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rfc:rfc4268

Network Working Group S. Chisholm Request for Comments: 4268 Nortel Networks Category: Standards Track D. Perkins

                                                              SNMPinfo
                                                         November 2005
                          Entity State MIB

Status of This Memo

 This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
 Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
 improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
 Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
 and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).

Abstract

 This memo defines a portion of the Management Information Base (MIB)
 for use with network management protocols in the Internet community.
 In particular, it describes extensions to the Entity MIB to provide
 information about the state of physical entities.
 In addition, this memo defines a set of Textual Conventions to
 represent various states of an entity.  The intent is that these
 Textual Conventions will be imported and used in MIB modules that
 would otherwise define their own representations.

Table of Contents

 1. The Internet-Standard Management Framework ......................2
 2. Entity State ....................................................2
    2.1. Hierarchical State Management ..............................3
    2.2. Entity Redundancy ..........................................3
    2.3. Physical Entity Users ......................................3
    2.4. Physical Class Behavior ....................................4
 3. Relation to Other MIBs ..........................................4
    3.1. Relation to the Interfaces MIB .............................4
    3.2. Relation to Alarm MIB ......................................5
    3.3. Relation to Bridge MIB .....................................5
    3.4. Relation to the Host Resources MIB .........................5
 4. Textual Conventions .............................................6
 5. Definitions .................................................... 9

Chisholm & Perkins Standards Track [Page 1] RFC 4268 Entity State MIB November 2005

 6. Security Considerations ........................................16
 7. Acknowledgements ...............................................17
 8. References .....................................................17
    8.1. Normative References ......................................17
    8.2. Informative References ....................................18

1. The Internet-Standard Management Framework

 For a detailed overview of the documents that describe the current
 Internet-Standard Management Framework, please refer to section 7 of
 RFC 3410 [RFC3410].
 Managed objects are accessed via a virtual information store, termed
 the Management Information Base or MIB.  MIB objects are generally
 accessed through the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).
 Objects in the MIB are defined using the mechanisms defined in the
 Structure of Management Information (SMI).  This memo specifies a MIB
 module that is compliant to the SMIv2, which is described in STD 58,
 RFC 2578 [RFC2578], STD 58, RFC 2579 [RFC2579] and STD 58, RFC 2580
 [RFC2580].

2. Entity State

 The goal in adding state objects to the Entity MIB [RFC4133] is to
 define a useful subset of the possible state attributes that could be
 tracked for a given entity and that both fit into the state models
 such as those used in the Interfaces MIB [RFC2863] as well as
 leverage existing well-deployed models.  The entStateTable contains
 state objects that are a subset of the popular ISO/OSI states that
 are also defined in ITU's X.731 specification [X.731].  Objects are
 defined to capture administrative, operational, and usage states.  In
 addition, there are further state objects defined to provide more
 information for these three basic states.
 Administrative state indicates permission to use or prohibition
 against using the entity and is imposed through the management
 services.
 Operational state indicates whether or not the entity is physically
 installed and working.  Note that unlike the ifOperStatus [RFC2863],
 this operational state is independent of the administrative state.
 Usage state indicates whether or not the entity is in use at a
 specific instance, and if so, whether or not it currently has spare
 capacity to serve additional users.  In the context of this MIB, the
 usage state refers to the ability of an entity to service other
 entities within its containment hierarchy.

Chisholm & Perkins Standards Track [Page 2] RFC 4268 Entity State MIB November 2005

 Alarm state indicates whether or not there are any alarms active
 against the entity.  In addition to those alarm states defined in
 X.731 [X.731], warning and indeterminate status are also defined to
 provide a more complete mapping to the Alarm MIB [RFC3877].
 Standby state indicates whether the entity is currently running as
 hot standby or cold standby or is currently providing service.
 The terms "state" and "status" are used interchangeably in this memo.
 The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
 "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
 document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [RFC2119].

2.1. Hierarchical State Management

 Physical entities exist within a containment hierarchy.  Physical
 containment is defined by the entPhysicalContainedIn object[RFC4133].
 This raises some interesting issues not addressed in existing work on
 state management.
 There are two types of state for an entity:
 1) The state of the entity independent of the states of its parents
 and children in its containment hierarchy.  This is often referred to
 as raw state.
 2) The state of the entity, as it may be influenced by the state of
 its parents and children.  This is often referred to as computed
 state.
 All state objects in this memo are raw state.

2.2. Entity Redundancy

 While this memo is not attempting to address the entire problem space
 around redundancy, the entStateStandby object provides an important
 piece of state information for entities, which helps identify which
 pieces of redundant equipment are currently providing service, and
 which are waiting in either hot or cold standby mode.

2.3. Physical Entity Users

 There are three ways to define the 'user' of a physical entity
 1. Direct containment in physical hierarchy
 2. Anywhere in physical hierarchy

Chisholm & Perkins Standards Track [Page 3] RFC 4268 Entity State MIB November 2005

 3. As defined by a means outside the scope of this MIB.  This could
 include logical interfaces that could run on a port, software that
 could run on a module, etc.
 Administrative, operational, alarm, and standby state use all three
 definitions of 'user'.  Usage state supports only the concept of
 direct containment to simplify implementations of this object.

2.4. Physical Class Behavior

 This MIB makes no effort to standardize the behaviors and
 characteristics of the various physical classes [RFC4133], but rather
 how this information is reported.  In looking at real-world products,
 items within the same physical class vary substantially.  The MIB has
 therefore provided guidance on how to support objects where a
 particular instance of a physical class cannot support part or all of
 a particular state.

3. Relation to Other MIBs

3.1. Relation to the Interfaces MIB

 The Interfaces MIB [RFC2863] defines the ifAdminStatus object, which
 has states of up, down, and testing, and the ifOperStatus object,
 which has states of up, down, testing, unknown, dormant, notPresent,
 and lowerLayerDown.
 An ifAdminStatus of 'up' is equivalent to setting the entStateAdmin
 object to 'unlocked'.  An ifAdminStatus of 'down' is equivalent to
 setting the entStateAdmin object to either 'locked' or
 'shuttingDown', depending on a system's interpretation of 'down'.
 An ifOperStatus of 'up' is equivalent to an entStateOper value of
 'enabled'.  An ifOperStatus of 'down' due to operational failure is
 equivalent to an entStateOper value of 'disabled'.  An ifOperStatus
 of 'down' due to being administratively disabled is equivalent to an
 entStateAdmin value of 'locked' and an entStateOper value of either
 'enabled' or 'disabled' depending on whether there are any known
 issues that would prevent the entity from becoming operational when
 its entStateAdmin is set to 'unlocked'.  An ifOperStatus of 'unknown'
 is equivalent to an entStateOper value of 'unknown'.  The
 ifOperStatus values of 'testing' and 'dormant' are not explicitly
 supported by this MIB, but the state objects will be able to reflect
 other aspects of the entities' administrative and operational state.
 The ifOperStatus values of 'notPresent' and 'lowerLayerDown' are in
 some ways computed states and so are therefore not supported in this

Chisholm & Perkins Standards Track [Page 4] RFC 4268 Entity State MIB November 2005

 MIB.  They can, though, be computed by examining the states of
 entities within this object's containment hierarchy and other
 available related states.

3.2. Relation to Alarm MIB

 The entStateAlarm object indicates whether or not there are any
 active alarms against this entity.  If there are active alarms, then
 the alarmActiveTable in the Alarm MIB [RFC3877] should be searched
 for rows whose alarmActiveResourceId matches this entPhysicalIndex.
 Alternatively, if the alarmActiveTable is queried first and an active
 alarm with a value of alarmActiveResourceId that matches this
 entPhysicalIndex is found, then entStateAlarm can be used to quickly
 determine if there are additional active alarms with a different
 severity against this physical entity.

3.3 Relation to Bridge MIB

 For entities of physical type of 'port' that support the
 dot1dStpPortEnable object in the Bridge MIB [RFC4188], a value of
 'enabled' is equivalent to setting the entStateAdmin object to
 'unlocked'.  Setting dot1dStpPortEnable to 'disabled' is equivalent
 to setting the entStateAdmin object to 'locked'.

3.4 Relation to the Host Resources MIB

 The hrDeviceStatus object in the Host Resources MIB [RFC2790]
 provides an operational state for devices.  For entities that
 logically correspond to the concept of a device, a value of 'unknown'
 for hrDeviceStatus corresponds to an entStateOper value of 'unknown'.
 A value of 'running' corresponds to an entStateOper value of
 'enabled'.  A value of 'warning' also corresponds to an entStateOper
 value of 'enabled', but with appropriate bits set in the
 entStateAlarm object to indicate the alarms corresponding to the
 unusual error condition detected.  A value of 'testing' or 'down' is
 equivalent to an entStateOper value of 'disabled'.

Chisholm & Perkins Standards Track [Page 5] RFC 4268 Entity State MIB November 2005

4. Textual Conventions

 ENTITY-STATE-TC-MIB DEFINITIONS ::= BEGIN
 IMPORTS
    MODULE-IDENTITY, mib-2       FROM SNMPv2-SMI
    TEXTUAL-CONVENTION           FROM SNMPv2-TC;
  entityStateTc MODULE-IDENTITY
      LAST-UPDATED "200511220000Z"
      ORGANIZATION "IETF Entity MIB Working Group"
      CONTACT-INFO
              "General Discussion: entmib@ietf.org
               To Subscribe:
               http://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/entmib
               http://www.ietf.org/html.charters/entmib-charter.html
               Sharon Chisholm
               Nortel Networks
               PO Box 3511 Station C
               Ottawa, Ont.  K1Y 4H7
               Canada
               schishol@nortel.com
               David T. Perkins
               548 Qualbrook Ct
               San Jose, CA 95110
               USA
               Phone: 408 394-8702
               dperkins@snmpinfo.com"
       DESCRIPTION
              "This MIB defines state textual conventions.
               Copyright (C) The Internet Society 2005.  This version
               of this MIB module is part of RFC 4268;  see the RFC
               itself for full legal notices."
       REVISION    "200511220000Z"
       DESCRIPTION
           "Initial version, published as RFC 4268."
      ::= { mib-2 130 }
   EntityAdminState  ::=  TEXTUAL-CONVENTION
     STATUS         current
     DESCRIPTION
          " Represents the various possible administrative states.

Chisholm & Perkins Standards Track [Page 6] RFC 4268 Entity State MIB November 2005

            A value of 'locked' means the resource is administratively
            prohibited from use.  A value of 'shuttingDown' means that
            usage is administratively limited to current instances of
            use.  A value of 'unlocked' means the resource is not
            administratively prohibited from use.  A value of
            'unknown' means that this resource is unable to
            report administrative state."
     SYNTAX         INTEGER
               {
               unknown (1),
               locked (2),
               shuttingDown (3),
               unlocked (4)
               }
   EntityOperState  ::=  TEXTUAL-CONVENTION
     STATUS         current
     DESCRIPTION
          " Represents the possible values of operational states.
            A value of 'disabled' means the resource is totally
            inoperable.  A value of 'enabled' means the resource
            is partially or fully operable.  A value of 'testing'
            means the resource is currently being tested
            and cannot therefore report whether it is operational
            or not.  A value of 'unknown' means that this
            resource is unable to report operational state."
     SYNTAX         INTEGER
               {
               unknown (1),
               disabled (2),
               enabled (3),
               testing (4)
               }
   EntityUsageState  ::=  TEXTUAL-CONVENTION
     STATUS         current
     DESCRIPTION
          " Represents the possible values of usage states.
            A value of 'idle' means the resource is servicing no
            users.  A value of 'active' means the resource is
            currently in use and it has sufficient spare capacity
            to provide for additional users.  A value of 'busy'
            means the resource is currently in use, but it
            currently has no spare capacity to provide for
            additional users.  A value of 'unknown' means
            that this resource is unable to report usage state."
     SYNTAX         INTEGER

Chisholm & Perkins Standards Track [Page 7] RFC 4268 Entity State MIB November 2005

               {
               unknown (1),
               idle (2),
               active (3),
               busy (4)
               }
  EntityAlarmStatus  ::=  TEXTUAL-CONVENTION
     STATUS         current
     DESCRIPTION
        " Represents the possible values of alarm status.
          An Alarm [RFC3877] is a persistent indication
          of an error or warning condition.
          When no bits of this attribute are set, then no active
          alarms are known against this entity and it is not under
          repair.
          When the 'value of underRepair' is set, the resource is
          currently being repaired, which, depending on the
          implementation, may make the other values in this bit
          string not meaningful.
          When the value of 'critical' is set, one or more critical
          alarms are active against the resource.  When the value
          of 'major' is set, one or more major alarms are active
          against the resource.  When the value of 'minor' is set,
          one or more minor alarms are active against the resource.
          When the value of 'warning' is set, one or more warning
          alarms are active against the resource.  When the value
          of 'indeterminate' is set, one or more alarms of whose
          perceived severity cannot be determined are active
          against this resource.
          A value of 'unknown' means that this resource is
          unable to report alarm state."
           SYNTAX         BITS
              {
              unknown (0),
              underRepair (1),
              critical(2),
              major(3),
              minor(4),
              -- The following are not defined in X.733
              warning (5),
              indeterminate (6)
                            }

Chisholm & Perkins Standards Track [Page 8] RFC 4268 Entity State MIB November 2005

   EntityStandbyStatus  ::=  TEXTUAL-CONVENTION
     STATUS         current
     DESCRIPTION
          " Represents the possible values of standby status.
            A value of 'hotStandby' means the resource is not
            providing service, but it will be immediately able to
            take over the role of the resource to be backed up,
            without the need for initialization activity, and will
            contain the same information as the resource to be
            backed up.  A value of 'coldStandy' means that the
            resource is to back up another resource, but will not
            be immediately able to take over the role of a resource
            to be backed up, and will require some initialization
            activity.  A value of 'providingService' means the
            resource is providing service.  A value of
            'unknown' means that this resource is unable to
            report standby state."
           SYNTAX         INTEGER
             {
             unknown (1),
             hotStandby (2),
             coldStandby (3),
             providingService (4)
             }
 END

5. Definitions

 ENTITY-STATE-MIB DEFINITIONS ::= BEGIN
   IMPORTS
       MODULE-IDENTITY, OBJECT-TYPE, NOTIFICATION-TYPE, mib-2
           FROM SNMPv2-SMI
       DateAndTime
           FROM SNMPv2-TC
       MODULE-COMPLIANCE, OBJECT-GROUP, NOTIFICATION-GROUP
            FROM SNMPv2-CONF
       entPhysicalIndex
            FROM ENTITY-MIB
       EntityAdminState, EntityOperState, EntityUsageState,
       EntityAlarmStatus, EntityStandbyStatus
            FROM ENTITY-STATE-TC-MIB;
   entityStateMIB MODULE-IDENTITY
       LAST-UPDATED "200511220000Z"
       ORGANIZATION "IETF Entity MIB Working Group"

Chisholm & Perkins Standards Track [Page 9] RFC 4268 Entity State MIB November 2005

       CONTACT-INFO
               " General Discussion: entmib@ietf.org
                 To Subscribe:
                 http://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/entmib
                 http://www.ietf.org/html.charters/entmib-charter.html
                 Sharon Chisholm
                 Nortel Networks
                 PO Box 3511 Station C
                 Ottawa, Ont.  K1Y 4H7
                 Canada
                 schishol@nortel.com
                 David T. Perkins
                 548 Qualbrook Ct
                 San Jose, CA 95110
                 USA
                 Phone: 408 394-8702
                 dperkins@snmpinfo.com
                "
       DESCRIPTION
           "This MIB defines a state extension to the Entity MIB.
            Copyright (C) The Internet Society 2005.  This version
            of this MIB module is part of RFC 4268; see the RFC
            itself for full legal notices."
       REVISION    "200511220000Z"
       DESCRIPTION
           "Initial version, published as RFC 4268."
       ::= { mib-2 131 }
  1. - Entity State Objects
   entStateObjects OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { entityStateMIB 1 }
   entStateTable OBJECT-TYPE
    SYNTAX      SEQUENCE OF EntStateEntry
    MAX-ACCESS  not-accessible
    STATUS      current
    DESCRIPTION
        "A table of information about state/status of entities.
         This is a sparse augment of the entPhysicalTable.  Entries
         appear in this table for values of
         entPhysicalClass [RFC4133] that in this implementation
         are able to report any of the state or status stored in
         this table.

Chisholm & Perkins Standards Track [Page 10] RFC 4268 Entity State MIB November 2005

         "
    ::= { entStateObjects 1 }
     entStateEntry OBJECT-TYPE
        SYNTAX      EntStateEntry
        MAX-ACCESS  not-accessible
        STATUS      current
        DESCRIPTION
            "State information about this physical entity."
        INDEX       { entPhysicalIndex }
        ::= { entStateTable 1 }
     EntStateEntry ::= SEQUENCE {
         entStateLastChanged DateAndTime,
         entStateAdmin       EntityAdminState,
         entStateOper        EntityOperState,
         entStateUsage       EntityUsageState,
         entStateAlarm       EntityAlarmStatus,
         entStateStandby     EntityStandbyStatus
        }
   entStateLastChanged OBJECT-TYPE
    SYNTAX      DateAndTime
    MAX-ACCESS  read-only
    STATUS      current
    DESCRIPTION
      "The value of this object is the date and
       time when the value of any of entStateAdmin,
       entStateOper, entStateUsage, entStateAlarm,
       or entStateStandby changed for this entity.
       If there has been no change since
       the last re-initialization of the local system,
       this object contains the date and time of
       local system initialization.  If there has been
       no change since the entity was added to the
       local system, this object contains the date and
       time of the insertion."
    ::= { entStateEntry 1 }
 entStateAdmin OBJECT-TYPE
        SYNTAX      EntityAdminState
        MAX-ACCESS  read-write
        STATUS      current
        DESCRIPTION
             "The administrative state for this entity.

Chisholm & Perkins Standards Track [Page 11] RFC 4268 Entity State MIB November 2005

              This object refers to an entities administrative
              permission to service both other entities within
              its containment hierarchy as well other users of
              its services defined by means outside the scope
              of this MIB.
              Setting this object to 'notSupported' will result
              in an 'inconsistentValue' error.  For entities that
              do not support administrative state, all set
              operations will result in an 'inconsistentValue'
              error.
              Some physical entities exhibit only a subset of the
              remaining administrative state values.  Some entities
              cannot be locked, and hence this object exhibits only
              the 'unlocked' state.  Other entities cannot be shutdown
              gracefully, and hence this object does not exhibit the
              'shuttingDown' state.  A value of 'inconsistentValue'
              will be returned if attempts are made to set this
              object to values not supported by its administrative
              model."
        ::= { entStateEntry 2 }
  entStateOper OBJECT-TYPE
        SYNTAX      EntityOperState
        MAX-ACCESS  read-only
        STATUS      current
        DESCRIPTION
            "The operational state for this entity.
             Note that unlike the state model used within the
             Interfaces MIB [RFC2863], this object does not follow
             the administrative state.  An administrative state of
             down does not predict an operational state
             of disabled.
             A value of 'testing' means that entity currently being
             tested and cannot therefore report whether it is
             operational or not.
             A value of 'disabled' means that an entity is totally
             inoperable and unable to provide service both to entities
             within its containment hierarchy, or to other receivers
             of its service as defined in ways outside the scope of
             this MIB.
             A value of 'enabled' means that an entity is fully or
             partially operable and able to provide service both to

Chisholm & Perkins Standards Track [Page 12] RFC 4268 Entity State MIB November 2005

             entities within its containment hierarchy, or to other
             receivers of its service as defined in ways outside the
             scope of this MIB.
             Note that some implementations may not be able to
             accurately report entStateOper while the
             entStateAdmin object has a value other than 'unlocked'.
             In these cases, this object MUST have a value
             of 'unknown'."
        ::= { entStateEntry 3 }
  entStateUsage OBJECT-TYPE
        SYNTAX      EntityUsageState
        MAX-ACCESS  read-only
        STATUS      current
        DESCRIPTION
            "The usage state for this entity.
             This object refers to an entity's ability to service more
             physical entities in a containment hierarchy.  A value
             of 'idle' means this entity is able to contain other
             entities but that no other entity is currently
             contained within this entity.
             A value of 'active' means that at least one entity is
             contained within this entity, but that it could handle
             more.  A value of 'busy' means that the entity is unable
             to handle any additional entities being contained in it.
             Some entities will exhibit only a subset of the
             usage state values.  Entities that are unable to ever
             service any entities within a containment hierarchy will
             always have a usage state of 'busy'.  Some entities will
             only ever be able to support one entity within its
             containment hierarchy and will therefore only exhibit
             values of 'idle' and 'busy'."
           ::= { entStateEntry 4 }
  entStateAlarm OBJECT-TYPE
        SYNTAX      EntityAlarmStatus
        MAX-ACCESS  read-only
        STATUS      current
        DESCRIPTION
            "The alarm status for this entity.  It does not include
             the alarms raised on child components within its
             containment hierarchy.
             A value of 'unknown' means that this entity is

Chisholm & Perkins Standards Track [Page 13] RFC 4268 Entity State MIB November 2005

             unable to report alarm state.  Note that this differs
             from 'indeterminate', which means that alarm state
             is supported and there are alarms against this entity,
             but the severity of some of the alarms is not known.
             If no bits are set, then this entity supports reporting
             of alarms, but there are currently no active alarms
             against this entity."
        ::= { entStateEntry 5 }
 entStateStandby OBJECT-TYPE
        SYNTAX EntityStandbyStatus
        MAX-ACCESS read-only
        STATUS current
        DESCRIPTION
             "The standby status for this entity.
             Some entities will exhibit only a subset of the
             remaining standby state values.  If this entity
             cannot operate in a standby role, the value of this
             object will always be 'providingService'."
   ::= { entStateEntry 6 }
  1. - Notifications

entStateNotifications OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { entityStateMIB 0 }

 entStateOperEnabled NOTIFICATION-TYPE
    OBJECTS { entStateAdmin,
              entStateAlarm
            }
    STATUS             current
    DESCRIPTION
            "An entStateOperEnabled notification signifies that the
             SNMP entity, acting in an agent role, has detected that
             the entStateOper object for one of its entities has
             transitioned into the 'enabled' state.
             The entity this notification refers can be identified by
             extracting the entPhysicalIndex from one of the
             variable bindings.  The entStateAdmin and entStateAlarm
             varbinds may be examined to find out additional
             information on the administrative state at the time of
             the operation state change as well as to find out whether
             there were any known alarms against the entity at that
             time that may explain why the physical entity has become
             operationally disabled."
   ::= { entStateNotifications 1 }

Chisholm & Perkins Standards Track [Page 14] RFC 4268 Entity State MIB November 2005

 entStateOperDisabled NOTIFICATION-TYPE
    OBJECTS { entStateAdmin,
              entStateAlarm }
    STATUS             current
    DESCRIPTION
            "An entStateOperDisabled notification signifies that the
             SNMP entity, acting in an agent role, has detected that
             the entStateOper object for one of its entities has
             transitioned into the 'disabled' state.
             The entity this notification refers can be identified by
             extracting the entPhysicalIndex from one of the
             variable bindings.  The entStateAdmin and entStateAlarm
             varbinds may be examined to find out additional
             information on the administrative state at the time of
             the operation state change as well as to find out whether
             there were any known alarms against the entity at that
             time that may affect the physical entity's
             ability to stay operationally enabled."
   ::= { entStateNotifications 2 }
  1. - Conformance and Compliance
 entStateConformance OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { entityStateMIB 2 }
 entStateCompliances OBJECT IDENTIFIER
                   ::= { entStateConformance 1 }
 entStateCompliance MODULE-COMPLIANCE
       STATUS  current
       DESCRIPTION
           "The compliance statement for systems supporting
           the Entity State MIB."
       MODULE -- this module
           MANDATORY-GROUPS {
            entStateGroup
           }
       GROUP       entStateNotificationsGroup
          DESCRIPTION
              "This group is optional."
       OBJECT entStateAdmin
        MIN-ACCESS  read-only
        DESCRIPTION
            "Write access is not required."
    ::= { entStateCompliances 1 }
 entStateGroups OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { entStateConformance 2 }

Chisholm & Perkins Standards Track [Page 15] RFC 4268 Entity State MIB November 2005

 entStateGroup OBJECT-GROUP
    OBJECTS {
            entStateLastChanged,
            entStateAdmin,
            entStateOper,
            entStateUsage,
            entStateAlarm,
            entStateStandby
            }
     STATUS   current
     DESCRIPTION
          "Standard Entity State group."
     ::= { entStateGroups 1}
 entStateNotificationsGroup NOTIFICATION-GROUP
    NOTIFICATIONS {
            entStateOperEnabled,
            entStateOperDisabled
            }
     STATUS   current
     DESCRIPTION
          "Standard Entity State Notification group."
     ::= { entStateGroups 2}
 END

6. Security Considerations

 The ENTITY-STATE-TC-MIB defined in section 4 does not define any
 management objects.  Instead, it defines a set of textual conventions
 that may be used by other MIB modules to define management objects.
 Meaningful security considerations can only be written in the MIB
 modules that define management objects.  The ENTITY-STATE-TC-MIB has
 therefore no impact on the security of the Internet.
 The ENTITY-STATE-MIB defined in section 5 defines one management
 object -- entStateAdmin -- that has a MAX-ACCESS clause of read-
 write.  The object may be considered sensitive or vulnerable in some
 network environments.  The support for SET operations in a non-secure
 environment without proper protection can have a negative effect on
 network operations.
 Note that setting the entStateAdmin to 'locked' or 'shuttingDown' can
 cause disruption of services ranging from those running on a port to
 those on an entire device, depending on the type of entity.  Access
 to this object should be properly protected.

Chisholm & Perkins Standards Track [Page 16] RFC 4268 Entity State MIB November 2005

 Access to the objects defined in this MIB allows one to figure out
 what the active and standby resources in a network are.  This
 information can be used to optimize attacks on networks so even
 read-only access to this MIB should be properly protected.
 SNMP versions prior to SNMPv3 did not include adequate security.
 Even if the network itself is secure (for example by using IPsec),
 even then, there is no control as to who on the secure network is
 allowed to access and GET/SET (read/change/create/delete) the objects
 in this MIB module.
 It is RECOMMENDED that implementers consider the security features as
 provided by the SNMPv3 framework (see [RFC3410], section 8),
 including full support for the SNMPv3 cryptographic mechanisms (for
 authentication and privacy).
 Further, deployment of SNMP versions prior to SNMPv3 is NOT
 RECOMMENDED.  Instead, it is RECOMMENDED to deploy SNMPv3 and to
 enable cryptographic security.  It is then a customer/operator
 responsibility to ensure that the SNMP entity giving access to an
 instance of this MIB module is properly configured to give access to
 the objects only to those principals (entities) that have legitimate
 rights to indeed GET or SET (change/create/delete) them.

7. Acknowledgements

 This document is a product of the Entity MIB Working Group.

8. References

8.1. Normative References

 [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
            Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
 [RFC2578]  McCloghrie, K., Perkins, D., Schoenwaelder, J., Case, J.,
            Rose, M., and S. Waldbusser, "Structure of Management
            Information Version 2 (SMIv2)", STD 58, RFC 2578, April
            1999.
 [RFC2579]  McCloghrie, K., Perkins, D., Schoenwaelder, J., Case, J.,
            Rose, M., and S. Waldbusser, "Textual Conventions for
            SMIv2", STD 58, RFC 2579, April 1999.
 [RFC2580]  McCloghrie, K., Perkins, D., Schoenwaelder, J., Case, J.,
            Rose, M., and S. Waldbusser, "Conformance Statements for
            SMIv2", STD 58, RFC 2580, April 1999.

Chisholm & Perkins Standards Track [Page 17] RFC 4268 Entity State MIB November 2005

 [RFC4133]  Bierman, A. and K. McCloghrie, "Entity MIB (Version 3)",
            RFC 4133, August 2005.

8.2. Informative References

 [RFC2790]  Waldbusser, S. and P. Grillo, "Host Resources MIB", RFC
            2790, March 2000.
 [RFC2863]  McCloghrie, K. and F. Kastenholz, "The Interfaces Group
            MIB using SMIv2", RFC 2863, June 2000.
 [RFC3410]  Case, J., Mundy, R., Partain, D., and B. Stewart,
            "Introduction and Applicability Statements for Internet-
            Standard Management Framework", RFC 3410, December 2002.
 [RFC3877]  Chisholm, S. and D. Romascanu, "Alarm Management
            Information Base (MIB)", RFC 3877, September 2004.
 [RFC4188]  Norseth, K. and E. Bell, "Definitions of Managed Objects
            for Bridges", RFC 4188, September 2005.
 [X.731]    ITU Recommendation X.731, "Information Technology - Open
            Systems Interconnection - System Management: State
            Management Function", 1992.

Authors' Addresses

 Sharon Chisholm
 Nortel Networks
 PO Box 3511, Station C
 Ottawa, Ontario, K1Y 4H7
 Canada
 EMail: schishol@nortel.com
 David T. Perkins
 548 Qualbrook Ct
 San Jose, CA 95110
 USA
 Phone: 408 394-8702
 EMail: dperkins@snmpinfo.com

Chisholm & Perkins Standards Track [Page 18] RFC 4268 Entity State MIB November 2005

Full Copyright Statement

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Chisholm & Perkins Standards Track [Page 19]

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