Session Date/Time: 05 Mar 2024 19:00

TOOLS

Summary

The TOOLS working group meeting provided an update on the IETF infrastructure transition, which has been delayed until the end of April to avoid disrupting IETF 119 preparations. Key discussions included the phased deployment of new mail systems, the deprecation strategy for old websites relying on the Internet Archive, and the successful adoption of asynchronous draft submission endpoints, leading to the decision to retire the older synchronous API. Other topics covered were the status of the ISG banner for ID status, a fix for incorrect email links in feat RFC, and plans to address DKIM signing for IETF applications.

Key Discussion Points

Infrastructure Transition Update:
- The target date for completing the infrastructure transition has been shifted to the end of April, primarily to avoid disruption during IETF 119 preparation.
- Mailman 3 transition is deferred until post-IETF 119, with preparatory work (M3 engine, plumbing updates) ongoing and testing expected over the next two weeks.
- A new email relay is staged for production to support applications in the new infrastructure, designed to simplify future transitions of the main mail processing system.
- The new mail processing system is in Dev/staging, targeting full testing by end of IETF 119 and production deploy shortly thereafter.
- Notes and analytics systems are in staging, with analytics potentially moving production next week. Notes will move post-IETF 119.
- Major applications (Data Tracker, mail archive, mail processing system, www.ietf.org) are being conditioned for deployment. Data Tracker is aimed for staging in a development mode by end of week for performance testing.
- Non-meeting-critical services like the new IE website and low-activity private Wiki instances may transition early, with coordination.
- Planning is underway with Alexi for moving the ISODI map service, exploring deployment options like Kubernetes or dedicated instances. A participant inquired about other customer experiences with ISODI deployment in cloud environments, noting that Alexi is investigating this.
- The server supporting RPC and rfc-editor.org will move to a different fabric for a short period until modernized applications are in place.
ISG Banner for ID Status:
- An update was provided on an ISG item to add a banner to IDs in Data Tracker indicating their status.
- Agreed-upon text for the banner exists, but the ISG is still discussing the suggested pointer/link to be included in the HTML text.
Resolution of Feat RFC Email Links Issue:
- The issue of rfcNNNN@ietf.org email links appearing in feat RFC was discussed. These links often did not work.
- For the short term, the behavior is being reverted to the previous Data Tracker method: if an RFC originated from a draft, the draft link (reaching all interested parties) will be provided instead. This change has been merged and is expected to be in production by the end of this week.
- A participant raised a related concern about Arata notifications. The long-term plan for RFC Editor mail is to use Data Tracker's curated addresses, mapping original RFC authors to their freshest contact information, including respecting requests regarding deceased authors. This is part of the tools modernization project with a goal of completion in a few months.
DKIM Signing for Outgoing Mail:
- Investigation into a spam message revealed that mail sent from Data Tracker, the announce tool, and other applications on the existing infrastructure is not DKIM signed.
- This has become a growing problem due to stricter filters at major mail providers.
- This issue will be addressed carefully after IETF 119 to avoid disrupting meeting traffic.
Site Deprecation Strategy:
- The general strategy is to rely on the Internet Archive for very old content instead of maintaining it indefinitely.
- www6.ietf.org is very close to being turned down by the end of April, following the migration of proceedings links, ISG minutes, and appeals/statements to Data Tracker. Final URL verification and redirects are being implemented.
- The old 2009 IETF website is also slated for deprecation.
- An update was provided on the archive-it crawling process for these sites: initial crawls have been completed, and the QA process (which involves clicking through links, identifying missed content, and creating patch lists for re-crawls) is underway and expected to take several weeks. Community feedback indicated comfort with this strategy.
Asynchronous Submission Endpoints Update:
- A report was given on the usage of asynchronous submission endpoints, introduced before IETF 117 to prevent Cloudflare timeouts for submissions exceeding 30 seconds.
- Since IETF 118, there have been approximately 2500 submissions.
- The UI itself exclusively uses the asynchronous method.
- The API for GitHub-tracked drafts offers both asynchronous and synchronous options.
- The overwhelming majority of submissions are now asynchronous. Only 10 drafts from 4-5 authors used the old synchronous API.
- Approximately 89% of submissions include XML, with most being XML-only. About 25% of submissions originate from cramdown, increasing to over 40% for submissions made in the last two weeks before the recent deadline.
RPC Editor Development:
- A brief mention was made of the rapid development and exciting UI of the new editor being built for the RPC, encouraging participants to review it. A link to the repository was provided in the chat.
Open Source Summit Presentation:
- Dave Thaler announced that his submission to the Open Source Summit, focusing on IETF authoring and editing tools for other SDOs, was accepted. He plans to share his slides with the group for review before the April summit.
Code Sprint:
- A reminder was issued for participants planning to attend the Code Sprint to sign up.
Next Tools Call:
- The call immediately following an IETF meeting is typically cancelled. While a call remains scheduled, it is anticipated to be cancelled unless specific updates on the infrastructure transition warrant holding it.

Decisions and Action Items

Decision: The target date for the IETF infrastructure transition is shifted to the end of April 2024.
Decision: The Mailman 3 transition is deferred until post-IETF 119.
Decision: The feat RFC email link behavior for RFCs derived from drafts will be reverted to provide the original draft link to interested parties.
Decision: The synchronous API endpoint for draft submissions will be retired due to low usage.
- Action Item: A notice will be sent to the authors who recently used the synchronous API to inform them of its deprecation and the need to update their toolchains.
Action Item: The IESG will continue discussions to finalize the pointer text for the ID status banner in the Data Tracker.
Action Item: The issue of IETF application mail not being DKIM signed will be addressed carefully after IETF 119.
Action Item: Continue the archive-it crawling and QA process for www6.ietf.org and other deprecated websites, with the goal of turning off www6.ietf.org by the end of April.
Action Item: Dave Thaler will share his Open Source Summit presentation slides with the TOOLS group for review before the summit.

Next Steps

Continued preparatory work and testing for Mailman 3, the new email relay, and the new mail processing system, with deployments scheduled post-IETF 119.
Performance testing of the Data Tracker on the new infrastructure this week.
Final verification of redirects and deprecation of www6.ietf.org and the old 2009 website by the end of April.
Address DKIM signing for outgoing IETF application mail post-IETF 119.
Retire the synchronous API for draft submissions and notify affected users.
Participants to sign up for the upcoming Code Sprint.
The TOOLS call immediately following IETF 119 is tentatively scheduled but likely to be cancelled, unless specific infrastructure transition updates necessitate it.