IETF Online Information Folks, Due to overwhelming demand from the suscribers of the IETF mailing list for more information on the On-Line IETF and Internet-Drafts directories, I am sending this overview and guide. Please browse the directories and let me know if there is any additional information that would be useful to post. Please note: Both directories are once again accessible from the DDN NIC both by anonymous FTP and by mail service. If you have any questions or comments, please them to me directly. Greg Vaudreuil IETF-Manager ---------------- On Line IETF Information The Internet Engineering Task Force maintains up-to-date on-line information on all its activities. There is a directory containing Internet-Draft documents and a directory containing IETF working group information. All this information is available for public access at several locations. (See section 3 of this document) The ``IETF'' directory contains a general description of the IETF, summaries of ongoing working group activities and provides information on past and upcoming meetings. The directory generally reflects information contained in the most recent IETF Proceedings and Working Group Reports. The ``Internet-Drafts'' directory has been installed to make available, for review and comment, draft documents that will be submitted ultimately to the IAB and the RFC Editor to be considered for publishing as an RFC. Comments are welcome and should be addressed to the responsible person whose name and email addresses are listed on the first page of the respective draft. 1 The IETF Directory -------------------- Below is a list of the files available in the IETF directory and a short synopsis of what each file contains. Files prefixed with a 0 contain information about upcoming meetings. Files prefixed with a 1 contain general information about the IETF, the working groups, and the internet-drafts. FILE NAME 0mtg-agenda the current agenda for the upcoming quarterly IETF plenary, which contains what Working Groups will be meeting and at what times, and the technical presentations and network status reports to be given. 0mtg-logistics the announcement for the upcoming quarterly IETF plenary, which contains specific information on the date/location of the meeting, hotel/airline arrangements, meeting site accommodations and travel directions. 0mtg-rsvp a standardized RSVP form to be used to notify the support staff of your plans to attend the upcoming IETF meeting. 0mtg-schedule current and future meeting dates and sites for IETF plenaries. 1id-abstracts the internet drafts current on-line in the internet-drafts directory. 1id-guidelines instructions for authors of internet drafts. 1ietf-overview a short description of the IETF, the IESG and how to participate. 1wg-summary a listing of all current Working Groups, the working group chairmen and their email addresses, working group mailing list addresses, and, where applicable, documentation produced. This file also contains the standard acronym for the working groups by which the IETF and Internet-Drafts directories are keyed. Finally, Working Groups have individual files dedicated to their particular activities which contain their respective Charters and Meeting Reports. Each Working Group file is named in this fashion: -charter.txt -minutes-date.txt 2 The ``dir'' or ``ls'' command will permit you to review what Working Group files are available and the specific naming scheme to use for a successful anonymous ftp action. The Internet-Drafts Directory ----------------------------- The Internet-Drafts directory contains the current working documents of the IETF. These documents are indexed in the file 1id-abstracts.txt in the Internet-Drafts directory. The documents are named according to the following conventions. If the document was generated in an IETF working group, the filename is: draft-ietf---.txt , or .ps where is the working group acronym, is a very short name, and is the revision number. If the document was submitted for comment by an organization other that the IETF, the filename is: draft----.txt, or .ps where is the organization sponsoring the work and is the documents author or primary editor. For more information on writing and installing an Internet-Draft, see the file 1id-guidelines, ``Guidelines to Authors of Internet-Drafts''. 3 Directory Locations -------------------- The directories are maintained primarily at the NSFnet Service Center (NNSC). There are several ``shadow'' machines which contain the IETF and INTERNET-DRAFTS directories. These machines may be more convenient that nnsc.nsf.nsf. To access these directories, use FTP. After establishing a connection, Login with username ANONYMOUS and password GUEST. When logged in, change to the directory of your choice with the following commands: cd internet-drafts cd ietf Individual files can then be retrieved using the GET command: get e.g., get 00README readme.my.copy NSF Network Service Center Address: nnsc.nsf.net The Defense Data Network NIC Address: nic.ddn.mil The service machine is a TOPS-20. When specifying a directory, use a colon after the directory name. cd Internet-Drafts: Internet-drafts are also available by mail server from this machine. For more information mail a request: To: service@nic.ddn.mil Subject: Help Pacific Rim Address: munnari.oz.au The Internet-drafts on this machine are stored in Unix compressed form (.Z). 4