test please delete

[NickFitz]

Well, that's good. Since last week I've been working on a thing that sends emails at the end of a Chef run, either confirming that everything happened as expected or advising of any epic fail that transpired.

I've got all the bits working and finally come to the point where I want to test the actual sending of the email. So I go to find out what SMTP server I should be using, and what credentials to supply, and so forth.

Turns out the email server available for such purposes has a whitelist of IP addresses that are allowed to use it. But as Chef, by definition, is adding a new host, its IP address can't possibly be on that list. So it can't send email.

After some discussion, the consensus seems to be that this cannot possibly work as intended

I'm just going to record it as a blocker and finish what I'm doing anyway. At least that way, if the company ever completely changes its entire IT security process, it should work straight away. More to the point, I can still invoice

[vetran]

Well, that's good. Since last week I've been working on a thing that sends emails at the end of a Chef run, either confirming that everything happened as expected or advising of any epic fail that transpired.

I've got all the bits working and finally come to the point where I want to test the actual sending of the email. So I go to find out what SMTP server I should be using, and what credentials to supply, and so forth.

Turns out the email server available for such purposes has a whitelist of IP addresses that are allowed to use it. But as Chef, by definition, is adding a new host, its IP address can't possibly be on that list. So it can't send email.

After some discussion, the consensus seems to be that this cannot possibly work as intended

I'm just going to record it as a blocker and finish what I'm doing anyway. At least that way, if the company ever completely changes its entire IT security process, it should work straight away. More to the point, I can still invoice

piggy back on an existing smtp service? NT / UNIX box running smtp server and with secure MFA?
I did this to allow an application with no patience talk to a very slow smtp service.

[vetran]

Can't believe I just actually said aloud, "Oh, wow" when giving a dirty bit of oven a test wipe!

note to self - need to get out more.

[mudskipper]

The conclusion:

Brilliant job on oven doors. Pretty damned good on oven floor - a few patches that need another coat. Oven walls/roof, not great - suspect I didn't get enough stuff on.
Stuff in bag - mostly very good - one shelf not so good, but think it was in the middle, so not so much in contact with the stuff (I had put rather more than the recommended 2 shelves in the bag)

Will buy another tub and do the bits that got missed.

Definitely worth doing - infinitely better than any other oven cleaner I've tried.

[zeitghost]

Reminds me of using some paint stripper to clean some hinges last summer.

Wearing gloves.

Had to fish said hinges out of jamjar & use an old toothbrush to clean 40 years of paint off them.

Then noticed that gloves were getting hot.

The paint stripper was eating them.

[barrydidit]

Cawstick. Fo sho'

[zeitghost]

The hinges came up like new.

The gloves didn't fare so well.

[Bunk]

The hinges came up like new.

The gloves didn't fare so well.

At least your little lizardy claws were protected.

[NickFitz]

piggy back on an existing smtp service? NT / UNIX box running smtp server and with secure MFA?
I did this to allow an application with no patience talk to a very slow smtp service.

Nope. The security on the internal networks is incredibly strict. Something like that would mean instant termination for anybody who even knew about it and didn't stop it happening.

It looks like there's a way of getting the Chef Server to do what we want, using one of the premium analytics components; that has a static internal IP, so can be added to the list of permitted senders. As it happens, the chap from Chef will be on site in a few days to install and configure it, so we can get him to help me get it working

I'm just writing up the blocker now. It includes the phrases "if the documentation is to be believed" and "nebulous at best"

[barrydidit]

I'm just writing up the blocker now. It includes the phrases "if the documentation is to be believed" and "nebulous at best"

Somewhere in the bowels of ClientCo there is a team of techies and testers thinking the same thing about something I wrote. Despite being given a table of additional options to build and test they didn't build them, or write test conditions for them because some unrelated shading in the table of cells underneath the text 'build these options' made the whole thing unclear. So they did nothing instead and reported build and test progress was on track.