Netlet descriptor

A netlet descriptor (often just referred to as descriptor) is a capability to instantiate a netlet.

The structure of a netlet descriptor is shown in Figure  (XML DTD in Section ). The salient components are:

Codebase(s)

consists of the name of the main class, a set of Jar entries, and a serialised parameter bean. Each Jar entry has a bunch of URLs locating the actual Jar file, as well as the Jar's hash value.

Signature(s)

allow verification of the descriptor content (excluding the actual Jar file). The signature consists of the signer's distinguished name, and an encrypted digest of the descriptor content. Note that descriptors used to instantiate access points for non-anonymous service must be signed by the service's principal.

Secret(s)

as described above (Section ).

Code file(s)

are actual Jar files embedded in the descriptor. Each file is marked by a URL, which ties the Jar to a codebase entry. Embedded Jars are useful to avoid additional network transactions for downloading a netlet's Jar files.

Node implementations must not instantiate netlet descriptors whose lifetime has expired.

Node implementations must treat netlet descriptors as confidential information (as they may contain secrets).

Figure: Netlet descriptor structure