USGv6 Testing Program

Introduction

This website describes the testing infrastructure for products seeking compliance with the USGv6 Profile. It identifies the stakeholders in the development, testing and acquisition chain and the processes required to achieve and document USGv6 compliance. The basis of the Testing Program comprises standardized test suites for conformance and interoperability, and laboratories that are accredited to execute those test methods. Test laboratories can be accredited for one or more of the test methods and these are associated with abstract test specifications, which can be downloaded from this site. Following testing, USGv6 product suppliers record test results using a Supplier's Declaration of Conformity. The SDOC is meant to enable acquisition officials to easily match IPv6 requirements expressed in terms of the USGv6 profile, with the capabilities of offered products. The testing program provides the assurance that the claimed capabilities are correct, complete and interoperable. To provide context and timing, additional pages on this site offer timelines for testing, lifecycles of profile and test program evolution and other frequently asked questions.

News

October 14, 2009. Call for Public Review and Comments

NIST announces a public 30 day review and comment period prior to the initiation of the USGv6 testing program. The detailed announcement is here. Review is sought for the following items in particular:

Nov 10-13, 2009 ICSA Labs is hosting a test event at Fortinet in Sunnyvale, CA. The purpose of this event is to exercise and review the USGv6 test methods for Network Protection, IPsec and IKEv2 implementations. Contact guy.snyder@icsalabs.com for further details.

Past Announcements:

  • August 6, 2009. NIST SP 500-273 is published and available here. It describes test method validation requirements for host, router and network protection devices. It mostly pertains to the relationship between accreditors and test laboratories. Look out for the future NIST SP500-281, a document describing the management and lifecycles of the USGv6 testing program. This one is directly relevant to USGv6 device vendors and to USG agencies.

  • July 13-17, 2009. An interoperability testing and test review event was held at the University of New Hampshire, InterOperability laboratory. This is opportunity to exercise and review the USGv6 test selections in a live test yielded very useful feedback from testers and vendors on the accuracy and usefulness of the selected test specifications. Contact Erica.Johnson@iol.unh.edu

  • May 27th, 2009. NIST held a public meeting to discuss the USGv6 Testing Program. The report is given below.

  • NIST SP 500-273 IPv6 Test Methods: General Description and Validation will be published following resolution of comments received during the public comment period, and further input received at the May 27th meeting. The initial draft is here. Following the meeting we aim to clarify and expand on the test methods section in particular, along with resolving all other comments received, and publish by July 31st.

  • Proposed USGv6 test specifications for conformance and interoperability of hosts and routers are published for comment. The comments template and the tests themselves are here. This set will be augmented with additional test specifications, and the initial target set 'frozen' on July 31st.

    USGv6 Testing Meeting Report

    NIST held a public meeting on May 27th, 2009 which was attended by representatives of accreditors, test laboratories, product vendors, government agencies and other IPv6 related organizations. The purpose of the meeting was to introduce test laboratories to the accreditation infrastructure, and the traceability path for resolving test case interpretations against the published abstract test suites. The agenda and talks are here.

    Action items arising include soliciting test laboratories and accreditor intentions to participate in the USGv6 testing program, soliciting donations of tests and artifacts for interlaboratory use, and publishing the timeline of events leading to USG agency acquisition of USGv6 compliant devices.

    Test laboratories, test developers and others with a need to participate in interlaboratory test resolution activities please sign up to the usgv6-testing mailgroup by sending a message to sp500-273-comments@antd.nist.gov.