- db-wg - mailman.ripe.net

auto-dbm quirks
by Steven Bakker 21 Sep '00

21 Sep '00

Hi folks, A few people have asked me to help them out with a nasty problem they're having. They are stuck behind a braindead ms-exchange server and corporate standards apparently prevent the use of SMTP, POP or IMAP. Hence, these people have to communicate using the Exchange protocol. Now, when the Exchange server has to send mail to the real^H^H^H^Houtside world, it will use a pesky "connector". And here's the catch: that connector has been configured to send mail as both plain text _and_ HTML, resulting in, you guessed it, one of those wonderful "multipart/alternative" hybrid freaks (can you tell I'm not a fan?). So, what's the big deal, you ask? These friends of mine are trying to send updates to the RIPE database, making do with the crummy mail software they have at their disposal. Unfortunately, the auto-dbm robot does not understand multipart/alternative, nor any other MIME encoding. In fact, as far as I can tell from its diagnostics, it completely ignores any Content-Type: header and simply treats the message as plain text. Now, I agree, the Exchange mail setup leaves a lot to be desired, but the mail it sends out _is_ standards compliant. The auto-dbm is the one that's non-compliant. There are two ways that I can see to fix this: 1. Look for a content-type:- header and INSIST on text/plain. This doesn't solve my friends' problems, but it would at least provide more intelligent diagnostics. 2. Do some MIME parsing, allowing both text/plain and multipart/alternative. In the case of multipart/alternative, INSIST on a text/plain part. Maybe even decode base64 or quoted-printable? Would be handy in case there are more crummy mail systems out there... I don't think the MIME parsing would be so difficult. Decoding base64 or quoted-printable shouldn't be that hard either. Is this something that can be done quickly, or at least put on a priority list? I foresee that in the near future more people will be forced to embrace the MS-Office dogma and suddenly find they cannot update their RIPE objects anymore. Cheers, Steven

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DB RPSL migration task force
by kieber＠ga-telecom.net 15 Sep '00

15 Sep '00

Re, at RIPE37 we have agreed to put a task force in place to prepare for migration to the new RPSL database, and I'd like to take the opportunity and solicit for members to this task force. Purpose of this task force should be finding the bugs in the new code before it is put to real work. Please review the migration plan at http://www.ripe.net/ripencc/pub-services/db/reimp/new-transition-v3.ps We also want to raise awareness that the new database is actually in RPSL format, so there are some significant changes to RIPE-181 format. If you are using scripts to query or update the database its very likely you have to adapt those scripts and the task force would like to benefit from your experiences when playing with the new database and testing your tools. While RIPE NCC is using a test suite to test the new database the best test is having real users beat on it. Remember, you will have to live with the bugs the task force doesn't find. If you are interested in participating, please, get back to me and I'll have you added to the mailing list <reimp-mig-tf(a)ripe.net> -- Ulf Kieber email: kieber(a)ga-telecom.net Network Engineer voice: +49-69-299896-21 Global Access Telecommunications, Inc. fax : +49-69-299896-40 internet solutions for business www : www.ga-telecom.net

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CERT Object and friends
by Wilfried Woeber, UniVie/ACOnet 15 Sep '00

15 Sep '00

Dear Andrei! Following up on today's discussion, could you please send the CERT Object (pre)draft, that you were showing to me a short while ago, to the DB-WG List? Then we can start to think about any modifications (or alternate approches), and what a presumed deployment could look like. TIA, regards, Wilfried.

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Whois discussions
by Patrik Fältström 14 Sep '00

14 Sep '00

The name of the whois-ext mailing list is: ietf-whois-ext(a)imc.org What has been discussed so far is drafted in draft-faltstrom-whois-04.txt (which doesn't mean that should be the basis for the discussions up to the BOF in December). Randy talked about differnet things at the talk today, and the RPSL specification didn't exist when Mark and myself wrote the draft. Patrik

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draft agenda (v4), for DB-WG meeting, RIPE 37, Amsterdam
by Wilfried Woeber, UniVie/ACOnet 12 Sep '00

12 Sep '00

Dear WG list members, fellow chair persons, "meeting"! Attached please find the 4th draft, proposed agenda for the DB-WG Meeting. This draft is the result of our attempts to resolve the WG schedule collisions. The proposal is to rearrange items, to run an extended 1st part (in _parallel_ with Routing), an then to continue with a _joint_ Routing and DB-WG session (after a probably belated coffee-break) to deal with items closely related to both camps. My apologies for this mess, but I guess this is the best thing that we could do - given the constraints that were imposed on us. Still, comments, suggestions and additions are welcome. Wilfried. ______________________________________________________________________ Proposed Agenda for the Database Working Group Meeting RIPE-37, Sept. 2000, Amsterdam, NL 4. Draft Thursday, Sept 14, 2000 starting at 09:00 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Part I: DB-WG Meeting PI-A. Administrative stuff (WW, chair) . volunteering a scribe . list of participants . agenda bashing . minutes distributed PI-B. Actions Items . PI.C. RIPE DB, operations update (RIPE NCC) 20min PI.D. IRRd: experiences, registration software weaknesses (G.Winters, MERIT) 20min PI.E. Activity Plan proposal(s) for next year (N.N.) . summary . next steps (requirements?) PI.F. Recommendation on the use of auth. methods in the DB (WW) 10min . mechanisms documented on NCC web pages . recommendation from the community . operational impact PI.G. Globally unique handles for person:/role: ? (R. Bush) 10min? . is there a need for globally unique handles? . what could they look like? . how to obtain and use such a handle, and for what? PI.H. IRT-Pointer for DB Objetcs (WW) 10min . consensus to go ahead? . which Objetcs? PI.Y. Input from other WGs - CENTR Tech: . protect vulnerable TLD objects? . remove "bogus" TLD objects? . "best before" on person (& role) objects? PI.Z. AOB: Part II: Joint Session with Routing PII.A. New Database implementation (RIPE NCC) PII.B: RE-Implementation/Migration TF . Test Reports/Feedback . Deployment Plan . Next steps ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WW, 12-SEP-2000 19:56:46 _________________________________:_____________________________________ Wilfried Woeber : e-mail: Woeber(a)CC.UniVie.ac.at UniVie Computer Center - ACOnet : Tel: +43 1 4277 - 140 33 Universitaetsstrasse 7 : Fax: +43 1 4277 - 9 140 A-1010 Vienna, Austria, Europe : RIPE-DB: WW144, PGP keyID 0xF0ACB369 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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draft agenda (v3), for DB-WG meeting, RIPE 37, Amsterdam
by Wilfried Woeber, UniVie/ACOnet 10 Sep '00

10 Sep '00

Dear WG list members, fellow chair persons, "meeting"! Attached please find the 3rd draft, proposed agenda for the DB-WG Meeting. This draft improves on the numbering, and lists an additional item: - Incident Response Team pointer for DB objects As we still have a few scheduling problems to resolve, please expect some re-arrangment of the sequence of items! As usual, comments, suggestions and additions are welcome. Looking forward to see many of you in Amsterdam, Wilfried. ______________________________________________________________________ Proposed Agenda for the Database Working Group Meeting RIPE-37, Sept. 2000, Amsterdam, NL 1. Draft Thursday, Sept 14, 2000 at 09:00-12:30 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Part I: WG-Meeting PI-A. Administrative stuff (WW, chair) . volunteering a scribe . list of participants . agenda bashing . minutes distributed PI-B. Actions Items . PI.C. RIPE DB, operations update (RIPE NCC) 20min PI.D. New Database implementation (RIPE NCC) 40min PI.E. IRRd: experiences, registration software weaknesses (G.Winters, MERIT) 20min PI.F. Activity Plan proposal(s) for next year (N.N.) . summary . next steps (requirements?) PI.G. Recommendation on the use of auth. methods in the DB (WW) 10min . mechanisms documented on NCC web pages . recommendation from the community . operational impact PI.H. Globally unique handles for person:/role: ? (R. Bush) 10min? . is there a need for globally unique handles? . what could they look like? . how to obtain and use such a handle, and for what? PI.I. IRT-Pointer for DB Objetcs (WW) 10min . consensus to go ahead? . which Objetcs? PI.Y. Input from other WGs - PI.Z. AOB: Part II: Re-Implementation/Migration TF PII.A: Members, ToR PII.B: Test Reports/Feedback PII.C: Deployment Plan PII.D: Next steps ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WW, 10-SEP-2000 17:28:07 _________________________________:_____________________________________ Wilfried Woeber : e-mail: Woeber(a)CC.UniVie.ac.at UniVie Computer Center - ACOnet : Tel: +43 1 4277 - 140 33 Universitaetsstrasse 7 : Fax: +43 1 4277 - 9 140 A-1010 Vienna, Austria, Europe : RIPE-DB: WW144, PGP keyID 0xF0ACB369 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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draft agenda (v2), for DB-WG meeting, RIPE 37, Amsterdam
by Wilfried Woeber, UniVie/ACOnet 07 Sep '00

07 Sep '00

Dear WG list members, fellow chair persons, "meeting"! Attached please find the 2nd draft, proposed agenda for the DB-WG Meeting. This draft fixes an omission: - Recommendation on the use of "auth:" methods (editorial fault) and lists an additional item: - globally unique handles for "person:" and/or "role:" As we still have a few scheduling problems to resolve, please expect some re-arrangment of the sequence of items! As usual, comments, suggestions and additions are welcome. Looking forward to see many of you in Amsterdam, Wilfried. ______________________________________________________________________ Proposed Agenda for the Database Working Group Meeting RIPE-37, Sept. 2000, Amsterdam, NL 1. Draft Thursday, Sept 14, 2000 at 09:00-12:30 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Part I: WG-Meeting A. Administrative stuff (WW, chair) . volunteering a scribe . list of participants . agenda bashing . minutes distributed B. Actions Items . B. RIPE DB, operations update (RIPE NCC) 20min C. New Database implementation (RIPE NCC) 40min D. IRRd: experiences, registration software weaknesses (G.Winters, MERIT) 20min E. Activity Plan proposal(s) for next year (N.N.) . summary . next steps (requirements?) F. Recommendation on the use of auth. methods in the DB (WW) 10min . mechanisms documented on NCC web pages . recommendation from the community . operational impact G. Globally unique handles for person:/role: ? (R. Bush) 10min? . is there a need for globally unique handles? . what could they look like? . how to obtain and use such a handle, and for what? Y. Input from other WGs - Z. AOB: Part II: Re-Implementation/Migration TF A: Members, ToR B: Test Reports/Feedback B: Deployment Plan C: Next steps ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WW, 7-SEP-2000 18:55:48 _________________________________:_____________________________________ Wilfried Woeber : e-mail: Woeber(a)CC.UniVie.ac.at UniVie Computer Center - ACOnet : Tel: +43 1 4277 - 140 33 Universitaetsstrasse 7 : Fax: +43 1 4277 - 9 140 A-1010 Vienna, Austria, Europe : RIPE-DB: WW144, PGP keyID 0xF0ACB369 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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RIPE whoisd re-implementation: RIP-0.5.0beta1 software snapshot
by RIPE Database Administration 06 Sep '00

06 Sep '00

Dear All, This mail is to notify you that today, we have frozen the source code of the new implementation of the RIPE Database software into a new snapshot. The main new feature of the last snapshot is that the PGP signed messages are now handled by the software, i.e. the PGPKEY authentication scheme is supported. Moreover, more inverse queries have been implemented (-i upd-to and -i mnt-nfy), and several bugs have been fixed. You can download this last snapshot at the following URL: ftp://ftp.ripe.net/ripe/dbase/reimp/RIP-0.5.0beta1.tar.gz We remind you that you can also test the functionality of this snapshot of the RIP whois server in 2 ways: - By querying the host reimp.ripe.net at port 43; you will find there a Near-Real-Time Mirror of the RIPE Database. This mirror is in RPSL format. - By using the RIP Test Database. You can send test updates to this database at the address <auto-rip(a)ripe.net>, and you can query this database at reimp.ripe.net port 4343. We would be very pleased if you could test the new implementation in both ways, and let us know your opinions. Please send your comments and bug reports to the <db-beta(a)ripe.net> mailing list. To subscribe to this list, send a message to <majordomo(a)ripe.net> with the line: subscribe db-beta in the body of your letter. This is a moderated mailing list so some delays in subscription are possible. Regards, Daniele Arena ___________________ RIPE Database Group.

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draft agenda (v1) for DB-WG meeting, RIPE 37, Amsterdam
by Wilfried Woeber, UniVie/ACOnet 06 Sep '00

06 Sep '00

Dear WG list members, fellow chair persons, "meeting", attached please find the 1st draft, proposed agenda for the DB-WG Meeting. A few minor items might get added later this week. While the general outline of the meeting should be quite stable already, please expect some re-scheduling due to the parallel WG streams. This requires us to do some "micro-management" to avoid "over-booking" of individuals. As usual, comments, suggestions and additions are welcome! Looking forward to see many of you in Amsterdam, Wilfried. ______________________________________________________________________ Proposed Agenda for the Database Working Group Meeting RIPE-37, Sept. 2000, Amsterdam, NL 1. Draft Thursday, Sept 14, 2000 at 09:00-12:30 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Part I: WG-Meeting A. Administrative stuff (Wilfried Woeber, chair) . volunteering a scribe . list of participants . agenda bashing . minutes distributed B. Actions Items . B. RIPE DB, operations update (RIPE NCC) 20min C. New Database implementation (RIPE NCC) 40min D. IRRd: experiences, registration software weaknesses (G.Winters, MERIT) 20min E. Activity Plan proposal(s) for next year (N.N.) . summary . next steps (requirements?) Y. Input from other WGs - Z. AOB: Part II: Re-Implementation/Migration TF A: Members, ToR B: Test Reports/Feedback B: Deployment Plan C: Next steps ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WW, 6-SEP-2000 13:44:48 _________________________________:_____________________________________ Wilfried Woeber : e-mail: Woeber(a)CC.UniVie.ac.at UniVie Computer Center - ACOnet : Tel: +43 1 4277 - 140 33 Universitaetsstrasse 7 : Fax: +43 1 4277 - 9 140 A-1010 Vienna, Austria, Europe : RIPE-DB: WW144, PGP keyID 0xF0ACB369 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ First things first, but not necessarily in that order....

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RIPE 36 DB-WG Minutes (final version)
by Nigel Titley 04 Sep '00

04 Sep '00

Gentlefolk, After receiving comments. Here are the final minutes of the RIPE DB-WG minutes. Share and enjoy. Nigel Minutes for the Database Working Group Meeting RIPE-36, May 2000, Budapest, HU Thursday, May 18, 2000 at 10:30 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A. Administrative stuff (Wilfried Woeber, chair) . scribe Nigel Titley volunteered to take the minutes . raw scribe notes distributed Wilfried had not had time to process the raw notes from RIPE 35, but these were circulated in lieu of full minutes. . help offered by - Nigel Titley, - Ulf Kieber Wilfried asked the WG if they were happy to accept the help offered by Nigel Titley and Ulf Kieber. Nigel would help with the PR and documentation side of the group, and Ulf will help to co-ordinate the working group. He received approval from WG on this issue. B. RIPE DB, operational update (Andrei Robachevsky, RIPE NCC) Andrei Robachevsky gave an operational update on the state of the RIPE DB. Amongst the many statistics that he presented it was noted the very large number of domain objects, mostly from the .de domain. It was explained that these objects would be shortly devolved to the DE-NIC whois server, and plans were currently being formulated to perform this move with minimum disruption to the RIPE community. C. DB Software Re-Implementation (Joao Damas, RIPE NCC) Joao Damas gave a short presentation on the progress of the DB Software re-implementation project. D. Report on Certification Authority activities (Paul Gampe, APNIC) Paul Gampe gave a very interesting presentation on the use of X509 certificates for authentication when updating the APNIC database. The following points were noted: - Training at the next RIPE meeting might be useful, to provide a view of X509 vis-a-vis PGP. There appears to be a degree of convergence between the two systems. - It was noted that it will be soon possible to sign X509 keys with PGP signatures and vice versa. - The main objection to using X509 is the cost of the commercial licenses. The first phase of the implementation will sort out licenses for users. Much cheaper (free) approaches are on their way. E. Activity Plan for next year! It was noted that input to the RIPE-NCC activity plan was needed before September. Suggestions received from the WG included - Use of X509 signature for authentication (as per APNIC) - Support for other character sets than ASCII. (Joao noted that the new code is 8-bit clean, but that there is problem wit the reproduction of character sets. The best he felt able to do was to track progress by other sources, and to keep the code clean). - Removal of further domain objects from the database. The problem being that existing applications must not be affected. It was suggested that the RIPE-NCC could offer help to other ccTLDs to set up their own whois databases. It was suggested that we ask CENTR to produce a regular report and to try and get domain objects shifted out of the DB. [AP: Wilfried Woeber and Joao Damas] F. Input from other WGs - EIX-WG would like an object in the DB to describe IXs. It was also suggested that a peering contact in the aut-num object could be useful. There was some support for both these proposals and it was suggested that a formal request be made to the WG by email. - Routing WG. No further input had been received from the Routing WG re native multicast. It was felt that this would soon need looking at. The Routing WG needs to add an entry to the RPSL Draft. G. AOB - A suggestion (Joel Rowbottom) was made to use XML for registration templates. Suggestions as to how to do this would be gratefully received. - A suggestion to use a mail-to authentication scheme was received from Michael Battilana (IANA). The idea being that agreement to proceed with a modification would be obtained via a token and confirmation from a know mail mail address. It was agreed that this was not very easy to do as it is stateful and could lead to DOS attacks on the database. - A brief update was given on CERT/IRT-related issues (WW144/Jaques Schuurman). Ut was suggested that a pointer be added to inet-num object to point to the IRT role. Anyone interested in this work to contact the WG.

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