Address Autoconfiguration (addrconf) Charter


NOTE: This charter is accurate as of the 32nd IETF Meeting in Danvers. It may now be out-of-date. (Consider this a "snapshot" of the working group from that meeting.) Up-to-date charters for all active working groups can be found elsewhere in this Web server.

Chair(s)

IP: Next Generation Area Director(s):

Mailing List Information

Description of Working Group

One of the basic requirements of ``plug and play'' operation is that a host must be able to acquire an address dynamically, either when attaching to a network for the first time or when the host needs to be readdressed. The purpose of the ADDRCONF Working Group is to design and specify a protocol for allocating addresses dynamically to IPv6 hosts. The address configuration protocol must be suitable for a wide range of network topologies, from a simple isolated network to a sophisticated globally connected network. It should also allow for varying levels of administrative control, from completely automated operation to very tight administrative control.

The scope of the working group is to propose a host address autoconfiguration protocol which supports the full range of topological and administrative environments. It is the intention that, together with IPv6 system discovery, the address autoconfiguration protocol will provide the minimal bootstrapping information necessary to enable hosts to acquire further configuration information (such as that provided by DHCP in IPv4). The scope does not include router configuration or any other host configuration functions. However, it is within the scope of the working group to investigate and document the interactions between this work and related functions including system discovery, DNS autoregistration, service discovery and broader host configuration issues, to facilitate smooth integration.

Goals and Milestones

Oct 94
Submit Internet-Drafts on address assignment architecture and protocol specification.
Nov 94
Revise Internet-Drafts on address assignment architecture and protocol specification.
Dec 94
Submit Internet-Drafts for Proposed Standard.
Dec 94
Review the revised drafts to be certain of consistency with efforts in dhcp, dns, and dns-security working groups, and to be certain that essential robustness and safety for autoaddressing in IPv6 do not fall through the cracks.

Current Internet-Drafts

No Request for Comments