Wikimedia Release Engineering Team/Checkin archive/20131105

Improve our deployment process

 * git-deploy
 * Mostly on hold right now
 * automation
 * extension removal updates are currently manual, maybe make automatic? less beta cluster breakage
 * support Parsoid correctly on beta labs
 * monitoring
 * antoine will fill a ton of bugs here for beta cluster

Take the Beta Cluster to the next level
https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=56590
 * monitoring of fatals, errors, performance
 * exception going to be logged via json soon. Patch pending in mediawiki/core.
 * Need monitoring setup (aka Icinga / irc notification bot ...). Action for OPS
 * SSL
 * No more issue since Chris fixed the configuration
 * real
 * lock down the one varnish instance?
 * remove sudo access on varnish?
 * => Antoine to create user group / tweak sudo policy / write doc
 * => Chris supporting / reviewing and poking Ryan to get the SSL certificates deployed.
 * add more automated tests for eg the API
 * sync articles/gadgets from production https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=49779
 * Chris cleaned up a bunch of old Gadgets and user javascript that were out of date and/or corrupt but still on beta and causing issues.
 * feed experiences/gained knowledge of Beta Cluster automation up to production automation

Better align QA effort with high profile features

 * Apply model of Language/Mobile embedded QA to a new feature team (specifically VisualEditor)
 * Rummana is testing VE successfully
 * Jeff Hall coming on board Nov 12
 * Include more user contributed code testing (eg: Gadgets)
 * Increase capacity through community training for browser tests
 * Mobile/Michelle
 * teaching devs to do automated tests :)
 * writing up some cheat sheets for them
 * looking at javascript code coverage tooling, email to wikitech-l forthcoming
 * figuring out deploy train
 * Release notes enhancement (Andre)
 * revaluating tools used for project/feature/roadmap/whatever ?
 * http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Tracker/PM_tool (from 2010)
 * Blog post by Guillaume Paumier http://guillaumepaumier.com/2010/03/05/scaling-up-software-development-for-wikimedia-websites-tools/, looked at redmine
 * Would be looked at starting in January
 * teampractices mailing list opening up to other organizations

Selenium tests

 * Zeljko
 * 1 hour pairing on Friday with random folks interested in writing tests
 * Pairing with Markus to write browser tests for the Mediawiki installer
 * Pairing with Tobi @WMDE (they have ton of Selenium tests)
 * Bringing Flow on as well

Misc
QA/Release quaterly review postponed. Greg/Rob/Chris sitting together soon to think about it.