********************************************************************** FTSC FIDONET TECHNICAL STANDARDS COMMITTEE ********************************************************************** Publication: FSP-1036 Revision: 1 Title: IPv6 numbers in the nodelist. Author(s): Michiel van der Vlist Date: 9 March 2010 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Contents: 1. Introduction. 2. The problem. 3. The solution. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Status of this document ----------------------- This document is a Fidonet Standards Proposal (FSP). This document proposes a Fidonet standard for the Fidonet community. This document is released to the public domain, and may be used, copied or modified for any purpose whatever. 1. Introduction --------------- In addition to the classic modem connection over telephone lines, FidoNet increasingly makes use of the InterNet for its links. This means InterNet contact information needs to be in the nodelist. Up to now, this has been in the form of IP quads and fqdn's. (Fully Qualified Domain Names). In the future the need to have IPv6 addresses in the nodelist may very well arise. There is a problem however. 2. The Problem -------------- The format of an IPv6 address is: Eight hexadecimal values in the range 0-FFFF separated by a colon. One or more successive zero values may once be represented by two successive colons. F.e. 1234::6789:abcd expands to 1234:0:0:0:0:0:6789:abcd. The problem is that the colon is already in use to separate a nodelist flag from its parameter(s), that some flags may carry a variable number of parameters and that the colon is also used to separate parameters from each other. E.g. a flag carrying both a host name and a port number: FLAG:fido.vlist.eu:24555 Having the same character for separating parameters as for separating individual items within a multidimensional parameter creates a parsing problem. Does 1234::6789:abcd:5678 resolve to address 1234:0:0:0:0:0:6789:abcd with a port number of 5678 or does it resolve to just an address of 1234:0:0:0:0:6789:abcd:5678 and no port number specified? 3. The Solution --------------- Whenever an IPv6 address is to appear as a parameter in the nodelist the address shall be encased in square brackets. This follows the practise described in RFC 2732 paragraph 2 and RFC 3986 paragraph 3.2.2 for literal IPv6 addresses in URL's and URI's. Example: FLAG:[2002:4f87:44d5::1]:443 References ---------- [FTS-5] "The distribution nodelist", Ben Baker, Rick Moore. February 1989. Obsoleted by FTS-5000. [FTS-5000] "The distribution nodelist". FTSC Members, Administrator and Honoured Guests Jan 2005. [FTS-5001] "Nodelist flags and userflags". FTSC Members, Administrator and Honoured Guests Jan 2005. [RFC1883] S. Deering, R. Hinden. Internet Protocol, version 6 (IPv6) Dec 1995 [RFC1884] S. Deering, R. Hinden. IP Version 6 Addressing Architecture. Dec 1995 [RFC2732] R. Hinden, B. Carpenter, L. Masisnter. Format for Literal IPv6 Addresses in URL's Dec 1999. [RFC3986] T. Berners Lee, R. Fielding, L. Masinter. Uniform Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax Jan 2005. Contact Data ------------ Michiel van der Vlist Fidonet: 2:280/5555 E-mail: pa0mmv at vrza dot org E-mail: administrator at ftsc dot org History ------- Rev.1, 20100309: Initial Release. Principal author Michiel van der Vlist. **********************************************************************