January update - Migration announcement
In our effort to invest in the long-term sustainability of Yivi, we are migrating all Yivi components, including core components, away from SIDN to our reliable hosting environment. Along the way, we are addressing technical debt and implementing improvements where possible.
Additionally, we are collaborating with the Privacy By Design Foundation to migrate critical components, essential to the Yivi ecosystem, away from their servers to our hosting environment. Caesar Groep is taking charge to ensure the foundation no longer runs critical components essential to the Yivi ecosystem.
This blog post outlines the migration's impact. If you are affected in any way or have questions, feel free to contact us.
Migration Overview
The table below lists the resources being migrated, their old and new locations, and the planned migration dates:
Resource details
SMS issuer
We will continue using our trusted SMS provider, CM, to send SMS messages to end users. Since we are retaining the same SMS platform, no changes or disruptions are expected. Users can rely on the same dependable service without any additional actions required.
Mail
The yivi.app domain is currently linked to SIDN's Office365 tenant. We are migrating this domain to Caesar Groep's Office365 tenant. At the moment, emails sent to support@yivi.app are being forwarded to yivi@caesar.nl. In a later stage Caesar Groep will take ownership of the yivi.app mail domain.
The keyshare server and email issuer also send emails to Yivi users. These are automated mailings generated by our software. To handle this, we will create a mail.yivi.app subdomain, which will be used by our Scaleway hosting environment for sending automated emails.
We must differentiate between yivi.app for corporate mailing and mail.yivi.app for automated mailings. This distinction ensures that we do not rely on Microsoft software for sending automated emails to Yivi users. Instead, we use our Scaleway backbone, ensuring that all data, including email addresses, remains within the European Union and is protected by its regulations.
Attribute Index
The Attribute Index is a usefull component for exploring the Yivi ecosystem. It was unmaintained for quite a while and lacked the right styling. We gave it a visual update and moved the hosting from the Privacy By Design Foundation to our hosting ennvironment.
Demo's
Right now, the demo environments are available at https://privacybydesign.foundation/demo/ and not on https://yivi.app. To improve accessibility and align these demos with the Yivi ecosystem, the plan is to migrate them to new subdomains within the Yivi infrastructure. The new locations for these demos will be demos.yivi.app and yivitube.yivi.app.
This migration will make it easier to maintain and expand the demos while ensuring proper Yivi branding. By bringing the demos under the Yivi domain, this transition will enhance user experience and support the continued growth of the platform.
Atumd server
The Atumd server will be moved, which is important for everyone using attribute based signatures within Yivi. The scheme will include a new URL for the Atumd server, and we will ensure it also retains the existing keys for backward compatibility. If you're using attribute based signatures and are relying on this in production, please send us an email at support@yivi.app.
Email issuer
As mentioned earlier, we are making improvements to the email experience by upgrading the look and feel of our communications. In addition to these visual enhancements, we will be switching to a new email address for all outgoing mail. The updated address will be noreply@mail.yivi.app, replacing the current noreply@sidn.nl. This change ensures alignment with Yivi branding and improves consistency across our communication channels. Please update any filters or settings that rely on the old email address to accommodate this change.
iDIN issuer
The iDIN issuer is undergoing a visual upgrade to better reflect the Yivi branding, replacing the previous IRMA-themed interface. This ensures a seamless and consistent user experience that aligns with Yivi's identity. The changes are purely cosmetic, and no functionality will be affected.
YiviConnect
YiviConnect will be migrated to a new hosting environment with backward compatibility to minimize disruptions. We will take proactive measures to ensure a smooth transition by directly contacting organizations and partners that rely heavily on this service. Our goal is to address any concerns early and reduce the impact of this migration on day-to-day operations. If your organization uses YiviConnect extensively, rest assured that we are committed to supporting you throughout the process.
Keyshare Server
The Keyshare server will also be relocated to the new hosting environment. This is a complex migration, and we are carefully assessing the potential impact. To ensure a seamless transition, there will be a period of parallel operation where both the old and new servers run side by side. During this time, we will reroute all traffic to the new Keyshare server and migrate the existing database to the new environment. These measures are intended to avoid disruptions and ensure continuity of service. Further updates and timelines will be shared as the assessment progresses.
Wrap-up
This migration marks a significant step forward in ensuring the long-term stability, scalability, and alignment of Yivi's infrastructure with our core values of privacy and sustainability. By consolidating components under a unified hosting environment, we enhance operational efficiency.
We understand that transitions like these can raise questions or concerns, and we are here to assist you every step of the way. If you have any questions or require support during this migration, please do not hesitate to contact us using Slack or email us at support@yivi.app.
Thank you for your continued trust and support as we work to make Yivi better and more resilient for the future.