Setting up RT Queues

This description is mainly useful for repository system specialists who need to establish an RT queue, usually for first level support of repository end users. The request is typically made on behalf of the repository administrator due to its complexity and relations to other infrastructure systems. (Hint: consult repository specialists, you don’t want to handle this yourself.)

Setting up an RT queue

In order to set up an RT queue, you should provide the following information:

1. Suggested name of the queue (preferably short and starting with nrp- by convention).
2. Short description (e.g. “End user support of repository XYZ, https://XYZ.repo.cz”). Note that it is very useful to know the URL where the repository shall be running.
3. the queue will technically be reachable via technical mails such as nrp-myqueue@rt.cesnet.cz, nrp-myqueue-c@rt.cesnet.cz, and nrp-myqueue-com@rt.cesnet.cz (the -c and -com variants are for comments). You probably want to use a user mail address using the domain of the repository or a suitable institution. You need to arrange with your local IT support that they create aliases from the user mail addresses to the technical ones. Kindly note that the user mail addresses need to be configured in the RT, so identify them in your request.
4. people managing with the access to the queue should preferably be defined in a group in a virtual organisation. You need two groups, one for people with access to the contents of the queue, the other for “watchers”, i.e. those who receive mail notifications. Provide those groups, preferably via an URL to Perun in your request. If you are a repository administrator in NRP, you need to have such a group anyway. The groups should be populated by the repository administrator.
5. State explicitly that the queue should have NRP default configuration (see below), or suggest deviations from the default when appropriate. Note that deviations from the default should be supported by a significant technical and/or operational arguments.

To request a queue, send the information above to support@eosc.cz. Feel free to provide additional information you see fit. Please keep in mind that it is much easier to provide final approved information than changing it in the process.

Note that if the repository domain is not under the control of the infrastructure, you will need to request configuring mail aliases (the exact procedure depends on who operates the domain). RT administrator will tell you the exact redirections.

Kindly make sure that the queue is listed in this documentation!

Default configuration of NRP queues

Unless explicitly discussed otherwise, NRP support queues use following configuration and properties:

• People with access to the queue will see the existence of other NRP related queues in the RT web interface (i.e. they see the queues exist, but don’t see their contents).
• Email notifications to queue operators (watchers) are provided for each transaction, such as replies, comments, owner or state changes, etc.
• There are no limits to transfer tickets to another queue or to your queue.
• The queue sends an autoreply to any new conversation (mail) sent to it. The autoreply contains a standard notification that the request has been filed and it was assigned a number. It is extremely useful when users remember to provide additional information (replying to the mail files the conversation to the ticket).
• It is useful to know that if the email starting a new ticket has people in CC, those are added to the ticket and CC’d by the RT system. If anybody adds people to a reply to an existing ticket, they are NOT added automatically. You need to open the ticket on the web and manage those changes there.
• It is possible to create a ticket on behalf of somebody in the web interface (setting the person as a requestor). This is mainly used when a queue administrator needs to send some information to a user which didn’t request it first (ie. information about policy violation).

Kindly note that deviations from these standards are discouraged and should be properly substantiated.