Subject: DHCPv6 spec, rev -17

From: Ralph Droms <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 01 Mar 2001 10:43:45 -0500

We will submit the -17 rev of the DHCPv6 spec draft this morning.  If you 
want a preview, I'll put up a copy at www.dhcp.org until the draft gets 
through the IETF publication process.  More details on agenda for 3/14 
teleconference and WG meeting in Minneapolis will follow in another message.

Here's a summary of the major new work in the -17 rev (see Appendix C in 
the draft for more details):

* New messages for confirming addresses and extending the lease on an IA

    Four new messages, DHCP Confirm, DHCP Renew, DHCP Rebind and DHCP
    Decline, have been added and are described in section 13.
    Client behavior - when and how to send these new
    messages - and server behavior - how to respond to
    each - has been defined.  The message type codes for these
    messages have been added to section 7.3.

* New messages formats

    Section 9 has been restructured to include only one copy of the DHCP
    message header, because now all the messages have the same header
    format.  Descriptions of the use of header fields in the Confirm,
    Renew, Rebind and Decline messages have been added to 9.

* Clarified relay forwarding of messages

    Added text to sections on relay behavior to clarify encapsulation and
    decapsulation of client messages in Relay-forward and Relay-reply
    messages.

* Addresses and options in Solicit, Advertise messages

    Modified section 12.4.2 so that servers include addresses to be
    assigned and other options in Advertise messages.  Also added
    text to disallow option values (except as noted in option defs)
    in Solicit messages.

* Specification of transaction ID in Solicit message

    Add text (which was missing) to specify the insertion of a
    transaction ID in Solicit messages.

* Relay agent messages

    The formats of relay agent messages are now described in a separate
    section, 10.

* Relay agent behavior

    The behavior of relay agents for all client and server messages is
    now described in a single section, 15.

* Transmission of all client messages through relays

    All client messages are now multicast to the All Agents multicast
    address and forwarded by relays as appropriate.

* Reconfigure-init messages

    Client behavior in response to a Reconfigure-init messages has
    been extended to accommodate receipt of multiple copies of a
    Reconfigure-init message due to duplicate messages or retransmission.

    Server use of multicast Reconfigure-init has been specified.

    Hints about use of multicast and unicast for reliable reconfiguration
    have been added to server implementor's hints.

* Ordering of sections

    Several sections have been re-ordered for clarity.

* DSTM option

    The DSTM option has been added (section 16.9).

Here's what we *didn't* do, yet:

* Authentication - we ran out of time (may get in a -18 rev
   before tomorrow's deadline)

* Multicast authentication - no solution available yet

* Anonymous addresses - waiting for requirements doc

* Unique IDs for IAs (avoid indexing by prefix as
   well as DUID) - waiting for description of DUID
   selection mechanism

* Additional options, data type descriptions in
   base spec, relay agent options - ran out of time
   (thanks for the input, Bernie - we'll get to it
   ASAP)

* Delete operational parameters option (option to
   override defaults for client timeout, retransmission
   attempts, etc.) - no WG feedback on whether the
   option is a bug or a feature