RFC 2851 (rfc2851) - Page 2 of 16
Textual Conventions for Internet Network Addresses
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 2851 TCs for Internet Network Addresses June 2000
8. Intellectual Property Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Full Copyright Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1. Introduction
Several standard-track MIB modules use the IpAddress SMIv2 base type.
This limits the applicability of these MIB modules to IP Version 4
(IPv4) since the IpAddress SMIv2 base type can only contain 4 byte
IPv4 addresses. The IpAddress SMIv2 base type has become problematic
with the introduction of IP Version 6 (IPv6) addresses [21].
This document defines multiple textual conventions as a mechanism to
express generic Internet network layer addresses within MIB module
specifications. The solution is compatible with SMIv2 (STD 58) and
SMIv1 (STD 16). New MIB definitions which need to express network
layer Internet addresses SHOULD use the textual conventions defined
in this memo. New MIBs SHOULD NOT use the SMIv2 IpAddress base type
anymore.
A generic Internet address consists of two objects, one whose syntax
is InetAddressType, and another whose syntax is InetAddress. The
value of the first object determines how the value of the second
object is encoded. The InetAddress textual convention represents an
opaque Internet address value. The InetAddressType enumeration is
used to "cast" the InetAddress value into a concrete textual
convention for the address type. This usage of multiple textual
conventions allows expression of the display characteristics of each
address type and makes the set of defined Internet address types
extensible.
The textual conventions defined in this document can be used to
define Internet addresses by using DNS domain names in addition to
IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. A MIB designer can write compliance
statements to express that only a subset of the possible address
types must be supported by a compliant implementation.
MIB developers who need to represent Internet addresses SHOULD use
these definitions whenever applicable, as opposed to defining their
own constructs. Even MIBs that only need to represent IPv4 or IPv6
addresses SHOULD use the textual conventions defined in this memo.
In order to make existing widely-deployed IPv4-only MIBs fit for
IPv6, it might be a valid approach to define separate tables for
different address types. This is a decision for the MIB designer.
For example, the tcpConnTable of the TCP-MIB [18] was left intact
Daniele, et al. Standards Track