[UCIMC-Tech] UC-IMC mail server access

Sun Sep 25 13:32:18 CDT 2011

Mike,
While setting these passwords, I thought of a way we can share these
passwords between admins until some other solution is put into place.
Documenting on the IMC wiki.

I've made a page on the Finance wiki section as an example:
http://wiki.ucimc.org/bin/view/Finance/ListeservInformation

Wiki topics can be restricted to be only viewable by folks in the group, and
the login and password to acecss the wiki is provided by our central account
service at http://accounts.chambana.net

So in theory, as long as current list admins maintain access to their
central chambana.net account, and the group documents the shared admin
and/or moderator passwords on the group's wiki pages, multiple admins can
share the responsibility of admining the lists.

This is a proposed solution of course, & groups should do what works best
for them.

Chris

On Sun, Sep 25, 2011 at 12:17 PM, Chris Ritzo <chris.ritzo at gmail.com> wrote:

> Another part of the issue here is that we all could do a better job of
> passing admin information along as people change within working groups. Tech
> has thankfully done a much better job of that recently so we actually have
> had knowledge/info transfer when folks move into new roles.
>
> We can certainly look into more robust listserv software, or
> modifying/upgrading what we have to support the needs of the collective.
> That being said, Mike, your comments in this thread about things not working
> are the first tech has really heard about lists not working or barriers to
> shared administration for new people. We can help by providing new people
> with information on how the current setup works and mentor them as new
> moderators/admins. We need to spend the FTF time necessary for these core
> issues.
>
> I'll reset the admin password for the lists you mentioned. You and the
> other listed admins will receive an email with the new password. For the
> forseeable future though, admins will need to share a common list password
> per list.
>
> I think that keeping the master password private to IMC Tech folks is
> paramount at this point. If it facilitates more communication between
> members who are actively administering/moderating lists, I think that's a
> good thing. I'm sure that sharing the master list password was done out of
> convenience, but it's clearly been shared too widely. I recognize the need
> for individualized password and will work on that but for security purposes
> we just can't be sharing the master list password for regular list
> administering anymore.
>
> Maybe we need to have a Mailman list admin/moderator training? Mike would
> you be willing to help with that? While it's tough to get people in a room
> together sometimes, it would facilitate current list admins communicating
> how to properly admin lists and how often.
>
> Chris
>
>
> On Sun, Sep 25, 2011 at 9:20 AM, Mike Lehman <rebelmike at earthlink.net>wrote:
>
>>  Chris,
>> No problem, except I'm going to need PWs for the following lists:
>> IMC-Bookkeeper
>> IMC-Production
>> IMC-Fundraising
>>
>> There are probably more, but I'll note those as needed.
>>
>> How we found ourselves here is instructive. I ended up with the uber-PW --
>> I suspect -- is because of the multiple admin requests that needed to be
>> made to the person who gave it to me (note that I did not ask for it.) Now,
>> part of this is due to the list proliferation of the early years -- a list
>> for everything and everything in its place.
>>
>> But the main reason this happened is because current list software doesn't
>> accommodate multiple admins/mods who each have personalized PWs that are
>> useful across multiple lists. Instead, each list is stuck with sharing a
>> specific list PW, which has to be coordinated among whoever is associated
>> with each list.
>>
>> I know at one time there was some discussion about an update to the list
>> software that could accommodate indvidualized admin/mod PW across multiple
>> lists. Not sure about the status of that now.
>>
>> I do know that dealing with multiple PWs that need to be managed and
>> disseminated across diverse groups of people associated with each list is a
>> PITA, even when one has plenty of time on one's hands. I share your concern
>> about limiting access to the site code and agree that this needed tightening
>> up.  Don't mind not having it, as it's easier to direct people to the Tech
>> list than to actually assist them.
>>
>> But I fear we've left the same situation in place that led to me ending up
>> with that code in the first place. Eventually, a different, better solution
>> is needed to the way PWs are handled. I'm sure we'll muddle along until
>> then, but some sort of better solution needs to be made. We simply don't sit
>> F2F enough anymore to make sharing one PW really viable in most cases, which
>> is going to lead to a lot of frustration and people avoiding helping with
>> admin/mod tasks that see them unwilling to take on the burden of managing
>> multiple PWs like we do now. Then there's just a few of us to handle
>> everything, which is where we're stuck at now.
>>
>> In my own case, I'm doing my best to slip this work to others, but that's
>> not been happening as fast as I'd like it to. The marginal PW management
>> capabilities of the current software will only slow that further because it
>> discourages people from getting involved and complicates the admin/mod
>> experience when anyone has more than one list to manage.
>> Mike
>>
>>
>>
>> On 9/23/2011 8:10 PM, Chris Ritzo wrote:
>>
>> Hi Mike, Andrew,
>>
>> I did update the master site mailman password recently which I don't plan
>> to disseminate outside IMC-tech members who are actively needed to have
>> blanket access across all lists.
>>
>> I'm happy however to set the list admin password for any that's needed.
>> Mike is correct that there is one admin password per list that is to be
>> shared among list admins. Here's a list of the existing lists for RFU:
>>
>>   *RFU* <http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/rfu> Radio Free
>> Urbana mail list  *rfu-automation*<http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/rfu-automation> rfu
>> automation, traffic, and music  *Rfu-finance*<http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/rfu-finance> WRFU
>> Budget/Fundraising Working Group  *rfu-membership*<http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/rfu-membership> RFU
>> Membership and Training  *Rfu-outreach*<http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/rfu-outreach> Fundraising
>> and Outreach effort  *Rfu-schedule*<http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/rfu-schedule> Administrative
>> list for WRFU schedule working group  *Rfu-station*<http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/rfu-station> RFU
>> Official Station Communications  *rfu-tech*<http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/rfu-tech> RFU
>> Technical
>> I'll change the RFU list admin password and any others you need. When the
>> password is changed, the current list admins will be emailed the password
>> automatically by mailman.
>>
>> Regarding deactivation of inactive lists, we generally don't do anything
>> unless the list admins let us know to do so.
>> If there's anything else needed just let us know.
>>
>> -Chris
>>
>>  On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 6:23 PM, Mike Lehman <rebelmike at earthlink.net>wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Andrew,
>>> Yes, Chris updated the site-wide PW recently. I actually don't have one
>>> myself, although have requested the new one, as I have roughly half-a-dozen
>>> lists I admin and regularly have people (You!:-) ) come to me to fix things
>>> for them. I know that they have been updating list-specific PWs on request,
>>> but I've been laying low and so far watching for critical stuff hasn't
>>> yielded the need to do that for the multiple lists I deal with, which could
>>> get complicated.
>>>
>>> Chris,
>>> Can you advise what you want to do to help Andrew out. I know we're
>>> probably wisely constraining the renewed site-wide PW, but Andrew at least
>>> needs access to RFU.
>>>
>>> Also, don't know if it's relevant, but I think we're still stuck with a
>>> single specific PW per list, right? If that's the case, then we'll have to
>>> coordinate its dissemination with RFU, which can be dicey -- or maybe Andrew
>>> can get it and notify those who also need to know it about the change?
>>> Mike
>>>
>>> On 9/23/2011 4:43 PM, Dr Andrew Ó Baoill wrote:
>>>
>>>> Mike,
>>>>
>>>> Not sure who to contact about this, and hoping you can throw it onward
>>>> to someone who can deal with it.
>>>>
>>>> In the past week or two I've been unable to access the RFU mailing list
>>>> to administer it. It seems the master password, which I'd been using to
>>>> access mailing list administration, has been changed (probably not a bad
>>>> thing). However, I'm not sure of the list-specific password I can use to log
>>>> in and moderate posts.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for your help.
>>>>
>>>> Andrew
>>>>
>>>> Dr. Andrew Ó Baoill
>>>> andrew at funferal.org
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> IMC-Tech mailing list
>>> IMC-Tech at lists.chambana.net
>>> http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/imc-tech
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> IMC-Tech at lists.chambana.net
>> http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/imc-tech
>>
>>
>
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