XEP-0092: Software Version

NOTICE: The protocol defined herein is a Draft Standard of the XMPP Standards 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.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

The Jabber protocols have long included a method for discovering version information about the software running at another entity's JID. This method makes use of the 'jabber:iq:version' namespace and has been documented variously in Internet-Drafts and elsewhere. Because this protocol is not required by RFC 2779 [1], the 'jabber:iq:version' namespace was removed from XMPP IM [2]. This specification fills the void for canonical documentation.

Note Well: The jabber:iq:version protocol SHOULD NOT be used to determine the identity of entities from which an application receives presence (e.g., contacts in a user's roster and certain kinds of gateways); Entity Capabilities (XEP-0115) [3] SHOULD be used instead. However, the jabber:iq:version protocol MAY be used to determine the identity of entities from which an application does not receive presence (e.g., servers and many kinds of components). The jabber:iq:version protocol MAY also be used to determine information available only via jabber:iq:version (e.g., operating system information) for contacts from which a user receives presence, but only if the user specifically requests such information for a particular contact.

2. Protocol

The 'jabber:iq:version' namespace provides a standard way for Jabber entities to exchange information about the software version used by the entities. The information is communicated in a request/response pair using an <iq/> element that contains a <query/> scoped by the 'jabber:iq:version' namespace. The following children of the <query/> are allowed in an IQ result:

• <name/> -- The natural-language name of the software. This element is REQUIRED in a result.
• <version/> -- The specific version of the software. This element is REQUIRED in a result.
• <os/> -- The operating system of the queried entity. This element is OPTIONAL in a result (see also the Security Considerations).

3. Examples

Example 1. Querying Another Entity for its Software Version

<iq
    type='get'
    from='romeo@montague.net/orchard'
    to='juliet@capulet.com/balcony'
    id='version_1'>
  <query xmlns='jabber:iq:version'/>
</iq>

Example 2. Receiving a Reply Regarding Software Version

<iq
    type='result'
    to='romeo@montague.net/orchard'
    from='juliet@capulet.com/balcony'
    id='version_1'>
  <query xmlns='jabber:iq:version'>
    <name>Exodus</name>
    <version>0.7.0.4</version>
    <os>Windows-XP 5.01.2600</os>
  </query>
</iq>

The standard error conditions described in Error Condition Mappings (XEP-0086) [4] apply (e.g., service unavailable if the entity does not support the namespace).

4. Determining Support

In order for a requesting entity to determine if a responding entity supports this protocol, it SHOULD send a Service Discovery (XEP-0030) [5] information request to the responding entity:

Example 3. Requesting entity queries responding entity regarding protocol support

<iq from='stpeter@jabber.org/roundabout'
    to='conference.jabber.org'
    id='disco1'>
  <query xmlns='http://jabber.org/protocol/disco#info'/>
</iq>

Example 4. Responding entity communicates protocol support

<iq from='conference.jabber.org'
    to='stpeter@jabber.org/roundabout'
    id='disco1'>
  <query xmlns='http://jabber.org/protocol/disco#info'>
    ...
    <feature var='jabber:iq:version'/>
    ...
  </query>
</iq>

5. Security Considerations

Revealing the application's underlying operating system may open the user or system to attacks directed against that operating system; therefore, an application MUST provide a way for a human user or administrator to disable sharing of information about the operating system.

6. IANA Considerations

This document requires no interaction with the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) [6].

7. XMPP Registrar Considerations

The 'jabber:iq:version' namespace is registered in the protocol namespaces registry maintained by the XMPP Registrar [7].

8. XML Schema

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

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

  <xs:annotation>
    <xs:documentation>
      The protocol documented by this schema is defined in
      XEP-0092: http://www.xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0092.html
    </xs:documentation>
  </xs:annotation>

  <xs:element name='query'>
    <xs:complexType>
      <xs:sequence minOccurs='0'>
        <xs:element name='name' type='xs:string' minOccurs='1'/>
        <xs:element name='version' type='xs:string' minOccurs='1'/>
        <xs:element name='os' type='xs:string' minOccurs='0'/>
      </xs:sequence>
    </xs:complexType>
  </xs:element>

</xs:schema>

Appendices

Appendix A: Document Information

Series: XEP
Number: 0092
Publisher: XMPP Standards Foundation
Status: Draft
Type: Standards Track
Version: 1.1
Last Updated: 2007-02-15
Approving Body: XMPP Council
Dependencies: XMPP Core
Supersedes: None
Superseded By: None
Short Name: iq-version
Schema: <http://www.xmpp.org/schemas/iq-version.xsd>
Source Control: HTML
This document in other formats: XML  PDF

Appendix B: Author Information

Appendix C: Legal Notices

Appendix D: Relation to XMPP

The Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) is defined in the XMPP Core (RFC 6120) and XMPP IM (RFC 6121) specifications contributed by the XMPP Standards 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 document 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.

Appendix E: Discussion Venue

The primary venue for discussion of XMPP Extension Protocols is the <standards@xmpp.org> discussion list.

Discussion on other xmpp.org discussion lists might also be appropriate; see <http://xmpp.org/about/discuss.shtml> for a complete list.

Errata can be sent to <editor@xmpp.org>.

Appendix F: Requirements Conformance

The following requirements keywords as used in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119: "MUST", "SHALL", "REQUIRED"; "MUST NOT", "SHALL NOT"; "SHOULD", "RECOMMENDED"; "SHOULD NOT", "NOT RECOMMENDED"; "MAY", "OPTIONAL".

Appendix G: Notes

Appendix H: Revision History

Note: Older versions of this specification might be available at http://xmpp.org/extensions/attic/

END