Session Date/Time: 10 Oct 2023 18:00

TOOLS

Summary

The TOOLS working group discussed updates on several key infrastructure projects, including Post-Confirm mail processing, IAB and IRTF website migrations, data tracker enhancements for RFC modeling, and dashboarding efforts. Significant progress was reported on these fronts, with several items nearing deployment. The meeting also introduced Sirius Open Source as the new contractor for email processing services and covered discussions around a new RST to XML conversion tool, an upcoming security review, and a strategic shift away from GraphQL for the general public API. Upcoming changes to the YANG Catalog's maintenance and a feature request for handling emails for deceased authors were also discussed.

Key Discussion Points

Post-Confirm Update: The original Python 3 upgrade plan was abandoned for a quicker Python 2.7 fix that significantly reduced mail bounce rates (less than 5% of previous). Key changes included providing a real address at i.org on the message envelope and avoiding gratuitous line break changes to signed headers. Further tweaks are being developed with a testing framework. Post-Confirm will require reimplementation when transitioning to new IT infrastructure. The use of i.org for alternative algorithms was formally supported by the IESG.
IAB Website: The IAB website is in final review. Two issues were identified: a gradient overlay not showing in older Safari versions (less urgent) and sidebar menus displaying the wrong page level on mobile, preventing access to lower-level pages (urgent). Nick is addressing the menu issue. Deployment timing is dependent on the menu fix, potentially after IETF 118 for sanity.
IRTF Website Cloud Migration Experiment: An experiment to serve the IRTF website entirely from cloud services (GitHub source, Azure blob storage CDN) was discussed. This replaces an FTP-based workflow with GitHub Actions. Challenges encountered included legacy Apache configurations and .htaccess files. It was noted that serving an Apex domain (irtf.org) directly from most cloud CDNs is complex and expensive, leading to a decision to redirect to www.irtf.org. An existing redirection bug (HTTPS to HTTP then back to HTTPS) will also be fixed with the new deployment.
Dashboarding: Progress was reported on creating a dashboard of high-level current stats for IETF work, specifically requested by the IESG. A live demo is expected by IETF 118. The infrastructure feeds off APIs from systems like the data tracker and mail archive. A second, year-to-date dashboard for the community is also planned for annual reports.
RFCs as Distinct Documents (Data Tracker Refactor): A significant refactor of the data tracker database model is underway to treat RFCs as their own distinct document type (rather than pseudo-revisions of drafts). This simplifies plumbing and improves page usage. A sandbox instance at dtr-r.ietf.org is available for testing, and community feedback is encouraged until IETF 118. The deployment is planned just after IETF 118.
- Subseries (BCP, STD, FYI) are now explicitly modeled as document types.
- Work continues on rebuilding references relationships for RFCs and their preceding draft revisions.
- Tuning of wording for BCP/STD/FYI history entries is in progress to clarify that data tracker is "learning" about long-standing relationships.
- A subsequent refactor will change models pointing to the Django user table to point to the data tracker person table instead.
ZedX Security Review: ZedX Security, under a new multi-year contract, will conduct a code review and security assessment of the dt.ietf.org service in November/December.
API V1 (Tasty Pie) Replacement: The decision was made not to replace Tasty Pie with GraphQL for a generic public API. Experience from IETF 117 Code Sprint indicated GraphQL for generic APIs can lead to complex and expensive queries for random users, and documentation isn't always clearer. Django REST framework is being explored as an alternative for public APIs. GraphQL may still be used for internal APIs with hard access control and known query shapes.
Mail Archive List Subscription Issue: An issue with a broken subscription for an external list (e.g., HTTP-WG at W3C, archived in Mail Archive) was resolved after three months of unnoticed breakage. The cause was a dropped domain name during Cloudflare migration. A temporary opaque ietf.org name is in use, with plans for a more self-documenting subdomain later.
RST to XML Conversion Tool: Dave Thaler introduced a tool for converting reStructuredText (RST) files (e.g., from the Linux kernel community) to the RFCv3 XML format, similar to markdown conversion tools. This tool supports the BPF working group and is generic. It currently resides in Dave Thaler's GitHub organization. A discussion ensued about potentially hosting it under the ietf-tools GitHub organization and documenting it on authors.ietf.org. Jay advised that maintaining the tools-catalog is key, and consistency checks are needed for author-tools.ietf.org integration. MIT license is acceptable.
Email Processing Services RFP: The RFP has concluded, and a contract has been awarded to Sirius Open Source. Mark Taylor (CEO), Jesse Porty (Senior Engineer), and Thomas (Postgres specialist) from Sirius were introduced. Sirius will take over management of all mail-related services, including mailman, mail delivery, and anti-spam. This includes a planned transfer to Mailman 3, with post-confirm being reimplemented as one or two meters built into Postfix.
Infrastructure Services RFP: Negotiations are ongoing with the preferred bidder. The announcement will be made once the contract is signed.
YANG Catalog: Ongoing support for the YANG Catalog will be moved back to the IETF tools team from Pantheon. This is a stable, low-usage service running on AWS. The goal is to transfer knowledge of its structure and deployment. The team will assess its usage and consider future integration into other tool suites.
Deceased Author Email Handling: Warren Kumari raised a GitHub issue (which duplicates an existing one) requesting a feature in the data tracker to stop sending emails to specific addresses for deceased authors to avoid distressing families. This is on the roadmap.
In Memoriam Section: An "in memoriam" section is also planned for the data tracker to remember past contributors.
November Meeting / Code Sprint: The November TOOLS meeting, scheduled immediately after IETF 118, will likely be canceled due to travel. The next team call will be in early December. A section of the IETF 118 Code Sprint is planned as an information-sharing session on architectures and API usage, to be recorded if successful.

Decisions and Action Items

Post-Confirm: Continue running the current system with John's pending tweaks until the transition to the new IT infrastructure, at which point it will be reimplemented.
IAB Website: Nick to address the mobile sidebar menu issue. Deployment will occur once fixed, potentially after IETF 118.
IRTF Website: The irtf.org Apex domain will be redirected to www.irtf.org for cloud service compatibility. The HTTP/HTTPS redirection bug will be fixed.
Data Tracker (RFCs as Distinct Docs): The refactor to model RFCs as distinct documents will be merged and deployed just after IETF 118. The sandbox instance at dtr-r.ietf.org is available for community testing and feedback.
API V1 (Tasty Pie) Replacement: The IETF will not pursue GraphQL for creating a generic public API, but will explore Django REST framework. GraphQL may be used for internal APIs where access control and query shapes are known.
RST to XML Conversion Tool: Dave Thaler will follow up with Jay and Casar to submit a pull request for documenting the tool on authors.ietf.org. Further discussions about hosting it under the ietf-tools GitHub organization will occur as usage increases.
Email Processing Services: The contract for email processing services has been awarded to Sirius Open Source, initiating the transition to Mailman 3.
YANG Catalog: Ongoing support for the YANG Catalog will be transferred from Pantheon back to the IETF tools team.
November TOOLS Meeting: The November TOOLS team meeting will likely be canceled.
Code Sprint: An information-sharing session on architectures and API usage will be included in the IETF 118 Code Sprint.

Next Steps

John to complete building the testing framework for Post-Confirm tweaks.
Nick to fix the sidebar menu issue on the IAB website.
The data tracker team to finalize rebuilding the references relationships for RFCs and drafts.
The data tracker team to tune the wording in the history for BCP, STD, and FYI objects.
The data tracker team to proceed with the refactor of Django user table pointers to the data tracker person table after the RFC refactor deployment.
ZedX Security to begin their code review and security assessment of dt.ietf.org in November/December.
Dave Thaler to initiate the process for documenting his RST to XML tool on authors.ietf.org.
Sirius Open Source to commence taking over mail services and work on the Mailman 3 transition and Post-Confirm reimplementation.
IETF Admin to finalize negotiations and sign the contract for the Infrastructure Services RFP.
The tools team to coordinate with Pantheon for the transfer of knowledge and management of the YANG Catalog.
The tools team to address the feature request for handling emails to deceased authors.
Details for the IETF 118 Code Sprint information-sharing session will be announced in the coming weeks.
The next TOOLS team call will be scheduled for early December.