source: branches/fc11-dev/locker/doc/tickets/cnames.txt @ 1527

HANDLING CNAME REQUESTS

When someone e-mails scripts.mit.edu asking for a foo.mit.edu hostname:

1. Check that the hostname is not currently in use. The commands
     stella foo.mit.edu
     athrun ops qy ghal foo.mit.edu \*
   should both say the name is not in use. (The latter checks for aliases of
   deleted or otherwise inactive hostnames that stella ignores.)

   If the name is currently an alias of a name they own, make sure to forward
   to jweiss the permission to move that name around.

   If the name is the primary name of a machine they own, ask them what they
   would like to rename the machine to, and make it clear that they'll need to
   have another name associated with that IP address. Or (especially if the
   machine doesn't ping) ask them to confirm they're no longer using that IP
   address. If they're totally confused and keep insisting they want scripts
   to serve that name, go ahead and tell them you'll rename the current foo to
   foo-old.

   If the name belongs to a deleted host on a dorm network, e-mail rccsuper to
   reap it; they should do so quickly. If it belongs to an FSILG, e-mail
   ht-$ILG-acl (ht-et-acl, ht-pika-acl, etc.) and ask nicely. If it belongs
   to an academic network, they're not getting the name back unless they can
   negotiate with the current owner of the name

2. Check that they're requesting a scripts.mit.edu path that they control
   (preferably, they'll give you a locker.scripts.mit.edu/something URL). If
   they want a web.mit.edu path, you'll need to tell them to set up a redirect
   according to http://scripts.mit.edu/faq/63/ in a directory in their
   web_scripts, and ask them to tell us the directory. This doesn't block
   requesting the hostname.

   If they want something more outlandish, make sure they're not confused
   before proceeding.

3. E-mail jweiss.
   * Open the ticket in RT
   * Click 'Comment' to the right of the body of the e-mail they sent
   * CC: jweiss@mit.edu (Don't use "To:", there's a bug)
   * Write something nice. I typically use
   Subject: scripts CNAME request: foo.mit.edu

   At your convenience, please make foo.mit.edu an alias of scripts.mit.edu.
       (or)
   At your convenience, please move the alias foo.mit.edu from bar.mit.edu to
     scripts.mit.edu.
       (or)
   At your convenience, please rename the current host foo.mit.edu to
     foo-old.mit.edu and make foo.mit.edu an alias of scripts.mit.edu.
       (or)
   If the request below is sufficient authorization, please remove....

   * Set Status => Waiting and Blocking On => Moira

   Occasionally jweiss is on vacation; check /mit/ops/Pager.Schedule for
   "!jweiss" entries. It's worth asking him ahead of time if he's around. If
   not, see if zacheiss or cfox or computing-help will handle the requests.
   (zacheiss has been willing to do them in the past.)

4. Reply to the requestor (from either RT or your e-mail client), with
   something like "We've forwarded the hostname request to IS&T; it should take
   effect in 2-3 business days."

5. After the name updates (jweiss replies, and DNS updates - which you can
   check on -i dns), ask someone with root access to run

   vhostadd foo.mit.edu

6. Reply to the requestor again, and help them with stuff like MediaWiki URLs
   or RewriteRules if they're having trouble.

--geofft, last updated 2008-08-02