Mailing List Migration Project

Hermes → Mailgw

As part of the Apache Infrastructure team's goals of modernization and service improvement, we are pleased to announce the general availability of "mailgw", the long-awaited replacement for hermes.

This document addresses common questions related to the migration of mail and mailing lists to the new server.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are hermes and mailgw, and why are we migrating?

Hermes and mailgw are hostnames for the servers that process mail to @apache.org email addresses. They also process mailing list traffic for all ASF projects, e.g. "users@httpd.apache.org".

Hermes is a nearly 10 year old legacy server that pre-dates Infra's modern configuration management strategy, and pre-dates many modern email technologies like TLS encryption.

Mailgw is a modern server using currently available technology, and under full configuration management, greatly improving reliability and reproducibility of the service in case of failures.

The migration process moves @apache.org and @$project.apache.org email services from hermes onto mailgw, ensuring that email services remain compliant with modern standards to the greatest extent possible.

Will we lose any email?

No. Despite a list being migrated from hermes to mailgw, mail which was 'in flight' to hermes will still be delivered to the list subscribers on hermes. Once the list is fully migrated, we will reroute email to mailgw automatically. This process is transparent to users.

Will this affect official archives?

No. We manage archives through mailing list subscriptions to the PonEE archival service and list subscriptions to the mbox-vm archiver. Mail delivered via either hermes or mailgw will make it to the official archives.

What about unofficial mbox archives?

hermes-based ~apmail/lists/project.a.o/archives accessible via ezmlm's archive commands (get/index/thread/etc) will not be transferred to mailgw. They will be archived for posterity and we can provide them upon Member request. Access all mailing list archives via the official URL https://lists.apache.org.

Will the system preserve queued moderation mail?

Yes.

Will the system preserve settings and subscribers/mods?

Yes.

What do I do if there is a problem?

Email users@infra.apache.org or open an Infra Jira ticket.

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APMAIL Volunteer Specific Information

Will apmail volunteers be able to access the new server?

Yes, apmail access will be re-granted upon request. Ask Infra if you wish to continue as an apmail volunteer, and we will add you to the new server.

What is the actual hostname of the new server?

mailgw-he-de.apache.org

How do we know if a list has been migrated?

The list will exist on mailgw-he-de.apache.org, and the list directory on hermes will contain a flag file called 'migrated-to-mailgw'.

Do apmail processes remain the same?

For the most part, tools in ~apmail/bin will perform as expected, and ezmlm commands (subscriptions, moderation, etc.,) work as expected. Contact Infra if anything doesn't work as expected.

Has my project been migrated?

The following projects have been migrated:

accumulo.apache.org activemq.apache.org age.apache.org airavata.apache.org airflow.apache.org allura.apache.org ambari.apache.org ambari.apache.org annotator.apache.org ant.apache.org any23.apache.org apachecon.com apachecon.eu apisix.apache.org apr.apache.org apr.apache.org archiva.apache.org aries.apache.org arrow.apache.org asterixdb.apache.org atlas.apache.org attic.apache.org avro.apache.org axis.apache.org batchee.apache.org beam.apache.org bigtop.apache.org bloodhound.apache.org bookkeeper.apache.org brooklyn.apache.org brpc.apache.org buildr.apache.org buildstream.apache.org bval.apache.org calcite.apache.org camel.apache.org camel.apbahir.apache.org carbondata.apache.org cassandra.apache.org cayenne.apache.org celix.apache.org clerezza.apache.org cloudstack.apache.org cocoon.apache.org commons.apache.org community.apache.org copylines copylines.readme cordova.apache.org couchdb.apache.org crail.apache.org creadur.apache.org ctakes.apache.org curator.apache.org cxf.apache.org echarts.apache.org empire-db.apache.org eventmesh.apache.org infra.apache.org infratest.apache.org kibble.apache.org pivot.apache.org steve.apache.org warble.apache.org wayang.apache.org weex.apache.org whimsical.apache.org wicket.apache.org ws.apache.org xalan.apache.org xerces.apache.org xmlgraphics.apache.org yetus.apache.org yunikorn.apache.org zeppelin.apache.org zookeeper.apache.org freemarker.apache.org datafu.apache.org geode.apache.org datalab.apache.org geronimo.apache.org datasketches.apache.org giraph.apache.org db.apache.org gobblin.apache.org deltaspike.apache.org gora.apache.org devlake.apache.org griffin.apache.org directory.apache.org groovy.apache.org diversity.apache.org guacamole.apache.org dolphinscheduler.apache.org gump.apache.org doris.apache.org hadoop.apache.org drill.apache.org hawq.apache.org druid.apache.org hbase.apache.org dubbo.apache.org hc.apache.org dump_subs_dig_mods.sh helix.apache.org felix.apache.org heron.apache.org fineract.apache.org hive.apache.org flagon.apache.org hivemall.apache.org flex.apache.org hop.apache.org flink.apache.org httpd.apache.org flume.apache.org hudi.apache.org fluo.apache.org hugegraph.apache.org iceberg.apache.org ignite.apache.org impala.apache.org inlong.apache.org iotdb.apache.org isis.apache.org incubator.apache.org jackrabbit.apache.org jmeter.apache.org juddi.apache.org james.apache.org johnzon.apache.org juneau.apache.org jclouds.apache.org joshua.apache.org jena.apache.org jspwiki.apache.org kafka.apache.org knox.apache.org kylin.apache.org karaf.apache.org kudu.apache.org kyuubi.apache.org kvrocks.apache.org pagespeed.apache.org parquet.apache.org pdfbox.apache.org pegasus.apache.org perl.apache.org petri.apache.org phoenix.apache.org pig.apache.org pinot.apache.org plc4x.apache.org poi.apache.org ponymail.apache.org portals.apache.org pulsar.apache.org