



Network Inventory YANG                                             B. Wu
Internet-Draft                                                    Huawei
Intended status: Standards Track                                 C. Zhou
Expires: 12 December 2025                                   China Mobile
                                                                   Q. Wu
                                                                  Huawei
                                                            M. Boucadair
                                                                  Orange
                                                            10 June 2025


   A YANG Network Data Model of Network Inventory Software Extensions
              draft-ietf-ivy-network-inventory-software-01

Abstract

   The base Network Inventory YANG model defines the physical network
   elements (NEs) and hardware components of NEs.  This document extends
   the base Network Inventory model for non-physical NEs (e.g.,
   controllers, virtual routers, virtual firewalls) and software
   components (e.g., platform operating system (OS), software-patch).

Discussion Venues

   This note is to be removed before publishing as an RFC.

   Discussion of this document takes place on the Network Inventory YANG
   mailing list (inventory-yang@ietf.org), which is archived at
   https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/browse/inventory-yang/.

   Source for this draft and an issue tracker can be found at
   https://github.com/ietf-ivy-wg/network-inventory-software.

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute
   working documents as Internet-Drafts.  The list of current Internet-
   Drafts is at https://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."




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   This Internet-Draft will expire on 12 December 2025.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2025 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (https://trustee.ietf.org/
   license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document.
   Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
   and restrictions with respect to this document.  Code Components
   extracted from this document must include Revised BSD License text as
   described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are
   provided without warranty as described in the Revised BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
     1.1.  Editorial Note (To be removed by RFC Editor)  . . . . . .   3
     1.2.  Terminology and Notations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   2.  Requirements Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   3.  Relationship to Other YANG Data Models  . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   4.  Model Overview  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   5.  Non-physical Network Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   6.  Software components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   7.  YANG Data model for Network Inventory Software Extensions . .   6
   8.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
   9.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
   10. References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     10.1.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     10.2.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
   Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
   Contributors  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14

1.  Introduction

   The Network Inventory consists of the physical and non-physical
   network elements (NEs), hardware components, firmware components, and
   software components on the a managed network domain.  The non-
   physical network elements (NEs) are network devices that support
   network protocols and functions, e.g., routers, firewalls, and
   controllers, which can reside in any network or compute devices, such
   as servers in Data Center (DC), server-based virtual machines (VMs),
   or server-based containers.





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   [I-D.ietf-ivy-network-inventory-yang] defines the base Network
   Inventory YANG model for physical network element (NE) and hardware
   components of NEs.  Examples of hardware components could be rack,
   shelf, slot, board and physical port.

   The management of non-physical NE and software components information
   is similar to the management of physical NE and hardware information.
   For example, inventory data, including product names, serial numbers,
   etc. are also applicable.  This document defines a network inventory
   software extension YANG model.  In addition to inheriting the common
   inventory attributes of the base network inventory model, this
   document also adds some software-specific attributes of non-physical
   NEs (such as controllers, virtual routers, and virtual firewalls) and
   software components (such as operating system, software patches,
   BIOS, and boot loader).

   The Network Inventory software extension model is classified as a
   network model (Section 4 of [RFC8309]).

   The YANG data model in this document conforms to the Network
   Management Datastore Architecture (NMDA) defined in [RFC8342].

1.1.  Editorial Note (To be removed by RFC Editor)

   Note to the RFC Editor: This section is to be removed prior to
   publication.

   This document contains placeholder values that need to be replaced
   with finalized values at the time of publication.  This note
   summarizes all of the substitutions that are needed.

   Please apply the following replacements:

   *  XXXX --> the assigned RFC number for this I-D

   *  AAAA --> the assigned RFC number for
      [I-D.ietf-ivy-network-inventory-yang]

1.2.  Terminology and Notations

   The following terms are defined in [RFC7950] and are not redefined
   here:

   *  client

   *  server

   *  augment



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   *  data model

   *  data node The following terms are defined in [RFC6241] and are not
      redefined here:

   *  configuration data

   *  state data The tree diagram used in this document follows the
      notation defined in [RFC8340]..

   Also, this document uses terms defined in
   [I-D.ietf-ivy-network-inventory-yang].

2.  Requirements Language

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
   "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP
   14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all
   capitals, as shown here.

3.  Relationship to Other YANG Data Models

   The base network inventory model supports the software versions of
   NEs and software versions of hardware components.  This document adds
   more software component identifiers (e.g. platformos, software patch)
   and more NE types (e.g. software NE, virtual NE) to provide enhanced
   software information on the NE to facilitate software compatibility
   check.

   Figure 1 depicts the relationship between the Software Extension
   model and other models.  The Software Extension network inventory
   model enhances the model defined in the base network inventory model
   with more software specific attributes.

















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   +----------------------+
   |                      |
   |Base Network Inventory|
   |                      |
   +----------^-----------+
              |
              |
              |
              |
   +----------^-----------+
   |                      |
   |  Software Extensions |
   |    e.g.,SW patch     |
   |                      |
   +----------------------+

      Figure 1: Relationship of SW Extension Model to Other Inventory
                                   Models

4.  Model Overview

   The tree diagram in Figure 2 provides an overview of the data model
   for "ietf-network-inventory-sw-ext" module.

      module: ietf-network-inventory-sw-ext
        augment /nwi:network-inventory/nwi:network-elements
                  /nwi:network-element:
          +--ro software-attributes
             +--ro status?              identityref
             +--ro installation-time?   yang:date-and-time
             +--ro activation-time?     yang:date-and-time
        augment /nwi:network-inventory/nwi:network-elements
                  /nwi:network-element/nwi:components/nwi:component:
          +--ro software-module-attributes
             +--ro status?              identityref
             +--ro installation-time?   yang:date-and-time
             +--ro activation-time?     yang:date-and-time

                 Figure 2: YANG Tree of Software Extensions

5.  Non-physical Network Elements

   In the base Network Inventory YANG model, "ne-type" is a YANG
   identity that describes the type of the network element and only the
   "physical-network-element" identity" is defined.  This document adds
   non-physical NE identity, such as "ne-software", "ne-virtual", and
   "ne-container".




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   The base Network Inventory model also defines common inventory
   attributes, including the software version, patch versions, product
   name, and serial number.  The data is also applicable to non-physical
   NEs.

   The Network Inventory software extension mode defines some new
   software attributes, consisting of software status, installation
   time, and activation time.

6.  Software components

   Software components refer to the softwares installed on the NE, such
   as operating system, software patches, BIOS, and boot loaders.

   Similar to the common inventory attributes of NEs, the common
   attributes of software components (such as software version, patch
   versions, product name, and serial number) are also applicable to
   software components.  For software and patch versions, the base
   inventory (Section 4 of [I-D.ietf-ivy-network-inventory-yang])
   defines the "leaf" of "software-rev" and the "leaf-list" of
   "software-patch-rev".  If more detailed installation and activation
   information is needed, the extension attributes of software
   components can be used.

7.  YANG Data model for Network Inventory Software Extensions

   The "ietf-network-inventory-sw-ext" module uses types defined in
   [RFC6991], [I-D.ietf-ivy-network-inventory-yang].

   <CODE BEGINS> file "ietf-network-inventory-sw-ext@2024-10-17.yang"
   module ietf-network-inventory-sw-ext {
     yang-version 1.1;
     namespace
       "urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-network-inventory-sw-ext";
     prefix nwis;

     import ietf-yang-types {
       prefix yang;
       reference
         "RFC 6991: Common YANG Data Types";
     }
     import ietf-network-inventory {
       prefix nwi;
       reference
         "RFCAAAA: A YANG Data Model for Network Inventory";
     }

     organization



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       "IETF Network Inventory YANG (ivy) Working Group";
     contact
       "WG Web:   <https://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/ivy>
        WG List:  <mailto:inventory-yang@ietf.org>

        Editor: Bo Wu
                <lana.wubo@huawei.com>
        Editor: Cheng Zhou
             <zhouchengyjy@chinamobile.com>
        Editor: Qin Wu
                <bill.wu@huawei.com>
        Editor: Mohamed Boucadair
                <mohamed.boucadair@orange.com>";
     description
       "This YANG module defines a model for network inventory software
        extensions.

        Copyright (c) 2025 IETF Trust and the persons
        identified as authors of the code.  All rights reserved.

        Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or
        without modification, is permitted pursuant to, and subject
        to the license terms contained in, the Revised BSD License
        set forth in Section 4.c of the IETF Trust's Legal Provisions
        Relating to IETF Documents
        (https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info).

        This version of this YANG module is part of RFC XXXX; see
        the RFC itself for full legal notices.

        The key words 'MUST', 'MUST NOT', 'REQUIRED', 'SHALL', 'SHALL
        NOT', 'SHOULD', 'SHOULD NOT', 'RECOMMENDED', 'NOT RECOMMENDED',
        'MAY', and 'OPTIONAL' in this document are to be interpreted as
        described in BCP 14 (RFC 2119) (RFC 8174) when, and only when,
        they appear in all capitals, as shown here.";

     revision 2025-06-10 {
       description
         "Initial version";
       reference
         "RFC XXXX: A YANG Data Model for Network Inventory Software
                    Extensions.";
     }

     identity ne-nonphysical {
       base nwi:ne-type;
       description
         "A non-physical network element (NE) is a network device that



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          support network protocols and functions, e.g., router,
          firewall, and controller, which can reside in any network or
          compute devices, such as a server in Data Center (DC),
          server-based virtual machine (VM), or server-based
          container.";
     }

     identity ne-software {
       base ne-nonphysical;
       description
         "A software NE refers to a a network device residing in any
          network or compute devices, such as a physical server
          (or 'bare metal') in DC. Examples of software NEs are
          network controllers.";
     }

     identity ne-virtual {
       base ne-nonphysical;
       description
         "A virtual NE refers to a network device residing within
          server-based Virtual Machine (VM) implementing a virtual
          network function (VNF). Examples of virtual NEs are
          virtual routers, virtual firewalls.";
     }

     identity ne-container {
       base ne-nonphysical;
       description
         "A container NE refers to a network device residing within
          server-based container implementing a Containerized
          network function (CNF).";
     }

     identity software-component {
       base nwi:non-hardware-component-class;
       description
         "Base identity for software components in a managed
          device.";
     }

     identity operating-system {
       base software-component;
       description
         "OS software type.";
     }

     identity operating-system-patch {
       base software-component;



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       description
         "An operating system update - which should be a subcomponent
          of the `operating-system` running on a component. A patch is
          defined to be a set of software changes that are atomically
          installed (and uninstalled) together. ";
     }

     identity bios {
       base software-component;
       description
         "Legacy BIOS or UEFI firmware interface responsible for
          initializing hardware components and first stage boot
          loader.";
     }

     identity boot-loader {
       base software-component;
       description
         "Software layer responsible for loading and booting the
          device OS or network OS.";
     }

     identity software-module {
       base software-component;
       description
         "A base identity for software modules installed and/or
          running on the device.  Modules include user-space programs
          and kernel modules that provide specific functionality.";
     }

     identity software-status {
       description
         "Base identity for software status.";
     }

     identity software-installed {
       base software-status;
       description
         "Software status is Installed.";
     }

     identity software-activated {
       base software-status;
       description
         "Software status is Activated.";
     }

     grouping software-info-grouping {



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       description
         "Specific attributes applicable to Software.";
       leaf status {
         type identityref {
           base software-status;
         }
         description
           "Software status.";
       }
       leaf installation-time {
         type yang:date-and-time;
         description
           "Date and time the current revision last changed.";
       }
       leaf activation-time {
         type yang:date-and-time;
         description
           "Date and time the current revision last changed.";
       }
     }

     /* Main blocks */

     augment "/nwi:network-inventory/nwi:network-elements"
           + "/nwi:network-element" {
       description
         "Augment network element (NE) attributes.";
       container software-attributes {
         when "derived-from-or-self(../nwi:ne-type,'ne-software')";
         config false;
         description
           "Container for the attributes applicable only to software
            Network Elements (NEs).";
         uses software-info-grouping;
       }
     }

     augment "/nwi:network-inventory/nwi:network-elements/"
           + "nwi:network-element/nwi:components/nwi:component" {
       description
         "Augment software component attributes.";
       container software-module-attributes {
         when
           "derived-from-or-self(../nwi:class,'software-module')";
         config false;
         description
           "This container contains some attributes belong to
            software modules only.";



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         uses software-info-grouping;
       }
     }
   }
   <CODE ENDS>

8.  Security Considerations

   This section uses the template described in Section 3.7 of
   [I-D.ietf-netmod-rfc8407bis].

   The "ietf-network-inventory-sw-ext" YANG module defines a data model
   that is designed to be accessed via YANG-based management protocols,
   such as NETCONF NETCONF [RFC6241] or RESTCONF [RFC8040].  These YANG-
   based management protocols (1) have to use a secure transport layer
   (e.g., SSH [RFC4252], TLS [RFC8446], and QUIC [RFC9000]) and (2) have
   to use mutual authentication.

   The Network Configuration Access Control Model (NACM) [RFC8341]
   provides the means to restrict access for particular NETCONF or
   RESTCONF users to a preconfigured subset of all available NETCONF or
   RESTCONF protocol operations and content.

   There are a number of data nodes defined in this YANG module that are
   writable/creatable/deletable (i.e., "config true", which is the
   default).  All writable data nodes are likely to be sensitive or
   vulnerable in some network environments.  Write operations (e.g.,
   edit-config) and delete operations to these data nodes without proper
   protection or authentication can have a negative effect on network
   operations.  The following subtrees and data nodes have particular
   sensitivities/vulnerabilities: * TBC

   Some of the readable data nodes in this YANG module may be considered
   sensitive or vulnerable in some network environments.  It is thus
   important to control read access (e.g., via get, get-config, or
   notification) to these data nodes.  Specifically, the following
   subtrees and data nodes have particular sensitivities/
   vulnerabilities:

   *  TBC

9.  IANA Considerations

   IANA is requested to register the following URI in the "ns"
   subregistry within the "IETF XML Registry" [RFC3688]:






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   URI:  urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-network-inventory-sw-ext
   Registrant Contact:  The IESG.
   XML:  N/A; the requested URI is an XML namespace.

   IANA is requested to register the following YANG module in the "YANG
   Module Names" registry [RFC6020] within the "YANG Parameters"
   registry group:

   Name:  ietf-network-inventory-sw-ext
   Namespace:  urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-network-inventory-sw-ext
   Prefix:  nwis
   Maintained by IANA?  N
   Reference:  RFC XXXX

10.  References

10.1.  Normative References

   [I-D.ietf-ivy-network-inventory-yang]
              Yu, C., Belotti, S., Bouquier, J., Peruzzini, F., and P.
              Bedard, "A Base YANG Data Model for Network Inventory",
              Work in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-ietf-ivy-network-
              inventory-yang-06, 21 May 2025,
              <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-ivy-
              network-inventory-yang-06>.

   [RFC3688]  Mealling, M., "The IETF XML Registry", BCP 81, RFC 3688,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC3688, January 2004,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3688>.

   [RFC6020]  Bjorklund, M., Ed., "YANG - A Data Modeling Language for
              the Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF)", RFC 6020,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC6020, October 2010,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6020>.

   [RFC6241]  Enns, R., Ed., Bjorklund, M., Ed., Schoenwaelder, J., Ed.,
              and A. Bierman, Ed., "Network Configuration Protocol
              (NETCONF)", RFC 6241, DOI 10.17487/RFC6241, June 2011,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6241>.

   [RFC6991]  Schoenwaelder, J., Ed., "Common YANG Data Types",
              RFC 6991, DOI 10.17487/RFC6991, July 2013,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6991>.

   [RFC7950]  Bjorklund, M., Ed., "The YANG 1.1 Data Modeling Language",
              RFC 7950, DOI 10.17487/RFC7950, August 2016,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7950>.




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   [RFC8341]  Bierman, A. and M. Bjorklund, "Network Configuration
              Access Control Model", STD 91, RFC 8341,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC8341, March 2018,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8341>.

   [RFC8342]  Bjorklund, M., Schoenwaelder, J., Shafer, P., Watsen, K.,
              and R. Wilton, "Network Management Datastore Architecture
              (NMDA)", RFC 8342, DOI 10.17487/RFC8342, March 2018,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8342>.

10.2.  Informative References

   [I-D.ietf-netmod-rfc8407bis]
              Bierman, A., Boucadair, M., and Q. Wu, "Guidelines for
              Authors and Reviewers of Documents Containing YANG Data
              Models", Work in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-ietf-
              netmod-rfc8407bis-28, 5 June 2025,
              <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-netmod-
              rfc8407bis-28>.

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2119>.

   [RFC4252]  Ylonen, T. and C. Lonvick, Ed., "The Secure Shell (SSH)
              Authentication Protocol", RFC 4252, DOI 10.17487/RFC4252,
              January 2006, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc4252>.

   [RFC8040]  Bierman, A., Bjorklund, M., and K. Watsen, "RESTCONF
              Protocol", RFC 8040, DOI 10.17487/RFC8040, January 2017,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8040>.

   [RFC8174]  Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
              2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
              May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8174>.

   [RFC8309]  Wu, Q., Liu, W., and A. Farrel, "Service Models
              Explained", RFC 8309, DOI 10.17487/RFC8309, January 2018,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8309>.

   [RFC8340]  Bjorklund, M. and L. Berger, Ed., "YANG Tree Diagrams",
              BCP 215, RFC 8340, DOI 10.17487/RFC8340, March 2018,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8340>.

   [RFC8446]  Rescorla, E., "The Transport Layer Security (TLS) Protocol
              Version 1.3", RFC 8446, DOI 10.17487/RFC8446, August 2018,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8446>.



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   [RFC9000]  Iyengar, J., Ed. and M. Thomson, Ed., "QUIC: A UDP-Based
              Multiplexed and Secure Transport", RFC 9000,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC9000, May 2021,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9000>.

Acknowledgments

   The authors would like to thank Prasenjit Manna,Phil Bedard, Diego R.
   Lopez, Italo Busi, and many others for their helpful comments and
   suggestions.

Contributors

   Yao Zhao
   Huawei
   Email: zhaoyao.zhaoyao@huawei.com


Authors' Addresses

   Bo Wu
   Huawei
   Email: lana.wubo@huawei.com


   Cheng Zhou
   China Mobile
   Email: zhouchengyjy@chinamobile.com


   Qin Wu
   Huawei
   Email: bill.wu@huawei.com


   Mohamed Boucadair
   Orange
   Email: mohamed.boucadair@orange.com













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