]> Huawei

lana.wubo@huawei.com

China Mobile

zhouchengyjy@chinamobile.com

Huawei

bill.wu@huawei.com

Orange

mohamed.boucadair@orange.com

Network Inventory YANG Automation Network Inventory Network Operation This document extends the base Network Inventory YANG model to support software-based network elements (NEs) and software components. The extension introduces software lifecycle status that distinguishes running software from software that is installed but not running, together with installation timestamps for non-running software, and both installation and activation timestamps for running software. Discussion Venues Discussion of this document takes place on the Network Inventory YANG mailing list (inventory-yang@ietf.org), which is archived at . Source for this draft and an issue tracker can be found at .

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. 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 . The Network Inventory software model is classified as a network model ().

Editorial Note (To be removed by RFC Editor) Note to the RFC Editor: This section is to be removed prior to publication. This document contains placeholder values that need to be replaced with finalized values at the time of publication. This note summarizes all of the substitutions that are needed. Please apply the following replacements:

• XXXX --> the assigned RFC number for this I-D
• AAAA --> the assigned RFC number for

Terminology and Notations 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 when, and only when, they appear in all capitals, as shown here. The following terms are defined in and are not redefined here:

• server
• augment
• data model
• data node

Also, this document uses terms defined in , specifically:

• Network Inventory: See .
• Network Element: See .
• Component: See .
• Software Components: See .

The tree diagram used in this document follows the notation defined in . Some examples in this document contain long lines that may be folded, as described in .

YANG Data Model for Network Inventory Software Overview

Relationship to Other YANG Data Models The base network inventory data model supports the software versions of NEs and software versions of hardware components. This document adds more software component identifiers (e.g., platform OS), software NE type, and software lifecycle status and time stamp information to provide extended software information on the NE to facilitate software compatibility check. depicts the relationship between the network inventory software model and the base network inventory data model. The network inventory software data model adds more software specific attributes.

Relationship of SW Extension Model to the Base Inventory Model

Network Inventory Software Tree Diagram The tree diagram shown in provides an overview of the data model for "ietf-network-inventory-software" module (). The data model applies software extension attributes at two levels:

• NE-level "software-rev": Describes the main system software revision of the network element, such as the network operating system release of the whole device. Only running software is reported here, consistent with the base model. The augmented data nodes include "installation-time" and "activation-time".
• Component-level "software-rev": Describes the independent software or firmware revision of an individual component, such as a line card software, a line card firmware, or a pluggable software module. Only running software is reported here, consistent with the base data model. The augmented data nodes include "installation-time" and "activation-time".

In addition, the data model introduces:

• "installed-software": Lists at both NE and component levels, reporting software that is present on the entity, but not currently running (installed or activated but pending reload). "installed-software" carries "name", "revision", "status", and "installation-time". "activation-time" is not modeled for "installed-software" entries; "activation-time" is only available once the software becomes running and appears in "software-rev".

YANG Tree of Network Inventory Software

Software-based Network Elements In the base Network Inventory YANG data model, "ne-type" is a YANG identity that describes the type of the network element and only the "ne-physical" identity is defined. This document adds "ne-software-based" identity for software-based NEs. The base Network Inventory data model also defines common inventory attributes, including the software version, patch versions, product name, and serial number. The data is also applicable to software-based NEs. A software-based NE performs network protocol or forwarding functions but does not correspond to a distinguishable hardware chassis. It may be hosted on bare-metal server, in a virtual machine, container, or cloud compute instance.

Software Components Software components refer to the software installed on the NE, such as Operating System (OS), software modules, BIOS, and boot loaders. Similar to the common inventory attributes of NEs, the common attributes of software components (such as software revisions, patch revisions, product name, and serial number) are also applicable to software components. For software revisions and patch revisions, the base inventory () defines the list of "software-rev" and the list of "patch". For example, on a router, software components may include a routing protocol package (e.g., "foo-rt-protocol-suite"), or a firmware module for a line card (e.g., "foo-lc-fw-21.5.3"). The base "software-rev" list reports software that is currently running on the entity. Software that is present but not running (e.g., installed but not activated, or activated but pending a reload for a cold patch or cold upgrade) is reported in the "installed-software" list defined by this document. The two lists are mutually exclusive: an entry MUST NOT appear in both lists at the same time.

YANG Data Model for Network Inventory Software The "ietf-network-inventory-software" module uses types defined in and . Editor: Bo Wu Editor: Cheng Zhou Editor: Qin Wu Editor: Mohamed Boucadair "; 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."; } } } ]]>

Operational Considerations The considerations of 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.

Security Considerations This section is modeled after the template described in . The "ietf-network-inventory-software" YANG module augments the base network inventory model defined in . 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) and RESTCONF . These YANG-based management protocols (1) have to use a secure transport layer (e.g., Secure Shell (SSH) , TLS , and QUIC ) and (2) have to use mutual authentication (e.g., for SSH, the SSH Authentication Protocol ). The Network Configuration Access Control Model (NACM) 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.

IANA Considerations IANA is requested to register the following URI in the "ns" subregistry within the "IETF XML Registry" : IANA is requested to register the following YANG module in the "YANG Module Names" registry within the "YANG Parameters" registry group:

References Normative References Huawei Technologies Nokia Vodafone FiberCop Cisco This document defines a base YANG data model for reporting network inventory. The scope of this base model is set to be application- and technology-agnostic. The base data model can be augmented with application- and technology-specific details. In many standards track documents several words are used to signify the requirements in the specification. These words are often capitalized. This document defines these words as they should be interpreted in IETF documents. This document specifies an Internet Best Current Practices for the Internet Community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements. RFC 2119 specifies common key words that may be used in protocol specifications. This document aims to reduce the ambiguity by clarifying that only UPPERCASE usage of the key words have the defined special meanings. YANG is a data modeling language used to model configuration data, state data, Remote Procedure Calls, and notifications for network management protocols. This document describes the syntax and semantics of version 1.1 of the YANG language. YANG version 1.1 is a maintenance release of the YANG language, addressing ambiguities and defects in the original specification. There are a small number of backward incompatibilities from YANG version 1. This document also specifies the YANG mappings to the Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF). This document defines a collection of common data types to be used with the YANG data modeling language. It includes several new type definitions and obsoletes RFC 6991. The standardization of network configuration interfaces for use with the Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF) or the RESTCONF protocol requires a structured and secure operating environment that promotes human usability and multi-vendor interoperability. There is a need for standard mechanisms to restrict NETCONF or RESTCONF protocol access for particular users to a preconfigured subset of all available NETCONF or RESTCONF protocol operations and content. This document defines such an access control model. This document obsoletes RFC 6536. This document describes an IANA maintained registry for IETF standards which use Extensible Markup Language (XML) related items such as Namespaces, Document Type Declarations (DTDs), Schemas, and Resource Description Framework (RDF) Schemas. YANG is a data modeling language used to model configuration and state data manipulated by the Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF), NETCONF remote procedure calls, and NETCONF notifications. [STANDARDS-TRACK] Informative References The IETF has produced many modules in the YANG modeling language. The majority of these modules are used to construct data models to model devices or monolithic functions. A small number of YANG modules have been defined to model services (for example, the Layer 3 Virtual Private Network Service Model (L3SM) produced by the L3SM working group and documented in RFC 8049). This document describes service models as used within the IETF and also shows where a service model might fit into a software-defined networking architecture. Note that service models do not make any assumption of how a service is actually engineered and delivered for a customer; details of how network protocols and devices are engineered to deliver a service are captured in other modules that are not exposed through the interface between the customer and the provider. This document captures the current syntax used in YANG module tree diagrams. The purpose of this document is to provide a single location for this definition. This syntax may be updated from time to time based on the evolution of the YANG language. This document defines two strategies for handling long lines in width-bounded text content. One strategy, called the "single backslash" strategy, is based on the historical use of a single backslash ('\') character to indicate where line-folding has occurred, with the continuation occurring with the first character that is not a space character (' ') on the next line. The second strategy, called the "double backslash" strategy, extends the first strategy by adding a second backslash character to identify where the continuation begins and is thereby able to handle cases not supported by the first strategy. Both strategies use a self-describing header enabling automated reconstitution of the original content. This document provides guidelines for authors and reviewers of specifications containing YANG data models, including IANA-maintained YANG modules. Recommendations and procedures are defined, which are intended to increase interoperability and usability of Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF) and RESTCONF protocol implementations that utilize YANG modules. This document obsoletes RFC 8407; it also updates RFC 8126 by providing additional guidelines for writing the IANA considerations for RFCs that specify IANA-maintained YANG modules. The Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF) defined in this document provides mechanisms to install, manipulate, and delete the configuration of network devices. It uses an Extensible Markup Language (XML)-based data encoding for the configuration data as well as the protocol messages. The NETCONF protocol operations are realized as remote procedure calls (RPCs). This document obsoletes RFC 4741. [STANDARDS-TRACK] This document describes an HTTP-based protocol that provides a programmatic interface for accessing data defined in YANG, using the datastore concepts defined in the Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF). The Secure Shell (SSH) is a protocol for secure remote login and other secure network services over an insecure network. This document describes the SSH transport layer protocol, which typically runs on top of TCP/IP. The protocol can be used as a basis for a number of secure network services. It provides strong encryption, server authentication, and integrity protection. It may also provide compression. Key exchange method, public key algorithm, symmetric encryption algorithm, message authentication algorithm, and hash algorithm are all negotiated. This document also describes the Diffie-Hellman key exchange method and the minimal set of algorithms that are needed to implement the SSH transport layer protocol. [STANDARDS-TRACK] This document specifies version 1.3 of the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol. TLS allows client/server applications to communicate over the Internet in a way that is designed to prevent eavesdropping, tampering, and message forgery. This document obsoletes RFC 8446, which specified TLS 1.3. This document obsoletes RFC 5246 (specifying TLS 1.2) and RFCs 5077, 6961, 7627, and 8422, all of which pertain to TLS 1.2 or earlier, and updates RFCs 5705 and 6066. This document also specifies new requirements for TLS 1.2 implementations. This document defines the core of the QUIC transport protocol. QUIC provides applications with flow-controlled streams for structured communication, low-latency connection establishment, and network path migration. QUIC includes security measures that ensure confidentiality, integrity, and availability in a range of deployment circumstances. Accompanying documents describe the integration of TLS for key negotiation, loss detection, and an exemplary congestion control algorithm. The Secure Shell Protocol (SSH) is a protocol for secure remote login and other secure network services over an insecure network. This document describes the SSH authentication protocol framework and public key, password, and host-based client authentication methods. Additional authentication methods are described in separate documents. The SSH authentication protocol runs on top of the SSH transport layer protocol and provides a single authenticated tunnel for the SSH connection protocol. [STANDARDS-TRACK]

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" ().

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.

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 Huawei

zhaoyao.zhaoyao@huawei.com