 or 4 (i.e., Trap or GetResponse) and
this class is not among the access privileges, then the
received message is discarded without further processing.
15. If the management communication class of the received
message is not among the access privileges, then the
received message is discarded without further processing
after generation and transmission of a response message.
This response message is directed to the originating
SNMP party on behalf of the receiving SNMP party. Its
var-bind-list and request-id components are identical
to those of the received request. Its error-index
component is zero and its error-status component is
readOnly.
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16. If the proxied party associated with the receiving SNMP
party in the local database is identified as noProxy,
then the SNMP management communication represented
by the SnmpMgmtCom value is performed by the
receiving SNMP protocol entity with respect to the MIB
view identified with the receiving SNMP party identity
according to the procedures set forth in [1].
17. If the proxied party associated with the receiving SNMP
party in the local database is not identified as noProxy,
then the SNMP management communication
represented by the SnmpMgmtCom value is
performed by appropriate cooperation between the
receiving SNMP party and the identified proxied party.
In particular, if the transport domain associated with
the identified proxied party in the local database is
rfcXXXXDomain, then the operation requested by
the received message is performed by the generation of a
corresponding request to the proxied party on behalf of
the receiving party. If the received message requires a
response from the local SNMP protocol entity, then that
response is subsequently generated from the response (if
any) received from the proxied party corresponding to
the newly generated request.
4.13.3 Generating a Response
This section describes the procedure followed by a SNMP
protocol entity whenever a response to a management request
is generated.
The procedure for generating a response to a SNMP
management request is identical to the procedure for
transmitting a request (see Section 4.13.1), except for the
derivation of the transport domain and address information.
In this case, the response is transmitted using the transport
domain and address (not from the local database but) from
which the corresponding request originated.
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5 Application of the Model
This section describes how the administrative model set forth
above is applied to realize effective network management in a
variety of configurations and environments. Several types of
administrative configurations are identified, and examples are
given of how each may be realized.
5.1 Non-Secure Minimal Agent Configuration
This section presents an example configuration for a minimal,
non-secure SNMP agent that interacts with one or more
SNMP management stations. Table 2 presents information
about SNMP parties that is known both to the minimal agent
and to the manager, while Table 3 presents similarly common
information about the local access policy.
As represented in Table 2, the example agent party operates
at UDP port 161 at IP address 1.2.3.4 using the party identity
gracie; the example manager operates at UDP port 2001 at
IP address 1.2.3.5 using the identity george. At minimum, a
non-secure SNMP agent implementation must provide for
administrative configuration (and non-volatile storage) of the
identities and transport addresses of two SNMP parties: itself
and a remote peer. Strictly speaking, other information about
these two parties (including access policy information) need
not be configurable.
Suppose that the managing party george wishes to
interrogate the agent named gracie by issuing a SNMP
GetNext request message. The manager consults its local
database of party information. Because the authentication
protocol for the party george is recorded as noAuth, the
GetNext request message generated by the manager is not
authenticated as to origin and integrity. Because, according to
the manager's database, the privacy protocol for the party
gracie is noPriv, the GetNext request message is not
protected from disclosure. Rather, it is simply assembled,
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Identity gracie george
(agent) (manager)
Domain rfcXXXX rfcXXXX
Address 1.2.3.4, 161 1.2.3.5, 2001
Proxied Party noProxy noProxy
Auth Prot noAuth noAuth
Auth Priv Key "" ""
Auth Pub Key "" ""
Auth Clock 0 0
Auth Last Msg 0 0
Auth Lifetime 0 0
Priv Prot noPriv noPriv
Priv Priv Key "" ""
Priv Pub Key "" ""
Table 2: Party Information for Minimal Agent
Target Subject Privileges
gracie george 3
george gracie 20
Table 3: Access Information for Minimal Agent
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serialized, and transmitted to the transport address (IP
address 1.2.3.4, UDP port 161) associated in the manager's
database with the party gracie.
When the GetNext request message is received at the agent,
the identity of the party to which it is directed (gracie) is
extracted from the message, and the receiving protocol entity
consults its local database of party information. Because the
privacy protocol for the party gracie is recorded as noPriv,
the received message is assumed to not be protected from
disclosure. Similarly, the identity of the originating party
(george) is extracted, and the local party database is
consulted. Because the authentication protocol for the party
george is recorded as noAuth, the received message is
immediately accepted as authentic.
The received message is fully processed only if the access
policy database local to the agent authorizes GetNext request
communications by the party george with respect to the
agent party gracie. The access policy database presented as
Table 3 authorizes such communications (as well as GetNext
operations).
When the received request is processed, a GetResponse
message is generated by the agent gracie for the originating
peer george. Because the authentication protocol for gracie
is recorded in the local party database as noAuth, the
GetResponse message generated by the manager is not
authenticated as to origin or integrity. Because, according to
the local database, the privacy protocol for the party george
is noPriv, the response message is not protected from
disclosure. Rather, as required by [1], the response message is
directed to the transport address from which the
corresponding request originated -- without regard for the
transport address associated with george in the local
database.
When the generated response is received by the manager, the
identity of the party to which it is directed (george) is
extracted from the message, and the manager consults its
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local database of party information. Because the privacy
protocol for the party george is recorded as noPriv, the
received response is assumed not to be protected from
disclosure. Similarly, the identity of the originating party
(gracie) is extracted, and the local party database is
consulted. Because the authentication protocol for the party
gracie is recorded as noAuth, the received response is
immediately accepted as authentic.
The received message is fully processed only if the access
policy database local to the agent authorizes GetResponse
communications by the party gracie with respect to the
manager party george. The access policy database presented
as Table 3 authorizes such response messages (as well as Trap
messages).
5.2 Secure Minimal Agent Configuration
This section presents an example configuration for a secure,
minimal SNMP agent that interacts with a single SNMP
management station. Table 4 presents information about
SNMP parties that is known both to the minimal agent and to
the manager, while Table 5 presents similarly common
information about the local access policy.
The interaction of manager and agent in this configuration is
very similar to that sketched above for the non-secure minimal
agent -- except that all protocol messages are authenticated
as to origin and integrity and protected from disclosure. This
example requires encryption in order to support distribution
of secret keys via the SNMP itself. A more elaborate example
comprising an additional pair of SNMP parties could support
the exchange of non-secret information in authenticated
messages without incurring the cost of encryption.
As represented in Table 4, the example agent party operates
at UDP port 161 at IP address 1.2.3.4 using the party identity
ollie; the example manager operates at UDP port 2001 at IP
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Identity ollie stan
(agent) (manager)
Domain rfcXXXX rfcXXXX
Address 1.2.3.4, 161 1.2.3.5, 2001
Proxied Party noProxy noProxy
Auth Prot md5AuthProtocol md5AuthProtocol
Auth Priv Key "ABCD" "EFGH"
Auth Pub Key "" ""
Auth Clock 0 0
Auth Last Msg 0 0
Auth Lifetime 500 500
Priv Prot desPrivProtocol desPrivProtocol
Priv Priv Key "JKLM" "QRST"
Priv Pub Key "" ""
Table 4: Party Information for Secure Minimal Agent
Target Subject Privileges
ollie stan 3
stan ollie 20
Table 5: Access Information for Secure Minimal Agent
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address 1.2.3.5 using the identity stan. At minimum, a secure
SNMP agent implementation must provide for administrative
configuration (and non-volatile storage) of relevant
information about two SNMP parties: itself and a remote
peer. Both ollie and stan authenticate all messages that they
generate by using the SNMP authentication protocol
md5AuthProtocol and their distinct, private authentication
keys. Although these private authentication key values
("ABCD" and "EFGH") are presented here for expository
purposes, knowledge of private authentication keys is not
normally afforded to human beings and is confined to those
portions of the protocol implementation that require it.
Using the md5AuthProtocol, the public authentication key
for each SNMP party is irrelevant. Also, because the
md5AuthProtocol is symmetric in character, the private
authentication key for each party must be known to another
SNMP party with which authenticated communication is
desired. In contrast, asymmetric (public key) authentication
protocols would not depend upon sharing of a private key for
their operation. Although the administrative model set forth
here can easily accommodate asymmetric protocols, none are
currently defined for use with the SNMP.
All protocol messages originated by the party stan are
encrypted on transmission using the desPrivProtocol
privacy protocol and the private key "QRST"; they are
decrypted upon reception according to the same protocol and
key. Similarly, all messages originated by the party ollie are
encrypted on transmission using the desPrivProtocol
protocol and private authentication key "JKLM"; they are
correspondingly decrypted on reception.
5.3 Proxy Configuration
This section presents example configurations for SNMP proxy
management. On the one hand, proxy management via a
so-called foreign proxy configuration provides the capability to
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manage non-SNMP devices; on the other, it allows an
administrator to shift the computational burden of rich
management functionality away from network devices whose
primary task is not management, via a native proxy
configuration. Among a variety of other benefits, to the extent
that SNMP proxy agents function as points of aggregation for
management information, configurations of this sort may also
reduce the bandwidth requirements of large-scale management
activities.
5.3.1 Foreign Proxy Configuration
This section presents an example configuration by which a
SNMP management station may manage network elements
that do not themselves support the SNMP. This configuration
centers on a SNMP proxy agent that performs SNMP
management operations by communicating with a non-SNMP
device using a proprietary protocol.
Table 6 presents information about SNMP parties that is
recorded in the local database of the SNMP proxy agent.
Table 7 presents information about SNMP parties that is
recorded in the local database of the SNMP management
station. Table 8 presents information about the access policy
specified by the local administration.
As represented in Table 6, the proxy agent party operates at
UDP port 161 at IP address 1.2.3.5 using the party identity
moe; the example manager operates at UDP port 2002 at IP
address 1.2.3.4 using the identity larry. Both larry and moe
authenticate all messages that they generate by using the
protocol md5AuthProtocol and their distinct, private
authentication keys. Although these private authentication
key values ("ABCD" and "EFGH") are presented here for
expository purposes, knowledge of private keys is not normally
afforded to human beings and is confined to those portions of
the protocol implementation that require it.
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Identity larry moe curly
(manager) (proxy) (proxied)
Domain rfcXXXX rfcXXXX acmeMgmtPrtcl
Address 1.2.3.4, 2002 1.2.3.5, 161 0x98765432
Proxied Party noProxy curly noProxy
Auth Prot md5AuthProtocol md5AuthProtocol noAuth
Auth Priv Key "ABCD" "EFGH" ""
Auth Pub Key "" "" ""
Auth Clock 0 0 0
Auth Last Msg 0 0 0
Auth Lifetime 500 500 0
Priv Prot noPriv noPriv noPriv
Priv Priv Key "" "" ""
Priv Pub Key "" "" ""
Table 6: Party Information for Proxy Agent
Identity larry moe
(manager) (proxy)
Domain rfcXXXX rfcXXXX
Address 1.2.3.4, 2002 1.2.3.5, 161
Proxied Party noProxy noProxy
Auth Prot md5AuthProtocol md5AuthProtocol
Auth Priv Key "ABCD" "EFGH"
Auth Pub Key "" ""
Auth Clock 0 0
Auth Last Msg 0 0
Auth Lifetime 500 500
Priv Prot noPriv noPriv
Priv Priv Key "" ""
Priv Pub Key "" ""
Table 7: Party Information for Management Station
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Using the md5AuthProtocol, the public authentication key
for each SNMP party is irrelevant. Also, because the
md5AuthProtocol is symmetric in character, the private
authentication key for each party must be known to another
SNMP party with which authenticated communication is
desired. In contrast, asymmetric (public key) authentication
protocols would not depend upon sharing of a private key for
their operation. Although the administrative model set forth
here can easily accommodate asymmetric protocols, none are
currently defined for use with the SNMP.
Although all SNMP agents that use cryptographic keys in
their communication with other protocol entities will almost
certainly engage in private SNMP exchanges to distribute
those keys, in order to simplify this example, neither the
management station nor the proxy agent sends or receives
private SNMP communications. Thus, the privacy protocol for
each of them is recorded as noPriv.
The party curly does not send or receive SNMP protocol
messages; rather, all communication with that party proceeds
via a hypothetical proprietary protocol identified by the value
acmeMgmtPrtcl. Because the party curly does not
participate in the SNMP, many of the attributes recorded for
that party in a local database are ignored.
In order to interrogate the proprietary device associated with
the party curly, the management station larry constructs a
SNMP GetNext request and transmits it to the party moe
operating (see Table 7) at UDP port 161, and IP address
1.2.3.5. This request is authenticated using the private
authentication key "ABCD."
When that request is received by the party moe, the
originator of the message is verified as being the party larry
by using local knowledge (see Table 6) of the private
authentication key "ABCD." Because party larry is
authorized to issue GetNext requests with respect to party
moe by the relevant access control policy (Table 8), the
request is accepted. Because the local database records the
Davin, Galvin, McCloghrie [Page 29]
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proxied party for party moe as curly, the request is satisfied
by its translation into appropriate operations of the
acmeMgmtPrtcl directed at party curly. These new
operations are transmitted to the party curly at the address
0x98765432 in the acmeMgmtPrtcl domain.
When and if the proprietary protocol exchange between the
proxy agent and the proprietary device concludes, a SNMP
GetResponse management operation is constructed by the
SNMP party moe to represent the results. This response
communication is authenticated as to origin and integrity
using the authentication protocol md5AuthProtocol and
private authentication key "EFGH" specified for transmissions
from party moe. It is then transmitted the SNMP party
larry operating at the management station at IP address
1.2.3.4 and UDP port 2002 (the source address for the
corresponding request).
When this response is received by the party larry, the
originator of the message is verified as being the party moe
by using local knowledge (see Table 7) of the private
authentication key "EFGH." Because party moe is authorized
to issue Get responses with respect to party larry by the
relevant access control policy (Table 8), the response is
accepted, and the interrogation of the proprietary device is
complete.
It is especially useful to observe that the database of SNMP
parties recorded at the proxy agent (Table 6) need be neither
static nor configured exclusively by the management station.
For instance, suppose that, in this example, the
acmeMgmtPrtcl was a proprietary, MAC-layer mechanism
for managing stations attached to a local area network. In
such an environment, the SNMP party moe would reside at a
SNMP proxy agent attached to such a LAN and could, by
participating in the LAN protocols, detect the attachment and
disconnection of various stations on the LAN. In this scenario,
the SNMP proxy agent could easily adjust its local database
of SNMP parties to support indirect management of the LAN
Davin, Galvin, McCloghrie [Page 30]
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stations by the SNMP management station. For each new
LAN station detected, the SNMP proxy agent would add to
its database both an entry analogous to that for party curly
(representing the new LAN station itself) and an entry
analogous to that for party moe (representing a proxy for
that new station in the SNMP domain).
By using the SNMP to interrogate the database of parties
held locally by the SNMP proxy agent, a SNMP management
station can discover and interact with new stations as they are
attached to the LAN.
5.3.2 Native Proxy Configuration
This section presents an example configuration that supports
SNMP native proxy operations -- indirect interaction between
a SNMP agent and a management station that is mediated by
a second SNMP (proxy) agent.
This example configuration is highly similar to that presented
in the discussion of SNMP foreign proxy in the previous
section. In this example, however, the party associated with
the identity curly receives messages via the SNMP, and,
accordingly interacts with the SNMP proxy agent moe using
authenticated SNMP communications.
Table 9 presents information about SNMP parties that is
recorded in the local database of the SNMP proxy agent.
Table 7 presents information about SNMP parties that is
recorded in the local database of the SNMP management
station. Table 10 presents information about the access policy
specified by the local administration.
As represented in Table 9, the proxy agent party operates at
UDP port 161 at IP address 1.2.3.5 using the party identity
moe; the example manager operates at UDP port 2003 at IP
address 1.2.3.4 using the identity larry; the proxied party
operates at UDP port 161 at IP address 1.2.3.6 using the
party identity curly. All three SNMP parties authenticate all
Davin, Galvin, McCloghrie [Page 31]
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Target Subject Privileges
moe larry 3
larry moe 20
Table 8: Access Information for Foreign Proxy
Identity larry moe curly
(manager) (proxy) (proxied)
Domain rfcXXXX rfcXXXX rfcXXXX
Address 1.2.3.4, 2003 1.2.3.5, 161 1.2.3.6, 161
Proxied Party noProxy curly noProxy
Auth Prot md5AuthProtocol md5AuthProtocol md5AuthProtocol
Auth Priv Key "ABCD" "EFGH" "JKLM"
Auth Pub Key "" "" ""
Auth Clock 0 0 0
Auth Last Msg 0 0 0
Auth Lifetime 500 500 500
Priv Prot noPriv noPriv noPriv
Priv Priv Key "" "" ""
Priv Pub Key "" "" ""
Table 9: Party Information for Proxy Agent
Target Subject Privileges
moe larry 3
larry moe 20
curly moe 3
moe curly 20
Table 10: Access Information for Native Proxy
Davin, Galvin, McCloghrie [Page 32]
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messages that they generate as to origin and integrity by using
the authentication protocol md5AuthProtocol and their
distinct, private authentication keys. Although these private
key values ("ABCD," "EFGH," and "JKLM") are presented
here for expository purposes, knowledge of private keys is not
normally afforded to human beings and is confined to those
portions of the protocol implementation that require it.
In order to interrogate the proxied device associated with the
party curly, the management station larry constructs a
SNMP GetNext request and transmits it to the party moe
operating (see Table 7) at UDP port 161, and IP address
1.2.3.5. This request is authenticated using the private
authentication key "ABCD."
When that request is received by the party moe, the
originator of the message is verified as being the party larry
by using local knowledge (see Table 9) of the private
authentication key "ABCD." Because party larry is
authorized to issue GetNext (and Get) requests with respect
to party moe by the relevant access control policy (Table 10),
the request is accepted. Because the local database records
the proxied party for party moe as curly, the request is
satisfied by its translation into a corresponding SNMP
GetNext request directed from party moe to party curly.
This new communication is authenticated using the private
authentication key "EFGH" and transmitted to party curly
at the IP address 1.2.3.6.
When this new request is received by the party curly, the
originator of the message is verified as being the party moe
by using local knowledge (see Table 9) of the private
authentication key "EFGH." Because party moe is authorized
to issue GetNext (and Get) requests with respect to party
curly by the relevant access control policy (Table 10), the
request is accepted. Because the local database records the
proxied party for party curly as noProxy, the GetNext
request is satisfied by local mechanisms. A SNMP Get
response representing the results of the query is then
Davin, Galvin, McCloghrie [Page 33]
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generated by party curly. This response communication is
authenticated as to origin and integrity using the private
authentication key "JKLM" and transmitted to party moe at
IP address 1.2.3.5 (the source address for the corresponding
request).
When this response is received by party moe, the originator
of the message is verified as being the party curly by using
local knowledge (see Table 9) of the private authentication key
"JKLM." Because party curly is authorized to issue Get
responses with respect to party moe by the relevant access
control policy (Table 10), the response is not rejected.
Instead, it is translated into a GetNext response that
corresponds to the original GetNext request from party larry.
This response is authenticated as to origin and integrity using
the private authentication key "EFGH" and is transmitted to
the party larry at IP address 1.2.3.4 (the source address for
the original request).
When this response is received by the party larry, the
originator of the message is verified as being the party moe
by using local knowledge (see Table 7) of the private
authentication key "EFGH." Because party moe is authorized
to issue Get responses with respect to party larry by the
relevant access control policy (Table 10), the response is
accepted, and the interrogation is complete.
5.4 Public Key Configuration
This section presents an example configuration predicated
upon a hypothetical security protocol. This hypothetical
protocol would be based on asymmetric (public key)
cryptography as a means for providing data origin
authentication (but not protection against disclosure). This
example illustrates the consistency of the administrative model
with public key technology, and the extension of the example
to support protection against disclosure should be apparent.
Davin, Galvin, McCloghrie [Page 34]
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Identity ollie stan
(agent) (manager)
Domain rfcXXXX rfcXXXX
Address 1.2.3.4, 161 1.2.3.5, 2004
Proxied Party noProxy noProxy
Auth Prot pkAuthProtocol pkAuthProtocol
Auth Priv Key "ABCD" ""
Auth Pub Key "" "efgh"
Auth Clock 0 0
Auth Last Msg 0 0
Auth Lifetime 500 500
Priv Prot noPriv noPriv
Priv Priv Key "" ""
Priv Pub Key "" ""
Table 11: Party Information for Public Key Agent
Identity ollie stan
(agent) (manager)
Domain rfcXXXX rfcXXXX
Address 1.2.3.4, 161 1.2.3.5, 2004
Proxied Party noProxy noProxy
Auth Prot pkAuthProtocol pkAuthProtocol
Auth Priv Key "" "EFGH"
Auth Pub Key "abcd" ""
Auth Clock 0 0
Auth Last Msg 0 0
Auth Lifetime 500 500
Priv Prot noPriv noPriv
Priv Priv Key "" ""
Priv Pub Key "" ""
Table 12: Party Information for Public Key Management
Station
Davin, Galvin, McCloghrie [Page 35]
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The example configuration comprises a single SNMP agent
that interacts with a single SNMP management station.
Tables 11 and 12 present information about SNMP parties
that is by the agent and manager, respectively, while Table 5
presents information about the local access policy that is
known to both manager and agent.
As represented in Table 11, the example agent party operates
at UDP port 161 at IP address 1.2.3.4 using the party identity
ollie; the example manager operates at UDP port 2004 at IP
address 1.2.3.5 using the identity stan. Both ollie and stan
authenticate all messages that they generate as to origin and
integrity by using the hypothetical SNMP authentication
protocol pkAuthProtocol and their distinct, private
authentication keys. Although these private authentication
key values ("ABCD" and "EFGH") are presented here for
expository purposes, knowledge of private keys is not normally
afforded to human beings and is confined to those portions of
the protocol implementation that require it.
In most respects, the interaction between manager and agent
in this configuration is almost identical to that in the example
of the minimal, secure SNMP agent described above. The
most significant difference is that neither SNMP party in the
public key configuration has knowledge of the private key by
which the other party authenticates its transmissions as to
their origin and integrity. Instead, for each received
authenticated SNMP communication, the identity of the
originator is verified by applying an asymmetric cryptographic
algorithm to the received message together with the public
authentication key for the originating party. Thus, in this
configuration, the agent knows the manager's public key
("efgh") but not its private key ("EFGH"); similarly, the
manager knows the agent's public key ("abcd") but not its
private key ("ABCD").
For simplicity, privacy protocols are not addressed in this
example configuration, although their use would be necessary
to the secure, automated distribution of secret keys.
Davin, Galvin, McCloghrie [Page 36]
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6 Compatibility
Ideally, all SNMP management stations and agents would
communicate exclusively using the secure facilities described
in this memo. In reality, many SNMP agents may implement
only the insecure SNMP mechanisms described in [1] for some
time to come.
New SNMP agent implementations should never implement
both the insecure mechanisms of [1] and the facilities
described here. Rather, consistent with the SNMP philosophy,
the burden of supporting both sorts of communication should
fall entirely upon managers. Perhaps the best way to realize
both old and new modes of communication is by the use of a
SNMP proxy agent deployed locally on the same system with
a management station implementation. The management
station implementation itself operates exclusively by using the
newer, secure modes of communication, and the local proxy
agent translates the requests of the manager into older,
insecure modes as needed.
It should be noted that proxy agent implementations may
require additional information beyond that described in this
memo in order to accomplish the requisite translation tasks
implicit in the definition of the proxy function. This
information could easily be retrieved from a filestore.
7 Security Considerations
It is important to note that, in the example configuration for
native proxy operations presented in this memo, the use of
symmetric cryptography does not securely prevent direct
communication between the SNMP management station and
the proxied SNMP agent.
While secure isolation of the management station and the
proxied agent can, according to the administrative model set
Davin, Galvin, McCloghrie [Page 37]
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forth in this memo, be realized using symmetric cryptography,
the required configuration is more complex and is not
described in this memo. Rather, it is recommended that
native proxy configurations that require secure isolation of
management station from proxied agent be implemented using
security protocols based on asymmetric (or "public key")
cryptography.
In order to participate in the administrative model set forth in
this memo, SNMP implementations must support local,
non-volatile storage of the local party database. Accordingly,
every attempt has been made to minimize the amount of
non-volatile storage required.
Davin, Galvin, McCloghrie [Page 38]
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References
[1] Jeffrey D. Case, Mark S. Fedor, Martin L. Schoffstall, and
James R. Davin. A Simple Network Management Protocol
(SNMP). RFC 1157, DDN Network Information Center,
SRI International, May 1990. Obsoletes RFC1098.
[2] Marshall T. Rose and Keith McCloghrie. Structure and
Identification of Management Information for TCP/IP
based internets. RFC 1155, DDN Network Information
Center, SRI International, May 1990. Obsoletes RFC1065.
[3] Information Processing -- Open Systems Interconnection
-- Specification of Basic Encoding Rules for Abstract
Syntax Notation One (ASN.1). International Organization
for Standardization/International Electrotechnical
Institute, 1987. International Standard 8825.
Davin, Galvin, McCloghrie [Page 39]
- SNMP Administrative Model: ASCII James M Galvin