A YANG Data Model of Network Inventory Software

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Copyright Notice

Copyright (c) 2026 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the document authors. All rights reserved.¶

This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document. Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must include Revised BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as described in the Revised BSD License.¶

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

The Network Inventory consists of the physical and software-based network elements (NEs), hardware components, firmware components, and software components on a managed network domain. The software-based NEs are network devices that support network protocols and functions (e.g., routers, firewalls, and controllers), which can reside in any network or compute environment.¶

[I-D.ietf-ivy-network-inventory-yang] defines the base Network Inventory YANG data model for physical NEs and hardware components of NEs. Examples of hardware components could be rack, shelf, slot, board, and physical port.¶

The management of software-based NE and software components information is similar to the management of physical NE and hardware information. For example, inventory data, including product names, serial numbers, etc. are also applicable. This document defines a network inventory software YANG data model. In addition to inheriting the common inventory attributes of the base network inventory data model, this document also adds some software-specific attributes of software-based NEs (such as controllers, virtual routers, and virtual firewalls) and software components (such as operating system, software modules, BIOS, and boot loader). Refer to Section 3.¶

The Network Inventory software model is classified as a network model (Section 4 of [RFC8309]).¶

2. YANG Data Model for Network Inventory Software Overview

module: ietf-network-inventory-software

  augment /nwi:network-inventory/nwi:network-elements
            /nwi:network-element/nwi:software-rev:
    +--ro installation-time?   yang:date-and-time
    +--ro activation-time?     yang:date-and-time
  augment /nwi:network-inventory/nwi:network-elements
            /nwi:network-element:
    +--ro installed-software* [name revision]
       +--ro name                 string
       +--ro revision             string
       +--ro status?              identityref
       +--ro installation-time?   yang:date-and-time
  augment /nwi:network-inventory/nwi:network-elements
            /nwi:network-element/nwi:components/nwi:component:
    +--ro installed-software* [name revision]
       +--ro name                 string
       +--ro revision             string
       +--ro status?              identityref
       +--ro installation-time?   yang:date-and-time
  augment /nwi:network-inventory/nwi:network-elements
            /nwi:network-element/nwi:components/nwi:component
            /nwi:software-rev:
    +--ro installation-time?   yang:date-and-time
    +--ro activation-time?     yang:date-and-time

3. YANG Data Model for Network Inventory Software

The "ietf-network-inventory-software" module uses types defined in [RFC9911] and [I-D.ietf-ivy-network-inventory-yang].¶

<CODE BEGINS> file "ietf-network-inventory-software@2026-10-31.yang"

module ietf-network-inventory-software {
  yang-version 1.1;
  namespace
    "urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-network-inventory-software";
  prefix nwis;

  import ietf-yang-types {
    prefix yang;
    reference
      "RFC 9911: Common YANG Data Types, Section 3";
  }
  import ietf-network-inventory {
    prefix nwi;
    reference
      "RFC AAAA: A YANG Data Model for Network Inventory";
  }

  organization
    "IETF Network Inventory YANG (ivy) Working Group";
  contact
    "WG Web:   https://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/ivy
     WG List:  <mailto:ivy@ietf.org>

     Editor: Bo Wu
             <lana.wubo@huawei.com>
     Editor: Cheng Zhou
             <zhouchengyjy@chinamobile.com>
     Editor: Qin Wu
             <bill.wu@huawei.com>
     Editor: Mohamed Boucadair
             <mohamed.boucadair@orange.com>";
  description
    "This module defines a YANG model for network inventory software.

     Copyright (c) 2026 IETF Trust and the persons
     identified as authors of the code.  All rights reserved.

     Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or
     without modification, is permitted pursuant to, and subject
     to the license terms contained in, the Revised BSD License
     set forth in Section 4.c of the IETF Trust's Legal Provisions
     Relating to IETF Documents
     (https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info).

     The key words 'MUST', 'MUST NOT', 'REQUIRED', 'SHALL', 'SHALL
     NOT', 'SHOULD', 'SHOULD NOT', 'RECOMMENDED', 'NOT RECOMMENDED',
     'MAY', and 'OPTIONAL' in this document are to be interpreted as
     described in BCP 14 (RFC 2119) (RFC 8174) when, and only when,
     they appear in all capitals, as shown here.

     All revisions of IETF and IANA published modules can be found
     at the YANG Parameters registry group
     (https://www.iana.org/assignments/yang-parameters).

     This version of this YANG module is part of RFC XXXX; see
     the RFC itself for full legal notices.";

  revision 2026-10-31 {
    description
      "Initial version";
    reference
      "RFC XXXX: A YANG Data Model for Network Inventory Software";
  }

  identity ne-software-based {
    base nwi:ne-type;
    description
      "Any network element (NE) implemented purely in software.
       It performs protocol or forwarding functions but
       does not correspond to a distinguishable hardware
       chassis. It can be hosted on a bare-metal server,
       in a virtual machine (VM), in a container, or on
       cloud instance.";
  }

  identity software-component {
    base nwi:non-hardware-component-class;
    description
      "Base identity for software components in a managed NE.";
  }

  identity operating-system {
    base software-component;
    description
      "Operating system (OS) software type.";
  }

  identity bios {
    base software-component;
    description
      "System firmware responsible for hardware initialization
       and system boot.";
  }

  identity boot-loader {
    base software-component;
    description
      "Software layer responsible for loading and booting the
       device OS or network OS.";
  }

  identity software-module {
    base software-component;
    description
      "Installable unit smaller than a full OS image,
       e.g., feature package.";
  }

  identity software-status {
    description
      "Base identity for the lifecycle status of non-running
       software.  This identity is used only by the
       'installed-software' list. Running software is identified
       by its presence in the base 'software-rev' list and does
       not carry a 'status' leaf.";
  }

  identity software-installed {
    base software-status;
    description
      "Software or patch is installed on the network element or
       component but not yet administratively active.";
  }

  identity software-activated-pending-reload {
    base software-status;
    description
      "Software or patch is administratively activated but not
       yet running; a reload is required for it to take effect
       (e.g., cold patch or cold upgrade).
       After the reload completes, this installed entry is removed,
       and the corresponding running version appears in
       'software-rev'.";
  }

  grouping installed-software-grouping {
    description
      "Attributes of software that is present on the NE but
       not currently running.";
    leaf name {
      type string;
      description
        "Name of the software.";
    }
    leaf revision {
      type string;
      description
        "Revision of the software.";
    }
    leaf status {
      type identityref {
        base software-status;
      }
      must "derived-from-or-self(., 'software-installed') or "
         + "derived-from-or-self(., "
         + "'software-activated-pending-reload')" {
        error-message
          "Only 'software-installed' or "
        + "'software-activated-pending-reload' are allowed "
        + "for non-running software.";
      }
      description
        "Lifecycle status of this non-running software.";
    }
    leaf installation-time {
      type yang:date-and-time;
      description
        "Time when this software or patch was first installed.";
    }
  }

  /* Main blocks */

  augment "/nwi:network-inventory/nwi:network-elements"
        + "/nwi:network-element/nwi:software-rev" {
    description
      "Adds installation-time and activation-time to the
       base NE software revision.
       The base list reports running software only; presence in
       this list implies that the software is running.";
    leaf installation-time {
      type yang:date-and-time;
      description
        "Time when this running software revision was first
         installed.";
    }
    leaf activation-time {
      type yang:date-and-time;
      description
        "Time when this running software revision first entered
         the activated state.";
    }
  }

  augment "/nwi:network-inventory/nwi:network-elements"
        + "/nwi:network-element" {
    description
      "Adds the installed-software list at the NE level.";
    list installed-software {
      key "name revision";
      description
        "Software that is present on the NE but not currently
         running.  This includes software that is installed but
         not administratively activated, and software that
         has been administratively activated but requires
         a reload to take effect (e.g., cold patch or
         cold upgrade).  Entries in this list MUST NOT
         appear in the base 'software-rev' list.  When an entry
         becomes running, the corresponding version appears in
         'software-rev', and this installed-software entry
         is removed.";
      uses installed-software-grouping;
    }
  }

  augment "/nwi:network-inventory/nwi:network-elements/"
        + "nwi:network-element/nwi:components/nwi:component" {
    description
      "Adds the installed-software list at the component level.";
    list installed-software {
      key "name revision";
      description
        "Software that is present on the component but not
         currently running.";
      uses installed-software-grouping;
    }
  }

  augment "/nwi:network-inventory/nwi:network-elements/"
        + "nwi:network-element/nwi:components/nwi:component/"
        + "nwi:software-rev" {
    description
      "Adds installation-time and activation-time to
       component-level running software revisions.  The base
       list reports running software only; presence in this list
       implies that the software is running.";
    leaf installation-time {
      type yang:date-and-time;
      description
        "Time when this running software revision was first
         installed.";
    }
    leaf activation-time {
      type yang:date-and-time;
      description
        "Time when this running software revision first entered
         the activated state.";
    }
  }
}

<CODE ENDS>

4. Operational Considerations

The considerations of [I-D.ietf-ivy-network-inventory-yang] also apply to this extension: the read-only perspective of inventory data, data discovery by the server from underlying elements, aggregation at hierarchical controller interfaces, and brownfield migration scenarios. This section complements these operational considerations.¶

This data model provides read-only reporting of software status and associated timestamps. It reflects the state of software revisions and patches as discovered by the server; it does not track software configuration intent or repository state.¶

The data model is not intended to expose every internal software component present on the network element. It only covers operator-relevant, separately versionable and independently upgradable software artifacts, such as base OS images, line-card FPGA firmware, separable feature modules, and hotfix patches. Embedded static libraries and fine-grained internal sub-components that cannot be independently managed or upgraded are out of scope.¶

The base "software-rev" list reports running software only. Presence of an entry in "software-rev" implies that the software is running. The "installed-software" list reports software that is present but not running, including software that is installed but not activated, and software that has been activated but is pending a reload (cold patch or cold upgrade).¶

Full software lifecycle management (install, activate, rollback, remove operations, etc.) is out of scope of this document.¶

5. Security Considerations

This section is modeled after the template described in Section 3.7 of [RFC9907].¶

The "ietf-network-inventory-software" YANG module augments the base network inventory model defined in [I-D.ietf-ivy-network-inventory-yang]. All security considerations specified in the base model apply to this extension module. This section complements the base model with additional security considerations specific to inventory software extensions.¶

The "ietf-network-inventory-software" YANG module defines a data model that is designed to be accessed via YANG-based management protocols, such as Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF) [RFC6241] and RESTCONF [RFC8040]. These YANG-based management protocols (1) have to use a secure transport layer (e.g., Secure Shell (SSH) [RFC4253], TLS [RFC9846], and QUIC [RFC9000]) and (2) have to use mutual authentication (e.g., for SSH, the SSH Authentication Protocol [RFC4252]).¶

The Network Configuration Access Control Model (NACM) [RFC8341] provides the means to restrict access for particular NETCONF or RESTCONF users to a preconfigured subset of all available NETCONF or RESTCONF protocol operations and content.¶

Some of the readable data nodes in this YANG module may be considered sensitive or vulnerable in some network environments. It is thus important to control read access (e.g., via get, get-config, or notification) to these data nodes. Specifically, the following subtrees and data nodes have particular sensitivities/vulnerabilities:¶

• "/nwi:network-elements/nwi:network-element/nwi:software-rev"¶

• "/nwi:network-elements/nwi:network-element/nwi:software-rev/nwi:patch"¶

• "/nwi:network-elements/nwi:network-element/nwis:installed-software"¶

• "/nwi:network-elements/nwi:network-element/nwi:components/nwi:component/nwi:software-rev"¶

• "/nwi:network-elements/nwi:network-element/nwi:components/nwi:component/nwi:software-rev/nwi:patch"¶

• "/nwi:network-elements/nwi:network-element/nwi:components/nwi:component/nwis:installed-software"¶

This extension adds installation and activation timestamps for running software, plus a separate "installed-software" list for both NE-level and component-level. Disclosure of detailed software versions, patch levels, and lifecycle timestamps can reveal unpatched vulnerabilities and operational maintenance windows, enabling targeted attacks.¶

6. IANA Considerations

IANA is requested to register the following URI in the "ns" subregistry within the "IETF XML Registry" [RFC3688]:¶

URI:  urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-network-inventory-software
Registrant Contact:  The IESG.
XML:  N/A; the requested URI is an XML namespace.

IANA is requested to register the following YANG module in the "YANG Module Names" registry [RFC6020] within the "YANG Parameters" registry group:¶

Name:  ietf-network-inventory-software
Namespace:
   urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-network-inventory-software
Prefix:  nwis
Maintained by IANA?  N
Reference:  RFC XXXX

7. References

Appendix A. Examples of Software Attributes

This appendix illustrates, by means of four typical scenarios, how to populate the software-specific nodes defined in "ietf-network-inventory-software" (Section 3).¶

Scenario 1:

Whole-device base software (example-os) running, with a hot patch (P3) already running and a hot patch (P4) installed but not yet activated. A line-card programmable forwarding image (example-fpga-image) is running, with a cold patch (2.1.0.P1) administratively activated and pending reload. An independent telemetry software module (telemetry-module) is running, with a newer revision (1.6.0) installed but not yet activated.¶

Scenario 2:

Whole-device cold upgrade, where a new base software revision (8.0.0) has been installed and is pending reload.¶

Scenario 3:

Software-based virtual router running its base software (vrouter-os) with an active hotfix (Hotfix-05), and a newer base revision (24.06) installed but not yet activated.¶

Scenario 4:

Whole-device base software (example-os) running, with an independent hotfix (os-hotfix-P5) modeled as a separate top-level software-rev entry.¶

=============== NOTE: '\' line wrapping per RFC 8792 ================

{
  "ietf-network-inventory:network-inventory": {
    "network-elements": {
      "network-element": [
        {
          "ne-id": "example:NE-01",
          "ne-type": "ietf-network-inventory:ne-physical",
          "name": "router-base-os-demo",
          "description": "Physical router with base OS, line-card \
            FPGA firmware and independent telemetry software module",
          "software-rev": [
            {
              "name": "example-os",
              "revision": "7.9.2",
              "patch": [
                {
                  "revision": "P3"
                }
              ],
              "ietf-network-inventory-software:installation-time": "\
                                               2024-08-01T12:00:00Z",
              "ietf-network-inventory-software:activation-time": "\
                                                2024-08-01T12:05:00Z"
            }
          ],
          "components": {
            "component": [
              {
                "component-id": "example:lpu/1/0",
                "class": "iana-hardware:module",
                "description": "Line processing unit with FPGA \
                                                           firmware",
                "software-rev": [
                  {
                    "name": "example-fpga-image",
                    "revision": "2.1.0",
                    "patch": [],
                    "ietf-network-inventory-software:installation-\
                                       time": "2024-08-01T12:00:00Z",
                    "ietf-network-inventory-software:activation-time\
                                            ": "2024-08-01T12:06:00Z"
                  }
                ],
                "ietf-network-inventory-software:installed-software"\
                                                                  : [
                  {
                    "name": "example-fpga-image-2.1.0.P1",
                    "revision": "2.1.0.P1",
                    "status": "ietf-network-inventory-software:\
                                  software-activated-pending-reload",
                    "installation-time": "2024-10-01T14:10:00Z"
                  }
                ]
              },
              {
                "component-id": "example:feature-telemetry",
                "class": "ietf-network-inventory-software:software-\
                                                             module",
                "description": "Telemetry feature software module",
                "software-rev": [
                  {
                    "name": "telemetry-module",
                    "revision": "1.5.1",
                    "patch": [],
                    "ietf-network-inventory-software:installation-\
                                       time": "2024-08-02T09:00:00Z",
                    "ietf-network-inventory-software:activation-time\
                                            ": "2024-08-02T09:05:00Z"
                  }
                ],
                "ietf-network-inventory-software:installed-software"\
                                                                  : [
                  {
                    "name": "telemetry-module",
                    "revision": "1.6.0",
                    "status": "ietf-network-inventory-software:\
                                                 software-installed",
                    "installation-time": "2024-11-02T11:30:00Z"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          },
          "ietf-network-inventory-software:installed-software": [
            {
              "name": "example-os-P4",
              "revision": "P4",
              "status": "ietf-network-inventory-software:software-\
                                                          installed",
              "installation-time": "2024-10-01T14:00:00Z"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "ne-id": "example:NE-02",
          "ne-type": "ietf-network-inventory:ne-physical",
          "name": "router-os-upgrade-pending-reload",
          "description": "Physical router with new OS version \
                           installed, pending reload for activation",
          "software-rev": [
            {
              "name": "example-os",
              "revision": "7.9.2",
              "patch": [],
              "ietf-network-inventory-software:installation-time": "\
                                               2024-08-01T12:00:00Z",
              "ietf-network-inventory-software:activation-time": "\
                                                2024-08-01T12:05:00Z"
            }
          ],
          "components": {},
          "ietf-network-inventory-software:installed-software": [
            {
              "name": "example-os",
              "revision": "8.0.0",
              "status": "ietf-network-inventory-software:software-\
                                           activated-pending-reload",
              "installation-time": "2024-11-01T09:00:00Z"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "ne-id": "example:NE-03",
          "ne-type": "ietf-network-inventory-software:ne-software-\
                                                              based",
          "name": "vrouter-01",
          "description": "Virtual router deployed as VM (VNF) to \
                                      demonstrate software-based NE",
          "software-rev": [
            {
              "name": "vrouter-os",
              "revision": "24.03",
              "patch": [
                {
                  "revision": "Hotfix-05"
                }
              ],
              "ietf-network-inventory-software:installation-time": "\
                                               2024-09-10T08:00:00Z",
              "ietf-network-inventory-software:activation-time": "\
                                                2024-09-10T08:15:00Z"
            }
          ],
          "components": {},
          "ietf-network-inventory-software:installed-software": [
            {
              "name": "vrouter-os",
              "revision": "24.06",
              "status": "ietf-network-inventory-software:software-\
                                                          installed",
              "installation-time": "2024-11-05T10:20:00Z"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "ne-id": "example:NE-04",
          "ne-type": "ietf-network-inventory:ne-physical",
          "name": "router-hotfix-demo",
          "description": "Physical router demonstrating \
                                 independently applied hotfix patch",
          "software-rev": [
            {
              "name": "example-os",
              "revision": "7.9.2",
              "patch": [],
              "ietf-network-inventory-software:installation-time": "\
                                               2024-08-01T12:00:00Z",
              "ietf-network-inventory-software:activation-time": "\
                                                2024-08-01T12:05:00Z"
            },
            {
              "name": "os-hotfix-P5",
              "revision": "P5",
              "patch": [],
              "ietf-network-inventory-software:installation-time": "\
                                               2024-11-10T15:00:00Z",
              "ietf-network-inventory-software:activation-time": "\
                                                2024-11-10T15:10:00Z"
            }
          ],
          "components": {},
          "ietf-network-inventory-software:installed-software": []
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Chongfeng Xie, Prasenjit Manna, Phil Bedard, Diego R.Lopez, Italo Busi, Adrian Farrel, and many others for their helpful comments and suggestions. The authors also thank Reshad Rahman for the YANG doctor review.¶

Contributors

Authors' Addresses