[DBWG] formerly incomplete afrinic.db.gz file

[Cedrick Adrien Mbeyet]

Dear Frank,

Sorry for not being able to share a short report on the incident
earlier. Please find below the requested information.


Once the afrinic.db file is generated by WHOIS services, the file is
transferred to an intermediate server before reaching AFRINIC FTP server.

Initial investigation showed that the Stealth WHOIS service was
generating files correctly. In the other hand, the script that update
and copy the file to the final destination (FTP) did not run properly
even-though the timestamp changed on ftp.afrinic.net.

Deeper investigation pointed at issue caused by the limit of max open
file on WHOIS Stealth as no other processes (including cron jobs) could
be executed.

Based on basic knowledge of the WHOIS service, there is a high
probability that this issue is caused by the addition of lame delegation
feature. Which increased the number of open files by more than 300.


_Immediate remedial action:_

Free up open files and rerun script manually.


_Long term action:_

Modify the transfer script to keep the actual timestamp and setup
monitoring on file age (check for file age greater than 24 hours)

Adjust the max open file limit on WHOIS node.


We apologize for not updating our status.afrinic.net page. Rest assure
that from now on, it will be part of the systems that are systematically
announce.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and happy new year.


Cedrick


On 20/12/2018 11:22, Frank Habicht wrote:
> Dear AfriNIC staff,
>
> I would like to request you to share to this DBWG what happened last
> Friday regarding the file afrinic.db.gz  -  ticket #641933.
>
> I had requested and was expecting that something would be shared here,
> but haven't seen anything after what I believe was a reasonable time.
>
> Yes, it affected internet operations, since it affected filter
> generations and thus traffic patterns.
>
> Thanks,
> Frank
>
> _______________________________________________
> DBWG mailing list
> DBWG at afrinic.net
> https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/dbwg

-- 
_______________________________________________________________
Cedrick Adrien Mbeyet                                           
Infrastructure Unit Manager, AFRINIC Ltd.
t:  +230 403 5100 / 403 5115 | f: +230 466 6758 | tt: @afrinic | w: www.afrinic.net
facebook.com/afrinic | flickr.com/afrinic | youtube.com/afrinicmedia
______________________________________________________

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