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Versions: 00
NAT Working Group P. Srisuresh
INTERNET-DRAFT Lucent Technologies
Category: Informational November, 1998
Expire in six months
IP Network Address Translator Application Programming Interface
<draft-ietf-nat-api-00.txt>
Status of this Memo
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Abstract
NAT provides routing transparency for hosts in disparate routing
realms to communicate with each other. However, external agents
such as Application Level Gateways (ALGs), Host-NAT-clients and
Management applications need to interact with NAT and influence
its operations. The document identifies the resources and other
elements controlled by a NAT device, with specific focus on areas
subject to influence from external agents. An Application
Programming Interface (API) framework by which external agents
could interact with NAT is presented. The intent of this document
is to leverage the API specification as a base to identify
requirements for the development of one or more protocols by which
external agents could interact with NAT.
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1. Introduction
NAT provides routing transparency for hosts in disparate routing
realms to communicate with each other. [Ref 1] details the various
flavors of NAT that abound. Many of the internet applications use
IP address as host identifier rather than just as a way to locate a
host. For this reason, routing transparency by NAT alone is not
sufficient to provide end-to-end transparency for applications
operating across realms. Application specific ALGs are required
in conjunction with NAT to provide end-to-end transparency for
some applications.
In addition to ALGs, there are other kinds of external agents that
may like to influence NAT operation. Section 2 below is devoted to
describing the resources and other elements controlled by NAT.
Section 3 below outlines a selected list of external agents that
may likely interface with NAT. Together, the requirements by a
selected set of external agents and the nature of NAT resources
are used as the basis to derive an API framework, described in
section 4.
The intent of the document is two-fold. First, the document
suggests an Application programming Interface (API) by which
external agents could programmatically interface with NAT.
This does not assume or require external agents to reside on the
same physical device as NAT, even though assuming they reside on
the same physical device does help in understanding. In reality,
it is likely to be a combination of both. Some agents are
co-located with NAT on the same device and others reside on
external devices. The API is merely a suggestion and may vary from
vendor to vendor.
Second, the API provides a framework to identify requirements for
the development of one or more protocols by which external agents
(specified in section 3 below) could communicate with NAT. Such
a protocol would need to authenticate clients, locate NAT devices
and exchange data elements. The API specified in the document
assumes a trusted environment and does not address the first two
issues, namely authentication and Service location. The document
also does not cover any communication protocol that may be used by
external agents to interface with NAT using the API described here.
These issues will need to be addressed independently outside the
purview of this document.
2. Elements of NAT operation
In order to identify an API for use by external agents, it is
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important to understand the resources and other elments managed
by NAT. This would help identify the extent to which an external
agent may influence NAT operation. This section describes objects
within NAT, that could be externalized via Management Information
Base (MIB).
2.1. NAT Descriptor
All flavors of NAT are designed to provide routing transparency
to hosts in disparate routing realms. A physical device may have
multiple NAT instances or there may be multiple NAT devices
associated with a specific realm. The following list of attributes
identify a specific instance of NAT.
a. NAT IDentifier:
A NAT Identifier uniquely identifies a NAT instantiation.
The External interface address may be one way to specify
NAT Identifier.
b. Private and External realm types:
Every NAT device will have a minimum of two routing
interfaces, one connecting to a private realm and one
connecting to external realm. An IPv4 NAT device will
have both its realm types set to IPv4.
c. NAT type
NAT type could be one of Basic-NAT, NAPT, Bi-directional-NAT,
Twice-NAT, Host-NAT server, Host-NAPT-server or a combination
of the above. NAT type is an indication of the direction in
which NAT sessions are allowed and the extent of translation
within the IP and transport headers. [Ref 1] has a discussion
on the nature of various NAT flavors and the extent of their
translations.
d. Address(and transport ID) maps
Address map on a NAT device could consist of one or more of
static and dynamic Address maps. Likewise, Transport ID mapping
could consists of one or more of static and dynamic Transport
ID maps. Transport ID mapping is more specific than address
mapping in that a specific TCP/UDP port (or port range)
pertaining to an address in external realm is mapped to a
specific TCP/UDP port (or port range) in private realm or vice
versa. Address (and Transport ID) maps may be defined for both
inbound and outbound directions. Outbound address map refers
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to mapping a selected set of addresses from private realm to a
selected set of addresses in external realm; whereas inbound
address map refers to mapping a set of addresses from the
external realm to private realm.
e. Miscellaneous parameters
NAT may optionally provide TCP, UDP and other types of session
Idle-times used to terminate sessions. It may also provide the
current range (and, the maximum range) of session IDs and
Bind IDs (to be covered in the follow on sub-sections); and
the actual count of session IDs and BIND IDs. Specifically,
this information will be of relevance to another NAT (backup
NAT) that intends to emulate this NAT, in case of failure.
Lastly, NAT may choose to supply any other vendor specific
parameters such as log options, session direction failure
actions and so forth.
f. Host-NAT (and Host-NAPT) specific parameters
If the NAT device were to provide Host-NAT-Server capability;
optionally, the NAT device could specify the Host-NAT
tunneling type it supports.
2.2. Address (and Transport-ID) BINDing Descriptor
These bindings can be static or dynamic. Hereafter, the term BIND
will be referred in place of BINDing, for ease of use. When external
agents do not intervene, dynamic address(and transport-ID) binding
is determined by NAT based on the first packet of a session, as
described in [Ref 1]. Address binding is between an address in
private realm and an address from external realm. Transport-ID BIND
is extension of the same concept to the tuple of Address and
transport ID (such as TCP/UDP port no.). The following list of
attributes identify a BIND within a NAT.
a. Bind ID
A number (say, in the range of 1 through 0xFFFFFFFF) assigned
to BIND to uniquely identify this BIND from a different BIND
on the same NAT.
b. Direction of Bind
A bind can be uni-directional or bi-directional, same as the
orientation of address map based on which this BIND is formed.
As before, the direction is with reference to private realm.
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c. Bind type
Indicates whether the BIND is Address-BIND (between a pair of
addresses) or Transport-ID-Bind (between a pair of Address,
transport ID tuples). Note, a transport-ID bind intrinsically
assumes an address bind between the addresses specified in
the tuples. This also indicates if the Bind is static or
dynamic.
d. Private and External addresses (and Transport IDs)
The pair described here essentially identify the BINDing
items between private and external realms.
e. Maximum leased time
The validity of a BIND may be limited by the maximum length of
leased time it is allowed. Unless the leased time is renewed,
the BIND will no longer be valid past this time. As a special
case, a value of 0 may be assumed to indicate no lease time
limit. Typically, this attribute is of relevance in conjunction
with Host-NAT operation.
f. Available leased time
This parameter is of relevance only when Maximum Leased time is
set to a non-zero value. At any given instance of time, this
parameter indicates the real-time left for the BIND to remain
valid. Typically, this attribute is of relevance in conjunction
with Host-NAT operation.
g. Maximum Idle time
This parameter indicates maximum amount of time a dynamic BIND
is allowed to remain valid, with no NAT session hanging off this
BIND. Typically, a dynamic Bind is established when NAT notices
the first session that needs such a binding. Subsequent to
this, multiple NAT sessions can be maintained using the same
binding. When the last of these sessions is terminated, the
bind is also terminated. In other words, Maximum Idle time is 0,
by default, for native NAT. External agents could control this
parameter differently. Static Binds and lease time limited BINDs
are not effected by this parameter.
h. Current Idle time
This parameter is of relevance only when Maximum Idle time is
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set to a non-zero value. At any given instance of time, this
parameter indicates the real-time the BIND has been idle with
no sessions attached to it.
i. Controlling Agent IDentification
This indicates the last external Agent who has tried to
control (i.e., set) parameters for this BIND. A value of 0
indicates that native NAT is the responsible agent.
2.3. Session State descriptor
NAT maintains soft state for the sessions it tracks. These states
are created dynamically during NAT operation and are responsible
for translation of packets pertaining to the session. The translation
element of a state is based on address (or Transport ID) bind (two
binds in case of twice-nat). The following list of attributes
identify a session (or session State) within NAT.
a. Session IDentifier
A number (say, in the range of 1 through 0xFFFFFFFF) assigned
to session to uniquely identify this from other sessions on
the same NAT.
b. Direction of Session.
Direction of first packet of the session. As specified
earlier, direction is with reference to private realm.
c. Bind IDentifier
Identifies the Bind based on which this session is created.
The Direction of BIND must be same as that of the session,
if the BIND is uni-directional. Typically, if a Bind supporting
the session translation does not already exist, a Bind is
created prior to creating new session state. However, this
Identifier may be set to 0, when BIND creation is unnecessary
for the session. For example, there can be no more than one
ICMP Query session using am ICMP Query based transport-ID-bind.
In such a case, it suffices to do away with BIND and keep all
requisite information within the session state itself.
d. Second Bind IDentifier
This is of relevance only to Twice-NAT. For all other flavors
of NAT, this parameter may be set to zero. If the session is
outbound, this parameter refers to binding of the target
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destination address from private realm to external realm.
e. Original Session parameters
These parameters identify the session level parameters as
they appear in the first packet of session. These parameters
include src and dest IP addresses, IP protocol and transport
IDentifier info (such as TCP/UDP port numbers or ICMP Query
Identifier).
f. Translated Session parameters
These parameters identify the session level parameters as
the first packet of session is translated. These parameters
are derived from the BIND ID(s) off which this session hangs.
g. Session tag
NAT managed sessions are assigned a session tag, so that
sessions bearing the same tag are handled the same way.
The tag value is of significance only to the processing
agent. Native NAT maintains four types of session tags for
TCP, UDP, ICMP QUERY and all other sessions. So, tag
numbers selected by the agents will need to be different
from the native tags, if the processing were to be done
differently.
h. Session Termination heuristic
Session-Idle-time is typically used as a heuristic means by NAT
to determine if the session has ended. There may other heuristic
approaches. A value of zero is an indication that NAT would not
use any heuristic to session termination, unless it is a TCP
session and the session has noticeable ended with FIN or RST
options. The agent may take the responsibility for terminating
the session.
i. Maximum Idle time
This parameter indicates maximum amount of time this session
is allowed to remain valid, even as there is no activity.
Idle time is typically used as a heuristic means to determine
session termination. There may be other heuristic approaches.
As a special case, a value of 0 implies that NAT should run
the same timer as used for native sessions.
j. Current Idle Time
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This parameter is of relevance only when session termination
heuristic is set to session-idle-time. Typically, NAT would
examine the idle time on the sessions it manages periodically
and updates this variable. When the idle time exceeds the
maximum allowed idle time, the session is terminated.
k. Packet modifier functions
Typically, NAT modifies IP header and optionally, the
transport header. External agents could choose to assume
responsibility for payload modification alone, or the entire
packet modification. In the case an external agent assumes
responsibility for the entire packet modification, NAT will
simply redirect the original packet as is to external agent
modifier.
l. Bundle ID
Applications that deal with a bundle of sessions may cause
multiple sessions to be managed by NAT. Even though these
sessions constitute a single session from application stand
point, NAT is not congnizant of the relation. In such cases,
it is not uncommon for external agents to store a unique
application ID (say, the session ID of the first NAT session
the application originated) in all sessions it spawns in its
incarnation.
m. Controlling Agent IDentification
This indicates the last external Agent who has tried to
control parameters for this session. A value of 0 indicates
that native NAT is the responsible agent.
3. External agents interfacing with NAT
Many network applications assume the IP address of their host to be
host Identifier and embed the Identifier information in application
specific payload. When packets from such an application traverse
NAT, the IP address of private host remains uncorrected in the
payload, as the packet is delivered to hosts in external realm. An
Application Level Gateway (ALG) is required to re-interpret such a
payload as the payload traverses realms.
In addition, there are applications such as H.323 that use
out-of-band signaling to dynamically create newer sessions. While
a signaling session itself may be directed to a well-known port,
sessions created by it need not be that way. Once again, an ALG may
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be required to process payload in the signaling sessions and notify
NAT to recognize the newly created sessions.
There may be other instances where an ALG may be required to
provide application level transparency. Clearly, there is a need
for a variety of ALGs to interface with NAT. The ALGs may reside
on the same NAT device or an external device. Independent of this,
the NAT interface requirement will remain the same.
In a multi-homed NAT configuration, there is a need for a backup NAT
to communicate with the primary and keep in sync, so that when the
primary goes away, the backup NAT could instantly assume support for
the sessions that primary NAT was responsible for. This is yet
another case where an external agent (i.e., backup NAT) has a need
to interface with NAT.
A NAT device is uniquely qualified to serve as host-NAT-Server
(or host-NAPT-Server) for host-NAT-clients (or host-NAPT-clients).
[Ref 1] has a description of Host-NAT terminology. Host-NAT
(and Host-NAPT) clients need to interface with the server node to
obtain an external address (or a tuple of address and TCP/UDP port)
while communicating with hosts in external realms. In addition,
if NAT were to act as tunnel end-point, host-NAT clients will
need to interface with NAT to setup tunnel state for the lifetime
of Host-NAT-client address assignment. So, once again, there is a
need for an API for use by an external agent(i.e., host-NAT-client)
to communicate with NAT, acting as host-NAT-server.
Lastly, a mangement utility would be useful to interface with NAT
for configuration and monitor purposes and to enforce NAT policies.
For example, reconfigure a NAT device to switch over from NAPT to
Basic-NAT configuration or vice versa. Or, add, terminate and
monitor ALGs and other external agents on a NAT box. Such a program
would also be useful to notify NAT about the status and setup
information concerning ALGs, backup NATs and Host-NAT clients.
Clearly, agents such as Host-NAT-clients and Backup-NATs are likely
to reside on a different physical device than the NAT device. Some
of the ALG agents may also reside on an external device. The API
presented in the follow-on section will provide a base to identify
requirements for the development of one or more protocols by which
each of these external agents could communicate with NAT. It may be
a single protocol applicable to all external agents (or) multiple
protocols, specific to each agent type.
The following diagram identifies a selected list of external agents
that might interact with NAT using its API.
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+------------------+ +------+ +-------------+ +------------------+
| Host-NAT-Clients | | ALGs | | Pri/Sec NAT | | Management Appl. |
+-----+------------+ +------+ +-------------+ +------------------+
^ ^ ^ ^
| | | |
| | | |
v v v v
+---------------------------------------------+
| NAT Application Program Interface (NAT-API) |
+---------------------------------------------+
| N A T |
+---------------------------------------------+
figure 1. External agents interfacing with NAT using NAT-API.
The following list of attributes uniquely identify an external
agent with reference to a NAT.
a. Agent IDentifier
A number (say, in the range of 1 through 0xFFFFFFFF) assigned
to the agent by the NAT device to distinguish from other
agents. Typically, this handle may be assigned when the
agent registers with NAT.
b. Agent type
Based on the categories of external agents described thus far,
it is clear that the API requirements differ considerably
amongst them. A native NAT API may or may not be able to
support the requirements of all these agents. It is beneficial
for NAT to know the agent type to be one of ALG or
Host-NAT-Client or Backup-NAT or Management Application or
something else, so it can accept or deny registration.
c. Agent call-back requirements
The agents will typically require NAT to invoke a call-back
function within the agent when NAT notices the occurrence of
an external event. But, the call-back requirements across
the agents vary. For example, an ALG might require NAT to
call back when a data packet is received on a session with
a certain session-tag. But, other agents do not have such
a requirement. There may , however, be some common
requirements for call-back upon events such as termination
of a session, termination of a Bind and termination of NAT
itself. In addition, management applications and Backup-NAT
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may have a requirement to have NAT periodically invoke a
call-back function.
d. Agent call-back functions
Depending upon call-back requirements, the agent will be
required to register one or more call-back function entry
points with NAT. Below are three different call-back
function prototypes.
Event notification - void agent_callback_event(nat_id,
agent_id, event_type, event_status)
Periodic notification - void agent_callback_periodic(nat_id,
agent_id, info_type, info_length,
information)
Packet notification - void agent_callback_packet(nat_id,
agent_id, session_id,
pkt_direction, packet)
e. Periodic Notification interval
This parameter would be required only when the agent calls
for periodic notification. This may be specified in units of
seconds.
f. Host-NAT-Server tunnel type requirement
A Host-NAT-client may have a requirement for NAT, acting as
Host-NAT-server to support a certain type of tunneling. In
such a case, the agent will specify the tunneling
requirement through this parameter.
g. Agent access information
In the case the agent is resident on a different physical
device than NAT, this parameter is used by the agent to
specify a means by which NAT can access the agent. This
will include a combination of Agent's IP address,
IP protocol (e.g., TCP or UDP), well-known port etc.
As a special case, a value of 0 to agent_ip_address would
indicate that the agent is on the same device as NAT.
4. NAT Application Programming Interface (NAT API)
The following API is specified in pseudo C language and is by no
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means exhaustive in coverage. The API may vary from vendor to
vendor. The intent is to provide a framework that could be
expanded upon as required in the future. This section is divided
into two sub-sections. The first sub-section lists function
calls available to external agents. These calls are synchronous
and require NAT to return back a value. The second sub-section
lists functions that are expected to be provided by external
agents in order for NAT to call-back upon some events.
4.1. NAT API functions
4.1.1. int nat_enquire_IDentity(nat_type, &natid_info)
Purpose:
This function is used by external agents to obtain NAT-ID
and its characteristics, as described in section 2.1
Input parameters:
nat_type - This parameter is specified to verify if NAT
device supports a certain flavor of NAT.
Output Parameters:
natid_info - NAT will fill up the natid_info data structure
with its characteristics, as described in
section 2.1. Also returned in this block would be
an Identifier (nat_id) to uniquely identify this NAT.
Multiple pieces of this information may be returned,
if NAT supports multiple instances of the same NAT
type.
Return Value:
No-Error(0) - A return value of 0 implies success
and that natid_info may be examined
for NAT description.
NAT-TYPE-NOT-SUPPORTED - Notify the client that the
requested NAT device does not
support the specified NAT type.
4.1.2. int nat_enquire_address_bind (nat_id, pvt_address,
ext_address, &bind_info)
Purpose:
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This function is used by external agents to obtain
Address BIND information.
Input parameters:
nat_id - The identifier that uniquely identifies the NAT instance.
pvt_address, ext_address - The caller might specify both or just
one of either private address or external address and
set the other to zero.
Output Parameters:
bind_info - NAT will fill up the bind_info data structure
with info as described in section 2.2, if NAT were
to find a match for the addresses specified.
Return Value:
No-Error(0) - A return value of 0 implies success
in finding a match.
NO-MATCHING_BIND - Notify the client that there isn't a BIND
matching the specified addresses.
INVALID-NAT-ID - The specified NAT-ID is not operational
or is incorrect.
4.1.3. int nat_enquire_transport_bind(nat_id, pvt_address, pvt_port,
transport_protocol, ext_address, ext_port, &bind_info)
Purpose:
This function is used by external agents to obtain
Transport ID BIND information.
Input parameters:
nat_id - The identifier that uniquely identifies the NAT instance.
pvt_address, pvt_port,
ext_address, ext_port - The caller might specify both or just
one of either (private address and the port no.) or
external address and the port number.
transport_protocol - This must be one of TCP, UDP or ICMP Query
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Output Parameters:
bind_info - NAT will fill up the bind_info data structure
with info as described in section 2.2, if NAT were
to find a match for the addresses specified.
Return Value:
No-Error(0) - A return value of 0 implies success
in finding a match.
NO-MATCHING_BIND - Notify the client that there isn't a BIND
matching the specified addresses.
INVALID-NAT-ID - The specified NAT-ID is not operational
or is incorrect.
4.1.4. int nat_enquire_sess_range(nat_id, agent_id, sessid_min,
sessid_max, &sess_count, &sess_info)
Purpose:
This function is used by external agents to request NAT to
send all valid session information for sessions with an
ID in the range of sessid_min through sessid_max.
Input parameters:
nat_id - The identifier that uniquely identifies the NAT
instance.
agent_id - The agent Identifier that uniquely identifies the
agent to NAT.
sessid_min,
sessid_max - The range of session IDs that the agent is
interested in knowing about.
Output Parameters:
sess_count - Number of sessions being returned through
sess_info pointer.
sess_info - Return one or more sessions maintained by NAT,
with an ID in the given range.
Return Value:
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No-Error(0) - A return value of 0 implies successful
session termination.
INVALID-NAT-ID - The specified NAT-ID is not operational
or is incorrect.
INVALID-AGENT-ID - The specified Agent-ID is not currently
registered with NAT.
4.1.5. int nat_register_agent (nat_id, &agent_info)
Purpose:
This function is used by external agents to register
with NAT.
Input parameters:
nat_id - The identifier that uniquely identifies the NAT
instance.
agent_info - The agent is required to provide all the requisite
information (with the exception of agent_id) as
described in section 3.0. This ID may be used by
the caller to control and influence NAT operation.
Output Parameters:
agent_info - NAT will return the agent_id in agent_info structure
when registration is successful.
Return Value:
No-Error(0) - A return value of 0 implies successful
registration.
AGENT-TYPE-NOT-SUPPORTED - Notify the caller that NAT does not
support API requirements of the agent.
TUNNEL-TYPE-NOT-SUPPORTED - Notify the caller that NAT does not
support Host-NAT tunnel type
requested.
INVALID-NAT-ID - The specified NAT-ID is not operational
or is incorrect.
4.1.6. int nat_set_bind (nat_id, agent_id, &bind_info)
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Purpose:
This function is used by external agents to create a new Address
Bind or set certain parameters of an existing Bind.
Input parameters:
nat_id - The identifier that uniquely identifies the NAT
instance.
agent_id - The agent Identifier that uniquely identifies the
agent to NAT.
bind_info - The caller supplies the specifics of a new BIND or
sets a selected number of parameters of an existing
BIND to influence NAT operation. The BIND can be
an address BIND or transport BIND. A new BIND
request is made by setting the BIND ID within
bind_info structure to 0. A non-Zero Bind-ID would
be interpreted by NAT to mean that the agent is
attempting to set some BIND parameters.
Output Parameters:
bind_info - If the caller requested for a BIND creation and NAT
was successful in creating a new BIND, NAT will
fill the structure with the assigned BIND ID and
any other NAT assigned parameter values. If the
caller requested to set some BIND parameters and
NAT succeeded in doing so, the bind_info would
be filled with the values that NAT holds.
Return Value:
No-Error(0) - A return value of 0 implies successful
BIND creation or parameter setting.
BIND-MAKE-FAILED - When NAT was unable to create BIND
or was unable to set the requested
parameter(s).
INVALID-BIND-INFO - When NAT finds that one or all of the
parameters specified is not valid.
INVALID-NAT-ID - The specified NAT-ID is not operational
or is incorrect.
INVALID-AGENT-ID - The specified Agent-ID is not currently
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registered with NAT.
4.1.7. int nat_set_sess(nat_id, agent_id, &sess_info)
Purpose:
This function is used by external agents to create a new session
state or set certain parameters of an existing session.
Input parameters:
nat_id - The identifier that uniquely identifies the NAT
instance.
agent_id - The agent Identifier that uniquely identifies the
agent to NAT.
sess_info - The caller supplies the specifics of a new session
parameters or sets a selected number of parameters
of an existing session to influence NAT operation.
A new session request is made by setting the
session-ID within sess_info structure to 0. A
non-Zero session-ID would be interpreted by NAT to
mean that the agent is attempting to set some
session specific parameters.
Output Parameters:
sess_info - If the caller requested for a session creation and
NAT was successful in creating a new session, NAT
will fill the structure with the assigned session-ID
and any other NAT assigned parameter values. If the
caller requested to set some session parameters and
NAT succeeded in doing so, the sess_info would
be filled with the values that NAT holds.
Return Value:
No-Error(0) - A return value of 0 implies successful
session creation or parameter setting.
SESS-MAKE-FAILED - When NAT was unable to create session
or was unable to set the requested
parameter(s).
INVALID-SESS-INFO - When NAT finds that one or all of the
parameters specified is not valid.
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INVALID-NAT-ID - The specified NAT-ID is not operational
or is incorrect.
INVALID-AGENT-ID - The specified Agent-ID is not currently
registered with NAT.
4.1.8. int nat_free_bind(nat_id, agent_id, bind_id)
Purpose:
This function is used by external agents to terminate
the specified BIND and any sessions that are based on
this BIND.
Input parameters:
nat_id - The identifier that uniquely identifies the NAT
instance.
agent_id - The agent Identifier that uniquely identifies the
agent to NAT.
bind_id - The ID of the BIND that needs to be terminated.
Output Parameters:
none.
Return Value:
No-Error(0) - A return value of 0 implies successful
BIND termination.
INVALID-BIND-ID - The specified BIND ID does not exist.
INVALID-NAT-ID - The specified NAT-ID is not operational
or is incorrect.
INVALID-AGENT-ID - The specified Agent-ID is not currently
registered with NAT.
4.1.9. int nat_free_sess(nat_id, agent_id, sess_id)
Purpose:
This function is used by external agents to terminate
the specified session.
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Input parameters:
nat_id - The identifier that uniquely identifies the NAT
instance.
agent_id - The agent Identifier that uniquely identifies the
agent to NAT.
sess_id - The ID of the session that needs to be terminated.
Output Parameters:
none.
Return Value:
No-Error(0) - A return value of 0 implies successful
session termination.
INVALID-SESS-ID - The specified session ID does not exist.
INVALID-NAT-ID - The specified NAT-ID is not operational
or is incorrect.
INVALID-AGENT-ID - The specified Agent-ID is not currently
registered with NAT.
4.1.10. int nat_free_sess_bundle(nat_id, agent_id, bundle_id)
Purpose:
This function is used by external agents to terminate
a bundle of sessions identified by the same bundle ID.
Input parameters:
nat_id - The identifier that uniquely identifies the NAT
instance.
agent_id - The agent Identifier that uniquely identifies the
agent to NAT.
bundle_id - The ID of the session bundle (group of sessions)
that needs to be terminated.
Output Parameters:
none.
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Internet Draft NAT Application Programming Interface November 1998
Return Value:
No-Error(0) - A return value of 0 implies successful
session termination.
INVALID-BUNDLE-ID - The specified bundle ID does not exist.
INVALID-NAT-ID - The specified NAT-ID is not operational
or is incorrect.
INVALID-AGENT-ID - The specified Agent-ID is not currently
registered with NAT.
4.2. Call-back functions within an external agent
4.2.1. void agent_callback_event(nat_id, agent_id, event_type,
&event_info)
Purpose:
This function is used by NAT to notify an agent of an
event status.
Input parameters:
nat_id - The identifier that uniquely identifies the NAT
instance.
agent_id - The agent Identifier that uniquely identifies the
agent to NAT.
event_type - The event can be one of BIND creation, BIND
termination, session Creation, and session
termination.
event_info - This will return the BIND or session description
structure that contains the specific instance
identifier and other pertinent information.
4.2.2. void agent_callback_periodic(nat_id, agent_id, info_type,
info_length, &periodic_info)
Purpose:
This function is used by NAT to notify an agent of a
certain piece of information periodically.
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Internet Draft NAT Application Programming Interface November 1998
Input parameters:
nat_id - The identifier that uniquely identifies the NAT
instance.
agent_id - The agent Identifier that uniquely identifies the
agent to NAT.
info_type - NAT may have been requested to periodically
notify the agent many types of information.
Possible values for this parameter would be
statistics update, Incremental BIND update
Incremental session update, Incremental
BIND termination, Incremental session
termination etc..
info_length- Number of bytes included in periodic info block.
periodic_info - This point to the actual periodic information
being sent to the agent.
4.2.3. void agent_callback_packet(nat_id, agent_id, sess_id,
pkt_direction, packet)
Purpose:
This function is used by NAT to notify an agent of a
data packet for processing. The agent is expected to
process the packet and forward to the actual destination
in the first-in-first-out (FIFO) order. The processing
performed by the agent may be limited to just the payload
or the entire packet, as set by the agent at session
setup time.
Input parameters:
nat_id - The identifier that uniquely identifies the NAT
instance.
agent_id - The agent Identifier that uniquely identifies the
agent to NAT.
sess_id - The Identifier if NAT session to which the packet
belongs.
pkt_direction - This can be inbound or outbound.
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Internet Draft NAT Application Programming Interface November 1998
packet - IP packet that needs to be processed by the agent.
If NAT was required to perform header translation,
this packet is post-NAT-translated version of
the packet. In the case the agent selected to
perform the entire translation, the original
packet is sent as is to the agent, without any
NAT transformation.
5. Acknowledgement
The author would like to express sincere appreciation and thanks
to Yakov Rekhter for his valuable advice and contribution in the
presentation of this document.
6. Security considerations.
The security considerations described in [Ref 1] for all variations
of NATs are applicable here.
REFERENCES
[1] P. Srisuresh, M. Holdrege, "IP Network Address Translator
(NAT) Terminology and Considerations",
<draft-ietf-nat-terminology-01.txt> - Work in progress.
[2] Y. Rekhter, B. Moskowitz, D. Karrenberg, G. de Groot, and,
E. Lear, "Address Allocation for Private Internets", RFC 1918
[3] J. Reynolds and J. Postel, "Assigned Numbers", RFC 1700
[4] R. Braden, "Requirements for Internet Hosts -- Communication
Layers", RFC 1122
[5] R. Braden, "Requirements for Internet Hosts -- Application
and Support", RFC 1123
[6] F. Baker, "Requirements for IP Version 4 Routers", RFC 1812
[7] J. Postel, J. Reynolds, "FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL (FTP)",
RFC 959
[8] "TRANSMISSION CONTROL PROTOCOL (TCP) SPECIFICATION", RFC 793
[9] J. Postel, "INTERNET CONTROL MESSAGE (ICMP) SPECIFICATION",
Srisuresh & Rekhter [Page 22]
Internet Draft NAT Application Programming Interface November 1998
RFC 792
[10] J. Postel, "User Datagram Protocol (UDP)", RFC 768
[11] J. Mogul, J. Postel, "Internet Standard Subnetting Procedure",
RFC 950
[12] Brian carpenter, Jon Crowcroft, Yakov Rekhter, "IPv4 Address
Behaviour Today", RFC 2101
Author's Address:
Pyda Srisuresh
Lucent technologies
4464 Willow Road
Pleasanton, CA 94588-8519
U.S.A.
Voice: (925) 737-2153
Fax: (925) 737-2110
EMail: suresh@ra.lucent.com
Srisuresh & Rekhter [Page 23]
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