Dear All
Many of you will have noted the LCG-ROLLOUT exchanges on 2_4_0 and the need for testing sites. This has given us some cause for concern because if the release candidate is only just being tested around 1st April then it is unlikely to be released formally on that date. We are all agreed in the UK and Ireland that sites need to be given accurate release dates in order to schedule upgrades so that they can be performed in the requested period of three weeks.
Having followed up with Maarten Litmaath our fears for no general release on 1st April appear to be well founded. The CERN deployment team have been working hard to meet this target but the introduction of a short community testing period (a small number of selected sites are being asked to formally deploy and feedback on the release) means this is very unlikely to be met. I am sorry for this changing situation and I'm fully aware that this impacts plans at many sites where manpower has been scheduled for next week to perform the upgrade. Please note though that there has been no official communication stating that a general release will not be made on 1st April - this mail is simply to keep everyone in this region informed of our best understanding. Even if a release announcement were made the release would not have fully benefited from site test feedback.
In the event that 1st April is missed it is very important for GridPP to know what the impact has been on your site. I would therefore encourage you all to list the consequences and pass these to your Tier-2 coordinator. We will use this list to lobby once again for a strict release policy.
Kind regards,
Jeremy
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Dr Jeremy Coles
GridPP Production Manager
CCLRC eScience Department Phone: (+44)(0)1235 778256
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Fax: (+44)(0)1235 446626
Chilton, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 0QX, UK Email: [log in to unmask]
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