UA CONFIGURATION TASK GROUP

HISTORY

Below are the minutes of a SIP Forum Device Configuration Meeting held concurrently with IETF 72 in Dublin, Ireland.

Venue: Citywest Hotel, Dublin, Ireland (co-located with IETF 72)

Date: 29 July 2008

THE PROBLEM

I get a device in a box. How do I minimally configure it so that when I plug it in, something sensible happens? Some devices have a minimal user interface that I can enter a username, password, and domain name. Other devices, like ATAs, have no user interfaces at all. The goal is to enable the user to enter only the username, password, and domain name for devices with a user interface or to simply plug in the device for devices without a user interface. With that minimal information, the device gets its configuration.

EXISTING WORK

The IETF Config Framework

• IP-based.
• Model works
• Implementations exist that follow guidelines (if not literal framework protocol)
• Not complete: not clear if useful for configuring UIs, like enterprise phones
• Does not address bootstrap problem
• Is not yet an RFC; has been in limbo for years

TR-69

• Very complex: essentially only a single stack vendor (OEM)
• Deployed in ATA/DSL environments
• Service providers ask for it
• Primary driver is OAMP, not configuration

OMA DM

• Complete for mobile environment
• Used also in some broadband environments
• Have not solved NAT problem (being worked on)
• Relies (today) on SMS for bootstrap

Security

Security has been addressed on a situational basis. For example, CableLabs specifies pre-loaded PKI certificates in hardware, the mobile market relies on the (U)SIM, TR-69 relies on physical connectivity, etc.

SCOPE

Getting from the idea of a configuration standard to interoperable implementations requires getting product managers to believe the benefit of implementation (engineering work) provides a sufficient return on investment. Things that people in the meeting identified to make this a reality are:

• Protocol specifications are published (RFC, SIP Forum Profile)
• It is more than a framework - it specifies an implementable protocol
• There is market demand from service providers and users
• Need working examples
• Other vendors do it

At a minimum, we would like common terminology. Today different vendors call different data elements different things. For example, some devices call the outbound proxy a "outbound proxy", "PBX", "server", etc. The minimum useful deliverable is to create a profile of the config framework that enables plug & play for basic services. Pushing security patches is explicitly out of scope. Rich UI configuration, such as for high-end enterprise phones, is explicitly out of scope, although basic configuration for such phones is in scope.

CHARTER

Given the propensity of vendors to have frameworks similar to the IETF Config Framework, and that the Config Framework does address most of the needs of the community, we would like to base a phone configuration profile on the Config Framework.

The SIP Forum can provide a venue and a mechanism to drive the non-technical items to move vendor and service provider product managers, as well as users, to demand the implementation and deployment of a phone configuration profile. Namely, we can facilitate open source implementations.

We can test those implementations at SIPit, which put the phone configuration profile on product manager's feature set. Moreover, those implementations become proof points on the simplicity or complexity for implementing the specification.

In the manner of SIP Connect, the SIP Forum can certify equipment and service providers as SIP Phone Configuration compliant and certified, respectively. Moreover, we can have different levels of compliancy, which means this basic specification need not be the only configuration profile. For example, we can address rich UI devices in a later profile.

A repository of UA Configuration Task Group documents and presentations has been created HERE.

Actions Items From the Meeting

• Henning Schulzrinne will examine the needs for configuring basic UI devices (username, password, domain).
• Henning Schulzrinne will examine the needs for no-UI devices.
• Scott Lawrence will examine the needs for configuring rich UI devices. François Audet and John Elwell will assist.
• Summanth Channabasappa will examine the IETF SIP Config Framework to see if it addresses the bootstrap issue, and identify the gaps. Martin Dolly will assist.
• Scott Lawrence will provide pointers to the PingTel open source configuration server code.
• Henning Schulzrinne will engage his students and the open source community to implement the SIP Forum Phone Configuration profile.
• Robert Sparks will allocate time at SIPit 23 (probably on Tuesday morning, 14 October 2008) for testing Phone Configuration UA and server implementations.
• Markus Isomäki will look to see if there can be a phone implementation prototyped for SIPit.