RFC4183: A Suggested Scheme for DNS Resolution of Networks and Gateways
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Related keywords:
(domain name space)
(first-hop router)
(internet protocol address)
(ip address)
(netmask)
(subnet)
Network Working Group E. Warnicke
Request for Comments: 4183 Cisco Systems
Category: Informational September 2005
A Suggested Scheme for DNS Resolution of Networks and Gateways
Status of This Memo
This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does
not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this
memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).
IESG Note
This RFC is not a candidate for any level of Internet Standard. The
IETF disclaims any knowledge of the fitness of this RFC for any
purpose and notes that the decision to publish is not based on IETF
review apart from IESG review for conflict with IETF work. The RFC
Editor has chosen to publish this document at its discretion. See
RFC 3932 [6] for more information.
Abstract
This document suggests a method of using DNS to determine the network
that contains a specified IP address, the netmask of that network,
and the address(es) of first-hop routers(s) on that network. This
method supports variable-length subnet masks, delegation of subnets
on non-octet boundaries, and multiple routers per subnet.
1. Introduction
As a variety of new devices are introduced to the network, many of
them not traditional workstations or routers, there are requirements
that the first-hop router provide some network service for a host.
It may be necessary for a third-party server in the network to
request some service related to the host from the first-hop router(s)
for that host. It would be useful to have a standard mechanism for
such a third-party device to find the first-hop router(s) for that
host.
DNS-based mechanisms have been defined for the resolution of router
addresses for classful networks (RFC 1035 [1]) and of subnets (RFC
1101 [2]). RFC 1101 suffers from a number of defects, chief among
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which are that it does not support variable-length subnet masks,
which are commonly deployed in the Internet. The present document
defines DNS-based mechanisms to cure these defects.
Since the writing of RFC 1101, DNS mechanisms for dealing with
classless networks have been defined, for example, RFC 2317 [3].
This document describes a mechanism that uses notation similar to
that of RFC 2317 to specify a series of PTR records enumerating the
subnets of a given network in the RFC 2317 notation. This lookup
process continues until the contents of the PTR records are not an
in-addr.arpa.-derived domain name. These terminal PTR record values
are treated as the hostname(s) of the router(s) on that network.
This RFC also specifies an extension to the method of RFC 2317 to
support delegation at non-octet boundaries.
2. Generic Format of a Network Domain Name
Using the Augmented BNF of RFC 2234 [4], we can describe a generic
domain name for a network as follows:
networkdomainname = maskedoctet "." *( decimaloctet / maskedoctet
".") "in-addr.arpa."
maskedoctet = decimaloctet "-" mask
mask = 1*2DIGIT ; representing a decimal integer value in the
; range 1-32
decimaloctet = 1*3DIGIT ; representing a decimal integer value in
; the range 0 through 255
By way of reference, an IPv4 CIDR notation network address would
be written
IPv4CIDR = decimaloctet "." decimaloctet "." decimaloctet "."
decimaloctet "/" mask
A "-" is used as a delimiter in a maskedoctet instead of a "/" as in
RFC 2317 out of concern about compatibility with existing DNS
servers, many of which do not consider "/" to be a valid character in
a hostname.
3. Non-Octet Boundary Delegation
In RFC 2317, there is no mechanism for non-octet boundary delegation.
Networks would be represented as being part of the domain of the next
octet.
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Examples:
10.100.2.0/26 -> 0-26.2.100.10.in-addr.arpa.
10.20.128.0/23 -> 128-23.20.10.in-addr.arpa.
10.192.0.0/13 -> 192-13.10.in-addr.arpa.
In the event that the entity subnetting does not actually own the
network being subnetted on an octet break, a mechanism needs to be
available to allow for the specification of those subnets. The
mechanism is to allow the use of maskedoctet labels as delegation
shims.
For example, consider an entity A that controls a network
10.1.0.0/16. Entity A delegates to entity B the network 10.1.0.0/18.
In order to avoid having to update entries for entity B whenever
entity B updates subnetting, entity A delegates the
0-18.1.10.in-addr.arpa domain (with an NS record in A's DNS tables as
usual) to entity B. Entity B then subnets off 10.1.0.0/25. It would
provide a domain name for this network of
0-25.0.0-18.1.10.in-addr.arpa (in B's DNS tables).
In order to speak about the non-octet boundary case more easily, it
is useful to define a few terms.
Network domain names that do not contain any maskedoctets after the
first (leftmost) label are hereafter referred to as canonical domain
names for that network. 0-25.0.1.10.in-addr.arpa. is the canonical
domain name for the network 10.1.0.0/25.
Network domain names that do contain maskedoctet labels after the
first (leftmost) label can be reduced to a canonical domain name by
dropping all maskedoctet labels after the first (leftmost) label.
They are said to be reducible to the canonical network domain name.
So for example 0-25.0.0-18.1.10.in-addr.arpa. is reducible to
0-25.0.1.10.in-addr.arpa. Note that a network domain name represents
the same network as the canonical domain name to which it can be
reduced.
4. Lookup Procedure for a Network Given an IP Address
4.1. Procedure
1. Take the initial IP address x.y.z.w and create a candidate
network by assuming a 24-bit subnet mask. Thus, the initial
candidate network is x.y.z.0/24.
2. Given a candidate network of the form x.y.z.n/m create an
in-addr.arpa candidate domain name:
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1. If the number of mask bits m is greater than or equal to 24
but less than or equal to 32, then the candidate domain name
is n-m.z.y.x.in-addr.arpa.
2. If the number of mask bits m is greater than or equal to 16
but less than 24, then the candidate domain name is
z-m.y.x.in-addr.arpa.
3. If the number of mask bits m is greater than or equal to 8
but less than 16, then the candidate domain name is
y-m.x.in-addr.arpa.
4. The notion of fewer than 8 mask bits is not reasonable.
3. Perform a DNS lookup for a PTR record for the candidate domain
name.
4. If the PTR records returned from looking up the candidate domain
name are of the form of a domain name for a network as defined
previously (Section 2), then for each PTR record reduce that
returned domain name to the canonical form
p1-q1.z1.y1.x1.in-addr.arpa. This represents a network
x1.y1.z1.p1/q1.
1. If one of the x1.y1.z1.p1/q1 subnets contains the original IP
address x.y.z.w, then the PTR record return becomes the new
candidate domain name. Repeat steps 3-4.
2. If none of the x1.y1.z1.p1/q1 subnets contain the original IP
address x.y.z.w, then this process has failed.
5. If the PTR record(s) for the candidate network is not of the form
of a network domain name, then they are presumed to be the
hostname(s) of the gateway(s) for the subnet being resolved.
6. If the PTR lookup fails (no PTR records are returned).
1. If no candidate network PTR lookup for this IP address has
succeeded in the past and the netmask for the last candidate
network was 24 or 16 bits long, then presume a netmask of 8
fewer bits for the candidate network and repeat steps 2-4.
2. If no candidate network PTR lookup for this IP address has
succeeded in the past and the netmask of the last candidate
network was not 24 or 16 bits long, then increase the netmask
by 1 bit and repeat steps 2-4.
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3. If a candidate network PTR lookup for this IP address has
succeeded in the past or the netmask of the last candidate
network was 32 bits, then this process has failed.
7. Perform a DNS A record lookup for the domain name of the gateway
to determine the IP number of the gateway.
4.2. IPv6 Support
RFC 3513 [5] requires all IPv6 unicast addresses that do not begin
with binary 000 have a 64-bit interface ID. From the point of view
of identifying the last hop router for an IPv6 unicast address, this
means that almost all hosts may be considered to live on a /64
subnet. Given the requirement that for any subnet there must be an
anycast address for the routers on that subnet, the process described
for IPv4 in this document can just as easily be achieved by querying
the anycast address via SNMP. Therefore, this document does not
speak to providing a DNS-based mechanism for IPv6.
4.3. Example
Imagine we begin with the IP number 10.15.162.3.
1. Form a candidate network of 10.15.162.0/24.
2. Form a domain name 0-24.162.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
3. Look up the PTR records for 0-24.162.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
4. Suppose the lookup fails ( no PTR records returned ), then
5. Form a new candidate network 10.15.0.0/16.
6. Form a domain name 0-16.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
7. Look up the PTR records for 0-16.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
8. Lookup returns:
1. 0-17.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
2. 128-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
3. 192-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
9. So 10.15.0.0/16 is subnetted into 10.15.0.0/17, 10.15.128.0/18,
and 10.15.192.0/18.
10. Since 10.15.162.3 is in 10.15.128.0/18, the new candidate domain
name is 128-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
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11. Look up the PTR records for 128-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
12. Lookup returns
1. 128-19.128-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
2. 0-25.160.128-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
3. 128-25.160.128-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
4. 0-24.161.128-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
5. 162-23.128-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
13. The canonical network domains for these returned records are
1. 128-19.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
2. 0-25.160.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
3. 128-25.160.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
4. 0-24.161.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
5. 162-23.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
14. So the network 10.15.128.0/18 is subnetted into 10.15.128.0/19,
10.15.160.0/25, 10.15.160.128/25, 10.15.161.0/25, 10.15.162.0/
23.
15. Since 10.15.162.3 is in 10.15.162.0/23, the new candidate domain
name is 162-23.128-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
16. Look up the PTR records for 162-23.128-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
17. Lookup returns:
1. gw1.example.net.
2. gw2.example.net.
18. Look up the A records for gw1.example.net. and gw2.example.net.
19. Lookup returns
1. gw1.example.net: 10.15.162.1
2. gw2.example.net: 10.15.162.2
So the 10.15.162.3 is in network 10.15.162.0/23, which has gateways
10.15.162.1 and 10.15.162.2.
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5. Needed DNS Entries
The example of the lookup procedure (Section 4.3) would require
DNS records as follows:
In entity A's DNS zone files:
0-16.15.10.in-addr.arpa. IN PTR 0-17.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
0-16.15.10.in-addr.arpa. IN PTR 128-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
0-16.15.10.in-addr.arpa. IN PTR 192-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
0-17.15.10.in-addr.arpa. IN NS ns1.example.org
128-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa. IN NS ns1.example.net
192-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa. IN NS ns1.example.com
ns1.example.net IN A 10.15.0.50
ns1.example.org IN A 10.15.128.50
ns1.example.com IN A 10.15.192.50
In entity B's DNS zone files:
128-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa. IN PTR
128-19.128-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
128-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa. IN PTR
0-25.160.128-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
128-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa. IN PTR
128-25.160.128-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
128-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa. IN PTR
0-24.161.128-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
128-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa. IN PTR
162-23.128-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa.
162-23.128-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa. IN PTR gw1.example.net.
162-23.128-18.15.10.in-addr.arpa. IN PTR gw2.example.net.
gw1.example.net. IN A 10.15.162.1
gw2.example.net. IN A 10.15.162.2
6. Alternate Domain Suffix
Proper functioning of this method may required the cooperation of
upstream network providers. Not all upstream network providers may
wish to implement this method. If an upstream provider does not wish
to implement this method, the method may still be used with an
alternate domain suffix.
For example, if the upstream network provider of example.com did not
wish to provide glue records in its branch of the in-addr.arpa.
domain, then example.com might elect to use the suffix in-
addr.example.com as an alternate domain suffix for that purpose.
For this reason, implementations of clients intending to use this
method should use in-addr.arpa. as the default suffix, but allow for
configuration of an alternate suffix.
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7. Security Considerations
Any revelation of information to the public internet about the
internal structure of your network may make it easier for nefarious
persons to mount diverse attacks upon a network. Consequently, care
should be exercised in deciding which (if any) of the DNS resource
records described in this document should be made visible to the
public internet.
8. Informative References
[1] Mockapetris, P., "Domain Names - Implementation and
Specficication", STD 13, RFC 1035, November 1987.
[2] Mockapetris, P., "DNS Encoding of Network Names and Other
Types", RFC 1101, April 1989.
[3] Eidnes, H., de Groot, G., and P. Vixie, "Classless IN-ADDR.ARPA
delegation", RFC 2317, March 1998.
[4] Crocker, D. and P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for Syntax
Specifications: ABNF", RFC 2234, November 1997.
[5] Hinden, R. and S. Deering, "Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6)
Addressing Architecture", RFC 3513, April 2003.
[6] Alvestrand, H., "The IESG and RFC Editor Documents: Procedures",
BCP 92, RFC 3932, October 2004.
Author's Address
Edward A. Warnicke
Cisco Systems Inc.
12515 Research Blvd., Building 4
Austin, TX 78759
USA
Phone: (919) 392-8489
EMail: eaw@cisco.com
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