XEP-0092: Software Version

Abstract
This specification defines an XMPP protocol extension for retrieving information about the software application associated with an XMPP entity. The protocol enables one entity to explicitly query another entity, where the response can include the name of the software application, the version of the software application, and the operating system on which the application is running.
Author
Peter Saint-Andre
Copyright
© 2003 – 2007 XMPP Standards Foundation. SEE LEGAL NOTICES.
Status

Stable

NOTICE: The protocol defined herein is a Stable 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.
Type
Standards Track
Version
1.1 (2007-02-15)
Document Lifecycle
  1. Experimental
  2. Proposed
  3. Stable
  4. Final

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:

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
Stable
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

Peter Saint-Andre
Email
stpeter@stpeter.im
JabberID
stpeter@jabber.org
URI
https://stpeter.im/

Copyright

This XMPP Extension Protocol is copyright © 1999 – 2024 by the XMPP Standards Foundation (XSF).

Permissions

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this specification (the "Specification"), to make use of the Specification without restriction, including without limitation the rights to implement the Specification in a software program, deploy the Specification in a network service, and copy, modify, merge, publish, translate, distribute, sublicense, or sell copies of the Specification, and to permit persons to whom the Specification is furnished to do so, subject to the condition that the foregoing copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Specification. Unless separate permission is granted, modified works that are redistributed shall not contain misleading information regarding the authors, title, number, or publisher of the Specification, and shall not claim endorsement of the modified works by the authors, any organization or project to which the authors belong, or the XMPP Standards Foundation.

Disclaimer of Warranty

## NOTE WELL: This Specification is provided on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, express or implied, including, without limitation, any warranties or conditions of TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. ##

Limitation of Liability

In no event and under no legal theory, whether in tort (including negligence), contract, or otherwise, unless required by applicable law (such as deliberate and grossly negligent acts) or agreed to in writing, shall the XMPP Standards Foundation or any author of this Specification be liable for damages, including any direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages of any character arising from, out of, or in connection with the Specification or the implementation, deployment, or other use of the Specification (including but not limited to damages for loss of goodwill, work stoppage, computer failure or malfunction, or any and all other commercial damages or losses), even if the XMPP Standards Foundation or such author has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

IPR Conformance

This XMPP Extension Protocol has been contributed in full conformance with the XSF's Intellectual Property Rights Policy (a copy of which can be found at <https://xmpp.org/about/xsf/ipr-policy> or obtained by writing to XMPP Standards Foundation, P.O. Box 787, Parker, CO 80134 USA).

Visual Presentation

The HTML representation (you are looking at) is maintained by the XSF. It is based on the YAML CSS Framework, which is licensed under the terms of the CC-BY-SA 2.0 license.

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 <https://xmpp.org/community/> 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

1. RFC 2779: A Model for Presence and Instant Messaging <http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2779>.

2. RFC 6121: Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP): Instant Messaging and Presence <http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6121>.

3. XEP-0115: Entity Capabilities <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0115.html>.

4. XEP-0086: Error Condition Mappings <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0086.html>.

5. XEP-0030: Service Discovery <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0030.html>.

6. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is the central coordinator for the assignment of unique parameter values for Internet protocols, such as port numbers and URI schemes. For further information, see <http://www.iana.org/>.

7. The XMPP Registrar maintains a list of reserved protocol namespaces as well as registries of parameters used in the context of XMPP extension protocols approved by the XMPP Standards Foundation. For further information, see <https://xmpp.org/registrar/>.

Appendix H: Revision History

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

  1. Version 1.1 (2007-02-15)

    Per a vote of the XMPP Council, changed from Historical and Active to Standards Track and Draft; recommended use of Entity Capabilities instead of Software Version when presence information is available; added proviso to security considerations regarding disclosure of operating system information; added section on Service Discovery.

    psa
  2. Version 1.0 (2003-10-08)

    Per a vote of the Jabber Council, changed status to Active.

    psa
  3. Version 0.1 (2003-05-22)

    Initial version.

    psa

Appendix I: Bib(La)TeX Entry

@report{saint-andre2003iq-version,
  title = {Software Version},
  author = {Saint-Andre, Peter},
  type = {XEP},
  number = {0092},
  version = {1.1},
  institution = {XMPP Standards Foundation},
  url = {https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0092.html},
  date = {2003-05-22/2007-02-15},
}

END