Network Working Group D. Harrington, Ed.
Request for Comments: 5249 Huawei Technologies (USA)
BCP: 139 July 2008
Category: Best Current Practice
Templates for Internet-Drafts Containing MIB Modules
Status of This Memo
This document specifies an Internet Best Current Practices for the
Internet Community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Abstract
This memo references three annotated templates for IETF documents
that contain the definition of MIB modules. It is intended to reduce
the work of the editors of such documents, making these documents
more uniform and easier to read and review, thus furthering the
quality of such documents and expediting their publication.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4. Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
5. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Harrington Best Current Practice [Page 1]RFC 5249 MIB Module Document Templates July 2008
1. Introduction
This memo references three annotated templates for IETF documents
that contain the definition of MIB modules. It is intended to reduce
the work of the editors of such documents, making these more uniform
and easier to read and review, thus furthering the quality of such
documents and expediting their publication.
2. Overview
The MIB Doctors directorate has produced three templates specifically
aimed at Internet-Drafts containing MIB modules. The templates are
available at the IETF Tools web site, listed as "Templates for MIB
Documents".
o The first is an XML template for editors that use XML2RFC. Some
advice echoing guidelines from RFC 4181 is embedded in comments.
o A second template is a text template for MIB documents with advice
embedded in the document.
o A third template is a plain text template with no advice included.
The templates were developed to make IETF documents that contain MIB
modules more consistent. This makes it easier for a MIB Doctor and
other IETF participants to review the document. There are a number
of MUSTs in the templates, especially in the advice; these usually
refer to IESG requirements for Internet-Drafts, and MIB Doctors are
likely to check for these requirements.
The templates contain boilerplates that are required for IETF MIB
module documents. It has been common practice for editors to use
existing MIB module documents as templates. This approach has
problems because boilerplates and other required elements change over
time. The templates referenced by this document will be made
available on the IETF Tools web site, and occasionally updated to
reflect the latest requirements. The most up-to-date revisions of
the templates are available at http://www.tools.ietf.org.
The templates contain sections that describe the purpose and
organization of the MIB module, and the relationship between this MIB
module and other MIB modules. This makes it easier for MIB Doctors
to understand the MIB module, which speeds the review process.
Editors should read RFC 4181 "Guidelines for Authors and Reviewers of
MIB Documents" [RFC4181], which describes best current practices for
MIB module document editing.
Harrington Best Current Practice [Page 2]RFC 5249 MIB Module Document Templates July 2008
The document templates do not include a template for the MIB module
itself. Tools to validate MIB modules typically require that the MIB
module be separated from the surrounding document. The MIB Doctors
feel that the simplest approach is to develop the MIB module outside
the document that contains the surrounding text, and then include the
MIB module into the surrounding document written using the templates.
3. Security Considerations
This memo recommends templates for editing; it has no direct impact
on network security. The templates include boilerplates and
associated advice for writing the Security Considerations section of
an Internet-Draft that documents a MIB module.
4. Contributors
These templates are based on contributions from the MIB Doctors,
especially Juergen Schoenwaelder, Dave Perkins, C.M. Heard, and Randy
Presuhn.
5. Normative References
[RFC4181] Heard, C., "Guidelines for Authors and Reviewers of MIB
Documents", BCP 111, RFC 4181, September 2005.
Author's Address
David Harrington (editor)
Huawei Technologies (USA)
1700 Alma Drive, Suite 100
Plano, TX 75075
USA
Phone: +1 603 436 8634
EMail: dharrington@huawei.com
Harrington Best Current Practice [Page 3]RFC 5249 MIB Module Document Templates July 2008
Full Copyright Statement
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Harrington Best Current Practice [Page 4]
