Mechanisms support machine-to-machine service layer sessions that can span multiple service layer hops where a machine-to-machine service layer hop is a direct machine-to-machine service layer communication session between two machine-to-machine service layer instances or between a machine-to-machine service layer instance and a machine-to-machine application. Mechanisms are also disclosed that illustrate machine-to-machine session establishment procedures for one M2M Session Management Service supporting multiple resources.