[November 07, 2000] "To enable Internet registrars that sell online identity services to access central domain name registry data more efficiently, VeriSign has developed the EPP (Extensible Provisioning Protocol) to support an XML-based domain name management utility. EPP enables VeriSign Global Registry Services' accredited registrar partners to sell domain names, telephone numbers, and other identity assets via EPP, which permits greater information sharing and flexibility as new identification technologies gain acceptance."
[March 11, 2003] Extensible Provisioning Protocol. By Scott Hollenbeck (VeriSign Global Registry Services, VeriSign, Inc). IETF Internet Engineering Task Force, Internet-Draft. Reference: 'draft-ietf-provreg-epp-09.txt'. March 11, 2003, expires September 11, 2003. 74 pages. "This document describes an application layer client-server protocol for the provisioning and management of objects stored in a shared central repository. Specified in XML, the protocol defines generic object management operations and an extensible framework that maps protocol operations to objects. This document includes a protocol specification, an object mapping template, and an XML media type registration." [cache]
[October 4, 2001] "Extensible Provisioning Protocol." Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Internet-Draft. Reference: 'draft-ietf-provreg-epp-05.txt'. October 2, 2001. Expires: April 2, 2002. By Scott Hollenbeck (VeriSign Global Registry Services, Dulles, VA, USA). Abstract: "This document describes an application layer client-server protocol for the provisioning and management of objects stored in a shared cen- tral repository. Specified in XML, the protocol defines generic object management operations and an extensible framework that maps protocol operations to objects. This document includes a protocol specification, an object mapping template, and an XML media type registration." Notation: "EPP is specified in XML Schema notation. The formal syntax presented here is a complete schema representation of EPP suitable for automated validation of EPP XML instances." Details: "This document describes specifications for the Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) version 1.0, an XML text protocol that permits multiple service providers to perform object provisioning operations using a shared central object repository. EPP is specified using the Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0 as described in [XML REC] and XML Schema notation as described in [W3C Schema Specs]. EPP meets and exceeds the requirements for a generic registry registrar protocol as described in [Generic Registry-Registrar Protocol Requirements]. EPP content is identified by MIME media type application/epp+xml. Registration information for this media type is included in an appendix to this document. EPP is intended for use in diverse operating environments where transport and security requirements vary greatly. It is unlikely that a single transport or security specification will meet the needs of all anticipated operators, so EPP was designed for use in a layered protocol environment. Bindings to specific transport and security protocols are outside the scope of this specification. This original motivation for this protocol was to provide a standard Internet domain name registration protocol for use between domain name registrars and domain name registries. This protocol provides a means of interaction between a registrar's applications and registry applications. It is expected that this protocol will have additional uses beyond domain name registration... EPP is an XML protocol that can be layered over multiple transport protocols. Protected using lower-layer security protocols, clients exchange identification, authentication, and option information, and then engage in a series of client-initiated command-response exchanges. All EPP commands are atomic (there is no partial success or partial failure) and idempotent (executing a command more than once has the same net effect on system state as successfully executing the command once). EPP provides four basic service elements: service discovery, commands, responses, and an extension framework that supports definition of managed objects and the relationship of protocol requests and responses to those objects." [cache]
[November 7, 2000] "The Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) is a connection-oriented, application layer client-server protocol for the provisioning and management of objects stored in a shared central repository. Specified in the schema notation of the Extensible Markup Language (XML), the protocol defines generic object management operations and an extensible framework that maps protocol operations to objects. A complete set of protocol specifications was recently published with the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as Internet-Draft documents. XML provides a rich set of features that allows communicating peers to create data tags that have semantic meaning in the operating environment shared by the peers. While in general this is a very desirable feature, it introduces an element of instability for protocol designers. Once a protocol has been formally specified, adding new tags to extend the protocol means changes to published specifications. Over time this can lead to a lack of interoperable implementations and specification confusion. EPP takes a different approach. The base protocol itself is very simple, defining a set of object management features that are not explicitly tied to specific objects. The base protocol is intended to be stable and unchanging to ease development of interoperable implementations. EPP operations are mapped to objects using XML namespaces that provide 'hooks' to loosely coupled object specifications so that definitions for management of new objects can be done outside the base protocol. For example, the protocol can be extended to support provisioning of purchase orders by defining a new specification that defines how purchase order objects are managed. EPP provides features for session management, object query, and object management. Sessions are established between a client and a server, and once a session is established the client and server exchange commands and responses. Security services are available at both the application and transport layers. The EPP protocol suite currently contains a base protocol specification and mappings for three different objects: Internet domain names, Internet host names, and 'contact' identifiers associated with humans and organizations'. Specifications for other objects may be developed as needs are identified. EPP is connection oriented, but transport independent. A specification for transport using the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) exists; specifications for transport using other protocols or applications frameworks may be produced in the future."
[November 30, 2000] There are five published components in the EPP Specification: (1) Base Specification, (2) Domain Name Mapping, (3) Host Mapping, (4) Contact Mapping, (5) Transport over TCP.
References:
The Extensible Provisioning Protocol. XML Trust Services." White paper. [cache]
Global Registry Services - Registry Registrar Protocol Hypermail Archive
[April 05, 2003] "EPP Internationalized Domain Name Mapping." By Edmon Chung and Henry Tong (Neteka). IETF Internet Draft. Reference: 'draft-chung-idnop-epp-idn-00.txt'. April 2003. 22 pages. "This document describes an Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) mapping for the provisioning and management of Internationalized Internet domain names (that includes English alphanumeric domain names) stored in a shared central repository. Specified in XML, the mapping defines EPP command syntax and semantics as applied to domain names. More specifically, EPP-IDN intends to provide a mechanism for explicitly managing and provisioning Reserved Variants and Zone Variants created for a Primary Domain Name..."
[April 09, 2002] "Extensible Provisioning Protocol E.164 Number Mapping." By Scott Hollenbeck (VeriSign Global Registry Services). Internet Engineering Task Force, Internet-Draft. Reference: 'draft-ietf-enum-epp-e164-00.txt'. April 5, 2002. Expires: October 5, 2002. "This document describes an Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) extension mapping for the provisioning and management of E.164 numbers representing domain names stored in a shared central repository. Specified in XML, this mapping extends the EPP domain name mapping to provide additional features required for the provisioning of E.164 numbers... This mapping, an extension of the domain name mapping described in ['Extensible Provisioning Protocol Domain Name Mapping'], is specified using the Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0 as described in [XML 1.0] and XML Schema notation as described in 'XML Schema Part 1: Structures' and 'XML Schema Part 2: Datatypes.' The Extensible Provisioning Protocol provides a complete description of EPP command and response structures. A thorough understanding of the base protocol specification is necessary to understand the mapping described in this document. Faltstrom/Mealling in 'The E.164 to URI DDDS Application' describe how the Domain Name System (DNS) can be used to identify services associated with an E.164 number. The EPP mapping described in this document specifies a mechanism for the provisioning and management of E.164 numbers stored in a shared central repository. Information exchanged via this mapping can be extracted from the repository and used to publish DNS resource records.. Examples used in this document were chosen specifically to illustrate provisioning concepts for the example resource records... 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..." See the XML Schema (text). [cache]
[November 30, 2000] "Extensible Provisioning Protocol." By Scott Hollenbeck (VeriSign Global Registry Services). Internet Engineering Task Force Internet Draft 'draft-hollenbeck-epp-00.txt'. November 10, 2000. 47 pages. Abstract: "This document describes a connection-oriented, application layer client-server protocol for the provisioning and management of objects stored in a shared central repository. Specified in XML, the protocol defines generic object management operations and an extensible framework that maps protocol operations to objects." Description: "This document describes specifications for the Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) version 1.0, an XML text protocol that permits multiple service providers to perform object provisioning operations using a shared central object repository. EPP is specified using the Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0 and XML Schema notation. EPP meets and exceeds the requirements for a generic registry registrar protocol as described in [S. Hollenbeck: 'Generic Registry-Registrar Protocol Requirements']. EPP is a connection-oriented protocol that can be layered over multiple transport protocols. Clients establish a secure connection with a server, exchange identification, authentication, and option information, and then engage in a series of client-initiated command- response exchanges. All EPP commands are atomic and idempotent. Specified in XML, EPP provides four basic service elements: a greeting, commands, responses, and an extension framework that supports future definition of managed objects and the relationship of protocol requests and responses to those objects. An EPP server MUST respond to a successful connection by returning a greeting to the client. The client MUST wait for the greeting before sending an EPP command to the server. EPP commands and responses are exchanged serially between the client and the server. The server MUST respond to each EPP command with a coordinated response that describes the results of processing the command. EPP commands fall into three categories: session management commands, query commands, and data transform commands. Session management commands are used to establish and end sessions with an EPP server. Query commands are used to perform read-only, object-based information retrieval operations. Transform commands are used to perform read- write object management operations. EPP uses XML namespaces to provide an extensible object management framework and to identify schemas required for XML instance parsing and validation. These namespaces and schema definitions are used to identify both the base protocol schema and the schemas for managed objects..." [cache]
Domain Name Mapping. "Extensible Provisioning Protocol Domain Name Mapping." 'draft-hollenbeck-epp-domain-00.txt' "This document describes an Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) mapping for the provisioning and management of Internet domain names stored in a shared central repository. Specified in XML, the mapping defines EPP command syntax and semantics as applied to domain names." [cache]
Host Mapping. "Extensible Provisioning Protocol Host Mapping." 'draft-hollenbeck-epp-host-00.txt' "This document describes an Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) mapping for the provisioning and management of Internet host names stored in a shared central repository. Specified in XML, the mapping defines EPP command syntax and semantics as applied to host names." [cache]
Contact Mapping. "Extensible Provisioning Protocol Contact Mapping." 'draft-hollenbeck-epp-contact-00.txt'. "This document describes an Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) mapping for the provisioning and management of identifiers representing individuals or organizations (known as "contacts") stored in a shared central repository. Specified in XML, the mapping defines EPP command syntax and semantics as applied to contacts." [cache]
Transport over TCP. "Extensible Provisioning Protocol Transport Over TCP." 'draft-hollenbeck-epp-tcp-00.txt'. "This document describes how an Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) session is mapped onto a single Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection." [cache]
