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Create extension to automate running some maintenance scripts (request-based)
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Description

I know I say this about many tasks but due to the less frequent requests in this area, this one is really the lowest possible priority and every task (at least created until this day) should probably be done before attempting this one. I can't even say for sure if it's really necessary but it would be part of the long term plan to automate most things and no longer have SRE need to SSH to servers for smaller/basic tasks that can be automated. This task also presupposes that T10304 was successfully done as it would use the same methods.

Various extensions already exist for doing this such as https://github.com/wikimedia/mediawiki-extensions-MaintenanceShell/tree/master/includes but they are not suitable for our needs and are prone to abuse.

Just like ImportDump which is specific to a more complex script, we should have an extension that allows users to request that certain more 'basic' scripts are ran, which can be approved/declined via wiki and that would run automatically without needing to copy/paste things on a server. Here is a list of maintenance scripts that are frequently requested/would be useful:

  • InitSiteStats.php
  • InitEditCount.php
  • DeleteOldRevisions.php
  • DeleteArchivedRevisions.php
  • refreshLinks.php
  • deleteBatch.php (if possible, resource intensive?, probably most frequently requested)
  • rollbackEdits.php ?
  • MirahezeMagic/assignImportedEdits.php (more complex, not sure if possible?)

Event Timeline

Reception123 created this task.
Reception123 renamed this task from Create extension to automate running some maintenance scripts (requests) to Create extension to automate running some maintenance scripts (request-based).Jan 19 2023, 19:35
Reception123 moved this task from Backlog to Long Term on the MediaWiki (SRE) board.
Reception123 updated the task description. (Show Details)
Unknown Object (User) added a comment.Jan 19 2023, 19:52

updateArticleCount is kinda already done. Changing the wgArticleCountMethod in ManageWiki runs it, additionally it is ran twice a month on all wikis.

Man, robots extensions really are stealing our jobs volunteer positions. I have to ask though, what's so bad about SSH? It's more secure than regular web browsers, at least in my opinion.

Man, robots extensions really are stealing our jobs volunteer positions. I have to ask though, what's so bad about SSH? It's more secure than regular web browsers, at least in my opinion.

It's not 'bad', it's just that it requires a lot of extra steps and SRE involvement when instead we could have a community position handle these things (imagine SRE having to run a command to create a wiki!). They're very repetitive tasks that aren't particularly interesting to SRE members and which prevent us from doing more challenging tasks. That doesn't mean security is being lost, this should only be done if it can be done in a secure way of course.

Unknown Object (User) unsubscribed.Mar 18 2023, 03:37

Since there's already extensions with similar names, we should probably call ours MaintenanceScripts.

Reception123 added a subscriber: Unknown Object (User).May 29 2023, 08:20

Please note that a similar task is currently being worked on by @Universal_Omega.

Herald removed a subscriber: Unknown Object (User). · View Herald TranscriptMay 29 2023, 08:20