Toolserver:FAQ

This page is for Frequently Asked Questions about the Toolserver. This page will be updated from time to time by users of the Toolserver and the admins with new questions.


 * What is the Wikimedia Toolserver?
 * The Wikimedia Toolserver is a collaborative platform providing Unix hosting for various software tools written by and used for Wikimedia editors. The service is operated by Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. with assistance from the Wikimedia Foundation.


 * How can I become a user on the Toolserver?
 * Interested people may request access to the server by leaving their details and proposed uses at Meta Wiki.


 * What servers are used to collaborate the Toolserver and its operations?
 * There are four servers that make the Toolserver, two of which (zedler and hemlock) were kindly donated by Sun Microsystems.
 * zedler is a Sun Fire V40z with 2x 2.2GHz Opteron CPUs, 8GB RAM, 6 146GB SCSI disks and 12 400GB SATA disks.
 * yarrow is a Dell PowerEdge 1950, with 2 dual-core 2GHz Xeon CPUs, 16GB RAM, 2 72GB SAS disks and 12 15,000 rpm 72GB SCSI disks.
 * vandale is a Sun Fire V40z with two Opteron 844 CPUs, 8GB RAM and 6 146GB SCSI disks.
 * hemlock is a Sun Fire x4100 with 2 2.8GHz Opteron CPUs, 8GB RAM and 2 70GB SAS disks.


 * What software does each server run?
 * zedler and yarrow are running Solaris and contain the MySQL servers, which provide realtime copies of the Wikimedia databases.
 * vandale runs Solaris with Sun Java System Web Server to provide several tools for Toolserver users (e.g. a bug tracker and repository viewer). Licenses for two of these tools, JIRA and FishEye, were kindly donated by Atlassian Software Systems under their Open Source program.
 * hemlock is running a Debian Linux system. It has a Subversion daemon running, where users can put the source codes of their projects, and hosts the main Apache webserver.


 * What bots on the Toolserver are active participants of Wikimedia wikis?
 * Please see the list of bots at List of Wikimedia bots, which is updated regularly by the bot's owner.


 * What do all of the bots idling in #wikimedia-toolserver do?
 * See the list of the bots and their main purposes at IRC bots.


 * Where can I view all of the Toolserver users and how can I contact them?
 * The list of current Toolserver account users can be viewed here, and you can contact them by emailing  @ts.wikimedia.org or by leaving a message on their local wiki.