[tahoe-lafs-trac-stream] [Tahoe-LAFS] #3979: A client's use or non-use participation in managed grids is an implicit function of the `[grid_management_certificates]` configuration

[Tahoe-LAFS]

#3979: A client's use or non-use participation in managed grids is an implicit
function of the `[grid_management_certificates]` configuration
---------------------+---------------------------------
 Reporter:  exarkun  |          Owner:
     Type:  defect   |         Status:  new
 Priority:  normal   |      Milestone:  Grid Management
Component:  unknown  |        Version:  n/a
 Keywords:           |  Launchpad Bug:
---------------------+---------------------------------
 A client can be configured to use the "grid management" feature which
 controls which servers it will consider valid upload targets.

 The way a client is configured to require a signed storage server
 certificate is by adding grid manager certificates to
 `[grid_management_certificates]`.  If the section is missing or contains
 no certificates then grid management is disabled and the client will
 upload to any server.  If the section contains at least one entry then the
 client will only upload to a server which presents a certificate which is
 signed by one of the entries.

 The implicit switch in behaviors between zero manager certificates and
 more-than-zero manager certificates is a usability concern.  One might
 expect that having an empty (but not missing)
 `[grid_management_certificates]` section would mean that valid
 certificates are required but no authorities are respected.  Or one might
 expect that one a client has opted in to grid management it remains opted
 in instead of opting out as soon as there are no manager certificates.

 A usability improvement to this would be to have an explicit configuration
 item for controlling whether the client is using grid management or not.
 This could be something like:

 ```
 [client]
 # Zero or one of the following
 upload_to = managed_grids
 upload_to = all_servers
 ```

 with the "all_servers" behavior being the default (if not indefinitely
 then at least for a while, for backwards compatibility).

 Currently this ticket is speculative.  The grid manager feature has not
 yet been merged to master.  The ticket for the work is ticket:2916.

--
Ticket URL: <https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/ticket/3979>
Tahoe-LAFS <https://Tahoe-LAFS.org>
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