Network Working Group S. Cobb
Request for Comments: 1877 Microsoft
Category: Informational December 1995
PPP Internet Protocol Control Protocol Extensions for
Name Server Addresses
Status of this Memo
This memo provides information for the Internet community. This memo
does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of
this memo is unlimited.
Abstract
The Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) [1] provides a standard method for
transporting multi-protocol datagrams over point-to-point links. PPP
defines an extensible Link Control Protocol and a family of Network
Control Protocols (NCPs) for establishing and configuring different
network-layer protocols.
This document extends the NCP for establishing and configuring the
Internet Protocol over PPP [2], defining the negotiation of primary
and secondary Domain Name System (DNS) [3] and NetBIOS Name Server
(NBNS) [4] addresses.
Table of Contents
1. Additional IPCP Configuration options ................. 1
1.1 Primary DNS Server Address .................... 2
1.2 Primary NBNS Server Address ................... 3
1.3 Secondary DNS Server Address .................. 4
1.4 Secondary NBNS Server Address ................. 5
REFRENCES .................................................... 6
SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS ...................................... 6
CHAIR'S ADDRESS .............................................. 6
AUTHOR'S ADDRESS ............................................. 6
1. Additional IPCP Configuration Options
The four name server address configuration options, 129 to 132,
provide a method of obtaining the addresses of Domain Name System
(DNS) servers and (NetBIOS Name Server (NBNS) nodes on the remote
network.
Cobb Informational [Page 1]RFC 1877 PPP IPCP Extensions December 1995
Primary and secondary addresses are negotiated independently. They
serve identical purposes, except that when both are present an
attempt SHOULD be made to resolve names using the primary address
before using the secondary address.
For implementational convenience, these options are designed to be
identical in format and behavior to option 3 (IP-Address) which is
already present in most IPCP implementations.
Since the usefulness of name server address information is dependent
on the topology of the remote network and local peer's application,
it is suggested that these options not be included in the list of
"IPCP Recommended Options".
1.1. Primary DNS Server Address
Description
This Configuration Option defines a method for negotiating with
the remote peer the address of the primary DNS server to be used
on the local end of the link. If local peer requests an invalid
server address (which it will typically do intentionally) the
remote peer specifies the address by NAKing this option, and
returning the IP address of a valid DNS server.
By default, no primary DNS address is provided.
A summary of the Primary DNS Address Configuration Option format is
shown below. The fields are transmitted from left to right.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Type | Length | Primary-DNS-Address
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Primary-DNS-Address (cont) |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Type
129
Length
6
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Primary-DNS-Address
The four octet Primary-DNS-Address is the address of the primary
DNS server to be used by the local peer. If all four octets are
set to zero, it indicates an explicit request that the peer
provide the address information in a Config-Nak packet.
Default
No address is provided.
1.2. Primary NBNS Server Address
Description
This Configuration Option defines a method for negotiating with
the remote peer the address of the primary NBNS server to be used
on the local end of the link. If local peer requests an invalid
server address (which it will typically do intentionally) the
remote peer specifies the address by NAKing this option, and
returning the IP address of a valid NBNS server.
By default, no primary NBNS address is provided.
A summary of the Primary NBNS Address Configuration Option format is
shown below. The fields are transmitted from left to right.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Type | Length | Primary-NBNS-Address
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Primary-NBNS-Address (cont) |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Type
130
Length
6
Primary-NBNS-Address
The four octet Primary-NBNS-Address is the address of the primary
NBNS server to be used by the local peer. If all four octets are
set to zero, it indicates an explicit request that the peer
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provide the address information in a Config-Nak packet.
Default
No address is provided.
1.3. Secondary DNS Server Address
Description
This Configuration Option defines a method for negotiating with
the remote peer the address of the secondary DNS server to be used
on the local end of the link. If local peer requests an invalid
server address (which it will typically do intentionally) the
remote peer specifies the address by NAKing this option, and
returning the IP address of a valid DNS server.
By default, no secondary DNS address is provided.
A summary of the Secondary DNS Address Configuration Option format is
shown below. The fields are transmitted from left to right.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Type | Length | Secondary-DNS-Address
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Secondary-DNS-Address (cont) |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Type
131
Length
6
Secondary-DNS-Address
The four octet Secondary-DNS-Address is the address of the primary
NBNS server to be used by the local peer. If all four octets are
set to zero, it indicates an explicit request that the peer
provide the address information in a Config-Nak packet.
Default
No address is provided.
Cobb Informational [Page 4]RFC 1877 PPP IPCP Extensions December 1995
1.4. Secondary NBNS Server Address
Description
This Configuration Option defines a method for negotiating with
the remote peer the address of the secondary NBNS server to be
used on the local end of the link. If local peer requests an
invalid server address (which it will typically do intentionally)
the remote peer specifies the address by NAKing this option, and
returning the IP address of a valid NBNS server.
By default, no secondary NBNS address is provided.
A summary of the Secondary NBNS Address Configuration Option format
is shown below. The fields are transmitted from left to right.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Type | Length | Secondary-NBNS-Address
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Secondary-NBNS-Address (cont) |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Type
132
Length
6
Secondary-NBNS-Address
The four octet Secondary-NBNS-Address is the address of the
secondary NBNS server to be used by the local peer. If all
four octets are set to zero, it indicates an explicit request
that the peer provide the address information in a Config-Nak
packet.
Default
No address is provided.
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References
[1] Simpson, W., Editor, "The Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP)", STD 51,
RFC 1661, Daydreamer, July 1994.
[2] McGregor, G., "PPP Internet Control Protocol", RFC 1332, Merit,
May 1992.
[3] Auerbach, K., and A. Aggarwal, "Protocol Standard for a NetBIOS
Service on a TCP/UDP Transport", STD 19, RFCs 1001 and 1002,
March 1987.
[4] Mockapetris, P., "Domain Names - Concepts and Facilities", STD
13, RFC 1034, USC/Information Sciences Institute, November 1987.
[5] Mockapetris, P., "Domain Names - Implementation and
Specification", STD 13, RFC 1035, USC/Information Sciences
Institute, November 1987.
Security Considerations
Security issues are not discussed in this memo.
Chair's Address
The working group can be contacted via the current chair:
Fred Baker
Cisco Systems
519 Lado Drive
Santa Barbara, California 93111
EMail: fred@cisco.com
Author's Address
Questions about this memo can also be directed to:
Steve Cobb
Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052-6399
Phone: (206) 882-8080
EMail: stevec@microsoft.com
Cobb Informational [Page 6]
