PPTP allows existing Network Access Server (NAS) functions to be
separated using a client-server architecture. Traditionally, the
following functions are implemented by a NAS:
1) Physical native interfacing to PSTN or ISDN and control of
external modems or terminal adapters.
A NAS may interface directly to a telco analog or digital
circuit or attach via an external modem or terminal adapter.
Control of a circuit-switched connection is accomplished with
either modem control or DSS1 ISDN call control protocols.
The NAS, in conjunction with the modem or terminal adapters,
may perform rate adaption, analog to digital conversion, sync
to async conversion or a number of other alterations of data
streams.
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RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
2) Logical termination of a Point-to-Point-Protocol (PPP) Link
Control Protocol (LCP) session.
3) Participation in PPP authentication protocols [3,9,10].
4) Channel aggregation and bundle management for PPP Multilink
Protocol.
5) Logical termination of various PPP network control protocols
(NCP).
6) Multiprotocol routing and bridging between NAS interfaces.
PPTP divides these functions between the PAC and PNS. The PAC is
responsible for functions 1, 2, and possibly 3. The PNS may be
responsible for function 3 and is responsible for functions 4, 5, and
6. The protocol used to carry PPP protocol data units (PDUs) between
the PAC and PNS, as well as call control and management is addressed
by PPTP.
The decoupling of NAS functions offers these benefits:
Flexible IP address management. Dial-in users may maintain a
single IP address as they dial into different PACs as long as they
are served from a common PNS. If an enterprise network uses
unregistered addresses, a PNS associated with the enterprise
assigns addresses meaningful to the private network.
Support of non-IP protocols for dial networks behind IP networks.
This allows Appletalk and IPX, for example to be tunneled through
an IP-only provider. The PAC need not be capable of processing
these protocols.
A solution to the "multilink hunt-group splitting" problem.
Multilink PPP, typically used to aggregate ISDN B channels,
requires that all of the channels composing a multilink bundle be
grouped at a single NAS. Since a multilink PPP bundle can be
handled by a single PNS, the channels comprising the bundle may be
spread across multiple PACs.
The PPTP protocol is implemented only by the PAC and PNS. No other
systems need to be aware of PPTP. Dial networks may be connected to a
PAC without being aware of PPTP. Standard PPP client software should
continue to operate on tunneled PPP links.
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RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
PPTP can also be used to tunnel a PPP session over an IP network. In
this configuration the PPTP tunnel and the PPP session runs between
the same two machines with the caller acting as a PNS.
It is envisioned that there will be a many-to-many relationship
between PACs and PNSs. A PAC may provide service to many PNSs. For
example, an Internet service provider may choose to support PPTP for
a number of private network clients and create VPNs for them. Each
private network may operate one or more PNSs. A single PNS may
associate with many PACs to concentrate traffic from a large number
of geographically diverse sites.
PPTP uses an extended version of GRE to carry user PPP packets. These
enhancements allow for low-level congestion and flow control to be
provided on the tunnels used to carry user data between PAC and PNS.
This mechanism allows for efficient use of the bandwidth available
for the tunnels and avoids unnecessary retransmisions and buffer
overruns. PPTP does not dictate the particular algorithms to be used
for this low level control but it does define the parameters that
must be communicated in order to allow such algorithms to work.
Suggested algorithms are included in section 4.
Analog Channel
A circuit-switched communication path which is intended to carry
3.1 Khz audio in each direction.
Digital Channel
A circuit-switched communication path which is intended to carry
digital information in each direction.
Call
A connection or attempted connection between two terminal
endpoints on a PSTN or ISDN -- for example, a telephone call
between two modems.
Control Connection
A control connection is created for each PAC, PNS pair and
operates over TCP [4]. The control connection governs aspects of
the tunnel and of sessions assigned to the tunnel.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 5]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
Dial User
An end-system or router attached to an on-demand PSTN or ISDN
which is either the initiator or recipient of a call.
Network Access Server (NAS)
A device providing temporary, on-demand network access to users.
This access is point-to-point using PSTN or ISDN lines.
PPTP Access Concentrator (PAC)
A device attached to one or more PSTN or ISDN lines capable of PPP
operation and of handling the PPTP protocol. The PAC need only
implement TCP/IP to pass traffic to one or more PNSs. It may also
tunnel non-IP protocols.
PPTP Network Server (PNS)
A PNS is envisioned to operate on general-purpose computing/server
platforms. The PNS handles the server side of the PPTP protocol.
Since PPTP relies completely on TCP/IP and is independent of the
interface hardware, the PNS may use any combination of IP
interface hardware including LAN and WAN devices.
Session
PPTP is connection-oriented. The PNS and PAC maintain state for
each user that is attached to a PAC. A session is created when
end-to-end PPP connection is attempted between a dial user and the
PNS. The datagrams related to a session are sent over the tunnel
between the PAC and PNS.
Tunnel
A tunnel is defined by a PNS-PAC pair. The tunnel protocol is
defined by a modified version of GRE [1,2]. The tunnel carries
PPP datagrams between the PAC and the PNS. Many sessions are
multiplexed on a single tunnel. A control connection operating
over TCP controls the establishment, release, and maintenance of
sessions and of the tunnel itself.
There are two parallel components of PPTP: 1) a Control Connection
between each PAC-PNS pair operating over TCP and 2) an IP tunnel
operating between the same PAC-PNS pair which is used to transport
GRE encapsulated PPP packets for user sessions between the pair.
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RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
Before PPP tunneling can occur between a PAC and PNS, a control
connection must be established between them. The control connection
is a standard TCP session over which PPTP call control and management
information is passed. The control session is logically associated
with, but separate from, the sessions being tunneled through a PPTP
tunnel. For each PAC-PNS pair both a tunnel and a control connection
exist. The control connection is responsible for establishment,
management, and release of sessions carried through the tunnel. It is
the means by which a PNS is notified of an incoming call at an
associated PAC, as well as the means by which a PAC is instructed to
place an outgoing dial call.
A control connection can be established by either the PNS or the PAC.
Following the establishment of the required TCP connection, the PNS
and PAC establish the control connection using the Start-Control-
Connection-Request and -Reply messages. These messages are also used
to exchange information about basic operating capabilities of the PAC
and PNS. Once the control connection is established, the PAC or PNS
may initiate sessions by requesting outbound calls or responding to
inbound requests. The control connection may communicate changes in
operating characteristics of an individual user session with a Set-
Link-Info message. Individual sessions may be released by either the
PAC or PNS, also through Control Connection messages.
The control connection itself is maintained by keep-alive echo
messages. This ensures that a connectivity failure between the PNS
and the PAC can be detected in a timely manner. Other failures can be
reported via the
Wan-Error-Notify message, also on the control connection.
It is intended that the control connection will also carry management
related messages in the future, such as a message allowing the PNS to
request the status of a given PAC; these message types have not yet
been defined.
PPTP requires the establishment of a tunnel for each communicating
PNS-PAC pair. This tunnel is used to carry all user session PPP
packets for sessions involving a given PNS-PAC pair. A key which is
present in the GRE header indicates which session a particular PPP
packet belongs to.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 7]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
In this manner, PPP packets are multiplexed and demultiplexed over a
single tunnel between a given PNS-PAC pair. The value to use in the
key field is established by the call establishment procedure which
takes place on the control connection.
The GRE header also contains acknowledgment and sequencing
information that is used to perform some level of congestion-control
and error detection over the tunnel. Again the control connection is
used to determine rate and buffering parameters that are used to
regulate the flow of PPP packets for a particular session over the
tunnel. PPTP does not specify the particular algorithms to use for
congestion-control and flow-control. Suggested algorithms for the
determination of adaptive time-outs to recover from dropped data or
acknowledgments on the tunnel are included in section 4.4 of this
document.
PPTP defines a set of messages sent as TCP data on the control
connection between a PNS and a given PAC. The TCP session for the
control connection is established by initiating a TCP connection to
port 1723 [6]. The source port is assigned to any unused port number.
Each PPTP Control Connection message begins with an 8 octet fixed
header portion. This fixed header contains the following: the total
length of the message, the PPTP Message Type indicator, and a "Magic
Cookie".
Two Control Connection message types are indicated by the PPTP
Message Type field:
1 - Control Message
2 - Management Message
Management messages are currently not defined.
The Magic Cookie is always sent as the constant 0x1A2B3C4D. Its
basic purpose is to allow the receiver to ensure that it is properly
synchronized with the TCP data stream. It should not be used as a
means for resynchronizing the TCP data stream in the event that a
transmitter issues an improperly formatted message. Loss of
synchronization must result in immediate closing of the control
connection's TCP session.
For clarity, all Control Connection message templates in the next
section include the entire PPTP Control Connection message header.
Numbers preceded by 0x are hexadecimal values.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 8]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
The currently defined Control Messages, grouped by function, are:
Control Message Message Code
(Control Connection Management)
Start-Control-Connection-Request 1
Start-Control-Connection-Reply 2
Stop-Control-Connection-Request 3
Stop-Control-Connection-Reply 4
Echo-Request 5
Echo-Reply 6
(Call Management)
Outgoing-Call-Request 7
Outgoing-Call-Reply 8
Incoming-Call-Request 9
Incoming-Call-Reply 10
Incoming-Call-Connected 11
Call-Clear-Request 12
Call-Disconnect-Notify 13
(Error Reporting)
WAN-Error-Notify 14
(PPP Session Control)
Set-Link-Info 15
The Start-Control-Connection-Request and -Reply messages determine
which version of the Control Connection protocol will be used. The
version number field carried in these messages consists of a version
number in the high octet and a revision number in the low octet.
Version handling is described in section 2. The current value of the
version number field is 0x0100 for version 1, revision 0.
The use of the GRE-like header for the encapsulation of PPP user
packets is specified in section 4.1.
The MTU for the user data packets encapsulated in GRE is 1532 octets,
not including the IP and GRE headers.
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RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
Control Connection messages are used to establish and clear user
sessions. The first set of Control Connection messages are used to
maintain the control connection itself. The control connection is
initiated by either the PNS or PAC after they establish the
underlying TCP connection. The procedure and configuration
information required to determine which TCP connections are
established is not covered by this protocol.
The following Control Connection messages are all sent as user data
on the established TCP connection between a given PNS-PAC pair. Note
that care has been taken to ensure that all word (2 octet) and
longword (4 octet) values begin on appropriate boundaries. All data
is sent in network order (high order octets first). Any "reserved"
fields MUST be sent as 0 values to allow for protocol extensibility.
The Start-Control-Connection-Request is a PPTP control message used
to establish the control connection between a PNS and a PAC. Each
PNS-PAC pair requires a dedicated control connection to be
established. A control connection must be established before any
other PPTP messages can be issued. The establishment of the control
connection can be initiated by either the PNS or PAC. A procedure
which handles the occurrence of a collision between PNS and PAC
Start-Control-Connection-Requests is described in section 3.1.3.
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RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Length | PPTP Message Type |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Magic Cookie |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Control Message Type | Reserved0 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Protocol Version | Reserved1 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Framing Capabilities |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Bearer Capabilities |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Maximum Channels | Firmware Revision |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| |
+ Host Name (64 octets) +
| |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| |
+ Vendor String (64 octets) +
| |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Length Total length in octets of this PPTP
message, including the entire PPTP
header.
PPTP Message Type 1 for Control Message.
Magic Cookie 0x1A2B3C4D. This constant value is used
as a sanity check on received messages
(see section 1.4).
Control Message Type 1 for Start-Control-Connection-Request.
Reserved0 This field MUST be 0.
Protocol Version The version of the PPTP protocol that the
sender wishes to use.
Reserved1 This field MUST be 0.
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RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
Framing Capabilities A set of bits indicating the type of framing
that the sender of this message can provide.
The currently defined bit settings are:
1 - Asynchronous Framing supported
2 - Synchronous Framing supported
Bearer Capabilities A set of bits indicating the bearer
capabilities that the sender of this message
can provide. The currently defined bit
settings are:
1 - Analog access supported
2 - Digital access supported
Maximum Channels The total number of individual PPP sessions
this PAC can support. In Start-Control-
Connection-Requests issued by the PNS, this
value SHOULD be set to 0. It MUST be
ignored by the PAC.
Firmware Revision This field contains the firmware revision
number of the issuing PAC, when issued by
the PAC, or the version of the PNS PPTP
driver if issued by the PNS.
Host Name A 64 octet field containing the DNS name of
the issuing PAC or PNS. If less than 64
octets in length, the remainder of this
field SHOULD be filled with octets of value
0.
Vendor Name A 64 octet field containing a vendor
specific string describing the type of PAC
being used, or the type of PNS software
being used if this request is issued by the
PNS. If less than 64 octets in length, the
remainder of this field SHOULD be filled
with octets of value 0.
The Start-Control-Connection-Reply is a PPTP control message sent in
reply to a received Start-Control-Connection-Request message. This
message contains a result code indicating the result of the control
connection establishment attempt.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 12]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Length | PPTP Message Type |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Magic Cookie |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Control Message Type | Reserved0 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Protocol Version | Result Code | Error Code |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Framing Capability |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Bearer Capability |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Maximum Channels | Firmware Revision |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| |
+ Host Name (64 octets) +
| |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| |
+ Vendor String (64 octets) +
| |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Length Total length in octets of this PPTP message,
including the entire PPTP header.
PPTP Message Type 1 for Control Message.
Magic Cookie 0x1A2B3C4D.
Control Message Type 2 for Start-Control-Connection-Reply.
Reserved0 This field MUST be 0.
Protocol Version The version of the PPTP protocol that the
sender wishes to use.
Result Code Indicates the result of the command channel
establishment attempt. Current valid Result
Code values are:
1 - Successful channel establishment
2 - General error -- Error Code
indicates the problem
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 13]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
3 - Command channel already exists;
4 - Requester is not authorized to
establish a command channel
5 - The protocol version of the
requester is not supported
Error Code This field is set to 0 unless a "General
Error" exists, in which case Result Code is
set to 2 and this field is set to the value
corresponding to the general error condition
as specified in section 2.2.
Framing Capabilities A set of bits indicating the type of framing
that the sender of this message can provide.
The currently defined bit settings are:
1 - Asynchronous Framing supported
2 - Synchronous Framing supported.
Bearer Capabilities A set of bits indicating the bearer
capabilities that the sender of this message
can provide. The currently defined bit
settings are:
1 - Analog access supported
2 - Digital access supported
Maximum Channels The total number of individual PPP sessions
this PAC can support. In a Start-Control-
Connection-Reply issued by the PNS, this
value SHOULD be set to 0 and it must be
ignored by the PAC. The PNS MUST NOT use
this value to try to track the remaining
number of PPP sessions that the PAC will
allow.
Firmware Revision This field contains the firmware revision
number of the issuing PAC, or the version of
the PNS PPTP driver if issued by the PNS.
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RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
Host Name A 64 octet field containing the DNS name of
the issuing PAC or PNS. If less than 64
octets in length, the remainder of this
field SHOULD be filled with octets of value
0.
Vendor Name A 64 octet field containing a vendor
specific string describing the type of PAC
being used, or the type of PNS software
being used if this request is issued by the
PNS. If less than 64 octets in length, the
remainder of this field SHOULD be filled
with octets of value 0.
The Stop-Control-Connection-Request is a PPTP control message sent by
one peer of a PAC-PNS control connection to inform the other peer
that the control connection should be closed. In addition to closing
the control connection, all active user calls are implicitly cleared.
The reason for issuing this request is indicated in the Reason field.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Length | PPTP Message Type |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Magic Cookie |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Control Message Type | Reserved0 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Reason | Reserved1 | Reserved2 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Length Total length in octets of this PPTP message,
including the entire PPTP header.
PPTP Message Type 1 for Control Message.
Magic Cookie 0x1A2B3C4D.
Control Message Type 3 for Stop-Control-Connection-Request.
Reserved0 This field MUST be 0.
Reason Indicates the reason for the control
connection being closed. Current valid
Reason values are:
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RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
1 (None) - General request to clear
control connection
2 (Stop-Protocol) - Can't support
peer's version of the protocol
3 (Stop-Local-Shutdown) - Requester is
being shut down
Reserved1, Reserved2 These fields MUST be 0.
The Stop-Control-Connection-Reply is a PPTP control message sent by
one peer of a PAC-PNS control connection upon receipt of a Stop-
Control-Connection-Request from the other peer.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Length | PPTP Message Type |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Magic Cookie |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Control Message Type | Reserved0 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Result Code | Error Code | Reserved1 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Length Total length in octets of this PPTP message,
including the entire PPTP header.
PPTP Message Type 1 for Control Message.
Magic Cookie 0x1A2B3C4D.
Control Message Type 4 for Stop-Control-Connection-Reply.
Reserved0 This field MUST be 0.
Result Code Indicates the result of the attempt to close
the control connection. Current valid Result
Code values are:
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RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
1 (OK) - Control connection closed
2 (General Error) - Control connection
not closed for reason indicated in
Error Code
Error Code This field is set to 0 unless a "General
Error" exists, in which case Result Code is
set to 2 and this field is set to the value
corresponding to the general error condition
as specified in section 2.2.
Reserved1 This field MUST be 0.
The Echo-Request is a PPTP control message sent by either peer of a
PAC-PNS control connection. This control message is used as a "keep-
alive" for the control connection. The receiving peer issues an
Echo-Reply to each Echo-Request received. As specified in section
3.1.4, if the sender does not receive an Echo-Reply in response to an
Echo-Request, it will eventually clear the control connection.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Length | PPTP Message Type |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Magic Cookie |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Control Message Type | Reserved0 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Identifier |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Length Total length in octets of this PPTP message,
including the entire PPTP header.
PPTP Message Type 1 for Control Message.
Magic Cookie 0x1A2B3C4D.
Control Message Type 5 for Echo-Request.
Reserved0 This field MUST be 0.
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RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
Identifier A value set by the sender of the Echo-
Request that is used to match the reply with
the corresponding request.
The Echo-Reply is a PPTP control message sent by either peer of a
PAC-PNS control connection in response to the receipt of an Echo-
Request.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Length | PPTP Message Type |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Magic Cookie |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Control Message Type | Reserved0 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Identifier |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Result Code | Error Code | Reserved1 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Length Total length in octets of this PPTP message,
including the entire PPTP header.
PPTP Message Type 1 for Control Message.
Magic Cookie 0x1A2B3C4D.
Control Message Type 6 for Echo-Reply.
Reserved0 This field MUST be 0.
Identifier The contents of the identify field from the
received Echo-Request is copied to this
field.
Result Code Indicates the result of the receipt of the
Echo-Request. Current valid Result Code
values are:
1 (OK) - The Echo-Reply is valid
2 (General Error) - Echo-Request not
accepted for the reason indicated in
Error Code
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RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
Error Code This field is set to 0 unless a "General
Error" condition exists, in which case
Result Code is set to 2 and this field is
set to the value corresponding to the
general error condition as specified in
section 2.2.
Reserved1 This field MUST be 0.
The Outgoing-Call-Request is a PPTP control message sent by the PNS
to the PAC to indicate that an outbound call from the PAC is to be
established. This request provides the PAC with information required
to make the call. It also provides information to the PAC that is
used to regulate the transmission of data to the PNS for this session
once it is established.
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0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Length | PPTP Message Type |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Magic Cookie |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Control Message Type | Reserved0 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Call ID | Call Serial Number |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Minimum BPS |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Maximum BPS |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Bearer Type |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Framing Type |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Packet Recv. Window Size | Packet Processing Delay |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Phone Number Length | Reserved1 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| |
+ Phone Number (64 octets) +
| |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| |
+ Subaddress (64 octets) +
| |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Length Total length in octets of this PPTP message,
including the entire PPTP header.
PPTP Message Type 1 for Control Message.
Magic Cookie 0x1A2B3C4D.
Control Message Type 7 for Outgoing-Call-Request.
Reserved0 This field MUST be 0.
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RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
Call ID A unique identifier, unique to a particular
PAC-PNS pair assigned by the PNS to this
session. It is used to multiplex and
demultiplex data sent over the tunnel
between the PNS and PAC involved in this
session.
Call Serial Number An identifier assigned by the PNS to this
session for the purpose of identifying this
particular session in logged session
information. Unlike the Call ID, both the
PNS and PAC associate the same Call Serial
Number with a given session. The combination
of IP address and call serial number SHOULD
be unique.
Minimum BPS The lowest acceptable line speed (in
bits/second) for this session.
Maximum BPS The highest acceptable line speed (in
bits/second) for this session.
Bearer Type A value indicating the bearer capability
required for this outgoing call. The
currently defined values are:
1 - Call to be placed on an analog
channel
2 - Call to be placed on a digital
channel
3 - Call can be placed on any type of
channel
Framing Type A value indicating the type of PPP framing
to be used for this outgoing call.
1 - Call to use Asynchronous framing
2 - Call to use Synchronous framing
3 - Call can use either type of
framing
Packet Recv. Window Size The number of received data packets the PNS
will buffer for this session.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 21]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
Packet Processing Delay A measure of the packet processing delay
that might be imposed on data sent to the
PNS from the PAC. This value is specified
in units of 1/10 seconds. For the PNS this
number should be very small. See section
4.4 for a description of how this value is
determined and used.
Phone Number Length The actual number of valid digits in the
Phone Number field.
Reserved1 This field MUST be 0.
Phone Number The number to be dialed to establish the
outgoing session. For ISDN and analog calls
this field is an ASCII string. If the Phone
Number is less than 64 octets in length, the
remainder of this field is filled with
octets of value 0.
Subaddress A 64 octet field used to specify additional
dialing information. If the subaddress is
less than 64 octets long, the remainder of
this field is filled with octets of value 0.
The Outgoing-Call-Reply is a PPTP control message sent by the PAC to
the PNS in response to a received Outgoing-Call-Request message. The
reply indicates the result of the outgoing call attempt. It also
provides information to the PNS about particular parameters used for
the call. It provides information to allow the PNS to regulate the
transmission of data to the PAC for this session.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 22]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Length | PPTP Message Type |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Magic Cookie |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Control Message Type | Reserved0 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Call ID | Peer's Call ID |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Result Code | Error Code | Cause Code |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Connect Speed |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Packet Recv. Window Size | Packet Processing Delay |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Physical Channel ID |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Length Total length in octets of this PPTP message,
including the entire PPTP header.
PPTP Message Type 1 for Control Message.
Magic Cookie 0x1A2B3C4D.
Control Message Type 8 for Outgoing-Call-Reply.
Reserved0 This field MUST be 0.
Call ID A unique identifier for the tunnel, assigned
by the PAC to this session. It is used to
multiplex and demultiplex data sent over the
tunnel between the PNS and PAC involved in
this session.
Peer's Call ID This field is set to the value received in
the Call ID field of the corresponding
Outgoing-Call-Request message. It is used
by the PNS to match the Outgoing-Call-Reply
with the Outgoing-Call-Request it issued. It
also is used as the value sent in the GRE
header for mux/demuxing.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 23]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
Result Code This value indicates the result of the
Outgoing-Call-Request attempt. Currently
valid values are:
1 (Connected) - Call established with
no errors
2 (General Error) - Outgoing Call not
established for the reason indicated
in Error Code
3 (No Carrier) - Outgoing Call failed
due to no carrier detected
4 (Busy) - Outgoing Call failed due to
detection of a busy signal
5 (No Dial Tone) - Outgoing Call
failed due to lack of a dial tone
6 (Time-out) - Outgoing Call was not
established within time allotted by
PAC
7 (Do Not Accept) - Outgoing Call
administratively prohibited
Error Code This field is set to 0 unless a "General
Error" condition exists, in which case
Result Code is set to 2 and this field is
set to the value corresponding to the
general error condition as specified in
section 2.2.
Cause Code This field gives additional failure
information. Its value can vary depending
upon the type of call attempted. For ISDN
call attempts it is the Q.931 cause code.
Connect Speed The actual connection speed used, in
bits/second.
Packet Recv. Window Size The number of received data packets the PAC
will buffer for this session.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 24]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
Packet Processing Delay A measure of the packet processing delay
that might be imposed on data sent to the
PAC from the PNS. This value is specified
in units of 1/10 seconds. For the PAC, this
number is related to the size of the buffer
used to hold packets to be sent to the
client and to the speed of the link to the
client. This value should be set to the
maximum delay that can normally occur
between the time a packet arrives at the PAC
and is delivered to the client. See section
4.4 for an example of how this value is
determined and used.
Physical Channel ID This field is set by the PAC in a vendor-
specific manner to the physical channel
number used to place this call. It is used
for logging purposes only.
The Incoming-Call-Request is a PPTP control message sent by the PAC
to the PNS to indicate that an inbound call is to be established from
the PAC. This request provides the PNS with parameter information
for the incoming call.
This message is the first in the "three-way handshake" used by PPTP
for establishing incoming calls. The PAC may defer answering the
call until it has received an Incoming-Call-Reply from the PNS
indicating that the call should be established. This mechanism allows
the PNS to obtain sufficient information about the call before it is
answered to determine whether the call should be answered or not.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 25]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Length | PPTP Message Type |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Magic Cookie |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Control Message Type | Reserved0 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Call ID | Call Serial Number |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Call Bearer Type |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Physical Channel ID |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Dialed Number Length | Dialing Number Length |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| |
+ Dialed Number (64 octets) +
| |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| |
+ Dialing Number (64 octets) +
|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| |
+ Subaddress (64 octets) +
| |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Length Total length in octets of this PPTP message,
including the entire PPTP header.
PPTP Message Type 1 for Control Message.
Magic Cookie 0x1A2B3C4D.
Control Message Type 9 for Incoming-Call-Request.
Reserved0 This field MUST be 0.
Call ID A unique identifier for this tunnel,
assigned by the PAC to this session. It is
used to multiplex and demultiplex data sent
over the tunnel between the PNS and PAC
involved in this session.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 26]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
Call Serial Number An identifier assigned by the PAC to this
session for the purpose of identifying this
particular session in logged session
information. Unlike the Call ID, both the
PNS and PAC associate the same Call Serial
Number to a given session. The combination
of IP address and call serial number should
be unique.
Bearer Type A value indicating the bearer capability
used for this incoming call. Currently
defined values are:
1 - Call is on an analog channel
2 - Call is on a digital channel
Physical Channel ID This field is set by the PAC in a vendor-
specific manner to the number of the
physical channel this call arrived on.
Dialed Number Length The actual number of valid digits in the
Dialed Number field.
Dialing Number Length The actual number of valid digits in the
Dialing Number field.
Dialed Number The number that was dialed by the caller.
For ISDN and analog calls this field is an
ASCII string. If the Dialed Number is less
than 64 octets in length, the remainder of
this field is filled with octets of value 0.
Dialing Number The number from which the call was placed.
For ISDN and analog calls this field is an
ASCII string. If the Dialing Number is less
than 64 octets in length, the remainder of
this field is filled with octets of value 0.
Subaddress A 64 octet field used to specify additional
dialing information. If the subaddress is
less than 64 octets long, the remainder of
this field is filled with octets of value 0.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 27]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
The Incoming-Call-Reply is a PPTP control message sent by the PNS to
the PAC in response to a received Incoming-Call-Request message. The
reply indicates the result of the incoming call attempt. It also
provides information to allow the PAC to regulate the transmission of
data to the PNS for this session.
This message is the second in the three-way handshake used by PPTP
for establishing incoming calls. It indicates to the PAC whether the
call should be answered or not.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Length | PPTP Message Type |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Magic Cookie |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Control Message Type | Reserved0 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Call ID | Peer's Call ID |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Result Code | Error Code | Packet Recv. Window Size |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Packet Transmit Delay | Reserved1 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Length Total length in octets of this PPTP message,
including the entire PPTP header.
PPTP Message Type 1 for Control Message.
Magic Cookie 0x1A2B3C4D.
Control Message Type 10 for Incoming-Call-Reply.
Reserved0 This field MUST be 0.
Call ID A unique identifier for this tunnel assigned
by the PNS to this session. It is used to
multiplex and demultiplex data sent over the
tunnel between the PNS and PAC involved in
this session.
Peer's Call ID This field is set to the value received in
the Call ID field of the corresponding
Incoming-Call-Request message. It is used by
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 28]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
the PAC to match the Incoming-Call-Reply
with the Incoming-Call-Request it issued.
This value is included in the GRE header of
transmitted data packets for this session.
Result Code This value indicates the result of the
Incoming-Call-Request attempt. Current
valid Result Code values are:
1 (Connect) - The PAC should answer
the incoming call
2 (General Error) - The Incoming Call
should not be established due to the
reason indicated in Error Code
3 (Do Not Accept) - The PAC should not
accept the incoming call. It should
hang up or issue a busy indication
Error Code This field is set to 0 unless a "General
Error" condition exists, in which case
Result Code is set to 2 and this field is
set to the value corresponding to the
general error condition as specified in
section 2.2.
Packet Recv. Window Size The number of received data packets the PAC
will buffer for this session.
Packet Transmit Delay A measure of the packet processing delay
that might be imposed on data sent to the
PAC from the PNS. This value is specified
in units of 1/10 seconds.
Reserved1 This field MUST be 0.
The Incoming-Call-Connected message is a PPTP control message sent by
the PAC to the PNS in response to a received Incoming-Call-Reply. It
provides information to the PNS about particular parameters used for
the call. It also provides information to allow the PNS to regulate
the transmission of data to the PAC for this session.
This message is the third in the three-way handshake used by PPTP for
establishing incoming calls. It provides a mechanism for providing
the PNS with additional information about the call that cannot, in
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 29]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
general, be obtained at the time the Incoming-Call-Request is issued
by the PAC.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Length | PPTP Message Type |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Magic Cookie |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Control Message Type | Reserved0 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Peer's Call ID | Reserved1 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Connect Speed |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Packet Recv. Window Size | Packet Transmit Delay |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Framing Type |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Length Total length in octets of this PPTP message,
including the entire PPTP header.
PPTP Message Type 1 for Control Message.
Magic Cookie 0x1A2B3C4D.
Control Message Type 11 for Incoming-Call-Connected.
Reserved0 This field MUST be 0.
Peer's Call ID This field is set to the value received in
the Call ID field of the corresponding
Incoming-Call-Reply message. It is used by
the PNS to match the Incoming-Call-Connected
with the Incoming-Call-Reply it issued.
Connect Speed The actual connection speed used, in
bits/second.
Packet Recv. Window Size The number of received data packets the PAC
will buffer for this session.
Packet Transmit Delay A measure of the packet processing delay
that might be imposed on data sent to the
PAC from the PNS. This value is specified
in units of 1/10 seconds.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 30]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
Framing Type A value indicating the type of PPP framing
being used by this incoming call.
1 - Call uses asynchronous framing
2 - Call uses synchronous framing
The Call-Clear-Request is a PPTP control message sent by the PNS to
the PAC indicating that a particular call is to be disconnected. The
call being cleared can be either an incoming or outgoing call, in any
state. The PAC responds to this message with a Call-Disconnect-
Notify message.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Length | PPTP Message Type |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Magic Cookie |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Control Message Type | Reserved0 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Call ID | Reserved1 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Length Total length in octets of this PPTP message,
including the entire PPTP header.
PPTP Message Type 1 for Control Message.
Magic Cookie 0x1A2B3C4D.
Control Message Type 12 for Call-Clear-Request.
Reserved0 This field MUST be 0.
Call ID The Call ID assigned by the PNS to this
call. This value is used instead of the
Peer's Call ID because the latter may not be
known to the PNS if the call must be aborted
during call establishment.
Reserved1 This field MUST be 0.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 31]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
The Call-Disconnect-Notify message is a PPTP control message sent by
the PAC to the PNS. It is issued whenever a call is disconnected,
due to the receipt by the PAC of a Call-Clear-Request or for any
other reason. Its purpose is to inform the PNS of both the
disconnection and the reason for it.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Length | PPTP Message Type |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Magic Cookie |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Control Message Type | Reserved0 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Call ID | Result Code | Error Code |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Cause Code | Reserved1 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| |
+ Call Statistics (128 octets) +
| |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Length Total length in octets of this PPTP message,
including the entire PPTP header.
PPTP Message Type 1 for Control Message.
Magic Cookie 0x1A2B3C4D.
Control Message Type 13 for Call-Disconnect-Notify.
Reserved0 This field MUST be 0.
Call ID The value of the Call ID assigned by the PAC
to this call. This value is used instead of
the Peer's Call ID because the latter may
not be known to the PNS if the call must be
aborted during call establishment.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 32]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
Result Code This value indicates the reason for the
disconnect. Current valid Result Code values
are:
1 (Lost Carrier) - Call disconnected
due to loss of carrier
2 (General Error) - Call disconnected
for the reason indicated in Error
Code
3 (Admin Shutdown) - Call disconnected
for administrative reasons
4 (Request) - Call disconnected due to
received Call-Clear-Request
Error Code This field is set to 0 unless a "General
Error" condition exists, in which case the
Result Code is set to 2 and this field is
set to the value corresponding to the
general error condition as specified in
section 2.2.
Cause Code This field gives additional disconnect
information. Its value varies depending on
the type of call being disconnected. For
ISDN calls it is the Q.931 cause code.
Call Statistics This field is an ASCII string containing
vendor-specific call statistics that can be
logged for diagnostic purposes. If the
length of the string is less than 128, the
remainder of the field is filled with octets
of value 0.
The WAN-Error-Notify message is a PPTP control message sent by the
PAC to the PNS to indicate WAN error conditions (conditions that
occur on the interface supporting PPP). The counters in this message
are cumulative. This message should only be sent when an error
occurs, and not more than once every 60 seconds. The counters are
reset when a new call is established.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 33]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Length | PPTP Message Type |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Magic Cookie |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Control Message type | Reserved0 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Peer's Call ID | Reserved1 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| CRC Errors |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Framing Errors |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Hardware Overruns |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Buffer Overruns |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Time-out Errors |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Alignment Errors |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Length Total length in octets of this PPTP message,
including the entire PPTP header.
PPTP Message Type 1 for Control Message.
Magic Cookie 0x1A2B3C4D.
Control Message Type 14 for WAN-Error-Notify.
Reserved0 This field MUST be 0.
Peer's Call ID Th Call ID assigned by the PNS to this call.
CRC Errors Number of PPP frames received with CRC
errors since session was established.
Framing Errors Number of improperly framed PPP packets
received.
Hardware Overruns Number of receive buffer over-runs since
session was established.
Buffer Overruns Number of buffer over-runs detected since
session was established.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 34]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
Time-out Errors Number of time-outs since call was
established.
Alignment Errors Number of alignment errors since call was
established.
The Set-Link-Info message is a PPTP control message sent by the PNS
to the PAC to set PPP-negotiated options. Because these options can
change at any time during the life of the call, the PAC must be able
to update its internal call information dynamically and perform PPP
negotiation on an active PPP session.
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Length | PPTP Message Type |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Magic Cookie |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Control Message type | Reserved0 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Peer's Call ID | Reserved1 |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Send ACCM |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Receive ACCM |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Length Total length in octets of this PPTP message,
including the entire PPTP header.
PPTP Message Type 1 for Control Message.
Magic Cookie 0x1A2B3C4D.
Control Message Type 15 for Set-Link-Info.
Reserved0 This field MUST be 0.
Peer's Call ID The value of the Call ID assigned by the PAC
to this call.
Reserved1 This field MUST be 0.
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RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
Send ACCM The send ACCM value the client should use to
process outgoing PPP packets. The default
value used by the client until this message
is received is 0XFFFFFFFF. See [7].
Receive ACCM The receive ACCM value the client should use
to process incoming PPP packets. The default
value used by the client until this message
is received is 0XFFFFFFFF. See [7].
General error codes pertain to types of errors which are not specific
to any particular PPTP request, but rather to protocol or message
format errors. If a PPTP reply indicates in its Result Code that a
general error occurred, the General Error value should be examined to
determined what the error was. The currently defined General Error
codes and their meanings are:
0 (None) - No general error
1 (Not-Connected) - No control connection exists yet for this
PAC-PNS pair
2 (Bad-Format) - Length is wrong or Magic Cookie value is
incorrect
3 (Bad-Value) - One of the field values was out of range or
reserved field was non-zero
4 (No-Resource) - Insufficient resources to handle this command
now
5 (Bad-Call ID) - The Call ID is invalid in this context
6 (PAC-Error) - A generic vendor-specific error occurred in
the PAC
This section describes the operation of various PPTP control
connection functions and the Control Connection messages which are
used to support them. The protocol operation of the control
connection is simplified because TCP is used to provide a reliable
transport mechanism. Ordering and retransmission of messages is not
a concern at this level. The TCP connection itself, however, can
close at any time and an appropriate error recovery mechanism must be
provided to handle this case.
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RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
Some error recovery procedures are common to all states of the
control connection. If an expected reply does not arrive within 60
seconds, the control connection is closed, unless otherwise
specified. Appropriate logging should be implemented for easy
determination of the problems and the reasons for closing the control
connection.
Receipt of an invalid or malformed Control Connection message should
be logged appropriately, and the control connection should be closed
and restarted to ensure recovery into a known state.
The control connection relies on a standard TCP connection for its
service. The PPTP control connection protocol is not distinguishable
between the PNS and PAC, but is distinguishable between the
originator and receiver. The originating peer is the one which first
attempts the TCP open. Since either PAC or PNS may originate a
connection, it is possible for a TCP collision to occur. See section
3.1.3 for a description of this situation.
TCP Open Indication
/Send Start Control
Connection Request +-----------------+
+------------------------------------>| wait_ctl_reply |
| +-----------------+
| Collision/See (4.1.3) Close TCP V V V Receive Start Ctl
| +-------------------------------+ | | Connection Reply
| | | | Version OK
^ V | V
+-----------------+ Receive Start Ctl | +-----------------+
| idle | Connection Reply | | established |
+-----------------+ Version Not OK | +-----------------+
^ | V Local Terminate
| Receive Stop Control | | /Send Stop
| Connection Request | | Control Request
| /Send Stop Control Reply V V
| Close TCP +-----------------+
+-------------------------------------| wait_stop_reply |
+-----------------+
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 37]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
idle
The control connection originator attempts to open a TCP
connection to the peer during idle state. When the TCP connection
is open, the originator transmits a send Start-Control-
Connection-Request and then enters the wait_ctl_reply state.
wait_ctl_reply
The originator checks to see if another TCP connection has been
requested from the same peer, and if so, handles the collision
situation described in section 3.1.3.
When a Start-Control-Connection-Reply is received, it is examined
for a compatible version. If the version of the reply is lower
than the version sent in the request, the older (lower) version
should be used provided it is supported. If the version in the
reply is earlier and supported, the originator moves to the
established state. If the version is earlier and not supported, a
Stop-Control-Connection-Request SHOULD be sent to the peer and the
originator moves into the wait_stop_reply state.
established
An established connection may be terminated by either a local
condition or the receipt of a Stop-Control-Connection-Request. In
the event of a local termination, the originator MUST send a
Stop-Control-Connection-Request and enter the wait_stop_reply
state.
If the originator receives a Stop-Control-Connection-Request it
SHOULD send a Stop-Control-Connection-Reply and close the TCP
connection making sure that the final TCP information has been
"pushed" properly.
wait_stop_reply
If a Stop-Control-Connection-Reply is received, the TCP connection
SHOULD be closed and the control connection becomes idle.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 38]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
Receive Start Control Connection Request
Version Not OK/Send Start Control Connection
Reply with Error
+--------+
| | Receive Control Connection Request Version OK
| | /Send Start Control Connection Reply
| | +----------------------------------------+
^ V ^ V
+-----------------+ Receive Start Ctl +-----------------+
| Idle | Connection Request | Established |
+-----------------+ /Send Stop Reply +-----------------+
^ ^ Close TCP V V Local Terminate
| +-------------------------------------+ | /Send Stop
| | Control Conn.
| V Request
| +-----------------+
+-------------------------------------| Wait-Stop-Reply |
Receive Stop Control +-----------------+
Connection Reply
/Close TCP
idle
The control connection receiver waits for a TCP open attempt on
port 1723. When notified of an open TCP connection, it should
prepare to receive PPTP messages. When a Start-Control-
Connection-Request is received its version field should be
examined. If the version is earlier than the receiver's version
and the earlier version can be supported by the receiver, the
receiver SHOULD send a Start-Control-Connection-Reply. If the
version is earlier than the receiver's version and the version
cannot be supported, the receiver SHOULD send a Start-Connection-
Reply message, close the TCP connection and remain in the idle
state. If the receiver's version is the same as earlier than the
peer's, the receiver SHOULD send a Start-Control-Connection-Reply
with the receiver's version and enter the established state.
established
An established connection may be terminated by either a local
condition or the reception of a Stop-Control-Connection-Request.
In the event of a local termination, the originator MUST send a
Stop-Control-Connection-Request and enter the wait_stop_reply
state.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 39]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
If the originator receives a Stop-Control-Connection-Request it
SHOULD send a Stop-Control-Connection-Reply and close the TCP
connection, making sure that the final TCP information has been
"pushed" properly.
wait_stop_reply
If a Stop-Control-Connection-Reply is received, the TCP connection
SHOULD be closed and the control connection becomes idle.
A PAC and PNS must have only one control connection between them. It
is possible, however, for a PNS and a PAC to simultaneously attempt
to establish a control connection to each other. When a Start-
Control-Connection-Request is received on one TCP connection and
another Start-Control-Connection-Request has already been sent on
another TCP connection to the same peer, a collision has occurred.
The "winner" of the initiation race is the peer with the higher IP
address (compared as 32 bit unsigned values, network number more
significant). For example, if the peers 192.33.45.17 and 192.33.45.89
collide, the latter will be declared the winner. The loser will
immediately close the TCP connection it initiated, without sending
any further PPTP control messages on it and will respond to the
winner's request with a Start-Control-Connection-Reply message. The
winner will wait for the Start-Control-Connection-Reply on the
connection it initiated and also wait for a TCP termination
indication on the connection the loser opened. The winner MUST NOT
send any messages on the connection the loser initiated.
A control connection SHOULD be closed by closing the underlying TCP
connection under the following circumstances:
1. If a control connection is not in the established state (i.e.,
Start-Control-Connection-Request and Start-Control-Connection-
Reply have not been exchanged), a control connection SHOULD be
closed after 60 seconds by a peer waiting for a Start-Control-
Connection-Request or Start-Control-Connection-Reply message.
2. If a peer's control connection is in the established state and has
not received a control message for 60 seconds, it SHOULD send a
Echo-Request message. If an Echo-Reply is not received 60 seconds
after the Echo-Request message transmission, the control
connection SHOULD be closed.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 40]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
Because of the real-time nature of telephone signaling, both the PNS
and PAC should be implemented with multi-threaded architectures such
that messages related to multiple calls are not serialized and
blocked. The transit delay between the PAC and PNS should not exceed
one second. The call and connection state figures do not specify
exceptions caused by timers. The implicit assumption is that since
the TCP-based control connection is being verified with keep-alives,
there is less need to maintain strict timers for call control
messages.
Establishing outbound international calls, including the modem
training and negotiation sequences, may take in excess of 1 minute so
the use of short timers is discouraged.
If a state transition does not occur within 1 minute (except for
connections in the idle or established states), the integrity of the
protocol processing between the peers is suspect and the ENTIRE
CONTROL CONNECTION should be closed and restarted. All Call IDs are
logically released whenever a control connection is started. This
presumably also helps in preventing toll calls from being "lost" and
never cleared.
Each peer assigns a Call ID value to each user session it requests or
accepts. This Call ID value MUST be unique for the tunnel between the
PNS and PAC to which it belongs. Tunnels to other peers can use the
same Call ID number so the receiver of a packet on a tunnel needs to
associate a user session with a particular tunnel and Call ID. It is
suggested that the number of potential Call ID values for each tunnel
be at least twice as large as the maximum number of calls expected on
a given tunnel.
A session is defined by the triple (PAC, PNS, Call ID).
An Incoming-Call-Request message is generated by the PAC when an
associated telephone line rings. The PAC selects a Call ID and serial
number and indicates the call bearer type. Modems should always
indicate analog call type. ISDN calls should indicate digital when
unrestricted digital service or rate adaption is used and analog if
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 41]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
digital modems are involved. Dialing number, dialed number, and
subaddress may be included in the message if they are available from
the telephone network.
Once the PAC sends the Incoming-Call-Request, it waits for a response
from the PNS but does not answer the call from the telephone network.
The PNS may choose not to accept the call if:
- No resources are available to handle more sessions
- The dialed, dialing, or subaddress fields are not indicative of
an authorized user
- The bearer service is not authorized or supported
If the PNS chooses to accept the call, it responds with an Incoming-
Call-Reply which also indicates window sizes (see section 4.2). When
the PAC receives the Outgoing-Call-Reply, it attempts to connect the
call, assuming the calling party has not hung up. A final call
connected message from the PAC to the PNS indicates that the call
states for both the PAC and the PNS should enter the established
state.
When the dialed-in client hangs up, the call is cleared normally and
the PAC sends a Call-Disconnect-Notify message. If the PNS wishes to
clear a call, it sends a Call-Clear-Request message and then waits
for a Call-Disconnect-Notify.
Ring/Send Incoming Call Request +-----------------+
+----------------------------------------->| wait_reply |
| +-----------------+
| Receive Incoming Call Reply V V V
| Not Accepting | | | Receive Incoming
| +--------------------------------+ | | Call Reply Accept-
| | +------------------------------+ | ing/Answer call;
| | | Abort/Send Call | Send Call
^ V V Disconnect Notify V Connected
+-----------------+ +-----------------+
| idle |<-----------------------------| established |
+-----------------+ Receive Clear Call Request +-----------------+
or telco call dropped
or local disconnect
/Send Call Disconnect Notify
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 42]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
The states associated with the PAC for incoming calls are:
idle
The PAC detects an incoming call on one of its telco interfaces.
Typically this means an analog line is ringing or an ISDN TE has
detected an incoming Q.931 SETUP message. The PAC sends an
Incoming-Call-Request message and moves to the wait_reply state.
wait_reply
The PAC receives an Incoming-Call-Reply message indicating non-
willingness to accept the call (general error or don't accept) and
moves back into the idle state. If the reply message indicates
that the call is accepted, the PAC sends an Incoming-Call-
Connected message and enters the established state.
established
Data is exchanged over the tunnel. The call may be cleared
following:
An event on the telco connection. The PAC sends a
Call-Disconnect-Notify message
Receipt of a Call-Clear-Request. The PAC sends a
Call-Disconnect-Notify message
A local reason. The PAC sends a Call-Disconnect-Notify message.
Receive Incoming Call Request
/Send Incoming Call Reply +-----------------+
Not Accepting if Error | Wait-Connect |
+-----+ +-----------------+
| | Receive Incoming Call Req. ^ V V
| | /Send Incoming Call Reply OK | | | Receive Incoming
| | +--------------------------------+ | | Call Connect
^ V ^ V------------------------------+ V
+-----------------+ Receive Call Disconnect +-----------------+
| Idle | Notify +- | Established |
+-----------------+ | +-----------------+
^ ^ | V Local Terminate
| +----------------------------+ | /Send Call Clear
| Receive Call Disconnect | Request
| Notify V
| +-----------------+
+--------------------------------------| Wait-Disconnect |
Receive Call Disconnect +-----------------+
Notify
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 43]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
The states associated with the PNS for incoming calls are:
idle
An Incoming-Call-Request message is received. If the request is
not acceptable, an Incoming-Call-Reply is sent back to the PAC and
the PNS remains in the idle state. If the Incoming-Call-Request
message is acceptable, an Incoming-Call-Reply is sent indicating
accept in the result code. The session moves to the wait_connect
state.
wait_connect
If the session is connected on the PAC, the PAC sends an incoming
call connect message to the PNS which then moves into established
state. The PAC may send a Call-Disconnect-Notify to indicate that
the incoming caller could not be connected. This could happen,
for example, if a telephone user accidently places a standard
voice call to a PAC resulting in a handshake failure on the called
modem.
established
The session is terminated either by receipt of a Call-Disconnect-
Notify message from the PAC or by sending a Call-Clear-Request.
Once a Call-Clear-Request has been sent, the session enters the
wait_disconnect state.
wait_disconnect
Once a Call-Disconnect-Notify is received the session moves back
to the idle state.
Outgoing messages are initiated by a PNS and instruct a PAC to place
a call on a telco interface. There are only two messages for outgoing
calls: Outgoing-Call-Request and Outgoing-Call-Reply. The PNS sends
an Outgoing-Call-Request specifying the dialed party phone number and
subaddress as well as speed and window parameters. The PAC MUST
respond to the Outgoing-Call-Request message with an Outgoing-Call-
Reply message once the PAC determines that:
The call has been successfully connected
A call failure has occurred for reasons such as: no interfaces are
available for dial-out, the called party is busy or does not
answer, or no dial tone is detected on the interface chosen for
dialing
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 44]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
Receive Outgoing Call Request in Error
/Send Outgoing Call Reply with Error
|--------+
| | Receive Outgoing Call Request No Error
| | /Off Hook; Dial
| | +-----------------------------------------
^ V ^ V
+-----------------+ Incomplete Call +-----------------+
| idle | /Send Outgoing Call | wait_cs_ans |
+-----------------+ Reply with Error +-----------------+
^ ^ or Recv. Call Clear Req. V V Telco Answer
| | /Send Disconnect Notify| | /Send Outgoing
| +-------------------------------------+ | Call Reply.
| V
| +-----------------+
+-------------------------------------| established |
Receive Call Clear Request +-----------------+
or local terminate
or telco disconnect
/Hangup call and send
Call Disconnect Notify
The states associated with the PAC for outgoing calls are:
idle
Received Outgoing-Call-Request. If this is received in error,
respond with an Outgoing-Call-Reply with error condition set.
Otherwise, allocate physical channel to dial on. Place the
outbound call, wait for a connection, and move to the wait_cs_ans
state.
wait_cs_ans
If the call is incomplete, send an Outgoing-Call-Reply with a
non-zero Error Code. If a timer expires on an outbound call, send
back an Outgoing-Call-Reply with a non-zero Error Code. If a
circuit switched connection is established, send an Outgoing-
Call-Reply indicating success.
established
If a Call-Clear-Request is received, the telco call SHOULD be
released via appropriate mechanisms and a Call-Disconnect-Notify
message SHOULD BE sent to the PNS. If the call is disconnected by
the client or by the telco interface, a Call-Disconnect-Notify
message SHOULD be sent to the PNS.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 45]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
Open Indication Abort/Send
/Send Outgoing Call Call Clear
Request +-----------------+Request
+-------------------------------->| Wait-Reply |----------+
| +-----------------+ |
| Receive Outgoing Call Reply V V Receive Outgoing |
| with Error | | Call Reply |
| +-------------------------------+ | No Error |
^ V V |
+-----------------+ +-----------------+ |
| Idle |<-----------------------------| Established | |
+-----------------+ Receive Call Disconnect +-----------------+ |
^ Notify V Local Terminate |
| | /Send Call Clear |
| | Request |
| Receive Call Disconnect V |
| Notify +-----------------+ |
+---------------------------------| Wait-Disconnect |<---------+
+-----------------+
The states associated with the PNS for outgoing calls are:
idle
An Outgoing-Call-Request message is sent to the PAC and the
session moves into the wait_reply state.
wait_reply
An Outgoing-Call-Reply is received which indicates an error. The
session returns to idle state. No telco call is active. If the
Outgoing-Call-Reply does not indicate an error, the telco call is
connected and the session moves to the established state.
established
If a Call-Disconnect-Notify is received, the telco call has been
terminated for the reason indicated in the Result and Cause Codes.
The session moves back to the idle state. If the PNS chooses to
terminate the session, it sends a Call-Clear-Request to the PAC
and then enters the wait_disconnect state.
wait_disconnect
A session disconnection is waiting to be confirmed by the PAC.
Once the PNS receives the Call-Disconnect-Notify message, the
session enters idle state.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 46]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
The user data carried by the PPTP protocol are PPP data packets. PPP
packets are carried between the PAC and PNS, encapsulated in GRE
packets which in turn are carried over IP. The encapsulated PPP
packets are essentially PPP data packets less any media specific
framing elements. No HDLC flags, bit insertion, control characters,
or control character escapes are included. No CRCs are sent through
the tunnel. The IP packets transmitted over the tunnels between a PAC
and PNS has the following general structure:
+--------------------------------+
| Media Header |
+--------------------------------+
| IP Header |
+--------------------------------+
| GRE Header |
+--------------------------------+
| PPP Packet |
+--------------------------------+
The GRE header used in PPTP is enhanced slightly from that specified
in the current GRE protocol specification [1,2]. The main difference
involves the definition of a new Acknowledgment Number field, used to
determine if a particular GRE packet or set of packets has arrived at
the remote end of the tunnel. This Acknowledgment capability is not
used in conjunction with any retransmission of user data packets. It
is used instead to determine the rate at which user data packets are
to be transmitted over the tunnel for a given user session. The
format of the enhanced GRE header is as follows:
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|C|R|K|S|s|Recur|A| Flags | Ver | Protocol Type |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Key (HW) Payload Length | Key (LW) Call ID |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Sequence Number (Optional) |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Acknowledgment Number (Optional) |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 47]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
C
(Bit 0) Checksum Present. Set to zero (0).
R
(Bit 1) Routing Present. Set to zero (0).
K
(Bit 2) Key Present. Set to one (1).
S
(Bit 3) Sequence Number Present. Set to one (1) if a payload
(data) packet is present. Set to zero (0) if payload is not
present (GRE packet is an Acknowledgment only).
s
(Bit 4) Strict source route present. Set to zero (0).
Recur
(Bits 5-7) Recursion control. Set to zero (0).
A
(Bit 8) Acknowledgment sequence number present. Set to one (1) if
packet contains Acknowledgment Number to be used for acknowledging
previously transmitted data.
Flags
(Bits 9-12) Must be set to zero (0).
Ver
(Bits 13-15) Must contain 1 (enhanced GRE).
Protocol Type
Set to hex 880B [8].
Key
Use of the Key field is up to the implementation. PPTP uses it as
follows:
Payload Length
(High 2 octets of Key) Size of the payload, not including
the GRE header
Call ID
(Low 2 octets) Contains the Peer's Call ID for the session
to which this packet belongs.
Sequence Number
Contains the sequence number of the payload. Present if S
bit (Bit 3) is one (1).
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 48]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
Acknowledgment Number
Contains the sequence number of the highest numbered GRE
packet received by the sending peer for this user session.
Present if A bit (Bit 8) is one (1).
The payload section contains a PPP data packet without any
media specific framing elements.
The sequence numbers involved are per packet sequence numbers.
The sequence number for each user session is set to zero at
session startup. Each packet sent for a given user session
which contains a payload (and has the S bit (Bit 3) set to one)
is assigned the next consecutive sequence number for that
session.
This protocol allows acknowledgments to be carried with the
data and makes the overall protocol more efficient, which in
turn requires less buffering of packets.
The sliding window protocol used on the PPTP data path is used for
flow control by each side of the data exchange. The enhanced GRE
protocol allows packet acknowledgments to be piggybacked on data
packets. Acknowledgments can also be sent separately from data
packets. Again, the main purpose of the sliding window protocol is
for flow control--retransmissions are not performed by the tunnel
peers.
Although each side has indicated the maximum size of its receive
window, it is recommended that a conservative approach be taken when
beginning to transmit data. The initial window size on the
transmitter is set to half the maximum size the receiver requested,
with a minimum size of one packet. The transmitter stops sending
packets when the number of packets awaiting acknowledgment is equal
to the current window size. As the receiver successfully digests
each window, the window size on the transmitter is bumped up by one
packet until the maximum is reached. This method prevents a system
from flooding an already congested network because no history has
been established.
When a time-out does occur on a packet, the sender adjusts the size
of the transmit window down to one half its value when it failed.
Fractions are rounded up, and the minimum window size is one.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 49]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
With every successful transmission of a window's worth of packets
without a time-out, the transmit window size is increased by one
packet until it reaches the maximum window size that was sent by the
other side when the call was connected. As stated earlier, no
retransmission is done on a time-out. After a time-out, the
transmission resumes with the window starting at one half the size of
the transmit window when the time-out occurred and adjusting upward
by one each time the transmit window is filled with packets that are
all acknowledged without time-outs.
When a receiver's window overflows with too many incoming packets,
excess packets are thrown away. This situation should not arise if
the sliding window procedures are being properly followed by the
transmitter and receiver. It is assumed that, on the transmit side,
packets are buffered for transmission and are no longer accepted from
the packet source when the transmit buffer fills.
One feature of the PPTP sliding window protocol is that it allows the
acknowledgment of multiple packets with a single acknowledgment. All
outstanding packets with a sequence number lower or equal to the
acknowledgment number are considered acknowledged. Time-out
calculations are performed using the time the packet corresponding to
the highest sequence number being acknowledged was transmitted.
Adaptive time-out calculations are only performed when an
Acknowledgment is received. When multi-packet acknowledgments are
used, the overhead of the adaptive time-out algorithm is reduced. The
PAC is not required to transmit multi-packet acknowledgments; it can
instead acknowledge each packet individually as it is delivered to
the PPP client.
Occasionally packets lose their sequencing across a complicated
internetwork. Say, for example that a PNS sends packets 0 to 5 to a
PAC. Because of rerouting in the internetwork, packet 4 arrives at
the PAC before packet 3. The PAC acknowledges packet 4, and may
assume packet 3 is lost. This acknowledgment grants window credit
beyond packet 4.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 50]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
When the PAC does receive packet 3, it MUST not attempt to transmit
it to the corresponding PPP client. To do so could cause problems,
as proper PPP protocol operation is premised upon receiving packets
in sequence. PPP does properly deal with the loss of packets, but
not with reordering so out of sequence packets between the PNS and
PAC MUST be silently discarded, or they may be reordered by the
receiver. When packet 5 comes in, it is acknowledged by the PAC
since it has a higher sequence number than 4, which was the last
highest packet acknowledged by the PAC. Packets with duplicate
sequence numbers should never occur since the PAC and PNS never
retransmit GRE packets. A robust implementation will silently
discard duplicate GRE packets, should it receive any.
PPTP uses sliding windows and time-outs to provide both user session
flow-control across the internetwork and to perform efficient data
buffering to keep the PAC-PNS data channels full without causing
receive buffer overflow. PPTP requires that a time-out be used to
recover from dropped data or acknowledgment packets. The exact
implementation of the time-out is vendor-specific. It is suggested
that an adaptive time-out be implemented with backoff for congestion
control. The time-out mechanism proposed here has the following
properties:
Independent time-outs for each session. A device (PAC or PNS) will
have to maintain and calculate time-outs for every active session.
An administrator-adjustable maximum time-out, MaxTimeOut, unique
to each device.
An adaptive time-out mechanism that compensates for changing
throughput. To reduce packet processing overhead, vendors may
choose not to recompute the adaptive time-out for every received
acknowledgment. The result of this overhead reduction is that the
time-out will not respond as quickly to rapid network changes.
Timer backoff on time-out to reduce congestion. The backed-off
timer value is limited by the configurable maximum time-out value.
Timer backoff is done every time an acknowledgment time-out
occurs.
In general, this mechanism has the desirable behavior of quickly
backing off upon a time-out and of slowly decreasing the time-out
value as packets are delivered without time-outs.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 51]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
Some definitions:
Packet Processing Delay (PPD) is the amount of time required for
each side to process the maximum amount of data buffered in their
receive packet sliding window. The PPD is the value exchanged
between the PAC and PNS when a call is established. For the PNS,
this number should be small. For a PAC making modem connections,
this number could be significant.
Sample is the actual amount of time incurred receiving an
acknowledgment for a packet. The Sample is measured, not
calculated.
Round-Trip Time (RTT) is the estimated round-trip time for an
Acknowledgment to be received for a given transmitted packet. When
the network link is a local network, this delay will be minimal
(if not zero). When the network link is the Internet, this delay
could be substantial and vary widely. RTT is adaptive: it will
adjust to include the PPD and whatever shifting network delays
contribute to the time between a packet being transmitted and
receiving its acknowledgment.
Adaptive Time-Out (ATO) is the time that must elapse before an
acknowledgment is considered lost. After a time-out, the sliding
window is partially closed and the ATO is backed off.
The Packet Processing Delay (PPD) parameter is a 16-bit word
exchanged during the Call Control phase that represents tenths of a
second (64 means 6.4 seconds). The protocol only specifies that the
parameter is exchanged, it does not specify how it is calculated. The
way values for PPD are calculated is implementation-dependent and
need not be variable (static time-outs are allowed). The PPD must be
exchanged in the call connect sequences, even if it remains constant
in an implementation. One possible way to calculate the PPD is:
PPD' = ((PPP_MAX_DATA_MTU - Header) * WindowSize * 8) / ConnectRate
PPD = PPD' + PACFudge
Header is the total size of the IP and GRE headers, which is 36. The
MTU is the overall MTU for the internetwork link between the PAC and
PNS. WindowSize represents the number of packets in the sliding
window, and is implementation-dependent. The latency of the
internetwork could be used to pick a window size sufficient to keep
the current session's pipe full. The constant 8 converts octets to
bits (assuming ConnectRate is in bits per second). If ConnectRate is
in bytes per second, omit the 8. PACFudge is not required but can be
used to take overall processing overhead of the PAC into account.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 52]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
The value of PPD is used to seed the adaptive algorithm with the
initial RTT[n-1] value.
We still must decide how much time to allow for acknowledgments to
return. If the time-out is set too high, we may wait an unnecessarily
long time for dropped packets. If the time-out is too short, we may
time out just before the acknowledgment arrives. The acknowledgment
time-out should also be reasonable and responsive to changing network
conditions.
The suggested adaptive algorithm detailed below is based on the TCP
1989 implementation and is explained in [11]. 'n' means this
iteration of the calculation, and 'n-1' refers to values from the
last calculation.
DIFF[n] = SAMPLE[n] - RTT[n-1]
DEV[n] = DEV[n-1] + (beta * (|DIFF[n]| - DEV[n-1]))
RTT[n] = RTT[n-1] + (alpha * DIFF[n])
ATO[n] = MAX (MinTimeOut, MIN (RTT[n] +
(chi * DEV[n]), MaxTimeOut))
DIFF represents the error between the last estimated round-trip
time and the measured time. DIFF is calculated on each iteration.
DEV is the estimated mean deviation. This approximates the
standard deviation. DEV is calculated on each iteration and
stored for use in the next iteration. Initially, it is set to 0.
RTT is the estimated round-trip time of an average packet. RTT is
ycalculated on each iteration and stored for use in the next
iteration. Initially, it is set to PPD.
ATO is the adaptive time-out for the next transmitted packet. ATO
is calculated on each iteration. Its value is limited, by the MIN
function, to be a maximum of the configured MaxTimeOut value.
Alpha is the gain for the average and is typically 1/8 (0.125).
Beta is the gain for the deviation and is typically 1/4 (0.250).
Chi is the gain for the time-out and is typically set to 4.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 53]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
To eliminate division operations for fractional gain elements, the
entire set of equations can be scaled. With the suggested gain
constants, they should be scaled by 8 to eliminate all division. To
simplify calculations, all gain values are kept to powers of two so
that shift operations can be used in place of multiplication or
division.
This section describes how the calculation of ATO is modified in the
case where a time-out does occur. When a time-out occurs, the time-
out value should be adjusted rapidly upward. Although the GRE
packets are not retransmitted when a time-out occurs, the time-out
should be adjusted up toward a maximum limit. To compensate for
shifting internetwork time delays, a strategy must be employed to
increase the time-out when it expires (notice that in addition to
increasing the time-out, we are also shrinking the size of the window
as described in the next section). For an interval in which a time-
out occurs, the new
ATO is calculated as:
RTT[n] = delta * RTT[n-1]
DEV[n] = DEV[n-1]
ATO[n] = MAX (MinTimeOut, MIN (RTT[n] +
(chi * DEV[n]), MaxTimeOut))
In this calculation of ATO, only the two values that both contribute
to ATO and are stored for the next iteration are calculated. RTT is
scaled by delta, and DEV is unmodified. DIFF is not carried forward
and is not used in this scenario. A value of 2 for Delta, the time-
out gain factor for RTT, is suggested.
The security of user data passed over the tunneled PPP connection is
addressed by PPP, as is authentication of the PPP peers.
Because the PPTP control channel messages are neither authenticated
nor integrity protected, it might be possible for an attacker to
hijack the underlying TCP connection. It is also possible to
manufacture false control channel messages and alter genuine messages
in transit without detection.
The GRE packets forming the tunnel itself are not cryptographically
protected. Because the PPP negotiations are carried out over the
tunnel, it may be possible for an attacker to eavesdrop on and modify
those negotiations.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 54]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
Unless the PPP payload data is cryptographically protected, it can be
captured and read or modified.
Kory Hamzeh
Ascend Communications
1275 Harbor Bay Parkway
Alameda, CA 94502
EMail: kory@ascend.com
Gurdeep Singh Pall
Microsoft Corporation
Redmond, WA
EMail: gurdeep@microsoft.com
William Verthein
U.S. Robotics/3Com
Jeff Taarud
Copper Mountain Networks
W. Andrew Little
ECI Telematics
Glen Zorn
Microsoft Corporation
Redmond, WA
EMail: glennz@microsoft.com
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 55]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
[1] Hanks, S., Li, T., Farinacci, D. and P. Traina, "Generic Routing
Encapsulation (GRE)", RFC 1701, October 1994.
[2] Hanks, S., Li, T., Farinacci, D. and P. Traina, "Generic Routing
Encapsulation (GRE) over IPv4 Networks", RFC 1702, October 1994.
[3] Lloyd, B. and W. Simpson, "PPP Authentication Protocols", RFC
1334, October 1992.
[4] Postel, J., "Transmission Control Protocol", STD 7, RFC 793,
September 1981.
[5] Postel, J., "User Data Protocol", STD 6, RFC 768, August 1980.
[6] Reynolds, J. and J. Postel, "Assigned Numbers", STD 2, RFC 1700,
October 1994. See also: http://www.iana.org/numbers.html
[7] Simpson, W., editor, "The Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP)", STD
51, RFC 1661, July 1994.
[8] Ethertype for PPP, Reserved with Xerox Corporation.
[9] Simpson, W., "PPP Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol
(CHAP)", RFC 1994, August 1996.
[10] Blunk, L. and J Vollbrecht, "PPP Extensible Authentication
Protocol (EAP)", RFC 2284, March 1998.
[11] Stevens, R., "TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 1", p. 300, Addison-
Wesley, 1994.
[12] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement
Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
Hamzeh, et al. Informational [Page 56]
RFC 2637 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) July 1999
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999). All Rights Reserved.
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