JEP-0138: Stream Compression

This JEP defines a mechanism for compressing XML streams.

NOTICE: The protocol defined herein is a Draft Standard of the Jabber Software Foundation. Implementations are encouraged and the protocol is appropriate for deployment in production systems, but some changes to the protocol are possible before it becomes a Final Standard.

JEP Information

Status: Draft
Type: Standards Track
Number: 0138
Version: 1.0
Last Updated: 2005-06-16
JIG: Standards JIG
Approving Body: Jabber Council
Dependencies: XMPP Core
Supersedes: None
Superseded By: None
Short Name: compress
Schema for feature: <http://jabber.org/protocol/compress/feature.xsd>
Schema for compress: <http://jabber.org/protocol/compress/compress.xsd>
Registry: <http://www.jabber.org/registrar/compress.html>
Wiki Page: <http://wiki.jabber.org/index.php/Stream Compression (JEP-0138)>

Author Information

Legal Notice

This Jabber Enhancement Proposal is copyright 1999 - 2005 by the Jabber Software Foundation (JSF) and is in full conformance with the JSF's Intellectual Property Rights Policy <http://www.jabber.org/jsf/ipr-policy.shtml>. This material may be distributed only subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Creative Commons Attribution License (<http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/>).

Discussion Venue

The preferred venue for discussion of this document is the Standards-JIG discussion list: <http://mail.jabber.org/mailman/listinfo/standards-jig>.

Relation to XMPP

The Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) is defined in the XMPP Core (RFC 3920) and XMPP IM (RFC 3921) specifications contributed by the Jabber Software Foundation to the Internet Standards Process, which is managed by the Internet Engineering Task Force in accordance with RFC 2026. Any protocol defined in this JEP has been developed outside the Internet Standards Process and is to be understood as an extension to XMPP rather than as an evolution, development, or modification of XMPP itself.

Conformance Terms

The keywords "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 RFC 2119.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

XMPP Core [1] specifies the use of Transport Layer Security (TLS; see RFC 2246 [2]) for encryption of XML streams, and TLS includes the ability to compress encrypted traffic (see RFC 3749 [3]). However, not all computing platforms are able to implement TLS, and traffic compression may be desirable for communication by applications on such computing platforms. This JEP defines a mechanism for compressing XML streams outside the context of TLS.

2. Use Case

The protocol flow is as follows:

Example 1. Receiving Entity Offers Stream Compression Feature

<stream:features>
  <starttls xmlns='urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:xmpp-tls'/>
  <compression xmlns='http://jabber.org/features/compress'>
    <method>zlib</method>
  </compression>
</stream:features>
    

Note: The <compression/> element MUST contain at least one <method/> child element. Each <method/> element MUST contain XML character data that specifies the name of a compression method, and such method names SHOULD be registered as described in the Compression Methods Registry section of this document.

The initiating entity then MAY request compression by specifying one of the methods advertised by the receiving entity:

Example 2. Initiating Entity Requests Stream Compression

<compress xmlns='http://jabber.org/protocol/compress'>
  <method>zlib</method>
</compress>
    

Note: If the initiating entity did not understand any of the advertised compression methods, it SHOULD ignore the compression option and proceed as if no compression methods were advertised.

If the initiating entity requests a stream compression method that is not supported by the receiving entity, the receiving entity MUST return an <unsupported-method/> error:

Example 3. Receiving Entity Reports That Method is Unsupported

<failure xmlns='http://jabber.org/protocol/compress'>
  <unsupported-method/>
</failure>
    

If the receiving entity cannot establish compression using the requested method for any other reason, it MUST return a <setup-failed/> error:

Example 4. Receiving Entity Reports That Compression Setup Failed

<failure xmlns='http://jabber.org/protocol/compress'>
  <setup-failed/>
</failure>
    

If no error occurs, the receiving entity MUST inform the initiating entity that compression has been established:

Example 5. Receiving Entity Acknowledges Stream Compression

<compressed xmlns='http://jabber.org/protocol/compress'/>
    

Both entities MUST now consider the previous stream to be null and void, just as with TLS negotiation and SASL negotiation (as specified in RFC 3920). Therefore the initiating entity MUST initiate a new stream to the receiving entity:

Example 6. Initiating Entity Initiates New Stream

<stream:stream
    xmlns='jabber:client'
    xmlns:stream='http://etherx.jabber.org/streams'
    to='shakespeare.lit'>
    

If compression processing fails after the stream has been established, the entity that detects the error SHOULD generate a stream error and close the stream:

Example 7. Entity Closes Stream Because of a Processing Error

<stream:error>
  <undefined-condition xmlns='urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:xmpp-streams'/>
  <failure xmlns='http://jabber.org/protocol/compress'/>
    <processing-failed/>
  </failure>
</stream:error>
</stream:stream>
    

3. Business Rules

The following business rules apply:

• If stream compression is negotiated, it MUST be used in both directions.
• TLS compression and stream compression SHOULD NOT be used simultaneously. However, if both TLS (whether including TLS compression or not) and stream compression are used, then TLS MUST be negotiated first, followed by negotiation of stream compression.

4. Mandatory-to-Implement Technologies

A compliant implementation MUST implement the ZLIB compression method as specified in RFC 1950 [4]. All other methods are OPTIONAL; such methods may be defined in future JEPs or by registration as described in the Compression Methods Registry section of this document.

5. Implementation Notes

6. Security Considerations

Stream encryption via TLS (as defined in RFC 3920) and stream compression (as defined herein) are not mutually exclusive, but stream encryption via TLS MUST be negotiated before negotiation of stream compression in order to secure the stream.

7. IANA Considerations

This JEP requires no interaction with the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) [5].

8. Jabber Registrar Considerations

<method>
  <name>the XML character data of the method element</name>
  <desc>a natural-language description of the compression method</desc>
  <doc>the document that specifies or registers the compression method</doc>
</method>
        

<method>
  <name>zlib</name>
  <desc>the ZLIB compression method as specified in RFC 1950</desc>
  <doc>JEP-0138</doc>
</method>
        

9. XML Schemas

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>

<xs:schema
    xmlns:xs='http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema'
    targetNamespace='http://jabber.org/features/compress'
    xmlns='http://jabber.org/features/compress'
    elementFormDefault='qualified'>

  <xs:annotation>
    <xs:documentation>
      The protocol documented by this schema is defined in
      JEP-0138: http://www.jabber.org/jeps/jep-0138.html
    </xs:documentation>
  </xs:annotation>

  <xs:element name='compression'>
    <xs:complexType>
      <xs:sequence>
        <xs:element name='method' type='xs:NCName' maxOccurs='unbounded'/>
      </xs:sequence>
    </xs:complexType>
  </xs:element>

</xs:schema>
      

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>

<xs:schema
    xmlns:xs='http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema'
    targetNamespace='http://jabber.org/protocol/compress'
    xmlns='http://jabber.org/protocol/compress'
    elementFormDefault='qualified'>

  <xs:annotation>
    <xs:documentation>
      The protocol documented by this schema is defined in
      JEP-0138: http://www.jabber.org/jeps/jep-0138.html
    </xs:documentation>
  </xs:annotation>

  <xs:element name='compress'>
    <xs:complexType>
      <xs:sequence>
        <xs:element name='method' type='xs:NCName'/>
      </xs:sequence>
    </xs:complexType>
  </xs:element>

  <xs:element name='compressed' type='empty'/>

  <xs:element name='failure'>
    <xs:complexType>
      <xs:choice>
        <xs:element name='setup-failed' type='empty'/>
        <xs:element name='processing-failed' type='empty'/>
        <xs:element name='unsupported-method' type='empty'/>
      </xs:choice>
    </xs:complexType>
  </xs:element>

  <xs:simpleType name='empty'>
    <xs:restriction base='xs:string'>
      <xs:enumeration value=''/>
    </xs:restriction>
  </xs:simpleType>

</xs:schema>
      

Notes

Revision History

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