Domain Name Extended Availability Extension Mapping for the Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP)
draft-ar-exAvail-epp-mapping-01

Abstract

This document describes extensions to the Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) for obtaining detailed availability information of domain names.

Status of this Memo

This document is an Internet-Draft and is NOT offered in accordance with Section 10 of RFC 2026, and the author does not provide the IETF with any rights other than to publish as an Internet-Draft.

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This Internet-Draft will expire on November 2, 2013.

Table of Contents

1.  Introduction
    1.1.  Conventions Used in This Document
2.  Extended Availability Details
    2.1.  State
    2.2.  Phase Identifier
    2.3.  Reason
    2.4.  Primary Domain Name
3.  EPP Command Mapping
    3.1.  EPP Query Commands
        3.1.1.  EPP <check> Command
        3.1.2.  EPP <info> Command
        3.1.3.  EPP <transfer> Command
    3.2.  EPP Transform Commands
        3.2.1.  EPP <create> Command
        3.2.2.  EPP <delete> Command
        3.2.3.  EPP <renew> Command
        3.2.4.  EPP <transfer> Command
        3.2.5.  EPP <update> Command
4.  Formal Syntax
5.  Security Considerations
6.  References
    6.1.  Normative References
    6.2.  Informative References
§  Authors' Addresses

1.  Introduction

The check command described in EPP Domain Name Mapping (Hollenbeck, S., “Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) Domain Name Mapping,” August 2009.) [RFC5731] provides a hint to determine a domain object's availability. This works well in providing basic information for the client to anticipate the success or failure of registering a domain using the <create> command. To provide a more rich user interface to potential registrants, clients require more detailed information regarding object availability than available through a binary yes/no response.

This document describes extensions to the Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) for clients to obtain extended details regarding the availability of domain names.

This extension can be used when more detailed information is required about the availability of a domain name.

1.1.  Conventions Used in This Document

The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 (Bradner, S., “Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels,” March 1997.) [RFC2119].

"exAvail-1.0" is used as an abbreviation for "urn:ar:params:xml:ns:exAvail-1.0". The XML namespace prefix "exAvail" is used, but implementations MUST NOT depend on it and instead employ a proper namespace-aware XML parser and serializer to interpret and output the XML documents.

In this document english words with letters of different cases are used to indicate variants, even though these don't indicate variants in a real registry.

2.  Extended Availability Details

To provide more details about the availability of a domain object, this extension adds additional elements to the EPP Domain Name Mapping (Hollenbeck, S., “Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) Domain Name Mapping,” August 2009.) [RFC5731]. Only those new elements are described here.

2.1.  State

The extended availability details of a domain name are provided using the state element. A MANDATORY "s" attribute describes the extended availability state of the queried domain name. The list of extended availability states with a description of any child elements of this state element are provided below:

• available - The queried domain name is available to be registered as a domain object with immediate effect. If the registry is currently not accepting registrations, the date and time from which the domain name can be registered MAY be provided as a child element of this state.
• application - The queried domain name is available to be registered only as a domain application object. The identifier of the phase in which a domain application can be submitted for this domain name is provided in a child element. If the registry is not currently accepting applications, the date and time from which an application can be submitted MAY be provided as a child element of this state.
• unavailable - The queried domain name meets the composition requirements for domain names, however not available to be registered as either a domain object or a domain application object. The reason of unavailability for this domain name MAY be provided as a child element of this state.
• reserved - The queried domain name is reserved by server policy and is not available for registration. The server specific reason for the reservation of this label MAY be provided as a child element of this state.
• invalid - The queried domain name does not meet the composition requirements for domain names and is not available for registration as either a domain object or a domain application object.
• activatedVariant - The queried domain name is an activated variant of another domain name in the repository. The domain name that resulted in the activation of this variant SHOULD be provided as a child 'primaryDomainName' element of this state.
• blockedVariant - The queried domain name is a blocked variant of another domain name in the repository. The domain name that resulted in this variant getting blocked SHOULD be provided as a child 'primaryDomainName' element.
• withheldVariant - The queried domain name is a withheld variant of an existing domain name in the repository. The domain name that resulted in this name being witheld SHOULD be provided as a child 'primaryDomainName' element.
• pendingCreate - The queried domain name is available for registration, however its approval is subject to the outcome of an offline process. If the registry is not currently accepting registrations, the date and time from which the domain name can be registered MAY be provided as a child element of this state.

2.2.  Phase Identifier

The identifier of the phase in which an application for the queried domain name can be submitted. The phase identifier is as described in EPP Domain Application Mapping (Mitchell, J. and C. Wright, “Domain Name Application Extension Mapping for the Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP),” December 2012.) [AR‑APP‑1.0]

2.3.  Reason

The reason explaining the unavailability of the queried domain name. This is provided when the extended availability of a domain name is "unavailable" or "invalid" or "reserved"

2.4.  Primary Domain Name

The queried domain name will be unavailable if it is an active, withheld or blocked variant of a domain object that exists in the repository. In such a case, the primary domain name of the variant is provided.

3.  EPP Command Mapping

A detailed description of the EPP syntax and semantics can be found in the EPP core protocol specification (Hollenbeck, S., “Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) Domain Name Mapping,” August 2009.) [RFC5731]. The command mappings described here are specifically for use in the Domain Name Extended Availability Check Extension.

3.1.  EPP Query Commands

EPP provides three commands to retrieve object information: <check> to determine if an object is known to the server, <info> to retrieve detailed information associated with an object, and <transfer> to retrieve object transfer status information.

3.1.1.  EPP <check> Command

This extension defines additional elements to extend the EPP <check> command and response to be used in conjunction with the EPP Domain Name Mapping (Hollenbeck, S., “Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) Domain Name Mapping,” August 2009.) [RFC5731].

To enable clients to obtain additional information about a domain names availability, the <domain:check> command is extended with a <exAvail:check> element, which signals a client's intention to retrieve extended availability information.

Example <check> command requesting extended availability details

<?xml version="1.0" standalone="no"?>
<epp xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:epp-1.0">
  <command>
    <check>
      <check xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:domain-1.0">
        <name>domain-avail.tld</name>
        <name>domain-application.tld</name>
        <name>domain-inuse.tld</name>
        <name>domain-blocked-by-application.tld</name>
        <name>domain-reserved.tld</name>
        <name>domain-inval!d.tld</name>
        <name>domain-variant.tld</name>
        <name>domain-VaRiAnT.tld</name>
        <name>DOMAIN-variant.tld</name>
        <name>domain-pendingCreate.tld</name>
      </check>
    </check>
    <extension>
      <check xmlns="urn:ar:params:xml:ns:exAvail-1.0" />
    </extension>
    <clTRID>ABC-12345</clTRID>
  </command>
</epp>

When a <check> command containing the <exAvail:check> element has been processed successfully, the server MUST NOT respond with the <domain:chkData> element described in the EPP Domain Name Mapping (Hollenbeck, S., “Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) Domain Name Mapping,” August 2009.) [RFC5731]. Instead, servers must respond with a <exAvail:chkData> element that contains one <exAvail:cd> element for each domain name present in the command. The <exAvail:cd> element contains the following child elements:

• A <exAvail:name> element containing a domain name from the corresponding command. The order and composition of domain names in the response MUST be the same as the order and composition of domain names provided in the command, with exception to transformations required of validating XML parsers.
• A <exAvail:state> element containing the extended availability details of the domain name. A MANDATORY "s" attribute describes the extended availability state of the queried domain name. To describe the availability in more detail the <exAvail:state> element MAY also contain one of the following child elements depending on the state:
  • An OPTIONAL <exAvail:phase> element containing the phase identifier of the phase in which an application can be submitted for the domain name. This information is only supplied when the domain name is available as an application.
  • An OPTIONAL <exAvail:date> element containing the date time from which the domain name can be provisioned as a domain object or an application object. The type that the object can be provisioned as can be determined by the value of the <exAvail:state> element's "s" attribute. If this element exists, it is an indication that the domain name is not available at the time of the extended availability check query, but in the future from the date time of this element.
  • An OPTIONAL <exAvail:reason> element containing the reason of unavailability. This element is provided when the domain is unavailable as it is blocked by another object in the repository or due to server policy i.e., when the domain extended availability state is "unavailable", "invalid" or "reserved".
  • An OPTIONAL <exAvail:primaryDomainName> element containing the primary domain name of the variant that is blocking the provisioning of the domain name. This is provided when the domain name queried for is an active, withheld or blocked variant of a domain object that exists in the repository.

Example <check> response containing the extended availability details

<?xml version="1.0" standalone="no"?>
<epp xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:epp-1.0">
<response>
 <result code="1000">
   <msg lang="en">Command completed successfully</msg>
 </result>
 <extension>
  <chkData xmlns="urn:ar:params:xml:ns:exAvail-1.0">
  <cd>
   <name>domain-avail.tld</name>
   <state s="available">
    <date>2012-10-20T00:00:00Z</date>
   </state>
  </cd>
  <cd>
   <name>domain-application.tld</name>
   <state s="application">
    <phase>sunrise</phase>
    <date>2012-10-20T00:00:00Z</date>
   </state>
  </cd>
  <cd>
   <name>domain-inuse.tld</name>
   <state s="unavailable">
    <reason>In use</reason>
   </state>
  </cd>
  <cd>
   <name>domain-blocked-by-application.tld</name>
   <state s="unavailable">
    <reason>Blocked by application</reason>
   </state>
  </cd>
  <cd>
   <name>domain-reserved.tld</name>
   <state s="reserved">
    <reason>ICANN Reserved</reason>
   </state>
  </cd>
  <cd>
   <name>domain-inval!d.tld</name>
   <state s="invalid">
    <reason>Invalid domain name</reason>
   </state>
  </cd>
  <cd>
   <name>domain-variant.tld</name>
   <state s="activatedVariant">
    <primaryDomainName>domain-VARIANT.tld</primaryDomainName>
   </state>
  </cd>
  <cd>
   <name>domain-VaRiAnT.tld</name>
   <state s="withheldVariant">
    <primaryDomainName>domain-VARIANT.tld</primaryDomainName>
   </state>
  </cd>
  <cd>
   <name>DOMAIN-variant.tld</name>
   <state s="blockedVariant">
    <primaryDomainName>domain-VARIANT.tld</primaryDomainName>
   </state>
  </cd>
  <cd>
   <name>domain-pendingCreate.tld</name>
   <state s="pendingCreate" />
  </cd>
 </chkData>
 </extension>
 <trID>
  <clTRID>ABC-12345</clTRID>
  <svTRID>57f39ac6-abd2-4fea-9a80-e791d1af86f7</svTRID>
 </trID>
</response>
</epp>

3.1.2.  EPP <info> Command

This extension does not define any extension to the EPP <info> command or response described in the EPP Domain Name Mapping (Hollenbeck, S., “Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) Domain Name Mapping,” August 2009.) [RFC5731].

3.1.3.  EPP <transfer> Command

This extension does not define any extension to the EPP <transfer> command or response described in the EPP Domain Name Mapping (Hollenbeck, S., “Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) Domain Name Mapping,” August 2009.) [RFC5731].

3.2.  EPP Transform Commands

EPP provides five commands to transform objects: <create> to create an instance of an object, <delete> to delete an instance of an object, <renew> to extend the validity period of an object, <transfer> to manage object sponsorship changes, and <update> to change information associated with an object.

3.2.1.  EPP <create> Command

This extension does not define any extension to the EPP <create> command or response described in the EPP Domain Name Mapping (Hollenbeck, S., “Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) Domain Name Mapping,” August 2009.) [RFC5731].

3.2.2.  EPP <delete> Command

This extension does not define any extension to the EPP <delete> command or response described in the EPP Domain Name Mapping (Hollenbeck, S., “Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) Domain Name Mapping,” August 2009.) [RFC5731].

3.2.3.  EPP <renew> Command

This extension does not define any extension to the EPP <renew> command or response described in the EPP Domain Name Mapping (Hollenbeck, S., “Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) Domain Name Mapping,” August 2009.) [RFC5731].

3.2.4.  EPP <transfer> Command

This extension does not define any extension to the EPP <transfer> command or response described in the EPP Domain Name Mapping (Hollenbeck, S., “Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) Domain Name Mapping,” August 2009.) [RFC5731].

3.2.5.  EPP <update> Command

This extension does not define any extension to the EPP <update> command or response described in the EPP Domain Name Mapping (Hollenbeck, S., “Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) Domain Name Mapping,” August 2009.) [RFC5731].

4.  Formal Syntax

An EPP object mapping is specified in XML Schema notation. The formal syntax presented here is a complete schema representation of the object mapping, suitable for automated validation of EPP XML instances.

<?xml version="1.0" standalone="no"?>
<schema targetNamespace="urn:ar:params:xml:ns:exAvail-1.0"
        xmlns:exAvail="urn:ar:params:xml:ns:exAvail-1.0"
        xmlns:eppcom="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:eppcom-1.0"
        xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
        elementFormDefault="qualified">

 <import namespace="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:eppcom-1.0"/>

 <!-- Custom Extensions found in EPP commands. -->
 <element name="check"/>

 <!-- Child response elements.-->
 <element name="chkData" type="exAvail:chkDataType"/>

 <complexType name="chkDataType">
        <sequence>
            <element name="cd" type="exAvail:checkType"
                     maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
        </sequence>
 </complexType>

 <complexType name="checkType">
    <sequence>
        <element name="name" type="eppcom:labelType"/>
        <element name="state" type="exAvail:checkStateType"/>
    </sequence>
 </complexType>

 <complexType name="checkStateType">
    <choice>
        <sequence>
            <element name="reason" type="eppcom:reasonType"
                     minOccurs="0"/>
        </sequence>
        <sequence>
            <element name="phase" type="eppcom:labelType"
                     minOccurs="0"/>
            <element name="date" type="dateTime"
                     minOccurs="0"/>
        </sequence>
        <sequence>
            <element name="primaryDomainName"
                     type="eppcom:labelType"/>
        </sequence>
        </choice>
        <attribute name="s" type="exAvail:stateValueType"
                   use="required"/>
 </complexType>

 <simpleType name="stateValueType">
    <restriction base="token">
        <enumeration value="available"/>
        <enumeration value="application"/>
        <enumeration value="unavailable"/>
        <enumeration value="reserved"/>
        <enumeration value="invalid"/>
        <enumeration value="activatedVariant"/>
        <enumeration value="withheldVariant"/>
        <enumeration value="blockedVariant"/>
        <enumeration value="pendingCreate"/>
    </restriction>
 </simpleType>
</schema>

5.  Security Considerations

The mapping extensions described in this document do not provide any security services beyond those described by EPP (Hollenbeck, S., “Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP),” August 2009.) [RFC5730], the EPP Domain Name Mapping (Hollenbeck, S., “Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) Domain Name Mapping,” August 2009.) [RFC5731], and protocol layers used by EPP. The security considerations described in these other specifications also apply to this specification.

6.  References

6.1. Normative References

6.2. Informative References

Authors' Addresses