The release to PPS uses two apt/yum repositories. The release is firstly deployed at CERN, then at CNAF.
The first one was used as a buffer for a pre-installation test run at CERN_PPS, in the aim of shielding the PPS against the injection of patches with eveident problems
This pre-deployment test was not done during the last six month due to lack of time.
In these six months we have observed several incidents with RPMs delivered to PPS and then quickly taken away from the repository due to evident bugs
So we would like to re-introduce this buffer, as already foreseen in point 4 (Monday) of the current release procedure (https://twiki.cern.ch/twiki/bin/view/LCG/PPSReleaseProcedures#Certification_PPS).
We cannot run this test in CERN_PPS without becoming a bottleneck for the release, so we are proposing to create a small pool of sites, covering together almost all the services, in charge of deploying the new release on selected services in less than one day and give a green light for the deployment in the CNAf repository.
Sites member of this pool will be requested to:
- Upgrade as soon as possible (not more than 1 day) their prioritary sevices (see list below)
- report the result of the upgrade to the pre-deployment test coordinator, who will summarise the result of the whole test