intarea Working Group                                           L. ZhangInternet-Draft                                                    HuaweiIntended status: Standards Track                                Z. ZhangExpires: 2 June 2026                                           Sea Group                                                                  R. Sun                                                                 Y. Wang                                                            Huawei Cloud                                                        29 November 2025                          Traceroute Framework               draft-many-intarea-traceroute-framework-00Abstract   This draft introduces the development and latest situation of   Traceroute, which is beneficial for network operators and users to   understand the latest capabilities of traceroute, enabling them to   utilize traceroute effectively.Status of This Memo   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute   working documents as Internet-Drafts.  The list of current Internet-   Drafts is at https://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."   This Internet-Draft will expire on 2 June 2026.Copyright Notice   Copyright (c) 2025 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the   document authors.  All rights reserved.Zhang, et al.              Expires 2 June 2026                  [Page 1]Internet-Draft            Traceroute Framework             November 2025   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (https://trustee.ietf.org/   license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document.   Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights   and restrictions with respect to this document.  Code Components   extracted from this document must include Revised BSD License text as   described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are   provided without warranty as described in the Revised BSD License.Table of Contents   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2     1.1.  Requirements Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3     1.2.  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3   2.  General Traceroute  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3   3.  Traceroute with Interface Information . . . . . . . . . . . .   3   4.  Traceroute with Node Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4   5.  Traceroute with Multi-path Interface Information  . . . . . .   4   6.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5   7.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5   8.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5     8.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5     8.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5   Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6   Contributors  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   61.  Introduction   As described in [RFC2151], Traceroute is a common TCP/IP tool, which   allos users to learn about the route that packets take from their   local host to a remote host.  It is often used by network and system   managers to learn something about the ever-changing structure of the   Internet.   Traceroute collects the route's information based on the ICMP Time   Exceeded Message (TEM).  ICMP TEM has been extended by several RFCs   and drafts, however, there is no drafts nor RFCs summarize the   current situation and development of Traceroute.   This draft introduces the development and latest situation of   Traceroute, which is beneficial for network operators and users to   understand the latest capabilities of traceroute, enabling them to   utilize traceroute effectively.Zhang, et al.              Expires 2 June 2026                  [Page 2]Internet-Draft            Traceroute Framework             November 20251.1.  Requirements Language   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and   "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in   BCP 14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all   capitals, as shown here.1.2.  Terminology   The abbreviations used in this document are:   ICMP: Internet Control Message Protocol2.  General Traceroute   [RFC2151] gives a general description on Traceroute.  The original   version of Traceroute works by sending a sequence of User Datagram   Protocol (UDP) datagrams to an invalid port address at the remote   host.  Using the default settings, three datagrams are sent, each   with a Time-To-Live (TTL) field value set to one.  The TTL value of 1   causes the datagram to "timeout" as soon as it hits the first router   in the path; this router will then respond with an ICMP Time Exceeded   Message (TEM)[RFC792] indicating that the datagram has expired.   Another three UDP messages are now sent, each with the TTL value set   to 2, which causes the second router to return ICMP TEMs.  This   process continues until the packets actually reach the other   destination.  Since these datagrams are trying to access an invalid   port at the destination host, ICMP Destination Unreachable Messages   are returned indicating an unreachable port; this event signals the   Traceroute program that it is finished!  The Traceroute program   displays the round-trip delay associated with each of the attempts.   (Some implementations of Traceroute use the Record-Route option in IP   rather than the method described above.)   The original Traceroute just allows users to get the IP address   information of the router that packets go through from the source   address of TEMs.   However, with the enhancment of ICMP, the Traceroute also can   provides more richful information.3.  Traceroute with Interface Information   [RFC4884] extends the ICMP Time Exceeded Message with a length   attribute and an Extension Structure, making it more flexiable to   carry more information by one or more objects.Zhang, et al.              Expires 2 June 2026                  [Page 3]Internet-Draft            Traceroute Framework             November 2025   Based on [RFC4884], [RFC5837] defines the Interface Information   Object to carry the ifIndex, IPv4 address, IPv6 address, name, and   MTU information.  With this extension, Traceroute is enhanced.  It   can explicitly identify the following at each node:   *  the IP interface upon which a datagram arrived   *  the sub-IP component of an IP interface upon which a datagram      arrived   *  the IP interface through which the datagram would have been      forwarded had it been forwardable   *  the IP next hop to which the datagram would have been forwarded4.  Traceroute with Node Name   Although [RFC5837] extends ICMP to carry the interface information,   however, for the node along the route, it still can only get the IP   address information and can't adapt to the case where each node may   not have a unique IP address.  In order to solve this problem,   [I-D.ietf-intarea-extended-icmp-nodeid] introduces a ICMP extension   for Node Identification.  It defines the Node Identification Object,   which allows providing a unique IP address and/or a textual name for   the node.   There are two different pieces of information that can appear in a   Node Identification Object:   *  An IP Address Sub-Object MAY be included, containing an address of      sufficient scope to identify the node within the domain.   *  A Name Sub-Object MAY be included, containing up to 63 octets of      the YANG sys:hostname ([RFC7317]) or another appropriate name      uniquely identifying the node.   The detailed description on Node Identification Ob can be found in   Section 3 of [I-D.ietf-intarea-extended-icmp-nodeid].5.  Traceroute with Multi-path Interface Information   Although Traceroute has been enhanced a lot, it still have some   limitations.  On the one hand, it is typically used to collect the   information of one path, when using Traceroute in a multi-path   topology (there are multiple paths from the source node to the   destination node and ECMP, UCMP or other multi-path routing strategy   is used.), the Traceroute can only get information of one of the   avaialbe paths once.  It can’t collect all the path’s informationZhang, et al.              Expires 2 June 2026                  [Page 4]Internet-Draft            Traceroute Framework             November 2025   from source node to destination node at once.  On the other hand,   having a next hop and an outgoing interface does not mean that the   next hop and outgoing interface are reachable, the ARP table or   Neighbor Cache entry associated with the interface also need to be   completed and reachable.   Therefore, [I-D.draft-many-intarea-icmp-mp] extends the ICMP message   with an Multi-path Interface Information object to carry the egress   interface, next hop, and the corresponding ARP or ND information of   each multi-path interface of nodes along the route.6.  Security Considerations   This document does not introduce any changes to the existing   proctols, nor does it introduce new security risks.7.  IANA Considerations   This document has no IANA actions.8.  References8.1.  Normative References   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2119>.   [RFC8174]  Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC              2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,              May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8174>.8.2.  Informative References   [RFC2151]  Kessler, G. and S. Shepard, "A Primer On Internet and TCP/              IP Tools and Utilities", FYI 30, RFC 2151,              DOI 10.17487/RFC2151, June 1997,              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2151>.   [RFC792]   Postel, J., "Internet Control Message Protocol", STD 5,              RFC 792, DOI 10.17487/RFC0792, September 1981,              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc792>.   [RFC4884]  Bonica, R., Gan, D., Tappan, D., and C. Pignataro,              "Extended ICMP to Support Multi-Part Messages", RFC 4884,              DOI 10.17487/RFC4884, April 2007,              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc4884>.Zhang, et al.              Expires 2 June 2026                  [Page 5]Internet-Draft            Traceroute Framework             November 2025   [RFC5837]  Atlas, A., Ed., Bonica, R., Ed., Pignataro, C., Ed., Shen,              N., and JR. Rivers, "Extending ICMP for Interface and              Next-Hop Identification", RFC 5837, DOI 10.17487/RFC5837,              April 2010, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5837>.   [I-D.ietf-intarea-extended-icmp-nodeid]              Fenner, B. and R. Thomas, "Adding Extensions to ICMP              Errors for Originating Node Identification", Work in              Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-ietf-intarea-extended-              icmp-nodeid-04, 19 August 2025,              <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-intarea-              extended-icmp-nodeid-04>.   [RFC7317]  Bierman, A. and M. Bjorklund, "A YANG Data Model for              System Management", RFC 7317, DOI 10.17487/RFC7317, August              2014, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7317>.   [I-D.draft-many-intarea-icmp-mp]              Zhang, L., Zhang, Z., Sun, R., and Y. Wang, "Extending              ICMP for Multi-path", Work in Progress, Internet-Draft,              draft-many-intarea-icmp-mp-00, 28 November 2025,              <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-many-intarea-              icmp-mp-00>.Acknowledgements   TBDContributors   Ranxiao Zhao   Huawei   China   Email: zhaoranxiao@huawei.com   Haibo Wang   Huawei   China   Email: rainsword.wang@huawei.comAuthors' Addresses   Li Zhang   Huawei   China   Email: zhangli344@huawei.comZhang, et al.              Expires 2 June 2026                  [Page 6]Internet-Draft            Traceroute Framework             November 2025   Zizhou Zhang   Sea Group   Singapore   Email: zhangzz@sea.com   Ronghua Sun   Huawei Cloud   China   Email: sunronghua@huawei.com   Yang Wang   Huawei Cloud   China   Email: sky.wangyang@huawei.comZhang, et al.              Expires 2 June 2026                  [Page 7]