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Happy New Year Ducklings!
by DuckCorp Admin Team 18 Jan '14

18 Jan '14

Coin, After the big bunch of upgrades during feast time, we plan a bit of cleanup and a few other improvements ; fasten your seat belt :-). === Recent IRC problems === Our primary IRC server needed a restart in order to load the new SSL certificates, unfortunately it was hit by a bug (Debian#714219) and is OoS until then. Our IRC services got problems too, probably for the same reason. Keep in mind that irc.milkypond.org is the IRC entry point. It contains several hosts in order to have a backup when one fail. You should not use another address unless you know what you are doing (seems several users did not). Unfortunately, SSL access on our secondary server was unusable due to a misconfiguration, sorry, we found it out the hard way when the first one went down === Upcoming Server's FS Layout Changes and Consequences === In order to cleanup and follow the FHS a bit more, we're planning to move a few data in better places. This will mostly affect shell and VCS users. Mostly users data outside your own home directory will be relocated in /srv, so you need not look around weird top directories anymore. For web users: /www will be relocated into /srv/www /sites will be kept as a symlink ~1 month before being removed For VCS users: /rcs will be relocated into /src/vcs => all rcs-* websites will be renamed accordingly, with a redirection until it seems unnecessary For FTP Users with shell access: /ftp will be relocated into /srv/ftp For project members having data in /private on Toushirou: /private/{projects,duckcorp,hurdfr} will be relocated into /srv/projects. Other changes should not have any consequences. We plan to do this really soon. === Recent Web Hosting Upgrades === As previously said, and with a lot a delay, mod_ruby was removed. By the way, mod_wsgi was removed too. We are now using Passenger to provide a cleaner and less resource intensive way of hosting webapps. The following languages are now handled: - Ruby - Python (WSGI apps are very easy to adapt) - NodeJS (new!) You can still use CGI for very simple scripts, but beware FCGI (with spawning processes) support will be removed soon. As previously not announced, sorry, Ruby 1.8 support was removed and Passenger now spawn Ruby apps using version 1.9 of the interpreter now. Also, Apache moved to 2.4, which should not be a big deal for you except for ACLs. There is a compatibility module to ensure everything continues to work as before but we add surprises so… be sure to learn the new way and adapt your .htaccess files using the following documentation: http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/howto/auth.html The compatibility module is to stay at least a few month but do not wait until we announce the end of support. ACLs also are tighter now, which means almost no global access to files by default. === Recent SSH Security Upgrades === We recently enabled EDCSA host keys on all SSH servers, with updates in the SSHFP DNS records. === Supervision is back === Daneel has been rebuilt, not fully yet, but it is able to monitor our machines again. The configuration is quite not finished but the basics are working. It was really difficult to run blindly so we're eager to have again a good view of our service availability. As the software is by the way upgraded, we should be able to monitor in deeper details. Well, that is all for now. Assimilate these news well :-). Have a pleasant year! -- Marc Dequènes (Duck)

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Yec'h mat minna !
by DuckCorp Admin Team 24 Dec '13

24 Dec '13

Coin, Sorry for the disturbance in the force last saturday, a database migration took far longer than expected affecting incoming mails and 2/3 webmails mostly. The end of the year being hot, it was totally unplanned and, except for this part, should have been unnoticed from a user point of view. The final bunch of major maintenance is coming soon (probably between both feast times) and should not be too noisy (a short disturbance in the web hosting is to be expected though). If you have wishes to express for X-mas (landing to be planned sometime next year), tell us. If you feel you have some energy to spare, tell us too. Merry X-mas folks. So say we all! -- Marc Dequènes (Duck)

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Input coordinates
by DuckCorp Admin Team 02 Oct '13

02 Oct '13

Coin, === Thorfinn's Migration === Thorfinn is a Nerim VDS which is formerly used to provide western SSH access. Unfortunately Nerim is changing its infrastructure and we have to move to another virtualization system very quickly. On 2013-10-07 22:00 we will attempt a switch to the new system. It may fail and we may decide to rollback. Nevertheless we ask you to stop important tasks and not to alter your user data from this point, so we can sync all user data to the new system (we will not kick you out of the old system before it is all settled). We will then reopen SSH access as fast as possible and do the final checks. A few services may be disturbed but nothing critical or not redundant. As usual fine grained announcements and support will happen on IRC. === Quick News === * Toushirou's collocation is OK, we have taken over the contract and our new partner is a serious one * [20130626] Orfeo is now using Gbps (Toushirou a bit earlier), thanks Hivane * mod_ruby is being removed soon (a tad overdue) Have a Lot of FUN! -- Marc Dequènes (Duck)

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All crews reporting
by DuckCorp Admin Team 04 Jun '13

04 Jun '13

Coin, === Sponsoring (sequel) === Hivane almost finished its migration to use the new equipments. They also made good progress to replace Nerim's late sponsorship but everything is not settle yet. What is affecting DC directly : - [2013-05-15 to 2013-05-28] we had to change IPv6 addresses for all our machines ; it was done in the most smooth way possible - [2013-05-28 evening] LDAP problem on Thorfinn due to an IPv6 problem on Toushirou (and IPv4 fallback not working), sorry - unfortunately we cannot continue the IPv6 broker service and mobile IPv6 experiments until we acquire a new block ; we hope to find a solution soon Another bad news, our collocation at Equinix where Toushirou is located was at stake, but fortunately we found a new partner to share the rack space and cost ; details should be settled soon. If you have contacts which may help us find sponsorship, please tell us. === Webmail/Webdesk Migration === Our webdesk uses the Horde software version 3. It is old and do not work with recent PHP version. So we had to keep and old and security-impaired PHP to continue support it, as it was removed in the recent Debian release. Thus, we plan a migration to a new version very soon to get rid of this situation. Currently a test migration was done which is available at: https://webdesk-ng.duckcorp.org/ (beware the certificate does not match) On 2013-06-09 we will migrate the production data again and switch the new site to production. Until this date you can play with the test site and report problem. Unless there is a major problem the migration will go on as planned. Currently the only known remaining problem is with image uploads, but we probably need to upgrade PHP in order to fix it, or at least to debug/report the problem. The PHP migration will perhaps also affect other softwares like our other webmails, some needing an upgrade as well in order to support the recent and silly changes introduced in PHP. Do not hesitate to send a mail or message if you can still spot problems at the end of the day. === Web Hosting === mod_python was removed : it is obsolete, was not used anymore, and you can use mod_wsgi instead. mod_ruby is obsolete and broken, so we plan to remove it on 2013-07-06, you can use mod_passenger instead. === Quick News === * still web (Apache) problems on Toushirou from time to time, but no solution yet * still XMPP problems from time to time (due to EJAB-1565, if you want to get a hand) * [2013-04-23] ttrss upgrade: some feature are now plugins each user can enable on by-need basis * [gaming] we've got a Minetest (http://www.minetest.net/) server running now at minetest.duckcorp.org on UDP port 30000; you can create a user using password "sevenofnine" Well, it was a chatty one this time. Don't forget we still need workforce and sponsoring hints, and maybe YOU can help. Have FUN! -- Marc Dequènes (Duck)

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I fear not death
by DuckCorp Admin Team 19 Apr '13

19 Apr '13

Coin, === Sponsoring === Recently i told you about some difficulties our main sponsor, Hivane, had to get its network equipement updated in order to fix several problems getting more and more annoying. The good news is the new equipements have been bought and should be installed in a near future. Just let's say Hivane folks had to spend a few thousand euros from their own pockets to get to the huge required amount needed, so if you feel like helping a little bit, it would be much appreciated. Seems good news cannot come alone, so i'm quite sad to tell you Nerim is stopping all sponsoring very soon. Hivane is much concerned and is trying hard to cope with such a loss. Thanks Nerim for the past help and thanks Hivane guys for all their efforts. DuckCorp itself may l00se a few things in the process, depending on how things goes well for Hivane and how deep Nerim is cleaning things up. We'll of course keep you in touch when we have more information. === Personal data Storing / Syncing / Sharing === A new major version of our contacts/calendar/file sharing software was recently installed. This brings a few needed bug fixes and improvements as well as security fixes. Unfortunately, this also bring new problems: - the contact application in the web interface does not work well under Iceweasel/Firefox 10 which is in the upcoming Debian stable, but works well in version 15 (versions beetween 10 and 15 were not tested) - the contact application in the web interface has a major regression[1] when using multiple addressbooks: you cannot see or change in which addressbook a contact is in; you will have to handle this on one of your devices (phone) instead of the web interface. Major improvements since the begining of the year: * sharing was much improved and fixed * you can now create your own private groups to easily share with multiple contacts * the shorty's plugin was repaired * a new Notes plugin was added (test it and give us some feedback) [1] https://github.com/owncloud/apps/issues/577 https://github.com/owncloud/apps/issues/705 https://github.com/owncloud/apps/issues/704 === Quick News === * gallery spaces (quotas) have been increased \o/ * chitchat.milkypond.org is mostly working since the end of january, but don't setup your location or Still reading that crap? Get a life! -- Marc Dequènes (Duck)

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I don't have time for games!
by DuckCorp Admin Team 11 Dec '12

11 Dec '12

Coin, === Migrations === - [2012-12-15] for fixes and security we'll try to reboot all servers ; as usual, follow announces on IRC - [2012-12-15] PHP 5.3->5.4 was postponed because of bugs, but we'll try again to switch on Toushirou ; on Orfeo horde is keeping us locked with 5.3 at the moment (Horde 4 is not completely available in Debian yet) === Quick News === - [a few days ago] Daneel, one of the backup machines, is dead. It is not a big deal for DC, since Korutopi is working fine, but it was a wanted redundancy. It was also running the supervision services, which was quite useful to the admin team. A solution is being worked around. - [recently] the WevDAV access to the Gallery folders has been fixed, rendering access to local files useless, which is to be removed on 2012-12-29 (so check if you still have unsaved files there before it is purged) - [between 2012-11-21 and 2012-11-23 ] XMPP/jabber was ill and behaved badly, it has been fix^Wsolv^Wgoodified - [recently] for shell users: MOSH support has been added, see https://users.duckcorp.org/index.php/Services/Shell - [during the recent months] stuff.mp.o, the contact/calendar/stuff/ webapp has been upgraded and should provide a more reliable service, with further sharing options === Call for Help === As always, some help would be much appreciated. Money is of course welcome, but we're still looking for another admin team member if you think you can fill in the gap. Another way to help us is to help our main sponsor Hivane. Hivane is giving us connectivity between our servers with lot's of bandwidth and a high level of customization. This year, they had a few technical problems. It was not a big deal because they made themselves available very quickly and fixed problems efficiently, thanks for that. Nevertheless, they also need help to maintain their infrastructure, and DC depends on them. If you want more details, just read this page (in French) : http://www.hivane.net/help.html Merry X-mas folks. -- Marc Dequènes (Duck)

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Wanna turn up the heat?
by DuckCorp Admin Team 19 Aug '12

19 Aug '12

Coin, === Quick News === * [a while ago] we went quickly back to PHP 5.3 bacause it was causing such a mess,, sorry for the inconvenience. migration to 5.4 is then postponed until further notice. * [2012-08-08] MySQL 5.1 -> 5.5 migration done, no problem * [2012-08-08] Smarty 2 -> 3 done, no problem * [2012-08-09] Orfeo restarted due to a short electrical outage * [recently] the 'screen' utility was upgraded, but the new version cannot handle the previous sessions ; use /tmp/screen-4.0.3 to reattach your old sessions * [WIP] the ChitChat experimental service use software we believe goes in a bad direction. It is being replace by a similar service using the Movim software but it is not working properly yet === Personal data Storing / Syncing / Sharing === The Stuff experimental service was seldom used, so it was shutdown and replaced by a software with a broader goal and almost capable of the same sharing features (except time-limited sharing, yet). This software is to be used to manage files, contacts, calendars, bookmarks, and more. You can use this platform to store data, share it with other persons (with people outside DC too), and sync it on your devices (mobile phones…). See https://users.duckcorp.org/index.php/Services/OwnCloud for more information. Have a Lot of Cold Showers! -- Marc Dequènes (Duck)

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Receiving transmission
by DuckCorp Admin Team 06 Jun '12

06 Jun '12

Coin, === Quick News === * [2012-04-*] bugs and problems with our DNSSEC system may have caused DNS issues during this period, sorry about that === Maintenance === Toushirou is being rebooted this next sunday in the afternoon in order to add some more RAM. It should not be long but a disk check may lenghten things a bit. Affected services : - all web services except mail-related ones and IRC on Web - FTP - NS2 - MX2 - DICT server - all VCS - MySQL - IPv6 tunnels - NSTX - Shell (but Thorfinn is available for such usage) Be fine. -- Marc Dequènes (Duck)

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Happy New Year, ducklings!
by DuckCorp Admin Team 31 Jan '12

31 Jan '12

Coin, Hope this new year be sweet to you :-). === Quick news === * new web service for code and patch review: https://users.duckcorp.org/index.php/Services/CodeReview * new features in the news web reader (https://gossip.duckcorp.org/): ** more mobile phones should be supported ** ability to share news using a public URL (without authentication) * reworked and improved services documentation (not yet finished): https://users.duckcorp.org/index.php/Services === New Backup Box === Thanks to Arnau, we've got a new backup box to complement Daneel, named 'Korutopi'. Daneel had not enough storage to handle the growing data on our machines (which is shared with Duck's personal backup), and still has a very limited bandwidth. Korutopi has got an IPv6-only connectivity and a better bandwidth. Korutopi is meant to relieve Daneel of certain heavy parts of the backup but not all, and duplicate critical data. The configuration is currently WIP. === Mail Improvements === We have been told the antispam retraining methods are not always very handy, especially when using a webphone. So we have worked on a new retraining method using a magic folder, which will trigger retraining when you move mails in or out. This is not an original solution, but it was not workable with our resources until some recent work was done. Upcoming change: * [2012-02-04/05] the 'Junk' folder will become magical and the new method will then be available to everybody; if you already used this folder name for another usage, you will have to rename it, sorry * [2012-02-11/12] the default delivery method and filtering rules will change to have this new retraining method as default, which will provide a simpler default mail configuration for newcomers and basic users (but this will not affect power users' configuration, and they may adapt themselves their configuration to use this method) To learn more on this topic, please read: https://users.duckcorp.org/index.php/Services/Mail That's All Folks! -- Marc Dequènes (Duck)

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Shields up, weapons online.
by DuckCorp Admin Team 01 Dec '11

01 Dec '11

Coin, === Quick News === * [2011-10-29] the RoundCube webmail was upgraded, bringing improvements among which: IMAP ACL support (see previous news on the subject) and a better address book * [2011-11-07] PostreSQL was upgraded to 9.1, which should bring new features[1] and performance enhancement; currently the 'standard_conforming_strings' setting was restored to the old behavior, mais check your apps, as it will soon switch back to its new and legitimate behavior * [2011-11-12] our antispam system (DSPAM) was upgraded, with a few fixes and much better international(-ization) support in the web interface: pages are now fully multilingual (UTF-8) compliant and mail subjects (and mail content in the quarantine page) in various foreign langages are now properly displayed (recoded); beware only mails coming into the system after this software upgrade are concerned by this improvement, but it should not be long before it is buried past * [since 2011-10-10] due to sponsoring problems, Jinta is unavailable and will probably not return; this has little impact, but we now lack a secondary IRC server * [2011-11-29] our new IRC web interface, irconweb-ng.duckcorp.org, replaced irconweb.duckcorp.org completely, as it is working nicely and the old system had a few boring bugs (like not always seeing disconnections); thus irconweb-ng has been renamed into irconweb, and the old system removed [1] http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/What%27s_new_in_PostgreSQL_9.1 === Nuke === It's really high time we restart our machines to recent kernels, but as it is quite sensitive, it was postponed many times. Here is the blessed schedule: * [2011-12-04] Toushirou, affects web (everything but mail-related websites), FTP, VCS, MySQL, IPv6 tunnels, NSTX, shell (but Thorfinn is available), DNS (backup only), mail (relay only) * [2011-12-11] Thorfinn, affects shell (you can switch to Toushirou in the meanwhile), IRC proxy and bots, Jabber (but Orfeo should handle) * [2011-12-18] Orfeo, affects mail, webdesk, DNS (but Toushirou should handle), IRC (including IRC2IM gateway), Jabber (but Thorfinn should handle), PostgreSQL, LDAP (but other nodes should handle in read-only mode) Beware a lengthy disk check is likely to happen, which is necessary from time to time, and we may need to reboot more than once for technical reasons, so please be patient. The exact maintenance time will be advertised on IRC, as well as when the system is safe to use again. See you soon if we survive ! -- Marc Dequènes (Duck)

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