[Toolserver-l] [stable] server migration

[River Tarnell]

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hi,

given the current low uptake of stable server usage, we have decided we cannot
afford to dedicate an entire server to it, which ends up being mostly idle.
therefore we will be migrating the stable server to a zone (virtual machine) on
hyacinth, which is also the new /home server.  there should be no change in
either reliability or performance as a result.

unlike the previous move, no user intervention will be required this time.  we
are currently copying the existing /users and /projects directories to the new
server.  at switchover time, an incremental rsync will be done to copy any
changes since then.  you can log into the new server now, using the hostname
"newstable.toolserver.org"; however, i recommend not changing any files, as
they will be overwritten when the next copy is done.  if you would prefer to
edit files on the new server, let me know and i will exclude your project from
the automatic copy.

(it may take a while until you can log in, since not all .ssh directories have
been copied yet.)

i *do* recommend doing a quick sanity check of your software on the new server;
for example, that any software or libraries it needs are available and work
correctly.

downtime for the final migration will be on Monday, 6th June, in line with the
maintenance schedule for stable.  we might begin the downtime slightly earlier
than usual (5AM UTC) to allow time for the file copies.

i would like to change to ZWS at the same time as the migration; if your
project has no yet confirmed that it works with ZWS, *please* consider trying
to do so before the migration, as it will make things much easier for us.  this
applies to:

* wma
* wmfgcbot

if you are unable to complete the web server migration yourself, please ask for
help, either on IRC or the mailing list.

the move is accompanied by a more recent version of the TS package repository
(/opt/ts), which includes newer versions of Perl, Python and other software.
this is documented in more detail at:

  <https://wiki.toolserver.org/view/Solaris_software>

for projects using third-party Python modules currently installed in
/opt/ts/lib/python2.4/lib/site-packages, these will still be available after
the move.  however, we recommend changing to the Toolserver Python.

after the move is complete, the existing stable server (willow) will be
repurposed into a general login server.  more details on this will follow
later.

lastly, we are still interested in more stable projects.  stable server
projects can have multiple maintainers, which reduces the workload on one
maintainer, and means tools don't die when their maintainers leave.  

we are currently considering disabling the unmaintained web tools of expired
user accounts, meaning these tools will stop working.  stable tools will only
be disabled if *all* maintainers leave, and no new maintainer can be found.

additionally, the stable Toolserver has a well-defined maintenance schedule to
avoid downtime during peak times, and has much less unplanned downtime than the
normal Toolserver.

if you would like to move a project to stable, open a request in the TS project
in JIRA, describing the project and listing the initial maintainer(s).

	- river.
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