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Copyright (C) 2007--2008 American Registry for Internet Numbers ("ARIN")
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@section Terminology
@li @em IRBE: Internet Registry Back End
@li @em IRDB: Internet Registry Data Base
@li @em BPKI: Business PKI
@li @em RPKI: Resource PKI
@section Protocol operations between IRBE and RPKI engine
The left-right protocol is really two separate client/server protocols
over separate channels. The IRBE is the client for one of the
subprotocols, the RPKI engine is the client for the other.
@subsection Operations initiated by the IRBE
This part of the protcol uses a kind of message-passing. Each object
that the RPKI engine knows about takes five messages: "create", "set",
"get", "list", and "destroy". Actions which are not just data
operations on objects are handled via an SNMP-like mechanism, as if
they were fields to be set. For example, to generate a keypair one
"sets" the "generate-keypair" field of a BSC object, even though there
is no such field in the object itself as stored in SQL. This is a bit
of a kludge, but the reason for doing it as if these were variables
being set is to allow composite operations such as creating a BSC,
populating all of its data fields, and generating a keypair, all as a
single operation. With this model, that's trivial, otherwise it's at
least two round trips.
Fields can be set in either "create" or "set" operations, the
difference just being whether the object already exists. A "get"
operation returns all visible fields of the object. A "list"
operation returns a list containing what "get" would have returned on
each of those objects.
Left-right protocol objects are encoded as signed CMS messages
containing XML as eContent and using an eContentType OID of id-ct-xml
(1.2.840.113549.1.9.16.1.28). These CMS messages are in turn passed
as the data for HTTPS POST operations, with an HTTP content type of
"application/x-rpki" for both the POST data and the response data.
All operations allow an optional "tag" attribute which can be any
alphanumeric token. The main purpose of the tag attribute is to allow
batching of multiple requests into a single PDU.
@subsubsection object
A object represents one virtual RPKI engine. In simple cases
where the RPKI engine operator operates the engine only on their own
behalf, there will only be one object, representing the engine
operator's organization, but in environments where the engine operator
hosts other entities, there will be one object per hosted
entity (probably including the engine operator's own organization,
considered as a hosted customer of itself).
Some of the RPKI engine's configured parameters and data are shared by
all hosted entities, but most are tied to a specific object.
Data which are shared by all hosted entities are referred to as
"per-engine" data, data which are specific to a particular
object are "per-self" data.
Since all other RPKI engine objects refer to a object via a
"self_id" value, one must create a object before one can
usefully configure any other left-right protocol objects.
Every object has a self_id attribute, which must be specified
for the "set", "get", and "destroy" actions.
Payload data which can be configured in a object:
@li use_hsm (attribute):
Whether to use a Hardware Signing Module. At present this option
has no effect, as the implementation does not yet support HSMs.
@li crl_interval (attribute):
Positive integer representing the planned lifetime of an RPKI CRL
for this , measured in seconds.
@li regen_margin (attribute):
Positive integer representing how long before expiration of an
RPKI certificiate a new one should be generated, measured in
seconds. At present this only affects the one-off EE certificates
associated with ROAs.
@li bpki_cert (element):
BPKI CA certificate for this . This is used as part of the
certificate chain when validating incoming TLS and CMS messages,
and should be the issuer of cross-certification BPKI certificates
used in , , and objects. If the
bpki_glue certificate is in use (below), the bpki_cert certificate
should be issued by the bpki_glue certificate; otherwise, the
bpki_cert certificate should be issued by the per-engine bpki_ta
certificate.
@li bpki_glue (element):
Another BPKI CA certificate for this , usually not needed.
Certain pathological cross-certification cases require a
two-certificate chain due to issuer name conflicts. If used, the
bpki_glue certificate should be the issuer of the bpki_cert
certificate and should be issued by the per-engine bpki_ta
certificate; if not needed, the bpki_glue certificate should be
left unset.
Control attributes that can be set to "yes" to force actions:
@li rekey
Start a key rollover for every RPKI CA associated with every
object associated with this object. This is the
first phase of a key rollover operation.
@li revoke
Revoke any remaining certificates for any expired key associated
with any RPKI CA for any object associated with this
object. This is the second (cleanup) phase for a key
rollover operation; it's separate from the first phase to leave
time for new RPKI certificates to propegate and be installed.
@li reissue
Not implemented, may be removed from protocol. Original theory
was that this operation would force reissuance of any object with
a changed key, but as that happens automatically as part of the
key rollover mechanism this operation seems unnecessary.
@li run_now
Force immediate processing for all tasks associated with this
object that would ordinarily be performed under cron. Not
currently implemented.
@li publish_world_now
Force (re)publication of every publishable object for this
object. Not currently implemented. Intended to aid in recovery
if RPKI engine and publication engine somehow get out of sync.
@subsubsection object
The ("business signing context") object represents all the BPKI
data needed to sign outgoing CMS or HTTPS messages. Various other
objects include pointers to a object. Whether a particular
uses only one or multiple is a configuration decision
based on external requirements: the RPKI engine code doesn't care, it
just cares that, for any object representing a relationship for which
it must sign messages, there be a object that it can use to
produce that signature.
Every object has a bsc_id, which must be specified for the
"get", "set", and "destroy" actions. Every also has a self_id
attribute which indicates the object with which this
object is associated.
Payload data which can be configured in a object:
@li signing_cert (element):
BPKI certificate to use when generating a signature.
@li signing_cert_crl (element):
CRL which would list signing_cert if it had been revoked.
Control attributes that can be set to "yes" to force actions:
@li generate_keypair
Generate a new BPKI keypair and return a PKCS #10 certificate
request. The resulting certificate, once issued, should be
configured as this object's signing_cert.
Additional attributes which may be specified when specifying
"generate_keypair":
@li key_type
Type of BPKI keypair to generate. "rsa" is both the default and,
at the moment, the only allowed value.
@li hash_alg
Cryptographic hash algorithm to use with this keypair. "sha256"
is both the default and, at the moment, the only allowed value.
@li key_length
Length in bits of the keypair to be generated. "2048" is both the
default and, at the moment, the only allowed value.
Replies to "create" and "set" actions that specify "generate-keypair"
include a element, as do replies to "get" and "list"
actions for a object for which a "generate-keypair" command has
been issued. The RPKI engine stores the PKCS #10 request, which
allows the IRBE to reuse the request if and when it needs to reissue
the corresponding BPKI signing certificate.
@subsubsection object
The object represents the RPKI engine's view of a particular
parent of the current object in the up-down protocol. Due to
the way that the resource hierarchy works, a given may obtain
resources from multiple parents, but it will always have at least one;
in the case of IANA or an RIR, the parent RPKI engine may be a trivial
stub.
Every object has a parent_id, which must be specified for
the "get", "set", and "destroy" actions. Every also has a
self_id attribute which indicates the object with which this
object is associated, a bsc_id attribute indicating the
object to be used when signing messages sent to this parent, and a
repository_id indicating the object to be used when
publishing issued by the certificate issued by this parent.
Payload data which can be configured in a object:
@li peer_contact_uri (attribute):
HTTPS URI used to contact this parent.
@li sia_base (attribute):
The leading portion of an rsync URI that the RPKI engine should
use when composing the publication URI for objects issued by the
RPKI certificate issued by this parent.
@li sender_name (attribute):
Sender name to use in the up-down protocol when talking to this
parent. The RPKI engine doesn't really care what this value is,
but other implementations of the up-down protocol do care.
@li recipient_name (attribute):
Recipient name to use in the up-down protocol when talking to this
parent. The RPKI engine doesn't really care what this value is,
but other implementations of the up-down protocol do care.
@li bpki_cms_cert (element):
BPKI CMS CA certificate for this . This is used as part
of the certificate chain when validating incoming CMS messages If
the bpki_cms_glue certificate is in use (below), the bpki_cms_cert
certificate should be issued by the bpki_cms_glue certificate;
otherwise, the bpki_cms_cert certificate should be issued by the
bpki_cert certificate in the object.
@li bpki_cms_glue (element):
Another BPKI CMS CA certificate for this , usually not
needed. Certain pathological cross-certification cases require a
two-certificate chain due to issuer name conflicts. If used, the
bpki_cms_glue certificate should be the issuer of the
bpki_cms_cert certificate and should be issued by the bpki_cert
certificate in the object; if not needed, the
bpki_cms_glue certificate should be left unset.
@li bpki_https_cert (element):
BPKI HTTPS CA certificate for this . This is like the
bpki_cms_cert object, only used for validating incoming TLS
messages rather than CMS.
@li bpki_cms_glue (element):
Another BPKI HTTPS CA certificate for this , usually not
needed. This is like the bpki_cms_glue certificate, only used for
validating incoming TLS messages rather than CMS.
Control attributes that can be set to "yes" to force actions:
@li rekey
This is like the rekey command in the object, but limited
to RPKI CAs under this parent.
@li reissue
This is like the reissue command in the object, but limited
to RPKI CAs under this parent.
@li revoke
This is like the revoke command in the object, but limited
to RPKI CAs under this parent.
@subsubsection object
The object represents the RPKI engine's view of particular
child of the current in the up-down protocol.
Every object has a parent_id, which must be specified for the
"get", "set", and "destroy" actions. Every also has a
self_id attribute which indicates the object with which this
object is associated.
Payload data which can be configured in a object:
@li bpki_cert (element):
BPKI CA certificate for this . This is used as part of
the certificate chain when validating incoming TLS and CMS
messages. If the bpki_glue certificate is in use (below), the
bpki_cert certificate should be issued by the bpki_glue
certificate; otherwise, the bpki_cert certificate should be issued
by the bpki_cert certificate in the object.
@li bpki_glue (element):
Another BPKI CA certificate for this , usually not needed.
Certain pathological cross-certification cases require a
two-certificate chain due to issuer name conflicts. If used, the
bpki_glue certificate should be the issuer of the bpki_cert
certificate and should be issued by the bpki_cert certificate in
the object; if not needed, the bpki_glue certificate
should be left unset.
Control attributes that can be set to "yes" to force actions:
@li reissue
Not implemented, may be removed from protocol.
@subsubsection object
The object represents the RPKI engine's view of a
particular publication repository used by the current object.
Every object has a repository_id, which must be
specified for the "get", "set", and "destroy" actions. Every
also has a self_id attribute which indicates the
object with which this object is associated.
Payload data which can be configured in a object:
@li peer_contact_uri (attribute):
HTTPS URI used to contact this repository.
@li bpki_cms_cert (element):
BPKI CMS CA certificate for this . This is used as part
of the certificate chain when validating incoming CMS messages If
the bpki_cms_glue certificate is in use (below), the bpki_cms_cert
certificate should be issued by the bpki_cms_glue certificate;
otherwise, the bpki_cms_cert certificate should be issued by the
bpki_cert certificate in the object.
@li bpki_cms_glue (element):
Another BPKI CMS CA certificate for this , usually not
needed. Certain pathological cross-certification cases require a
two-certificate chain due to issuer name conflicts. If used, the
bpki_cms_glue certificate should be the issuer of the
bpki_cms_cert certificate and should be issued by the bpki_cert
certificate in the object; if not needed, the
bpki_cms_glue certificate should be left unset.
@li bpki_https_cert (element):
BPKI HTTPS CA certificate for this . This is like the
bpki_cms_cert object, only used for validating incoming TLS
messages rather than CMS.
@li bpki_cms_glue (element):
Another BPKI HTTPS CA certificate for this , usually not
needed. This is like the bpki_cms_glue certificate, only used for
validating incoming TLS messages rather than CMS.
At present there are no control attributes for objects.
@subsubsection object
The object is a kind of prototype for a ROA. It
contains all the information needed to generate a ROA once the RPKI
engine obtains the appropriate RPKI certificates from its parent(s).
Note that a object represents a ROA to be generated on
behalf of , not on behalf of a . Thus, a hosted entity
that has no children but which does need to generate ROAs would be
represented by a hosted with no objects but one or
more objects. While lumping ROA generation in with
the other RPKI engine activities may seem a little odd at first, it's
a natural consequence of the design requirement that the RPKI daemon
never transmit private keys across the network in any form; given this
requirement, the RPKI engine that holds the private keys for an RPKI
certificate must also be the engine which generates any ROAs that
derive from that RPKI certificate.
The precise content of the has changed over time as
the underlying ROA specification has changed. The current
implementation as of this writing matches what we expect to see in
draft-ietf-sidr-roa-format-03, once it is issued. In particular, note
that the exactMatch boolean from the -02 draft has been replaced by
the prefix and maxLength encoding used in the -03 draft.
Payload data which can be configured in a object:
@li as_number (attribute):
Autonomous System Number (ASN) to place in the generated ROA. A
single ROA can only grant authorization to a single ASN; multiple
ASNs require multiple ROAs, thus multiple objects.
@li ipv4 (attribute):
List of IPv4 prefix and maxLength values, see below for format.
@li ipv6 (attribute):
List of IPv6 prefix and maxLength values, see below for format.
Control attributes that can be set to "yes" to force actions:
@li suppress_publication
Not implemented, may be removed from protocol.
The lists of IPv4 and IPv6 prefix and maxLength values are represented
as comma-separated text strings, with no whitespace permitted. Each
entry in such a string represents a single prefix/maxLength pair.
ABNF for these address lists:
@verbatim
::= "/" [ "-" ]
; Where defaults to the same
; value as .
::= *( "," )
@endverbatim
For example, @c "10.0.1.0/24-32,10.0.2.0/24", which is a shorthand
form of @c "10.0.1.0/24-32,10.0.2.0/24-24".
@subsection Operations initiated by the RPKI engine
The left-right protocol also includes queries from the RPKI engine
back to the IRDB. These queries do not follow the message-passing
pattern used in the IRBE-initiated part of the protocol. Instead,
there's a single query back to the IRDB, with a corresponding
response. The CMS and HTTPS encoding are the same as in the rest of
the protocol, but the BPKI certificates will be different as the
back-queries and responses form a separate communication channel.
@subsubsection messages
The query and response allow the RPKI engine to ask
the IRDB for information about resources assigned to a particular
child. The query must include both a @c "self_id" attribute naming
the that is making the request and also a @c "child_id"
attribute naming the child that is the subject of the query. The
query and response also allow an optional @c "tag" attribute of the
same form used elsewhere in this protocol, to allow batching.
A response includes the following attributes, along
with the @c tag (if specified), @c self_id, and @c child_id copied
from the request:
@li @c valid_until:
A timestamp indicating the date and time at which certificates
generated by the RPKI engine for these data should expire. The
timestamp is expressed as an XML @c xsd:dateTime, must be
expressed in UTC, and must carry the "Z" suffix indicating UTC.
@li @c subject_name:
An optional text string naming the child. Not currently used.
@li @c asn:
A list of autonomous sequence numbers, expressed as a
comma-separated sequence of decimal integers with no whitespace.
@li @c ipv4:
A list of IPv4 address prefixes and ranges, expressed as a
comma-separated list of prefixes and ranges with no whitespace.
See below for format details.
@li @c ipv6:
A list of IPv6 address prefixes and ranges, expressed as a
comma-separated list of prefixes and ranges with no whitespace.
See below for format details.
Entries in a list of address prefixes and ranges can be either
prefixes, which are written in the usual address/prefixlen notation,
or ranges, which are expressed as a pair of addresses denoting the
beginning and end of the range, written in ascending order separated
by a single "-" character. This format is superficially similar to
the format used for prefix and maxLength values in the
object, but the semantics differ: note in particular that
objects don't allow ranges, while
messages don't allow a maxLength specification.
@subsection Error handling
Error in this protocol are handled at two levels.
Since all messages in this protocol are conveyed over HTTPS
connections, basic errors are indicated via the HTTP response code.
4xx and 5xx responses indicate that something bad happened. Errors
that make it impossible to decode a query or encode a response are
handled in this way.
Where possible, errors will result in a message which
takes the place of the expected protocol response message.
messages are CMS-signed XML messages like the rest of
this protocol, and thus can be archived to provide an audit trail.
messages only appear in replies, never in queries.
The message can appear on either the "forward" (IRBE
as client of RPKI engine) or "back" (RPKI engine as client of IRDB)
communication channel.
The message includes an optional @c "tag" attribute to
assist in matching the error with a particular query when using
batching, and also includes a @c "self_id" attribute indicating the
that issued the error.
The error itself is conveyed in the @c error_code (attribute). The
value of this attribute is a token indicating the specific error that
occurred. At present this will be the name of a Python exception; the
production version of this protocol will nail down the allowed error
tokens here, probably in the RelaxNG schema.
The body of the element itself is an optional text
string; if present, this is debugging information. At present this
capabilty is not used, debugging information goes to syslog.