152 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
152 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
Overview of the TS5 system
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Lee H <lee@leeh.co.uk>
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$Id: ts5.txt 6 2005-09-10 01:02:21Z nenolod $
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For the purposes of this document, ircd versions:
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hybrid6.0
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ircd-comstud-1.12
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CSr31pl4
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and prior, are TS3.
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ircd-hybrid-6.2 and later support TS5.
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Whats TS5?
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----------
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The difference between TS5 and TS3 is what happened on opless channels. TS
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works by establishing which server has the oldest version of the channel,
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the version that is oldest, keeps its modes and ops, the version that is
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youngest, removes their modes and ops, and accepts the older version.
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There was an exception to this rule with opless channels, if a channel was
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opless, TS3 would allow anybody to keep their ops and modes on the channel.
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TS5 aims to stop this, by removing this exception.
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Example1:
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An irc network, with server A (every server is ts3)
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UserA is on ServerA, in channel #broken. This channel is opless, and has a
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TS of 800000000. ServerA splits, and whilst it is split, UserA cycles
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channel #broken, recreates the channel and is given ops. On ServerA #broken
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now has a TS of 900000000 and has ops. ServerA rejoins with the network,
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via HubB. HubB realises #broken is opless, so allows UserA to retain ops.
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The TS is moved forward to 900000000.
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The network now sees #broken as having a TS of 900000000, with UserA being
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opped.
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Example2:
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An irc network, with server C (every server is ts5)
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Same scenario as above. ServerC splits and UserC cycles channel #broken,
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recreating it with a TS of 900000000. ServerC rejoins with the network via
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HubD. HubD realises #broken has a TS of 800000000 locally, and ServerC is
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showing a TS of 900000000, it ignores ServerC's modes and ops. The channel
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remains opless. ServerC receives HubD's modes, and it notices HubD has a
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lower TS of channel #broken. It removes UserC's ops, removes the channel
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modes on #broken, and accepts HubD's status.
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The network version of #broken hasnt changed. It is still opless, with a TS
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of 800000000.
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As you can see, TS5 makes splitting a server to regain ops useless, as it
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cannot be abused to give ops after a netsplit.
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The problem with TS5 however, is what happens on a mixed TS5/TS3 network.
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Channels where the older TS has ops will behave the same way on TS5 and TS3,
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however an opless channel will behave differently, as you can see above.
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The result of TS5/TS3 mixed can be a desync:
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Example1:
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As per Example1 above, except the rest of the network is TS5, ServerA is
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TS3. ServerA would keep its modes and ops, whilst the rest of the network
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would remove them. This means only ServerA would see UserA as opped. The
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desync can be abused, as UserA can send modes. Hybrid6.0 servers will
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accept these modes from the unopped client, so if UserA ops UserB, who then
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ops UserA, the channel will be the same across all Hybrid6.0 and Hybrid6.1
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servers.
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Example2:
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As per Example2 above, except the rest of the network is TS3. ServerC is
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TS5. ServerC would remove its modes and ops, therefore UserC would not be
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opped on ServerC, therefore it could not send any mode changes to the
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channel. Although it is opped elsewhere, it isnt opped locally, so the
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desync cannot be abused.
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As you can see, the desync's that can occur can either be resynced, or are
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useless to the user, so a mixed TS5/TS3 network is not a huge problem,
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although a desync is NOT a good thing to have.
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Why TS5?
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--------
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We have jumped to TS5 from TS3, because there was a version of ircd that was
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TS4, so it was thought better to avoid a clash with an existing version.
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Advantages
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----------
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Its a realistic event that a server will be attacked so it splits off a
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network, then used to regain ops in a channel. TS5 makes this pointless,
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the server will never give ops on a netsplit. TS5 is network wide, so it
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leaves individual servers free to choose options like NO_JOIN_ON_SPLIT,
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whilst keeping splits useless to users.
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Disadvantages
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-------------
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Its virtually impossible for a user to actively regain ops themselves (some
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regard this as an advantage..) because on a large sized channel, its
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impossible to get people to leave so it can be recreated, therefore if a
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network did not have some form of services, it could possibly end up
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requiring oper intervention, as you cant get everybody to leave, and you
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cant use splits to regain ops, therefore if the channel is open (an
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invite-only channel would gradually destroy itself as noone new can join) it
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could be impossible for a user to regain ops.
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On a network that has some form of services, The effect of TS5 would be
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minimal, however the services must be of sufficient quality to fix opless
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channels, as TS5 renders netsplits for ops worthless.
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Recommendations
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---------------
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If your network has good stable services, we recommend TS5 is enabled, as
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people have no reason to abuse netsplits anyway.
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If your network has no services at all, then TS5 may cause problems with
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users being left with a permanently opless channel.
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If your network occupies the middle ground, then its a choice between users
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needing to be able to use splits to regain ops, or making netsplits that are
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caused to regain ops worthless.
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If TS5 is chosen, the FULL network must upgrade and this should be done in a
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relatively short space of time to minimise the possible desync effects.
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Alternatives
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------------
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There is also NO_JOIN_ON_SPLIT and NO_OP_ON_SPLIT, however these use the
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configuration of minimum servers and users, and sometimes a split that is
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above these limits is enough to be abused to regain ops, whereas if the
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limits are too high, clients will never be able to join anything or be opped
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when they create a channel.
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EOF
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