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Network Working Group Internet Engineering Task Force
Request for Comments: 1123 R. Braden, Editor
October 1989
Requirements for Internet Hosts -- Application and Support
Status of This Memo
This RFC is an official specification for the Internet community. It
incorporates by reference, amends, corrects, and supplements the
primary protocol standards documents relating to hosts. Distribution
of this document is unlimited.
Summary
This RFC is one of a pair that defines and discusses the requirements
for Internet host software. This RFC covers the application and
support protocols; its companion RFC-1122 covers the communication
protocol layers: link layer, IP layer, and transport layer.
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION ............................................... 5
1.1 The Internet Architecture .............................. 6
1.2 General Considerations ................................. 6
1.2.1 Continuing Internet Evolution ..................... 6
1.2.2 Robustness Principle .............................. 7
1.2.3 Error Logging ..................................... 8
1.2.4 Configuration ..................................... 8
1.3 Reading this Document .................................. 10
1.3.1 Organization ...................................... 10
1.3.2 Requirements ...................................... 10
1.3.3 Terminology ....................................... 11
1.4 Acknowledgments ........................................ 12
2. GENERAL ISSUES ............................................. 13
2.1 Host Names and Numbers ................................. 13
2.2 Using Domain Name Service .............................. 13
2.3 Applications on Multihomed hosts ....................... 14
2.4 Type-of-Service ........................................ 14
2.5 GENERAL APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY ............... 15
Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 1]
RFC1123 INTRODUCTION October 1989
3. REMOTE LOGIN -- TELNET PROTOCOL ............................ 16
3.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................... 16
3.2 PROTOCOL WALK-THROUGH .................................. 16
3.2.1 Option Negotiation ................................ 16
3.2.2 Telnet Go-Ahead Function .......................... 16
3.2.3 Control Functions ................................. 17
3.2.4 Telnet "Synch" Signal ............................. 18
3.2.5 NVT Printer and Keyboard .......................... 19
3.2.6 Telnet Command Structure .......................... 20
3.2.7 Telnet Binary Option .............................. 20
3.2.8 Telnet Terminal-Type Option ....................... 20
3.3 SPECIFIC ISSUES ........................................ 21
3.3.1 Telnet End-of-Line Convention ..................... 21
3.3.2 Data Entry Terminals .............................. 23
3.3.3 Option Requirements ............................... 24
3.3.4 Option Initiation ................................. 24
3.3.5 Telnet Linemode Option ............................ 25
3.4 TELNET/USER INTERFACE .................................. 25
3.4.1 Character Set Transparency ........................ 25
3.4.2 Telnet Commands ................................... 26
3.4.3 TCP Connection Errors ............................. 26
3.4.4 Non-Default Telnet Contact Port ................... 26
3.4.5 Flushing Output ................................... 26
3.5. TELNET REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY ........................... 27
4. FILE TRANSFER .............................................. 29
4.1 FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL -- FTP .......................... 29
4.1.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................... 29
4.1.2. PROTOCOL WALK-THROUGH ............................ 29
4.1.2.1 LOCAL Type ................................... 29
4.1.2.2 Telnet Format Control ........................ 30
4.1.2.3 Page Structure ............................... 30
4.1.2.4 Data Structure Transformations ............... 30
4.1.2.5 Data Connection Management ................... 31
4.1.2.6 PASV Command ................................. 31
4.1.2.7 LIST and NLST Commands ....................... 31
4.1.2.8 SITE Command ................................. 32
4.1.2.9 STOU Command ................................. 32
4.1.2.10 Telnet End-of-line Code ..................... 32
4.1.2.11 FTP Replies ................................. 33
4.1.2.12 Connections ................................. 34
4.1.2.13 Minimum Implementation; RFC-959 Section ..... 34
4.1.3 SPECIFIC ISSUES ................................... 35
4.1.3.1 Non-standard Command Verbs ................... 35
4.1.3.2 Idle Timeout ................................. 36
4.1.3.3 Concurrency of Data and Control .............. 36
4.1.3.4 FTP Restart Mechanism ........................ 36
4.1.4 FTP/USER INTERFACE ................................ 39
Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 2]
RFC1123 INTRODUCTION October 1989
4.1.4.1 Pathname Specification ....................... 39
4.1.4.2 "QUOTE" Command .............................. 40
4.1.4.3 Displaying Replies to User ................... 40
4.1.4.4 Maintaining Synchronization .................. 40
4.1.5 FTP REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY ......................... 41
4.2 TRIVIAL FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL -- TFTP ................. 44
4.2.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................... 44
4.2.2 PROTOCOL WALK-THROUGH ............................. 44
4.2.2.1 Transfer Modes ............................... 44
4.2.2.2 UDP Header ................................... 44
4.2.3 SPECIFIC ISSUES ................................... 44
4.2.3.1 Sorcerer's Apprentice Syndrome ............... 44
4.2.3.2 Timeout Algorithms ........................... 46
4.2.3.3 Extensions ................................... 46
4.2.3.4 Access Control ............................... 46
4.2.3.5 Broadcast Request ............................ 46
4.2.4 TFTP REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY ......................... 47
5. ELECTRONIC MAIL -- SMTP and RFC-822 ........................ 48
5.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................... 48
5.2 PROTOCOL WALK-THROUGH .................................. 48
5.2.1 The SMTP Model .................................... 48
5.2.2 Canonicalization .................................. 49
5.2.3 VRFY and EXPN Commands ............................ 50
5.2.4 SEND, SOML, and SAML Commands ..................... 50
5.2.5 HELO Command ...................................... 50
5.2.6 Mail Relay ........................................ 51
5.2.7 RCPT Command ...................................... 52
5.2.8 DATA Command ...................................... 53
5.2.9 Command Syntax .................................... 54
5.2.10 SMTP Replies ..................................... 54
5.2.11 Transparency ..................................... 55
5.2.12 WKS Use in MX Processing ......................... 55
5.2.13 RFC-822 Message Specification .................... 55
5.2.14 RFC-822 Date and Time Specification .............. 55
5.2.15 RFC-822 Syntax Change ............................ 56
5.2.16 RFC-822 Local-part .............................. 56
5.2.17 Domain Literals .................................. 57
5.2.18 Common Address Formatting Errors ................. 58
5.2.19 Explicit Source Routes ........................... 58
5.3 SPECIFIC ISSUES ........................................ 59
5.3.1 SMTP Queueing Strategies .......................... 59
5.3.1.1 Sending Strategy .............................. 59
5.3.1.2 Receiving strategy ........................... 61
5.3.2 Timeouts in SMTP .................................. 61
5.3.3 Reliable Mail Receipt ............................. 63
5.3.4 Reliable Mail Transmission ........................ 63
5.3.5 Domain Name Support ............................... 65
Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 3]
RFC1123 INTRODUCTION October 1989
5.3.6 Mailing Lists and Aliases ......................... 65
5.3.7 Mail Gatewaying ................................... 66
5.3.8 Maximum Message Size .............................. 68
5.4 SMTP REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY .............................. 69
6. SUPPORT SERVICES ............................................ 72
6.1 DOMAIN NAME TRANSLATION ................................. 72
6.1.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................... 72
6.1.2 PROTOCOL WALK-THROUGH ............................. 72
6.1.2.1 Resource Records with Zero TTL ............... 73
6.1.2.2 QCLASS Values ................................ 73
6.1.2.3 Unused Fields ................................ 73
6.1.2.4 Compression .................................. 73
6.1.2.5 Misusing Configuration Info .................. 73
6.1.3 SPECIFIC ISSUES ................................... 74
6.1.3.1 Resolver Implementation ...................... 74
6.1.3.2 Transport Protocols .......................... 75
6.1.3.3 Efficient Resource Usage ..................... 77
6.1.3.4 Multihomed Hosts ............................. 78
6.1.3.5 Extensibility ................................ 79
6.1.3.6 Status of RR Types ........................... 79
6.1.3.7 Robustness ................................... 80
6.1.3.8 Local Host Table ............................. 80
6.1.4 DNS USER INTERFACE ................................ 81
6.1.4.1 DNS Administration ........................... 81
6.1.4.2 DNS User Interface ........................... 81
6.1.4.3 Interface Abbreviation Facilities ............. 82
6.1.5 DOMAIN NAME SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY ........... 84
6.2 HOST INITIALIZATION .................................... 87
6.2.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................... 87
6.2.2 REQUIREMENTS ...................................... 87
6.2.2.1 Dynamic Configuration ........................ 87
6.2.2.2 Loading Phase ................................ 89
6.3 REMOTE MANAGEMENT ...................................... 90
6.3.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................... 90
6.3.2 PROTOCOL WALK-THROUGH ............................. 90
6.3.3 MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY ................... 92
7. REFERENCES ................................................. 93
Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 4]
RFC1123 INTRODUCTION October 1989
1. INTRODUCTION
This document is one of a pair that defines and discusses the
requirements for host system implementations of the Internet protocol
suite. This RFC covers the applications layer and support protocols.
Its companion RFC, "Requirements for Internet Hosts -- Communications
Layers" [INTRO:1] covers the lower layer protocols: transport layer,
IP layer, and link layer.
These documents are intended to provide guidance for vendors,
implementors, and users of Internet communication software. They
represent the consensus of a large body of technical experience and
wisdom, contributed by members of the Internet research and vendor
communities.
This RFC enumerates standard protocols that a host connected to the
Internet must use, and it incorporates by reference the RFCs and
other documents describing the current specifications for these
protocols. It corrects errors in the referenced documents and adds
additional discussion and guidance for an implementor.
For each protocol, this document also contains an explicit set of
requirements, recommendations, and options. The reader must
understand that the list of requirements in this document is
incomplete by itself; the complete set of requirements for an
Internet host is primarily defined in the standard protocol
specification documents, with the corrections, amendments, and
supplements contained in this RFC.
A good-faith implementation of the protocols that was produced after
careful reading of the RFC's and with some interaction with the
Internet technical community, and that followed good communications
software engineering practices, should differ from the requirements
of this document in only minor ways. Thus, in many cases, the
"requirements" in this RFC are already stated or implied in the
standard protocol documents, so that their inclusion here is, in a
sense, redundant. However, they were included because some past
implementation has made the wrong choice, causing problems of
interoperability, performance, and/or robustness.
This document includes discussion and explanation of many of the
requirements and recommendations. A simple list of requirements
would be dangerous, because:
o Some required features are more important than others, and some
features are optional.
o There may be valid reasons why particular vendor products that
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RFC1123 INTRODUCTION October 1989
are designed for restricted contexts might choose to use
different specifications.
However, the specifications of this document must be followed to meet
the general goal of arbitrary host interoperation across the
diversity and complexity of the Internet system. Although most
current implementations fail to meet these requirements in various
ways, some minor and some major, this specification is the ideal
towards which we need to move.
These requirements are based on the current level of Internet
architecture. This document will be updated as required to provide
additional clarifications or to include additional information in
those areas in which specifications are still evolving.
This introductory section begins with general advice to host software
vendors, and then gives some guidance on reading the rest of the
document. Section 2 contains general requirements that may be
applicable to all application and support protocols. Sections 3, 4,
and 5 contain the requirements on protocols for the three major
applications: Telnet, file transfer, and electronic mail,
respectively. Section 6 covers the support applications: the domain
name system, system initialization, and management. Finally, all
references will be found in Section 7.
1.1 The Internet Architecture
For a brief introduction to the Internet architecture from a host
viewpoint, see Section 1.1 of [INTRO:1]. That section also
contains recommended references for general background on the
Internet architecture.
1.2 General Considerations
There are two important lessons that vendors of Internet host
software have learned and which a new vendor should consider
seriously.
1.2.1 Continuing Internet Evolution
The enormous growth of the Internet has revealed problems of
management and scaling in a large datagram-based packet
communication system. These problems are being addressed, and
as a result there will be continuing evolution of the
specifications described in this document. These changes will
be carefully planned and controlled, since there is extensive
participation in this planning by the vendors and by the
organizations responsible for operations of the networks.
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RFC1123 INTRODUCTION October 1989
Development, evolution, and revision are characteristic of
computer network protocols today, and this situation will
persist for some years. A vendor who develops computer
communication software for the Internet protocol suite (or any
other protocol suite!) and then fails to maintain and update
that software for changing specifications is going to leave a
trail of unhappy customers. The Internet is a large
communication network, and the users are in constant contact
through it. Experience has shown that knowledge of
deficiencies in vendor software propagates quickly through the
Internet technical community.
1.2.2 Robustness Principle
At every layer of the protocols, there is a general rule whose
application can lead to enormous benefits in robustness and
interoperability:
"Be liberal in what you accept, and
conservative in what you send"
Software should be written to deal with every conceivable
error, no matter how unlikely; sooner or later a packet will
come in with that particular combination of errors and
attributes, and unless the software is prepared, chaos can
ensue. In general, it is best to assume that the network is
filled with malevolent entities that will send in packets
designed to have the worst possible effect. This assumption
will lead to suitable protective design, although the most
serious problems in the Internet have been caused by
unenvisaged mechanisms triggered by low-probability events;
mere human malice would never have taken so devious a course!
Adaptability to change must be designed into all levels of
Internet host software. As a simple example, consider a
protocol specification that contains an enumeration of values
for a particular header field -- e.g., a type field, a port
number, or an error code; this enumeration must be assumed to
be incomplete. Thus, if a protocol specification defines four
possible error codes, the software must not break when a fifth
code shows up. An undefined code might be logged (see below),
but it must not cause a failure.
The second part of the principle is almost as important:
software on other hosts may contain deficiencies that make it
unwise to exploit legal but obscure protocol features. It is
unwise to stray far from the obvious and simple, lest untoward
effects result elsewhere. A corollary of this is "watch out
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RFC1123 INTRODUCTION October 1989
for misbehaving hosts"; host software should be prepared, not
just to survive other misbehaving hosts, but also to cooperate
to limit the amount of disruption such hosts can cause to the
shared communication facility.
1.2.3 Error Logging
The Internet includes a great variety of host and gateway
systems, each implementing many protocols and protocol layers,
and some of these contain bugs and mis-features in their
Internet protocol software. As a result of complexity,
diversity, and distribution of function, the diagnosis of user
problems is often very difficult.
Problem diagnosis will be aided if host implementations include
a carefully designed facility for logging erroneous or
"strange" protocol events. It is important to include as much
diagnostic information as possible when an error is logged. In
particular, it is often useful to record the header(s) of a
packet that caused an error. However, care must be taken to
ensure that error logging does not consume prohibitive amounts
of resources or otherwise interfere with the operation of the
host.
There is a tendency for abnormal but harmless protocol events
to overflow error logging files; this can be avoided by using a
"circular" log, or by enabling logging only while diagnosing a
known failure. It may be useful to filter and count duplicate
successive messages. One strategy that seems to work well is:
(1) always count abnormalities and make such counts accessible
through the management protocol (see Section 6.3); and (2)
allow the logging of a great variety of events to be
selectively enabled. For example, it might useful to be able
to "log everything" or to "log everything for host X".
Note that different managements may have differing policies
about the amount of error logging that they want normally
enabled in a host. Some will say, "if it doesn't hurt me, I
don't want to know about it", while others will want to take a
more watchful and aggressive attitude about detecting and
removing protocol abnormalities.
1.2.4 Configuration
It would be ideal if a host implementation of the Internet
protocol suite could be entirely self-configuring. This would
allow the whole suite to be implemented in ROM or cast into
silicon, it would simplify diskless workstations, and it would
Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 8]
RFC1123 INTRODUCTION October 1989
be an immense boon to harried LAN administrators as well as
system vendors. We have not reached this ideal; in fact, we
are not even close.
At many points in this document, you will find a requirement
that a parameter be a configurable option. There are several
different reasons behind such requirements. In a few cases,
there is current uncertainty or disagreement about the best
value, and it may be necessary to update the recommended value
in the future. In other cases, the value really depends on
external factors -- e.g., the size of the host and the
distribution of its communication load, or the speeds and
topology of nearby networks -- and self-tuning algorithms are
unavailable and may be insufficient. In some cases,
configurability is needed because of administrative
requirements.
Finally, some configuration options are required to communicate
with obsolete or incorrect implementations of the protocols,
distributed without sources, that unfortunately persist in many
parts of the Internet. To make correct systems coexist with
these faulty systems, administrators often have to "mis-
configure" the correct systems. This problem will correct
itself gradually as the faulty systems are retired, but it
cannot be ignored by vendors.
When we say that a parameter must be configurable, we do not
intend to require that its value be explicitly read from a
configuration file at every boot time. We recommend that
implementors set up a default for each parameter, so a
configuration file is only necessary to override those defaults
that are inappropriate in a particular installation. Thus, the
configurability requirement is an assurance that it will be
POSSIBLE to override the default when necessary, even in a
binary-only or ROM-based product.
This document requires a particular value for such defaults in
some cases. The choice of default is a sensitive issue when
the configuration item controls the accommodation to existing
faulty systems. If the Internet is to converge successfully to
complete interoperability, the default values built into
implementations must implement the official protocol, not
"mis-configurations" to accommodate faulty implementations.
Although marketing considerations have led some vendors to
choose mis-configuration defaults, we urge vendors to choose
defaults that will conform to the standard.
Finally, we note that a vendor needs to provide adequate
Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 9]
RFC1123 INTRODUCTION October 1989
documentation on all configuration parameters, their limits and
effects.
1.3 Reading this Document
1.3.1 Organization
In general, each major section is organized into the following
subsections:
(1) Introduction
(2) Protocol Walk-Through -- considers the protocol
specification documents section-by-section, correcting
errors, stating requirements that may be ambiguous or
ill-defined, and providing further clarification or
explanation.
(3) Specific Issues -- discusses protocol design and
implementation issues that were not included in the walk-
through.
(4) Interfaces -- discusses the service interface to the next
higher layer.
(5) Summary -- contains a summary of the requirements of the
section.
Under many of the individual topics in this document, there is
parenthetical material labeled "DISCUSSION" or
"IMPLEMENTATION". This material is intended to give
clarification and explanation of the preceding requirements
text. It also includes some suggestions on possible future
directions or developments. The implementation material
contains suggested approaches that an implementor may want to
consider.
The summary sections are intended to be guides and indexes to
the text, but are necessarily cryptic and incomplete. The
summaries should never be used or referenced separately from
the complete RFC.
1.3.2 Requirements
In this document, the words that are used to define the
significance of each particular requirement are capitalized.
These words are:
Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 10]
RFC1123 INTRODUCTION October 1989
* "MUST"
This word or the adjective "REQUIRED" means that the item
is an absolute requirement of the specification.
* "SHOULD"
This word or the adjective "RECOMMENDED" means that there
may exist valid reasons in particular circumstances to
ignore this item, but the full implications should be
understood and the case carefully weighed before choosing
a different course.
* "MAY"
This word or the adjective "OPTIONAL" means that this item
is truly optional. One vendor may choose to include the
item because a particular marketplace requires it or
because it enhances the product, for example; another
vendor may omit the same item.
An implementation is not compliant if it fails to satisfy one
or more of the MUST requirements for the protocols it
implements. An implementation that satisfies all the MUST and
all the SHOULD requirements for its protocols is said to be
"unconditionally compliant"; one that satisfies all the MUST
requirements but not all the SHOULD requirements for its
protocols is said to be "conditionally compliant".
1.3.3 Terminology
This document uses the following technical terms:
Segment
A segment is the unit of end-to-end transmission in the
TCP protocol. A segment consists of a TCP header followed
by application data. A segment is transmitted by
encapsulation in an IP datagram.
Message
This term is used by some application layer protocols
(particularly SMTP) for an application data unit.
Datagram
A [UDP] datagram is the unit of end-to-end transmission in
the UDP protocol.
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RFC1123 INTRODUCTION October 1989
Multihomed
A host is said to be multihomed if it has multiple IP
addresses to connected networks.
1.4 Acknowledgments
This document incorporates contributions and comments from a large
group of Internet protocol experts, including representatives of
university and research labs, vendors, and government agencies.
It was assembled primarily by the Host Requirements Working Group
of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
The Editor would especially like to acknowledge the tireless
dedication of the following people, who attended many long
meetings and generated 3 million bytes of electronic mail over the
past 18 months in pursuit of this document: Philip Almquist, Dave
Borman (Cray Research), Noel Chiappa, Dave Crocker (DEC), Steve
Deering (Stanford), Mike Karels (Berkeley), Phil Karn (Bellcore),
John Lekashman (NASA), Charles Lynn (BBN), Keith McCloghrie (TWG),
Paul Mockapetris (ISI), Thomas Narten (Purdue), Craig Partridge
(BBN), Drew Perkins (CMU), and James Van Bokkelen (FTP Software).
In addition, the following people made major contributions to the
effort: Bill Barns (Mitre), Steve Bellovin (AT&T), Mike Brescia
(BBN), Ed Cain (DCA), Annette DeSchon (ISI), Martin Gross (DCA),
Phill Gross (NRI), Charles Hedrick (Rutgers), Van Jacobson (LBL),
John Klensin (MIT), Mark Lottor (SRI), Milo Medin (NASA), Bill
Melohn (Sun Microsystems), Greg Minshall (Kinetics), Jeff Mogul
(DEC), John Mullen (CMC), Jon Postel (ISI), John Romkey (Epilogue
Technology), and Mike StJohns (DCA). The following also made
significant contributions to particular areas: Eric Allman
(Berkeley), Rob Austein (MIT), Art Berggreen (ACC), Keith Bostic
(Berkeley), Vint Cerf (NRI), Wayne Hathaway (NASA), Matt Korn
(IBM), Erik Naggum (Naggum Software, Norway), Robert Ullmann
(Prime Computer), David Waitzman (BBN), Frank Wancho (USA), Arun
Welch (Ohio State), Bill Westfield (Cisco), and Rayan Zachariassen
(Toronto).
We are grateful to all, including any contributors who may have
been inadvertently omitted from this list.
Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 12]
RFC1123 APPLICATIONS LAYER -- GENERAL October 1989
2. GENERAL ISSUES
This section contains general requirements that may be applicable to
all application-layer protocols.
2.1 Host Names and Numbers
The syntax of a legal Internet host name was specified in RFC-952
[DNS:4]. One aspect of host name syntax is hereby changed: the
restriction on the first character is relaxed to allow either a
letter or a digit. Host software MUST support this more liberal
syntax.
Host software MUST handle host names of up to 63 characters and
SHOULD handle host names of up to 255 characters.
Whenever a user inputs the identity of an Internet host, it SHOULD
be possible to enter either (1) a host domain name or (2) an IP
address in dotted-decimal ("#.#.#.#") form. The host SHOULD check
the string syntactically for a dotted-decimal number before
looking it up in the Domain Name System.
DISCUSSION:
This last requirement is not intended to specify the complete
syntactic form for entering a dotted-decimal host number;
that is considered to be a user-interface issue. For
example, a dotted-decimal number must be enclosed within
"[ ]" brackets for SMTP mail (see Section 5.2.17). This
notation could be made universal within a host system,
simplifying the syntactic checking for a dotted-decimal
number.
If a dotted-decimal number can be entered without such
identifying delimiters, then a full syntactic check must be
made, because a segment of a host domain name is now allowed
to begin with a digit and could legally be entirely numeric
(see Section 6.1.2.4). However, a valid host name can never
have the dotted-decimal form #.#.#.#, since at least the
highest-level component label will be alphabetic.
2.2 Using Domain Name Service
Host domain names MUST be translated to IP addresses as described
in Section 6.1.
Applications using domain name services MUST be able to cope with
soft error conditions. Applications MUST wait a reasonable
interval between successive retries due to a soft error, and MUST
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RFC1123 APPLICATIONS LAYER -- GENERAL October 1989
allow for the possibility that network problems may deny service
for hours or even days.
An application SHOULD NOT rely on the ability to locate a WKS
record containing an accurate listing of all services at a
particular host address, since the WKS RR type is not often used
by Internet sites. To confirm that a service is present, simply
attempt to use it.
2.3 Applications on Multihomed hosts
When the remote host is multihomed, the name-to-address
translation will return a list of alternative IP addresses. As
specified in Section 6.1.3.4, this list should be in order of
decreasing preference. Application protocol implementations
SHOULD be prepared to try multiple addresses from the list until
success is obtained. More specific requirements for SMTP are
given in Section 5.3.4.
When the local host is multihomed, a UDP-based request/response
application SHOULD send the response with an IP source address
that is the same as the specific destination address of the UDP
request datagram. The "specific destination address" is defined
in the "IP Addressing" section of the companion RFC [INTRO:1].
Similarly, a server application that opens multiple TCP
connections to the same client SHOULD use the same local IP
address for all.
2.4 Type-of-Service
Applications MUST select appropriate TOS values when they invoke
transport layer services, and these values MUST be configurable.
Note that a TOS value contains 5 bits, of which only the most-
significant 3 bits are currently defined; the other two bits MUST
be zero.
DISCUSSION:
As gateway algorithms are developed to implement Type-of-
Service, the recommended values for various application
protocols may change. In addition, it is likely that
particular combinations of users and Internet paths will want
non-standard TOS values. For these reasons, the TOS values
must be configurable.
See the latest version of the "Assigned Numbers" RFC
[INTRO:5] for the recommended TOS values for the major
application protocols.
Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 14]
RFC1123 APPLICATIONS LAYER -- GENERAL October 1989
2.5 GENERAL APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY
| | | | |S| |
| | | | |H| |F
| | | | |O|M|o
| | |S| |U|U|o
| | |H| |L|S|t
| |M|O| |D|T|n
| |U|U|M| | |o
| |S|L|A|N|N|t
| |T|D|Y|O|O|t
FEATURE |SECTION | | | |T|T|e
-----------------------------------------------|----------|-|-|-|-|-|--
| | | | | | |
User interfaces: | | | | | | |
Allow host name to begin with digit |2.1 |x| | | | |
Host names of up to 635 characters |2.1 |x| | | | |
Host names of up to 255 characters |2.1 | |x| | | |
Support dotted-decimal host numbers |2.1 | |x| | | |
Check syntactically for dotted-dec first |2.1 | |x| | | |
| | | | | | |
Map domain names per Section 6.1 |2.2 |x| | | | |
Cope with soft DNS errors |2.2 |x| | | | |
Reasonable interval between retries |2.2 |x| | | | |
Allow for long outages |2.2 |x| | | | |
Expect WKS records to be available |2.2 | | | |x| |
| | | | | | |
Try multiple addr's for remote multihomed host |2.3 | |x| | | |
UDP reply src addr is specific dest of request |2.3 | |x| | | |
Use same IP addr for related TCP connections |2.3 | |x| | | |
Specify appropriate TOS values |2.4 |x| | | | |
TOS values configurable |2.4 |x| | | | |
Unused TOS bits zero |2.4 |x| | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 15]
RFC1123 REMOTE LOGIN -- TELNET October 1989
3. REMOTE LOGIN -- TELNET PROTOCOL
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Telnet is the standard Internet application protocol for remote
login. It provides the encoding rules to link a user's
keyboard/display on a client ("user") system with a command
interpreter on a remote server system. A subset of the Telnet
protocol is also incorporated within other application protocols,
e.g., FTP and SMTP.
Telnet uses a single TCP connection, and its normal data stream
("Network Virtual Terminal" or "NVT" mode) is 7-bit ASCII with
escape sequences to embed control functions. Telnet also allows
the negotiation of many optional modes and functions.
The primary Telnet specification is to be found in RFC-854
[TELNET:1], while the options are defined in many other RFCs; see
Section 7 for references.
3.2 PROTOCOL WALK-THROUGH
3.2.1 Option Negotiation: RFC-854, pp. 2-3
Every Telnet implementation MUST include option negotiation and
subnegotiation machinery [TELNET:2].
A host MUST carefully follow the rules of RFC-854 to avoid
option-negotiation loops. A host MUST refuse (i.e, reply
WONT/DONT to a DO/WILL) an unsupported option. Option
negotiation SHOULD continue to function (even if all requests
are refused) throughout the lifetime of a Telnet connection.
If all option negotiations fail, a Telnet implementation MUST
default to, and support, an NVT.
DISCUSSION:
Even though more sophisticated "terminals" and supporting
option negotiations are becoming the norm, all
implementations must be prepared to support an NVT for any
user-server communication.
3.2.2 Telnet Go-Ahead Function: RFC-854, p. 5, and RFC-858
On a host that never sends the Telnet command Go Ahead (GA),
the Telnet Server MUST attempt to negotiate the Suppress Go
Ahead option (i.e., send "WILL Suppress Go Ahead"). A User or
Server Telnet MUST always accept negotiation of the Suppress Go
Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 16]
RFC1123 REMOTE LOGIN -- TELNET October 1989
Ahead option.
When it is driving a full-duplex terminal for which GA has no
meaning, a User Telnet implementation MAY ignore GA commands.
DISCUSSION:
Half-duplex ("locked-keyboard") line-at-a-time terminals
for which the Go-Ahead mechanism was designed have largely
disappeared from the scene. It turned out to be difficult
to implement sending the Go-Ahead signal in many operating
systems, even some systems that support native half-duplex
terminals. The difficulty is typically that the Telnet
server code does not have access to information about
whether the user process is blocked awaiting input from
the Telnet connection, i.e., it cannot reliably determine
when to send a GA command. Therefore, most Telnet Server
hosts do not send GA commands.
The effect of the rules in this section is to allow either
end of a Telnet connection to veto the use of GA commands.
There is a class of half-duplex terminals that is still
commercially important: "data entry terminals," which
interact in a full-screen manner. However, supporting
data entry terminals using the Telnet protocol does not
require the Go Ahead signal; see Section 3.3.2.
3.2.3 Control Functions: RFC-854, pp. 7-8
The list of Telnet commands has been extended to include EOR
(End-of-Record), with code 239 [TELNET:9].
Both User and Server Telnets MAY support the control functions
EOR, EC, EL, and Break, and MUST support AO, AYT, DM, IP, NOP,
SB, and SE.
A host MUST be able to receive and ignore any Telnet control
functions that it does not support.
DISCUSSION:
Note that a Server Telnet is required to support the
Telnet IP (Interrupt Process) function, even if the server
host has an equivalent in-stream function (e.g., Control-C
in many systems). The Telnet IP function may be stronger
than an in-stream interrupt command, because of the out-
of-band effect of TCP urgent data.
The EOR control function may be used to delimit the
Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 17]
RFC1123 REMOTE LOGIN -- TELNET October 1989
stream. An important application is data entry terminal
support (see Section 3.3.2). There was concern that since
EOR had not been defined in RFC-854, a host that was not
prepared to correctly ignore unknown Telnet commands might
crash if it received an EOR. To protect such hosts, the
End-of-Record option [TELNET:9] was introduced; however, a
properly implemented Telnet program will not require this
protection.
3.2.4 Telnet "Synch" Signal: RFC-854, pp. 8-10
When it receives "urgent" TCP data, a User or Server Telnet
MUST discard all data except Telnet commands until the DM (and
end of urgent) is reached.
When it sends Telnet IP (Interrupt Process), a User Telnet
SHOULD follow it by the Telnet "Synch" sequence, i.e., send as
TCP urgent data the sequence "IAC IP IAC DM". The TCP urgent
pointer points to the DM octet.
When it receives a Telnet IP command, a Server Telnet MAY send
a Telnet "Synch" sequence back to the user, to flush the output
stream. The choice ought to be consistent with the way the
server operating system behaves when a local user interrupts a
process.
When it receives a Telnet AO command, a Server Telnet MUST send
a Telnet "Synch" sequence back to the user, to flush the output
stream.
A User Telnet SHOULD have the capability of flushing output
when it sends a Telnet IP; see also Section 3.4.5.
DISCUSSION:
There are three possible ways for a User Telnet to flush
the stream of server output data:
(1) Send AO after IP.
This will cause the server host to send a "flush-
buffered-output" signal to its operating system.
However, the AO may not take effect locally, i.e.,
stop terminal output at the User Telnet end, until
the Server Telnet has received and processed the AO
and has sent back a "Synch".
(2) Send DO TIMING-MARK [TELNET:7] after IP, and discard
all output locally until a WILL/WONT TIMING-MARK is
Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 18]
RFC1123 REMOTE LOGIN -- TELNET October 1989
received from the Server Telnet.
Since the DO TIMING-MARK will be processed after the
IP at the server, the reply to it should be in the
right place in the output data stream. However, the
TIMING-MARK will not send a "flush buffered output"
signal to the server operating system. Whether or
not this is needed is dependent upon the server
system.
(3) Do both.
The best method is not entirely clear, since it must
accommodate a number of existing server hosts that do not
follow the Telnet standards in various ways. The safest
approach is probably to provide a user-controllable option
to select (1), (2), or (3).
3.2.5 NVT Printer and Keyboard: RFC-854, p. 11
In NVT mode, a Telnet SHOULD NOT send characters with the
high-order bit 1, and MUST NOT send it as a parity bit.
Implementations that pass the high-order bit to applications
SHOULD negotiate binary mode (see Section 3.2.6).
DISCUSSION:
Implementors should be aware that a strict reading of
RFC-854 allows a client or server expecting NVT ASCII to
ignore characters with the high-order bit set. In
general, binary mode is expected to be used for
transmission of an extended (beyond 7-bit) character set
with Telnet.
However, there exist applications that really need an 8-
bit NVT mode, which is currently not defined, and these
existing applications do set the high-order bit during
part or all of the life of a Telnet connection. Note that
binary mode is not the same as 8-bit NVT mode, since
binary mode turns off end-of-line processing. For this
reason, the requirements on the high-order bit are stated
as SHOULD, not MUST.
RFC-854 defines a minimal set of properties of a "network
virtual terminal" or NVT; this is not meant to preclude
additional features in a real terminal. A Telnet
connection is fully transparent to all 7-bit ASCII
characters, including arbitrary ASCII control characters.
Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 19]
RFC1123 REMOTE LOGIN -- TELNET October 1989
For example, a terminal might support full-screen commands
coded as ASCII escape sequences; a Telnet implementation
would pass these sequences as uninterpreted data. Thus,
an NVT should not be conceived as a terminal type of a
highly-restricted device.
3.2.6 Telnet Command Structure: RFC-854, p. 13
Since options may appear at any point in the data stream, a
Telnet escape character (known as IAC, with the value 255) to
be sent as data MUST be doubled.
3.2.7 Telnet Binary Option: RFC-856
When the Binary option has been successfully negotiated,
arbitrary 8-bit characters are allowed. However, the data
stream MUST still be scanned for IAC characters, any embedded
Telnet commands MUST be obeyed, and data bytes equal to IAC
MUST be doubled. Other character processing (e.g., replacing
CR by CR NUL or by CR LF) MUST NOT be done. In particular,
there is no end-of-line convention (see Section 3.3.1) in
binary mode.
DISCUSSION:
The Binary option is normally negotiated in both
directions, to change the Telnet connection from NVT mode
to "binary mode".
The sequence IAC EOR can be used to delimit blocks of data
within a binary-mode Telnet stream.
3.2.8 Telnet Terminal-Type Option: RFC-1091
The Terminal-Type option MUST use the terminal type names
officially defined in the Assigned Numbers RFC [INTRO:5], when
they are available for the particular terminal. However, the
receiver of a Terminal-Type option MUST accept any name.
DISCUSSION:
RFC-1091 [TELNET:10] updates an earlier version of the
Terminal-Type option defined in RFC-930. The earlier
version allowed a server host capable of supporting
multiple terminal types to learn the type of a particular
client's terminal, assuming that each physical terminal
had an intrinsic type. However, today a "terminal" is
often really a terminal emulator program running in a PC,
perhaps capable of emulating a range of terminal types.
Therefore, RFC-1091 extends the specification to allow a
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RFC1123 REMOTE LOGIN -- TELNET October 1989
more general terminal-type negotiation between User and
Server Telnets.
3.3 SPECIFIC ISSUES
3.3.1 Telnet End-of-Line Convention
The Telnet protocol defines the sequence CR LF to mean "end-
of-line". For terminal input, this corresponds to a command-
completion or "end-of-line" key being pressed on a user
terminal; on an ASCII terminal, this is the CR key, but it may
also be labelled "Return" or "Enter".
When a Server Telnet receives the Telnet end-of-line sequence
CR LF as input from a remote terminal, the effect MUST be the
same as if the user had pressed the "end-of-line" key on a
local terminal. On server hosts that use ASCII, in particular,
receipt of the Telnet sequence CR LF must cause the same effect
as a local user pressing the CR key on a local terminal. Thus,
CR LF and CR NUL MUST have the same effect on an ASCII server
host when received as input over a Telnet connection.
A User Telnet MUST be able to send any of the forms: CR LF, CR
NUL, and LF. A User Telnet on an ASCII host SHOULD have a
user-controllable mode to send either CR LF or CR NUL when the
user presses the "end-of-line" key, and CR LF SHOULD be the
default.
The Telnet end-of-line sequence CR LF MUST be used to send
Telnet data that is not terminal-to-computer (e.g., for Server
Telnet sending output, or the Telnet protocol incorporated
another application protocol).
DISCUSSION:
To allow interoperability between arbitrary Telnet clients
and servers, the Telnet protocol defined a standard
representation for a line terminator. Since the ASCII
character set includes no explicit end-of-line character,
systems have chosen various representations, e.g., CR, LF,
and the sequence CR LF. The Telnet protocol chose the CR
LF sequence as the standard for network transmission.
Unfortunately, the Telnet protocol specification in RFC-
854 [TELNET:1] has turned out to be somewhat ambiguous on
what character(s) should be sent from client to server for
the "end-of-line" key. The result has been a massive and
continuing interoperability headache, made worse by
various faulty implementations of both User and Server
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RFC1123 REMOTE LOGIN -- TELNET October 1989
Telnets.
Although the Telnet protocol is based on a perfectly
symmetric model, in a remote login session the role of the
user at a terminal differs from the role of the server
host. For example, RFC-854 defines the meaning of CR, LF,
and CR LF as output from the server, but does not specify
what the User Telnet should send when the user presses the
"end-of-line" key on the terminal; this turns out to be
the point at issue.
When a user presses the "end-of-line" key, some User
Telnet implementations send CR LF, while others send CR
NUL (based on a different interpretation of the same
sentence in RFC-854). These will be equivalent for a
correctly-implemented ASCII server host, as discussed
above. For other servers, a mode in the User Telnet is
needed.
The existence of User Telnets that send only CR NUL when
CR is pressed creates a dilemma for non-ASCII hosts: they
can either treat CR NUL as equivalent to CR LF in input,
thus precluding the possibility of entering a "bare" CR,
or else lose complete interworking.
Suppose a user on host A uses Telnet to log into a server
host B, and then execute B's User Telnet program to log
into server host C. It is desirable for the Server/User
Telnet combination on B to be as transparent as possible,
i.e., to appear as if A were connected directly to C. In
particular, correct implementation will make B transparent
to Telnet end-of-line sequences, except that CR LF may be
translated to CR NUL or vice versa.
IMPLEMENTATION:
To understand Telnet end-of-line issues, one must have at
least a general model of the relationship of Telnet to the
local operating system. The Server Telnet process is
typically coupled into the terminal driver software of the
operating system as a pseudo-terminal. A Telnet end-of-
line sequence received by the Server Telnet must have the
same effect as pressing the end-of-line key on a real
locally-connected terminal.
Operating systems that support interactive character-at-
a-time applications (e.g., editors) typically have two
internal modes for their terminal I/O: a formatted mode,
in which local conventions for end-of-line and other
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RFC1123 REMOTE LOGIN -- TELNET October 1989
formatting rules have been applied to the data stream, and
a "raw" mode, in which the application has direct access
to every character as it was entered. A Server Telnet
must be implemented in such a way that these modes have
the same effect for remote as for local terminals. For
example, suppose a CR LF or CR NUL is received by the
Server Telnet on an ASCII host. In raw mode, a CR
character is passed to the application; in formatted mode,
the local system's end-of-line convention is used.
3.3.2 Data Entry Terminals
DISCUSSION:
In addition to the line-oriented and character-oriented
ASCII terminals for which Telnet was designed, there are
several families of video display terminals that are
sometimes known as "data entry terminals" or DETs. The
IBM 3270 family is a well-known example.
Two Internet protocols have been designed to support
generic DETs: SUPDUP [TELNET:16, TELNET:17], and the DET
option [TELNET:18, TELNET:19]. The DET option drives a
data entry terminal over a Telnet connection using (sub-)
negotiation. SUPDUP is a completely separate terminal
protocol, which can be entered from Telnet by negotiation.
Although both SUPDUP and the DET option have been used
successfully in particular environments, neither has
gained general acceptance or wide implementation.
A different approach to DET interaction has been developed
for supporting the IBM 3270 family through Telnet,
although the same approach would be applicable to any DET.
The idea is to enter a "native DET" mode, in which the
native DET input/output stream is sent as binary data.
The Telnet EOR command is used to delimit logical records
(e.g., "screens") within this binary stream.
IMPLEMENTATION:
The rules for entering and leaving native DET mode are as
follows:
o The Server uses the Terminal-Type option [TELNET:10]
to learn that the client is a DET.
o It is conventional, but not required, that both ends
negotiate the EOR option [TELNET:9].
o Both ends negotiate the Binary option [TELNET:3] to
Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 23]
RFC1123 REMOTE LOGIN -- TELNET October 1989
enter native DET mode.
o When either end negotiates out of binary mode, the
other end does too, and the mode then reverts to
normal NVT.
3.3.3 Option Requirements
Every Telnet implementation MUST support the Binary option
[TELNET:3] and the Suppress Go Ahead option [TELNET:5], and
SHOULD support the Echo [TELNET:4], Status [TELNET:6], End-of-
Record [TELNET:9], and Extended Options List [TELNET:8]
options.
A User or Server Telnet SHOULD support the Window Size Option
[TELNET:12] if the local operating system provides the
corresponding capability.
DISCUSSION:
Note that the End-of-Record option only signifies that a
Telnet can receive a Telnet EOR without crashing;
therefore, every Telnet ought to be willing to accept
negotiation of the End-of-Record option. See also the
discussion in Section 3.2.3.
3.3.4 Option Initiation
When the Telnet protocol is used in a client/server situation,
the server SHOULD initiate negotiation of the terminal
interaction mode it expects.
DISCUSSION:
The Telnet protocol was defined to be perfectly
symmetrical, but its application is generally asymmetric.
Remote login has been known to fail because NEITHER side
initiated negotiation of the required non-default terminal
modes. It is generally the server that determines the
preferred mode, so the server needs to initiate the
negotiation; since the negotiation is symmetric, the user
can also initiate it.
A client (User Telnet) SHOULD provide a means for users to
enable and disable the initiation of option negotiation.
DISCUSSION:
A user sometimes needs to connect to an application
service (e.g., FTP or SMTP) that uses Telnet for its
Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 24]
RFC1123 REMOTE LOGIN -- TELNET October 1989
control stream but does not support Telnet options. User
Telnet may be used for this purpose if initiation of
option negotiation is disabled.
3.3.5 Telnet Linemode Option
DISCUSSION:
An important new Telnet option, LINEMODE [TELNET:12], has
been proposed. The LINEMODE option provides a standard
way for a User Telnet and a Server Telnet to agree that
the client rather than the server will perform terminal
character processing. When the client has prepared a
complete line of text, it will send it to the server in
(usually) one TCP packet. This option will greatly
decrease the packet cost of Telnet sessions and will also
give much better user response over congested or long-
delay networks.
The LINEMODE option allows dynamic switching between local
and remote character processing. For example, the Telnet
connection will automatically negotiate into single-
character mode while a full screen editor is running, and
then return to linemode when the editor is finished.
We expect that when this RFC is released, hosts should
implement the client side of this option, and may
implement the server side of this option. To properly
implement the server side, the server needs to be able to
tell the local system not to do any input character
processing, but to remember its current terminal state and
notify the Server Telnet process whenever the state
changes. This will allow password echoing and full screen
editors to be handled properly, for example.
3.4 TELNET/USER INTERFACE
3.4.1 Character Set Transparency
User Telnet implementations SHOULD be able to send or receive
any 7-bit ASCII character. Where possible, any special
character interpretations by the user host's operating system
SHOULD be bypassed so that these characters can conveniently be
sent and received on the connection.
Some character value MUST be reserved as "escape to command
mode"; conventionally, doubling this character allows it to be
entered as data. The specific character used SHOULD be user
selectable.
Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 25]
RFC1123 REMOTE LOGIN -- TELNET October 1989
On binary-mode connections, a User Telnet program MAY provide
an escape mechanism for entering arbitrary 8-bit values, if the
host operating system doesn't allow them to be entered directly
from the keyboard.
IMPLEMENTATION:
The transparency issues are less pressing on servers, but
implementors should take care in dealing with issues like:
masking off parity bits (sent by an older, non-conforming
client) before they reach programs that expect only NVT
ASCII, and properly handling programs that request 8-bit
data streams.
3.4.2 Telnet Commands
A User Telnet program MUST provide a user the capability of
entering any of the Telnet control functions IP, AO, or AYT,
and SHOULD provide the capability of entering EC, EL, and
Break.
3.4.3 TCP Connection Errors
A User Telnet program SHOULD report to the user any TCP errors
that are reported by the transport layer (see "TCP/Application
Layer Interface" section in [INTRO:1]).
3.4.4 Non-Default Telnet Contact Port
A User Telnet program SHOULD allow the user to optionally
specify a non-standard contact port number at the Server Telnet
host.
3.4.5 Flushing Output
A User Telnet program SHOULD provide the user the ability to
specify whether or not output should be flushed when an IP is
sent; see Section 3.2.4.
For any output flushing scheme that causes the User Telnet to
flush output locally until a Telnet signal is received from the
Server, there SHOULD be a way for the user to manually restore
normal output, in case the Server fails to send the expected
signal.
Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 26]
RFC1123 REMOTE LOGIN -- TELNET October 1989
3.5. TELNET REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY
| | | | |S| |
| | | | |H| |F
| | | | |O|M|o
| | |S| |U|U|o
| | |H| |L|S|t
| |M|O| |D|T|n
| |U|U|M| | |o
| |S|L|A|N|N|t
| |T|D|Y|O|O|t
FEATURE |SECTION | | | |T|T|e
-------------------------------------------------|--------|-|-|-|-|-|--
| | | | | | |
Option Negotiation |3.2.1 |x| | | | |
Avoid negotiation loops |3.2.1 |x| | | | |
Refuse unsupported options |3.2.1 |x| | | | |
Negotiation OK anytime on connection |3.2.1 | |x| | | |
Default to NVT |3.2.1 |x| | | | |
Send official name in Term-Type option |3.2.8 |x| | | | |
Accept any name in Term-Type option |3.2.8 |x| | | | |
Implement Binary, Suppress-GA options |3.3.3 |x| | | | |
Echo, Status, EOL, Ext-Opt-List options |3.3.3 | |x| | | |
Implement Window-Size option if appropriate |3.3.3 | |x| | | |
Server initiate mode negotiations |3.3.4 | |x| | | |
User can enable/disable init negotiations |3.3.4 | |x| | | |
| | | | | | |
Go-Aheads | | | | | | |
Non-GA server negotiate SUPPRESS-GA option |3.2.2 |x| | | | |
User or Server accept SUPPRESS-GA option |3.2.2 |x| | | | |
User Telnet ignore GA's |3.2.2 | | |x| | |
| | | | | | |
Control Functions | | | | | | |
Support SE NOP DM IP AO AYT SB |3.2.3 |x| | | | |
Support EOR EC EL Break |3.2.3 | | |x| | |
Ignore unsupported control functions |3.2.3 |x| | | | |
User, Server discard urgent data up to DM |3.2.4 |x| | | | |
User Telnet send "Synch" after IP, AO, AYT |3.2.4 | |x| | | |
Server Telnet reply Synch to IP |3.2.4 | | |x| | |
Server Telnet reply Synch to AO |3.2.4 |x| | | | |
User Telnet can flush output when send IP |3.2.4 | |x| | | |
| | | | | | |
Encoding | | | | | | |
Send high-order bit in NVT mode |3.2.5 | | | |x| |
Send high-order bit as parity bit |3.2.5 | | | | |x|
Negot. BINARY if pass high-ord. bit to applic |3.2.5 | |x| | | |
Always double IAC data byte |3.2.6 |x| | | | |
Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 27]
RFC1123 REMOTE LOGIN -- TELNET October 1989
Double IAC data byte in binary mode |3.2.7 |x| | | | |
Obey Telnet cmds in binary mode |3.2.7 |x| | | | |
End-of-line, CR NUL in binary mode |3.2.7 | | | | |x|
| | | | | | |
End-of-Line | | | | | | |
EOL at Server same as local end-of-line |3.3.1 |x| | | | |
ASCII Server accept CR LF or CR NUL for EOL |3.3.1 |x| | | | |
User Telnet able to send CR LF, CR NUL, or LF |3.3.1 |x| | | | |
ASCII user able to select CR LF/CR NUL |3.3.1 | |x| | | |
User Telnet default mode is CR LF |3.3.1 | |x| | | |
Non-interactive uses CR LF for EOL |3.3.1 |x| | | | |
| | | | | | |
User Telnet interface | | | | | | |
Input & output all 7-bit characters |3.4.1 | |x| | | |
Bypass local op sys interpretation |3.4.1 | |x| | | |
Escape character |3.4.1 |x| | | | |
User-settable escape character |3.4.1 | |x| | | |
Escape to enter 8-bit values |3.4.1 | | |x| | |
Can input IP, AO, AYT |3.4.2 |x| | | | |
Can input EC, EL, Break |3.4.2 | |x| | | |
Report TCP connection errors to user |3.4.3 | |x| | | |
Optional non-default contact port |3.4.4 | |x| | | |
Can spec: output flushed when IP sent |3.4.5 | |x| | | |
Can manually restore output mode |3.4.5 | |x| | | |
| | | | | | |
Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 28]
RFC1123 FILE TRANSFER -- FTP October 1989
4. FILE TRANSFER
4.1 FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL -- FTP
4.1.1 INTRODUCTION
The File Transfer Protocol FTP is the primary Internet standard
for file transfer. The current specification is contained in
RFC-959 [FTP:1].
FTP uses separate simultaneous TCP connections for control and
for data transfer. The FTP protocol includes many features,
some of which are not commonly implemented. However, for every
feature in FTP, there exists at least one implementation. The
minimum implementation defined in RFC-959 was too small, so a
somewhat larger minimum implementation is defined here.
Internet users have been unnecessarily burdened for years by
deficient FTP implementations. Protocol implementors have
suffered from the erroneous opinion that implementing FTP ought
to be a small and trivial task. This is wrong, because FTP has
a user interface, because it has to deal (correctly) with the
whole variety of communication and operating system errors that
may occur, and because it has to handle the great diversity of
real file systems in the world.
4.1.2. PROTOCOL WALK-THROUGH
4.1.2.1 LOCAL Type: RFC-959 Section 3.1.1.4
An FTP program MUST support TYPE I ("IMAGE" or binary type)
as well as TYPE L 8 ("LOCAL" type with logical byte size 8).
A machine whose memory is organized into m-bit words, where
m is not a multiple of 8, MAY also support TYPE L m.
DISCUSSION:
The command "TYPE L 8" is often required to transfer
binary data between a machine whose memory is organized
into (e.g.) 36-bit words and a machine with an 8-bit
byte organization. For an 8-bit byte machine, TYPE L 8
is equivalent to IMAGE.
"TYPE L m" is sometimes specified to the FTP programs
on two m-bit word machines to ensure the correct
transfer of a native-mode binary file from one machine
to the other. However, this command should have the
same effect on these machines as "TYPE I".
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4.1.2.2 Telnet Format Control: RFC-959 Section 3.1.1.5.2
A host that makes no distinction between TYPE N and TYPE T
SHOULD implement TYPE T to be identical to TYPE N.
DISCUSSION:
This provision should ease interoperation with hosts
that do make this distinction.
Many hosts represent text files internally as strings
of ASCII characters, using the embedded ASCII format
effector characters (LF, BS, FF, ...) to control the
format when a file is printed. For such hosts, there
is no distinction between "print" files and other
files. However, systems that use record structured
files typically need a special format for printable
files (e.g., ASA carriage control). For the latter
hosts, FTP allows a choice of TYPE N or TYPE T.
4.1.2.3 Page Structure: RFC-959 Section 3.1.2.3 and Appendix I
Implementation of page structure is NOT RECOMMENDED in
general. However, if a host system does need to implement
FTP for "random access" or "holey" files, it MUST use the
defined page structure format rather than define a new
private FTP format.
4.1.2.4 Data Structure Transformations: RFC-959 Section 3.1.2
An FTP transformation between record-structure and file-
structure SHOULD be invertible, to the extent possible while
making the result useful on the target host.
DISCUSSION:
RFC-959 required strict invertibility between record-
structure and file-structure, but in practice,
efficiency and convenience often preclude it.
Therefore, the requirement is being relaxed. There are
two different objectives for transferring a file:
processing it on the target host, or just storage. For
storage, strict invertibility is important. For
processing, the file created on the target host needs
to be in the format expected by application programs on
that host.
As an example of the conflict, imagine a record-
oriented operating system that requires some data files
to have exactly 80 bytes in each record. While STORing
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a file on such a host, an FTP Server must be able to
pad each line or record to 80 bytes; a later retrieval
of such a file cannot be strictly invertible.
4.1.2.5 Data Connection Management: RFC-959 Section 3.3
A User-FTP that uses STREAM mode SHOULD send a PORT command
to assign a non-default data port before each transfer
command is issued.
DISCUSSION:
This is required because of the long delay after a TCP
connection is closed until its socket pair can be
reused, to allow multiple transfers during a single FTP
session. Sending a port command can avoided if a
transfer mode other than stream is used, by leaving the
data transfer connection open between transfers.
4.1.2.6 PASV Command: RFC-959 Section 4.1.2
A server-FTP MUST implement the PASV command.
If multiple third-party transfers are to be executed during
the same session, a new PASV command MUST be issued before
each transfer command, to obtain a unique port pair.
IMPLEMENTATION:
The format of the 227 reply to a PASV command is not
well standardized. In particular, an FTP client cannot
assume that the parentheses shown on page 40 of RFC-959
will be present (and in fact, Figure 3 on page 43 omits
them). Therefore, a User-FTP program that interprets
the PASV reply must scan the reply for the first digit
of the host and port numbers.
Note that the host number h1,h2,h3,h4 is the IP address
of the server host that is sending the reply, and that
p1,p2 is a non-default data transfer port that PASV has
assigned.
4.1.2.7 LIST and NLST Commands: RFC-959 Section 4.1.3
The data returned by an NLST command MUST contain only a
simple list of legal pathnames, such that the server can use
them directly as the arguments of subsequent data transfer
commands for the individual files.
The data returned by a LIST or NLST command SHOULD use an
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implied TYPE AN, unless the current type is EBCDIC, in which
case an implied TYPE EN SHOULD be used.
DISCUSSION:
Many FTP clients support macro-commands that will get
or put files matching a wildcard specification, using
NLST to obtain a list of pathnames. The expansion of
"multiple-put" is local to the client, but "multiple-
get" requires cooperation by the server.
The implied type for LIST and NLST is designed to
provide compatibility with existing User-FTPs, and in
particular with multiple-get commands.
4.1.2.8 SITE Command: RFC-959 Section 4.1.3
A Server-FTP SHOULD use the SITE command for non-standard
features, rather than invent new private commands or
unstandardized extensions to existing commands.
4.1.2.9 STOU Command: RFC-959 Section 4.1.3
The STOU command stores into a uniquely named file. When it
receives an STOU command, a Server-FTP MUST return the
actual file name in the "125 Transfer Starting" or the "150
Opening Data Connection" message that precedes the transfer
(the 250 reply code mentioned in RFC-959 is incorrect). The
exact format of these messages is hereby defined to be as
follows:
125 FILE: pppp
150 FILE: pppp
where pppp represents the unique pathname of the file that
will be written.
4.1.2.10 Telnet End-of-line Code: RFC-959, Page 34
Implementors MUST NOT assume any correspondence between READ
boundaries on the control connection and the Telnet EOL
sequences (CR LF).
DISCUSSION:
Thus, a server-FTP (or User-FTP) must continue reading
characters from the control connection until a complete
Telnet EOL sequence is encountered, before processing
the command (or response, respectively). Conversely, a
single READ from the control connection may include
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more than one FTP command.
4.1.2.11 FTP Replies: RFC-959 Section 4.2, Page 35
A Server-FTP MUST send only correctly formatted replies on
the control connection. Note that RFC-959 (unlike earlier
versions of the FTP spec) contains no provision for a
"spontaneous" reply message.
A Server-FTP SHOULD use the reply codes defined in RFC-959
whenever they apply. However, a server-FTP MAY use a
different reply code when needed, as long as the general
rules of Section 4.2 are followed. When the implementor has
a choice between a 4xx and 5xx reply code, a Server-FTP
SHOULD send a 4xx (temporary failure) code when there is any
reasonable possibility that a failed FTP will succeed a few
hours later.
A User-FTP SHOULD generally use only the highest-order digit
of a 3-digit reply code for making a procedural decision, to
prevent difficulties when a Server-FTP uses non-standard
reply codes.
A User-FTP MUST be able to handle multi-line replies. If
the implementation imposes a limit on the number of lines
and if this limit is exceeded, the User-FTP MUST recover,
e.g., by ignoring the excess lines until the end of the
multi-line reply is reached.
A User-FTP SHOULD NOT interpret a 421 reply code ("Service
not available, closing control connection") specially, but
SHOULD detect closing of the control connection by the
server.
DISCUSSION:
Server implementations that fail to strictly follow the
reply rules often cause FTP user programs to hang.
Note that RFC-959 resolved ambiguities in the reply
rules found in earlier FTP specifications and must be
followed.
It is important to choose FTP reply codes that properly
distinguish between temporary and permanent failures,
to allow the successful use of file transfer client
daemons. These programs depend on the reply codes to
decide whether or not to retry a failed transfer; using
a permanent failure code (5xx) for a temporary error
will cause these programs to give up unnecessarily.
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When the meaning of a reply matches exactly the text
shown in RFC-959, uniformity will be enhanced by using
the RFC-959 text verbatim. However, a Server-FTP
implementor is encouraged to choose reply text that
conveys specific system-dependent information, when
appropriate.
4.1.2.12 Connections: RFC-959 Section 5.2
The words "and the port used" in the second paragraph of
this section of RFC-959 are erroneous (historical), and they
should be ignored.
On a multihomed server host, the default data transfer port
(L-1) MUST be associated with the same local IP address as
the corresponding control connection to port L.
A user-FTP MUST NOT send any Telnet controls other than
SYNCH and IP on an FTP control connection. In particular, it
MUST NOT attempt to negotiate Telnet options on the control
connection. However, a server-FTP MUST be capable of
accepting and refusing Telnet negotiations (i.e., sending
DONT/WONT).
DISCUSSION:
Although the RFC says: "Server- and User- processes
should follow the conventions for the Telnet
protocol...[on the control connection]", it is not the
intent that Telnet option negotiation is to be
employed.
4.1.2.13 Minimum Implementation; RFC-959 Section 5.1
The following commands and options MUST be supported by
every server-FTP and user-FTP, except in cases where the
underlying file system or operating system does not allow or
support a particular command.
Type: ASCII Non-print, IMAGE, LOCAL 8
Mode: Stream
Structure: File, Record*
Commands:
USER, PASS, ACCT,
PORT, PASV,
TYPE, MODE, STRU,
RETR, STOR, APPE,
RNFR, RNTO, DELE,
CWD, CDUP, RMD, MKD, PWD,
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LIST, NLST,
SYST, STAT,
HELP, NOOP, QUIT.
*Record structure is REQUIRED only for hosts whose file
systems support record structure.
DISCUSSION:
Vendors are encouraged to implement a larger subset of
the protocol. For example, there are important
robustness features in the protocol (e.g., Restart,
ABOR, block mode) that would be an aid to some Internet
users but are not widely implemented.
A host that does not have record structures in its file
system may still accept files with STRU R, recording
the byte stream literally.
4.1.3 SPECIFIC ISSUES
4.1.3.1 Non-standard Command Verbs
FTP allows "experimental" commands, whose names begin with
"X". If these commands are subsequently adopted as
standards, there may still be existing implementations using
the "X" form. At present, this is true for the directory
commands:
RFC-959 "Experimental"
MKD XMKD
RMD XRMD
PWD XPWD
CDUP XCUP
CWD XCWD
All FTP implementations SHOULD recognize both forms of these
commands, by simply equating them with extra entries in the
command lookup table.
IMPLEMENTATION:
A User-FTP can access a server that supports only the
"X" forms by implementing a mode switch, or
automatically using the following procedure: if the
RFC-959 form of one of the above commands is rejected
with a 500 or 502 response code, then try the
experimental form; any other response would be passed
to the user.
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4.1.3.2 Idle Timeout
A Server-FTP process SHOULD have an idle timeout, which will
terminate the process and close the control connection if
the server is inactive (i.e., no command or data transfer in
progress) for a long period of time. The idle timeout time
SHOULD be configurable, and the default should be at least 5
minutes.
A client FTP process ("User-PI" in RFC-959) will need
timeouts on responses only if it is invoked from a program.
DISCUSSION:
Without a timeout, a Server-FTP process may be left
pending indefinitely if the corresponding client
crashes without closing the control connection.
4.1.3.3 Concurrency of Data and Control
DISCUSSION:
The intent of the designers of FTP was that a user
should be able to send a STAT command at any time while
data transfer was in progress and that the server-FTP
would reply immediately with status -- e.g., the number
of bytes transferred so far. Similarly, an ABOR
command should be possible at any time during a data
transfer.
Unfortunately, some small-machine operating systems
make such concurrent programming difficult, and some
other implementers seek minimal solutions, so some FTP
implementations do not allow concurrent use of the data
and control connections. Even such a minimal server
must be prepared to accept and defer a STAT or ABOR
command that arrives during data transfer.
4.1.3.4 FTP Restart Mechanism
The description of the 110 reply on pp. 40-41 of RFC-959 is
incorrect; the correct description is as follows. A restart
reply message, sent over the control connection from the
receiving FTP to the User-FTP, has the format:
110 MARK ssss = rrrr
Here:
* ssss is a text string that appeared in a Restart Marker
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in the data stream and encodes a position in the
sender's file system;
* rrrr encodes the corresponding position in the
receiver's file system.
The encoding, which is specific to a particular file system
and network implementation, is always generated and
interpreted by the same system, either sender or receiver.
When an FTP that implements restart receives a Restart
Marker in the data stream, it SHOULD force the data to that
point to be written to stable storage before encoding the
corresponding position rrrr. An FTP sending Restart Markers
MUST NOT assume that 110 replies will be returned
synchronously with the data, i.e., it must not await a 110
reply before sending more data.
Two new reply codes are hereby defined for errors
encountered in restarting a transfer:
554 Requested action not taken: invalid REST parameter.
A 554 reply may result from a FTP service command that
follows a REST command. The reply indicates that the
existing file at the Server-FTP cannot be repositioned
as specified in the REST.
555 Requested action not taken: type or stru mismatch.
A 555 reply may result from an APPE command or from any
FTP service command following a REST command. The
reply indicates that there is some mismatch between the
current transfer parameters (type and stru) and the
attributes of the existing file.
DISCUSSION:
Note that the FTP Restart mechanism requires that Block
or Compressed mode be used for data transfer, to allow
the Restart Markers to be included within the data
stream. The frequency of Restart Markers can be low.
Restart Markers mark a place in the data stream, but
the receiver may be performing some transformation on
the data as it is stored into stable storage. In
general, the receiver's encoding must include any state
information necessary to restart this transformation at
any point of the FTP data stream. For example, in TYPE
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A transfers, some receiver hosts transform CR LF
sequences into a single LF character on disk. If a
Restart Marker happens to fall between CR and LF, the
receiver must encode in rrrr that the transfer must be
restarted in a "CR has been seen and discarded" state.
Note that the Restart Marker is required to be encoded
as a string of printable ASCII characters, regardless
of the type of the data.
RFC-959 says that restart information is to be returned
"to the user". This should not be taken literally. In
general, the User-FTP should save the restart
information (ssss,rrrr) in stable storage, e.g., append
it to a restart control file. An empty restart control
file should be created when the transfer first starts
and deleted automatically when the transfer completes
successfully. It is suggested that this file have a
name derived in an easily-identifiable manner from the
name of the file being transferred and the remote host
name; this is analogous to the means used by many text
editors for naming "backup" files.
There are three cases for FTP restart.
(1) User-to-Server Transfer
The User-FTP puts Restart Markers <ssss> at
convenient places in the data stream. When the
Server-FTP receives a Marker, it writes all prior
data to disk, encodes its file system position and
transformation state as rrrr, and returns a "110
MARK ssss = rrrr" reply over the control
connection. The User-FTP appends the pair
(ssss,rrrr) to its restart control file.
To restart the transfer, the User-FTP fetches the
last (ssss,rrrr) pair from the restart control
file, repositions its local file system and
transformation state using ssss, and sends the
command "REST rrrr" to the Server-FTP.
(2) Server-to-User Transfer
The Server-FTP puts Restart Markers <ssss> at
convenient places in the data stream. When the
User-FTP receives a Marker, it writes all prior
data to disk, encodes its file system position and
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transformation state as rrrr, and appends the pair
(rrrr,ssss) to its restart control file.
To restart the transfer, the User-FTP fetches the
last (rrrr,ssss) pair from the restart control
file, repositions its local file system and
transformation state using rrrr, and sends the
command "REST ssss" to the Server-FTP.
(3) Server-to-Server ("Third-Party") Transfer
The sending Server-FTP puts Restart Markers <ssss>
at convenient places in the data stream. When it
receives a Marker, the receiving Server-FTP writes
all prior data to disk, encodes its file system
position and transformation state as rrrr, and
sends a "110 MARK ssss = rrrr" reply over the
control connection to the User. The User-FTP
appends the pair (ssss,rrrr) to its restart
control file.
To restart the transfer, the User-FTP fetches the
last (ssss,rrrr) pair from the restart control
file, sends "REST ssss" to the sending Server-FTP,
and sends "REST rrrr" to the receiving Server-FTP.
4.1.4 FTP/USER INTERFACE
This section discusses the user interface for a User-FTP
program.
4.1.4.1 Pathname Specification
Since FTP is intended for use in a heterogeneous
environment, User-FTP implementations MUST support remote
pathnames as arbitrary character strings, so that their form
and content are not limited by the conventions of the local
operating system.
DISCUSSION:
In particular, remote pathnames can be of arbitrary
length, and all the printing ASCII characters as well
as space (0x20) must be allowed. RFC-959 allows a
pathname to contain any 7-bit ASCII character except CR
or LF.
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4.1.4.2 "QUOTE" Command
A User-FTP program MUST implement a "QUOTE" command that
will pass an arbitrary character string to the server and
display all resulting response messages to the user.
To make the "QUOTE" command useful, a User-FTP SHOULD send
transfer control commands to the server as the user enters
them, rather than saving all the commands and sending them
to the server only when a data transfer is started.
DISCUSSION:
The "QUOTE" command is essential to allow the user to
access servers that require system-specific commands
(e.g., SITE or ALLO), or to invoke new or optional
features that are not implemented by the User-FTP. For
example, "QUOTE" may be used to specify "TYPE A T" to
send a print file to hosts that require the
distinction, even if the User-FTP does not recognize
that TYPE.
4.1.4.3 Displaying Replies to User
A User-FTP SHOULD display to the user the full text of all
error reply messages it receives. It SHOULD have a
"verbose" mode in which all commands it sends and the full
text and reply codes it receives are displayed, for
diagnosis of problems.
4.1.4.4 Maintaining Synchronization
The state machine in a User-FTP SHOULD be forgiving of
missing and unexpected reply messages, in order to maintain
command synchronization with the server.
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4.1.5 FTP REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY
| | | | |S| |
| | | | |H| |F
| | | | |O|M|o
| | |S| |U|U|o
| | |H| |L|S|t
| |M|O| |D|T|n
| |U|U|M| | |o
| |S|L|A|N|N|t
| |T|D|Y|O|O|t
FEATURE |SECTION | | | |T|T|e
-------------------------------------------|---------------|-|-|-|-|-|--
Implement TYPE T if same as TYPE N |4.1.2.2 | |x| | | |
File/Record transform invertible if poss. |4.1.2.4 | |x| | | |
User-FTP send PORT cmd for stream mode |4.1.2.5 | |x| | | |
Server-FTP implement PASV |4.1.2.6 |x| | | | |
PASV is per-transfer |4.1.2.6 |x| | | | |
NLST reply usable in RETR cmds |4.1.2.7 |x| | | | |
Implied type for LIST and NLST |4.1.2.7 | |x| | | |
SITE cmd for non-standard features |4.1.2.8 | |x| | | |
STOU cmd return pathname as specified |4.1.2.9 |x| | | | |
Use TCP READ boundaries on control conn. |4.1.2.10 | | | | |x|
| | | | | | |
Server-FTP send only correct reply format |4.1.2.11 |x| | | | |
Server-FTP use defined reply code if poss. |4.1.2.11 | |x| | | |
New reply code following Section 4.2 |4.1.2.11 | | |x| | |
User-FTP use only high digit of reply |4.1.2.11 | |x| | | |
User-FTP handle multi-line reply lines |4.1.2.11 |x| | | | |
User-FTP handle 421 reply specially |4.1.2.11 | | | |x| |
| | | | | | |
Default data port same IP addr as ctl conn |4.1.2.12 |x| | | | |
User-FTP send Telnet cmds exc. SYNCH, IP |4.1.2.12 | | | | |x|
User-FTP negotiate Telnet options |4.1.2.12 | | | | |x|
Server-FTP handle Telnet options |4.1.2.12 |x| | | | |
Handle "Experimental" directory cmds |4.1.3.1 | |x| | | |
Idle timeout in server-FTP |4.1.3.2 | |x| | | |
Configurable idle timeout |4.1.3.2 | |x| | | |
Receiver checkpoint data at Restart Marker |4.1.3.4 | |x| | | |
Sender assume 110 replies are synchronous |4.1.3.4 | | | | |x|
| | | | | | |
Support TYPE: | | | | | | |
ASCII - Non-Print (AN) |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |
ASCII - Telnet (AT) -- if same as AN |4.1.2.2 | |x| | | |
ASCII - Carriage Control (AC) |959 3.1.1.5.2 | | |x| | |
EBCDIC - (any form) |959 3.1.1.2 | | |x| | |
IMAGE |4.1.2.1 |x| | | | |
LOCAL 8 |4.1.2.1 |x| | | | |
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LOCAL m |4.1.2.1 | | |x| | |2
| | | | | | |
Support MODE: | | | | | | |
Stream |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |
Block |959 3.4.2 | | |x| | |
| | | | | | |
Support STRUCTURE: | | | | | | |
File |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |
Record |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |3
Page |4.1.2.3 | | | |x| |
| | | | | | |
Support commands: | | | | | | |
USER |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |
PASS |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |
ACCT |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |
CWD |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |
CDUP |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |
SMNT |959 5.3.1 | | |x| | |
REIN |959 5.3.1 | | |x| | |
QUIT |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |
| | | | | | |
PORT |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |
PASV |4.1.2.6 |x| | | | |
TYPE |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |1
STRU |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |1
MODE |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |1
| | | | | | |
RETR |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |
STOR |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |
STOU |959 5.3.1 | | |x| | |
APPE |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |
ALLO |959 5.3.1 | | |x| | |
REST |959 5.3.1 | | |x| | |
RNFR |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |
RNTO |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |
ABOR |959 5.3.1 | | |x| | |
DELE |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |
RMD |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |
MKD |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |
PWD |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |
LIST |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |
NLST |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |
SITE |4.1.2.8 | | |x| | |
STAT |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |
SYST |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |
HELP |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |
NOOP |4.1.2.13 |x| | | | |
| | | | | | |
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User Interface: | | | | | | |
Arbitrary pathnames |4.1.4.1 |x| | | | |
Implement "QUOTE" command |4.1.4.2 |x| | | | |
Transfer control commands immediately |4.1.4.2 | |x| | | |
Display error messages to user |4.1.4.3 | |x| | | |
Verbose mode |4.1.4.3 | |x| | | |
Maintain synchronization with server |4.1.4.4 | |x| | | |
Footnotes:
(1) For the values shown earlier.
(2) Here m is number of bits in a memory word.
(3) Required for host with record-structured file system, optional
otherwise.
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4.2 TRIVIAL FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL -- TFTP
4.2.1 INTRODUCTION
The Trivial File Transfer Protocol TFTP is defined in RFC-783
[TFTP:1].
TFTP provides its own reliable delivery with UDP as its
transport protocol, using a simple stop-and-wait acknowledgment
system. Since TFTP has an effective window of only one 512
octet segment, it can provide good performance only over paths
that have a small delay*bandwidth product. The TFTP file
interface is very simple, providing no access control or
security.
TFTP's most important application is bootstrapping a host over
a local network, since it is simple and small enough to be
easily implemented in EPROM [BOOT:1, BOOT:2]. Vendors are
urged to support TFTP for booting.
4.2.2 PROTOCOL WALK-THROUGH
The TFTP specification [TFTP:1] is written in an open style,
and does not fully specify many parts of the protocol.
4.2.2.1 Transfer Modes: RFC-783, Page 3
The transfer mode "mail" SHOULD NOT be supported.
4.2.2.2 UDP Header: RFC-783, Page 17
The Length field of a UDP header is incorrectly defined; it
includes the UDP header length (8).
4.2.3 SPECIFIC ISSUES
4.2.3.1 Sorcerer's Apprentice Syndrome
There is a serious bug, known as the "Sorcerer's Apprentice
Syndrome," in the protocol specification. While it does not
cause incorrect operation of the transfer (the file will
always be transferred correctly if the transfer completes),
this bug may cause excessive retransmission, which may cause
the transfer to time out.
Implementations MUST contain the fix for this problem: the
sender (i.e., the side originating the DATA packets) must
never resend the current DATA packet on receipt of a
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duplicate ACK.
DISCUSSION:
The bug is caused by the protocol rule that either
side, on receiving an old duplicate datagram, may
resend the current datagram. If a packet is delayed in
the network but later successfully delivered after
either side has timed out and retransmitted a packet, a
duplicate copy of the response may be generated. If
the other side responds to this duplicate with a
duplicate of its own, then every datagram will be sent
in duplicate for the remainder of the transfer (unless
a datagram is lost, breaking the repetition). Worse
yet, since the delay is often caused by congestion,
this duplicate transmission will usually causes more
congestion, leading to more delayed packets, etc.
The following example may help to clarify this problem.
TFTP A TFTP B
(1) Receive ACK X-1
Send DATA X
(2) Receive DATA X
Send ACK X
(ACK X is delayed in network,
and A times out):
(3) Retransmit DATA X
(4) Receive DATA X again
Send ACK X again
(5) Receive (delayed) ACK X
Send DATA X+1
(6) Receive DATA X+1
Send ACK X+1
(7) Receive ACK X again
Send DATA X+1 again
(8) Receive DATA X+1 again
Send ACK X+1 again
(9) Receive ACK X+1
Send DATA X+2
(10) Receive DATA X+2
Send ACK X+3
(11) Receive ACK X+1 again
Send DATA X+2 again
(12) Receive DATA X+2 again
Send ACK X+3 again
Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 45]
RFC1123 FILE TRANSFER -- TFTP October 1989
Notice that once the delayed ACK arrives, the protocol
settles down to duplicate all further packets
(sequences 5-8 and 9-12). The problem is caused not by
either side timing out, but by both sides
retransmitting the current packet when they receive a
duplicate.
The fix is to break the retransmission loop, as
indicated above. This is analogous to the behavior of
TCP. It is then possible to remove the retransmission
timer on the receiver, since the resent ACK will never
cause any action; this is a useful simplification where
TFTP is used in a bootstrap program. It is OK to allow
the timer to remain, and it may be helpful if the
retransmitted ACK replaces one that was genuinely lost
in the network. The sender still requires a retransmit
timer, of course.
4.2.3.2 Timeout Algorithms
A TFTP implementation MUST use an adaptive timeout.
IMPLEMENTATION:
TCP retransmission algorithms provide a useful base to
work from. At least an exponential backoff of
retransmission timeout is necessary.
4.2.3.3 Extensions
A variety of non-standard extensions have been made to TFTP,
including additional transfer modes and a secure operation
mode (with passwords). None of these have been
standardized.
4.2.3.4 Access Control
A server TFTP implementation SHOULD include some
configurable access control over what pathnames are allowed
in TFTP operations.
4.2.3.5 Broadcast Request
A TFTP request directed to a broadcast address SHOULD be
silently ignored.
DISCUSSION:
Due to the weak access control capability of TFTP,
directed broadcasts of TFTP requests to random networks
Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 46]
RFC1123 FILE TRANSFER -- TFTP October 1989
could create a significant security hole.
4.2.4 TFTP REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY
| | | | |S| |
| | | | |H| |F
| | | | |O|M|o
| | |S| |U|U|o
| | |H| |L|S|t
| |M|O| |D|T|n
| |U|U|M| | |o
| |S|L|A|N|N|t
| |T|D|Y|O|O|t
FEATURE |SECTION | | | |T|T|e
-------------------------------------------------|--------|-|-|-|-|-|--
Fix Sorcerer's Apprentice Syndrome |4.2.3.1 |x| | | | |
Transfer modes: | | | | | | |
netascii |RFC-783 |x| | | | |
octet |RFC-783 |x| | | | |
mail |4.2.2.1 | | | |x| |
extensions |4.2.3.3 | | |x| | |
Use adaptive timeout |4.2.3.2 |x| | | | |
Configurable access control |4.2.3.4 | |x| | | |
Silently ignore broadcast request |4.2.3.5 | |x| | | |
-------------------------------------------------|--------|-|-|-|-|-|--
-------------------------------------------------|--------|-|-|-|-|-|--
Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 47]
RFC1123 MAIL -- SMTP & RFC-822 October 1989
5. ELECTRONIC MAIL -- SMTP and RFC-822
5.1 INTRODUCTION
In the TCP/IP protocol suite, electronic mail in a format
specified in RFC-822 [SMTP:2] is transmitted using the Simple Mail
Transfer Protocol (SMTP) defined in RFC-821 [SMTP:1].
While SMTP has remained unchanged over the years, the Internet
community has made several changes in the way SMTP is used. In
particular, the conversion to the Domain Name System (DNS) has
caused changes in address formats and in mail routing. In this
section, we assume familiarity with the concepts and terminology
of the DNS, whose requirements are given in Section 6.1.
RFC-822 specifies the Internet standard format for electronic mail
messages. RFC-822 supercedes an older standard, RFC-733, that may
still be in use in a few places, although it is obsolete. The two
formats are sometimes referred to simply by number ("822" and
"733").
RFC-822 is used in some non-Internet mail environments with
different mail transfer protocols than SMTP, and SMTP has also
been adapted for use in some non-Internet environments. Note that
this document presents the rules for the use of SMTP and RFC-822
for the Internet environment only; other mail environments that
use these protocols may be expected to have their own rules.
5.2 PROTOCOL WALK-THROUGH
This section covers both RFC-821 and RFC-822.
The SMTP specification in RFC-821 is clear and contains numerous
examples, so implementors should not find it difficult to
understand. This section simply updates or annotates portions of
RFC-821 to conform with current usage.
RFC-822 is a long and dense document, defining a rich syntax.
Unfortunately, incomplete or defective implementations of RFC-822
are common. In fact, nearly all of the many formats of RFC-822
are actually used, so an implementation generally needs to
recognize and correctly interpret all of the RFC-822 syntax.
5.2.1 The SMTP Model: RFC-821 Section 2
DISCUSSION:
Mail is sent by a series of request/response transactions
between a client, the "sender-SMTP," and a server, the
Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 48]
RFC1123 MAIL -- SMTP & RFC-822 October 1989
"receiver-SMTP". These transactions pass (1) the message
proper, which is composed of header and body, and (2) SMTP
source and destination addresses, referred to as the
"envelope".
The SMTP programs are analogous to Message Transfer Agents
(MTAs) of X.400. There will be another level of protocol
software, closer to the end user, that is responsible for
composing and analyzing RFC-822 message headers; this
component is known as the "User Agent" in X.400, and we
use that term in this document. There is a clear logical
distinction between the User Agent and the SMTP
implementation, since they operate on different levels of
protocol. Note, however, that this distinction is may not
be exactly reflected the structure of typical
implementations of Internet mail. Often there is a
program known as the "mailer" that implements SMTP and
also some of the User Agent functions; the rest of the
User Agent functions are included in a user interface used
for entering and reading mail.
The SMTP envelope is constructed at the originating site,
typically by the User Agent when the message is first
queued for the Sender-SMTP program. The envelope
addresses may be derived from information in the message
header, supplied by the user interface (e.g., to implement
a bcc: request), or derived from local configuration
information (e.g., expansion of a mailing list). The SMTP
envelope cannot in general be re-derived from the header
at a later stage in message delivery, so the envelope is
transmitted separately from the message itself using the
MAIL and RCPT commands of SMTP.
The text of RFC-821 suggests that mail is to be delivered
to an individual user at a host. With the advent of the
domain system and of mail routing using mail-exchange (MX)
resource records, implementors should now think of
delivering mail to a user at a domain, which may or may
not be a particular host. This DOES NOT change the fact
that SMTP is a host-to-host mail exchange protocol.
5.2.2 Canonicalization: RFC-821 Section 3.1
The domain names that a Sender-SMTP sends in MAIL and RCPT
commands MUST have been "canonicalized," i.e., they must be
fully-qualified principal names or domain literals, not
nicknames or domain abbreviations. A canonicalized name either
identifies a host directly or is an MX name; it cannot be a
Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 49]