Replace archive admin shell access with API clients

Registered by Colin Watson

The Ubuntu archive administration team has always required direct privileged shell access to the ftpmaster system in order to perform many of its routine tasks. This is a security problem, it prevents us from opening some tasks up to those who are not Canonical employees, and it makes it hard for us to improve our own tools. Improve the Launchpad API to handle all our requirements and write suitable API clients.

We will know we have succeeded when archive admins no longer require shell access to do their jobs.

(This is carried over from https://blueprints.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+spec/foundations-q-replace-archive-admin-shell-access.)

Blueprint information

Status:
Not started
Approver:
Steve Langasek
Priority:
Low
Drafter:
Colin Watson
Direction:
Needs approval
Assignee:
Colin Watson
Definition:
Pending Approval
Series goal:
Accepted for raring
Implementation:
Not started
Milestone target:
None

Whiteboard

== lp_publish ==

WBNI publisher took reliably <30mins
 * run a few things outside the lock?
 * possibly get rid of ls-lR?

== lp_buildd ==

buildd-mass-retry: should be movable to API
add-missing-builds: needs API

(This is not a user-visible feature, and has no associated release notes.)

(?)

Work Items

Work items:
Export enough API to permit writing a populate-archive client: POSTPONED
Write an API client to replace populate-archive: POSTPONED

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