Network Time Protocol (ntp) --------------------------- Charter Last Modified: 2008-04-22 Current Status: Active Working Group Chair(s): Brian Haberman Karen O'Donoghue Internet Area Director(s): Jari Arkko Mark Townsley Internet Area Advisor: Mark Townsley Mailing Lists: General Discussion:ntpwg@lists.ntp.isc.org To Subscribe: https://lists.ntp.isc.org/mailman/listinfo/ntpwg Archive: http://lists.ntp.isc.org/pipermail/ntpwg Description of Working Group: The Network Time Protocol (NTP) is widely deployed and used in the Internet. However, the standardization status of this protocol has lagged in the IETF. RFC 1305 (NTP version 3) was published in March 1992 and remains unchanged and at Draft Standard status. RFC 1305 represents the majority of full NTP implementations deployed today. RFC 2030 (SNTP version 4) was published as an Informational RFC in October 1996 as a lightweight version of NTP for deployments not requiring the full functionality of NTP. SNTP now represents the majority of both NTP traffic and NTP implementation issues on the Internet. A good deal of work has been produced in the NTP community updating both NTPv3 and SNTPv4. This work is ongoing and available through the collaborative development effort in the NTP community, but it has not been reflected back into the NTP specifications. The goal of this working group is to document NTPv4 based on the extensive work of the NTP community and to advance the standardization status of NTP. It is an explicit goal of this effort to have NTPv4 interoperate with the deployed base avoiding any backwards-incompatible changes. A number of topics have been raised as potential work items for an update to NTP including support for IPv6, security considerations including authentication, automatic configuration including possible requirements for DHCP, and algorithm improvements. This working group will focus first on delivering NTPv4 and will defer additional development efforts until after the delivery of NTPv4. Support for IPv6 and defining mechanisms for securing NTP transactions is considered part of the core NTPv4 functionality. Potential further modifications and additions to the NTP protocol will be documented for possible further work beyond the initial NTPv4 effort. The working group will initially focus on the following deliverables: 1. NTPv4 Scope and Requirements Document (documenting the scope of the NTPv4 update and identifying issues deferred for future work). 2. NTPv4 Protocol Specification (documenting the protocol on the wire) 3. NTPv4 Architecture and Algorithms Specification (documenting the architecture, mathematical algorithms, and behavior of NTP servers and clients) 4. NTPv4 MIB (provision for management and monitoring of NTP via SNMP) Goals and Milestones: Done NTP BOF at IETF 61 Done NTP WG Charter Approved Done Draft of Scope and Requirements Document Done Draft of NTP Protocol Specification Done Draft of MIB Specification Done Draft of NTP Algorithms Specification Done Draft of NTP Autokey Specification - Informational RFC Dec 2007 WG Last Call NTP Protocol Specification Dec 2007 WG Last Call NTP MIB Specification Dec 2007 Draft of NTP Control Protocol - Informational RFC Mar 2008 WG Last Call NTP Autokey Specification - Informational RFC Mar 2008 WG Last Call NTP Control Protocol - Informational RFC Internet-Drafts: Posted Revised I-D Title ------ ------- -------------------------------------------- Jul 2005 Jul 2008 Network Time Protocol Version 4 Protocol And Algorithms Specification Jun 2006 Feb 2008 Definitions of Managed Objects for Network Time Protocol Version 4 (NTPv4) Sep 2007 Jun 2008 Network Time Protocol Version 4 Autokey Specification May 2008 Jul 2008 Network Time Protocol (NTP) Server Option for DHCPv6 Request For Comments: None to date.