Session Date/Time: 14 Jun 2022 18:00

TOOLS

Summary

The TOOLS Working Group met to discuss updates across various IETF tools and infrastructure projects. Key discussions included recent Data Tracker releases, ongoing development for authoring tools and the Wagtail website, XML to RFC changes, and the upcoming deprecation of tools.ietf.org. Important technical items such as the Data Tracker's time zone aware timestamp work, NomCom eligibility calculation interpretation, and TLS 1.0/1.1 deprecation were covered. The chairs noted the absence of Lars and Jay, which deferred some "hot topic" discussions.

Key Discussion Points

Data Tracker Updates:
- Several releases since the last call, primarily migrating the codebase to Python 3.9 (chosen for straightforward installation).
- Added support for groups and streams needed for the RFC Editor model, including menuing links and role support. Ballots for RSAB for the new editorial stream are still pending.
- An upcoming release (expected this week) will include fixes for old draft versions incorrectly labeled as "active."
- Work on time zone aware timestamps will restart soon, with the development team exploring approaches to avoid a multi-hour outage.
- Future work includes ensuring drafts are fully expanded (not relying on external resources) and processing XML includes in submitted documents. The XInclude processing will be handled within the submission subsystem.
Author Tools and Wagtail Website:
- Author Tools added support for the WDF initiative (similar to RFCdiff). A new API endpoint for ID-Nits for the Data Tracker was also added.
- Wagtail website had a release with minor updates and Python 3.10 upgrade.
- Ongoing discussion regarding a single source for "Noel text" (common textual content). The requirement is for a single place to edit this text, which can then be reused across all IETF properties (Data Tracker, wikis, Wagtail), potentially via an API or shared repository.
XML to RFC:
- Multiple releases added Python 3.10 support and fixed non-Latin name rendering. Docker images have been updated.
- Upcoming work includes dropping Python 3.6 support, expected within the next two weeks.
- A question was raised about changing the default citation library URL from citation.ietf.org to bib.ietf.org when using the add-xinclude option.
Mail Archive and Registration System:
- No updates for the mail archive.
- The registration system is deploying a feature to switch between remote and on-site attendance, along with new reports and bug fixes.
Yang Catalog:
- Had a large series of major releases over the last three weeks.
- A work plan for the Pantheon contract for the rest of the year is being finalized.
Web Analytics:
- Difficulty in discerning real Data Tracker traffic due to a significant amount of "garbage traffic" (404 requests from misinformed or malicious agents that still execute JavaScript, thus being recorded). Efforts are needed to filter this traffic for better analysis.
Database Review:
- No new progress reported, follow-up needed on previous recommendations.
ZDX Security Audit:
- Ongoing work on web services running on ietfa.org. More pressing issues are being addressed, and less pressing ones are being queued.
- No emergency actions required, but audits have identified areas for improvement, such as updating application and library versions, and turning off old, vulnerable applications. Revised reports will be published.
Mailman 3:
- Deployment is still waiting for development cycles, likely to occur after the time zone aware timestamp transition is complete.
RFC Production Blocking Issues: No blocking issues were reported.
tools.ietf.org Deprecation:
- The complete shutdown of tools.ietf.org is expected next week.
- Final steps involve accepting bibxml work from Ribose, moving repositories, and reviewing redirect configurations for tools.ietf.org and its subdomains (e.g., xml2rfc.tools.ietf.org to author-tools.ietf.org).
- Anticipated community "shock and surprise" despite over a year of signaling this change.
- A persistent post summarizing the changes will be needed to point people to when questions arise. The tools transition plan document on GitHub is intended for this purpose.
NomCom Eligibility Calculations:
- The Data Tracker will be updated to explicitly model session attendance, enabling automatic generation of blue sheets and NomCom eligibility calculations.
- A disconnect was found in interpreting the RFCs regarding NomCom eligibility, specifically whether simply paying for a fully online meeting (IETF 111) without attending any sessions counts as attendance.
- The current leadership is split on this interpretation. It is anticipated that current calculations (paid = sufficient) will continue for this NomCom, pending an RFC clarification to resolve the ambiguity.
TLS 1.0/1.1 Deprecation:
- ZDX security identified that IETF web services still allow TLS 1.0/1.1.
- A conversation with the ISG was initiated to decide whether to disable these old versions and how much warning to provide to users. Initial ISG feedback indicates agreement to turn them off, with the primary question being the warning period.
- Logs show a small but non-zero amount of usage for TLS 1.0/1.1.
Zulip:
- The Zulip service is now fully deployed, with no complaints reported.
- Medico is investigating integrating the Medico chat directly with Zulip, seeking community input on API usage.
Mailing List Configuration:
- An effort was made to update working group mailing lists to include the global whitelist.
- The secretariat will periodically check these configurations (suggested monthly).
- A manual review of remaining lists (e.g., old meeting teams, sister lists) is underway to determine if allow-non-members configuration should be added.
Wiki.ietf.org:
- Significant progress has been made, with Nick and Glenn configuring authorization to match a planning document (currently a Google Doc).
- Authorization maps Data Tracker roles to different permission tiers within the wiki (e.g., WG chairs, ADs).
- Discussions are ongoing about migrating existing working group wikis into the new Wiki.js instance. The plan is to manually migrate "important bits" and archive "unimportant bits."
- Concerns were raised about the fidelity of automated conversions of old Trac wikis into Wiki.js, potentially leading to loss of information, especially in table structures. An alternative suggested was to provide old Trac instances as local Docker images or static HTML archives.
Tools Workshops Survey:
- Jay, who initiated the survey, was not present to provide an update on participation or early results.

Decisions and Action Items

Decision: The agenda was re-ordered to address development projects first, given the anticipated delay of Jay and Lars.
Decision: tools.ietf.org will be turned down sometime next week.
Decision: The current NomCom eligibility calculations (where paying for a meeting in an online-only setting counts as attendance) will likely continue for this cycle, pending formal RFC clarification.
Action Item: Chairs to follow up with Jay and Lars on the tools workshops survey results and other hot topics missed.
Action Item: Glenn to review the zone files and redirect configurations for the tools.ietf.org deprecation.
Action Item: David to send mail to the tools@ietf.org mailing list when changes related to tools.ietf.org deprecation are made.
Action Item: Chairs to follow up with Eric and Lars for final feedback from the ISG regarding the warning period for disabling TLS 1.0/1.1.
Action Item: Jay to send an update on the tools workshops survey (participation and early results) to the tools-discuss mailing list.
Action Item: Secretariat to periodically check (e.g., monthly) working group mailing list configurations for the global whitelist.
Action Item: Manually review remaining non-WG mailing lists to determine and apply allow-non-members configuration where appropriate.

Next Steps

Data Tracker: Development team to begin re-familiarizing themselves with and brainstorming approaches for the time zone aware timestamp work. Subsequently, focus on ensuring fully expanded drafts and XML includes processing.
Author Tools/Wagtail Website: Continue design discussions for a single source of truth for "Noel text" across all IETF properties.
XML to RFC: Proceed with dropping Python 3.6 support.
Yang Catalog: Eric to share the work plan for the Pantheon contract with the WG in the coming days.
TLS 1.0/1.1 Deprecation: Await ISG guidance on the warning period before disabling.
Mailman 3: Schedule development cycles after the time zone aware timestamp transition is complete.
Wiki.ietf.org: Engage in broader distribution and discussion of the wiki planning document and finalize the migration strategy for existing working group wikis.
Web Analytics: Investigate methods to filter "garbage traffic" from Data Tracker analytics for clearer usage insights.