Network Inventory YANG B. Wu Internet-Draft Huawei Intended status: Standards Track C. Zhou Expires: 23 April 2026 China Mobile Q. Wu Huawei M. Boucadair Orange 20 October 2025 A YANG Network Data Model of Network Inventory Software Extensions draft-ietf-ivy-network-inventory-software-02 Abstract This document extends the base Network Inventory YANG model to support non-physical network elements (NEs), such as controllers, virtual routers, and virtual firewalls, as well as software components like platform operating systems and software modules. In addition to the software revisions and patches already defined in the base model, this extension introduces software status and time stamp information. 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/. Wu, et al. Expires 23 April 2026 [Page 1] Internet-Draft Network Inventory Software October 2025 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." This Internet-Draft will expire on 23 April 2026. 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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.1. Editorial Note (To be removed by RFC Editor) . . . . . . 3 1.2. Terminology and Notations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2. Requirements Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3. Relationship to Other YANG Data Models . . . . . . . . . . . 4 4. Model Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 5. Non-physical Network Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 6. Software components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 7. YANG Data model for Network Inventory Software Extensions . . 6 8. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 9. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 10. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 10.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 10.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Appendix A. Examples of Software Attributes . . . . . . . . . . 14 Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Wu, et al. Expires 23 April 2026 [Page 2] Internet-Draft Network Inventory Software October 2025 1. Introduction The Network Inventory consists of the physical and non-physical network elements (NEs), hardware components, firmware components, and software components on 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. [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 modules, 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] Wu, et al. Expires 23 April 2026 [Page 3] Internet-Draft Network Inventory Software October 2025 1.2. Terminology and Notations The following terms are defined in [RFC7950] and are not redefined here: * client * server * augment * 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 the base network inventory model. The Software Extension network inventory model enhances the model defined in the base network inventory model with more software specific attributes. Wu, et al. Expires 23 April 2026 [Page 4] Internet-Draft Network Inventory Software October 2025 +----------------------+ | | |Base Network Inventory| | | +----------^-----------+ | | | | +----------^-----------+ | | | Software Extensions | | e.g.,SW module | | | +----------------------+ Figure 1: Relationship of SW Extension Model to the Base Inventory Model 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/nwi:software-rev: +--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:software-rev/nwi:patch: +--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 /nwi:software-rev: +--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 /nwi:software-rev/nwi:patch: +--ro status? identityref +--ro installation-time? yang:date-and-time +--ro activation-time? yang:date-and-time Wu, et al. Expires 23 April 2026 [Page 5] Internet-Draft Network Inventory Software October 2025 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". 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 software installed on the NE, such as operating system, software modules, BIOS, and boot loaders. Similar to the common inventory attributes of NEs, the common attributes of software components (such as software revisions, patch revisions, product name, and serial number) are also applicable to software components. For software revisions and patch revisions, the base inventory (Section 4 of [I-D.ietf-ivy-network-inventory-yang]) defines the "list" of "software-rev" and the "list" of "patch". For example, on a router, software components may include a routing protocol package (e.g., " foo-rt-protocol-suite"), or a firmware module for a line card (e.g., " foo-lc-fw-21.5.3"). If more detailed installation and activation information is needed—such as whether a component is active, pending-reboot, or rollback-eligible, along with its install time or activation time stamp, 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]. Wu, et al. Expires 23 April 2026 [Page 6] Internet-Draft Network Inventory Software October 2025 file "ietf-network-inventory-sw-ext@2025-10-20.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 "IETF Network Inventory YANG (ivy) Working Group"; contact "WG Web: WG List: Editor: Bo Wu Editor: Cheng Zhou Editor: Qin Wu Editor: Mohamed Boucadair "; 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. Wu, et al. Expires 23 April 2026 [Page 7] Internet-Draft Network Inventory Software October 2025 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 2025-10-20 { description "Initial version"; reference "RFC XXXX: A YANG Data Model for Network Inventory Software Extensions."; } identity ne-nonphysical { base nwi:ne-type; description "Any network element implemented purely in software. It performs protocol or forwarding functions but does not correspond to a distinguishable hardware chassis. It can be hosted on a bare-metal server, VM, container, or cloud instance."; } identity ne-software { base ne-nonphysical; description "Software NE that runs directly on a host OS (a.k.a. bare-metal deployment) or hypervisor. Examples of software NEs are network controllers."; } identity ne-virtual { base ne-nonphysical; description "Virtual NE instantiated inside a virtual-machine (VM). Provides virtual network function (VNF) implementations such as vRouter, vFirewall, vPE."; } identity ne-container { base ne-nonphysical; description "Container NE packaged as CNF (Containerised Network Function). Runs under Docker/K8s."; } identity software-component { Wu, et al. Expires 23 April 2026 [Page 8] Internet-Draft Network Inventory Software October 2025 base nwi:non-hardware-component-class; description "Base identity for software components in a managed device."; } identity operating-system { base software-component; description "Operating system software type."; } identity bios { base software-component; description "BIOS or UEFI firmware image responsible for hardware initialisation and secure boot."; } 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 "Installable unit smaller than a full OS image, e.g. feature package."; } 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."; } Wu, et al. Expires 23 April 2026 [Page 9] Internet-Draft Network Inventory Software October 2025 grouping software-info-grouping { 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 "Time when the software or patch revision was first installed."; } leaf activation-time { type yang:date-and-time; description "Time when the currently installed revision became active (i.e., was rebooted into)."; } } /* Main blocks */ augment "/nwi:network-inventory/nwi:network-elements" + "/nwi:network-element/nwi:software-rev" { description "Adds installation-/activation-time, status, etc. to the base NE software revision."; uses software-info-grouping; } augment "/nwi:network-inventory/nwi:network-elements" + "/nwi:network-element/nwi:software-rev/nwi:patch" { description "Adds installation-/activation-time, status, etc. to the patch level."; uses software-info-grouping; } augment "/nwi:network-inventory/nwi:network-elements/" + "nwi:network-element/nwi:components/nwi:component/" + "nwi:software-rev" { description "Extends components, such as line-card/CPU/etc. software revision with timestamp and state information."; Wu, et al. Expires 23 April 2026 [Page 10] Internet-Draft Network Inventory Software October 2025 uses software-info-grouping; } augment "/nwi:network-inventory/nwi:network-elements/" + "nwi:network-element/nwi:components/nwi:component/" + "nwi:software-rev/nwi:patch" { description "Applies the software-info attributes to component-level patches."; uses software-info-grouping; } } 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. 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: * "/nwi:network-elements/network-element/software-rev" This subtree reports the software information for all the network elements and their hardware components deployed within the network as well as of the software modules being active on these network elements and components. This may reveal software versions or unpatched vulnerabilities. Wu, et al. Expires 23 April 2026 [Page 11] Internet-Draft Network Inventory Software October 2025 9. IANA Considerations IANA is requested to register the following URI in the "ns" subregistry within the "IETF XML Registry" [RFC3688]: 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-11, 14 October 2025, . [RFC3688] Mealling, M., "The IETF XML Registry", BCP 81, RFC 3688, DOI 10.17487/RFC3688, January 2004, . [RFC6020] Bjorklund, M., Ed., "YANG - A Data Modeling Language for the Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF)", RFC 6020, DOI 10.17487/RFC6020, October 2010, . [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, . [RFC6991] Schoenwaelder, J., Ed., "Common YANG Data Types", RFC 6991, DOI 10.17487/RFC6991, July 2013, . Wu, et al. Expires 23 April 2026 [Page 12] Internet-Draft Network Inventory Software October 2025 [RFC7950] Bjorklund, M., Ed., "The YANG 1.1 Data Modeling Language", RFC 7950, DOI 10.17487/RFC7950, August 2016, . [RFC8341] Bierman, A. and M. Bjorklund, "Network Configuration Access Control Model", STD 91, RFC 8341, DOI 10.17487/RFC8341, March 2018, . [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, . 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, . [RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997, . [RFC4252] Ylonen, T. and C. Lonvick, Ed., "The Secure Shell (SSH) Authentication Protocol", RFC 4252, DOI 10.17487/RFC4252, January 2006, . [RFC8040] Bierman, A., Bjorklund, M., and K. Watsen, "RESTCONF Protocol", RFC 8040, DOI 10.17487/RFC8040, January 2017, . [RFC8174] Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC 2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174, May 2017, . [RFC8309] Wu, Q., Liu, W., and A. Farrel, "Service Models Explained", RFC 8309, DOI 10.17487/RFC8309, January 2018, . [RFC8340] Bjorklund, M. and L. Berger, Ed., "YANG Tree Diagrams", BCP 215, RFC 8340, DOI 10.17487/RFC8340, March 2018, . Wu, et al. Expires 23 April 2026 [Page 13] Internet-Draft Network Inventory Software October 2025 [RFC8446] Rescorla, E., "The Transport Layer Security (TLS) Protocol Version 1.3", RFC 8446, DOI 10.17487/RFC8446, August 2018, . [RFC9000] Iyengar, J., Ed. and M. Thomson, Ed., "QUIC: A UDP-Based Multiplexed and Secure Transport", RFC 9000, DOI 10.17487/RFC9000, May 2021, . Appendix A. Examples of Software Attributes This appendix provides some examples of software attributes implementations and how they can be modeled using the “ietf-network- inventory-sw-ext” module defined. This appendix illustrates, by means of two typical scenarios, how to populate the software-specific nodes defined in ietf-network- inventory-sw-ext and explains the common values that can be used. Scenario 1: Whole-device base software (example-os) plus hot patches (P3 already activated, P4 installed but not yet activated). Scenario 2: Line-card programmable forwarding image (example-fpga- image) plus its patch (2.1.0.P1 installed and awaiting activation). =============== NOTE: '' line wrapping per RFC 8792 ================ { "ietf-network-inventory:network-inventory": { "network-elements": { "network-element": [ { "ne-id": "example:NE-01", "software-rev": [ { "name": "example:ne-os", "revision": "7.9.2", "ietf-network- inventory-sw-ext:status": "software-\ activated", "ietf-network- inventory-sw-ext:installation-time": "\ 2024-08-01T12:00:00Z", "ietf- network-inventory-sw-ext:activation-time": "2024\ -08-01T12:05:00Z", "patch": [ { "revision": "P3", "ietf-network-inventory-sw- ext:status": "software-\ activated", "ietf-network-inventory-sw- ext:installation-time"\ : "2024-09-15T10:30:00Z", "ietf-network- inventory-sw-ext:activation-time": "\ 2024-09-15T10:32:00Z" }, { "revision": "P4", "ietf-network-inventory-sw-ext:status": "software-\ installed", "ietf-network-inventory-sw-ext:installation-time"\ : "2024-10-01T14:00:00Z", "ietf-network-inventory-sw-ext:activation- time": \ null } ] } ], "components": { "component": [ { "component- id": "example:lpu/1/0", "class": "iana-hardware:module", "software- rev": [ { "name": "example-fp-image", "revision": "2.1.0", "ietf- network-inventory-sw-ext:status": "\ software-activated", "ietf- network-inventory-sw-ext:installation-time\ ": "2024-08-01T12:00:00Z", "ietf-network-inventory-sw-ext:activation- time"\ : "2024-08-01T12:06:00Z", "patch": [ { "revision": "2.1.0.P1", "ietf-network-inventory-sw-ext:status": "\ software-installed", Wu, et al. Expires 23 April 2026 [Page 14] Internet-Draft Network Inventory Software October 2025 "ietf-network-inventory-sw-ext:installation-\ time": "2024-10-01T14:10:00Z", "activation-time": null } ] } ] } ] } } ] } } } 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 Wu, et al. Expires 23 April 2026 [Page 15]