Overview of Apache Software Foundation Infra Services and Tools

Who is Apache

The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) is a non‑profit organization that supports and develops open‑source software projects, providing legal, financial, and infrastructure support. Its most famous project is the Apache HTTP Server, but it also hosts many other popular projects such as ECharts, Superset, Dubbo, Spark, and Kafka.

Services and Tools

The Apache Infra team maintains a variety of tools for Project Management Committees (PMCs), contributors, and the Apache Board. Some tools are restricted to specific roles, while others—like monitoring dashboards—are publicly accessible.

Services for Top‑Level Projects (TLP)

Website

www.apache.org – the main Apache website.

Apache Project Site Checker – regularly verifies TLP sites for compliance with licensing, donation, sponsor, and privacy requirements.

Email

All new mailing‑list requests go through the self‑service system.

Email server – QMail/QSMTPD.

ASF Self‑Service Platform

Create Jira or Confluence projects, Git repositories, or mailing lists (for PMC chairs and Infra members).

Edit ASF identity or reset passwords (reset keys are valid for 15 minutes).

Synchronize Git repositories.

Generate one‑time passwords for OTP/S‑Key systems.

Archive Confluence wiki spaces as read‑only.

Non‑ASF members who need to file Jira tickets can request a Jira account.

ASF Account Management

Provides guidance for updating account details or recovering lost access.

LDAP‑Enabled Services

Infra supports many ASF services that can be accessed with LDAP credentials.

Incubator Project Services

Incubator introduction – steps to create an incubating project.

Project or product name selection guide.

ASF Project Tools

Each project gets a dedicated Confluence wiki space (with user‑permission management).

Reporter – provides activity statistics and editing tools for quarterly board reports.

Project blogs.

Slack channels with optional Slack‑Jira bridge for ticket notifications.

ASFBot for IRC‑based meeting minutes.

Localization tools.

Release Audit Tool (RAT) for compliance checks.

OAuth system for secure authentication without storing sensitive user data.

Version Control

Infra hosts code repositories to ensure security, accessibility, and version control.

Git primer documentation.

Read‑only Git mirrors of SVN repositories.

Writable Git repositories.

Apache integration with GitHub and role definitions.

Subversion (SVN) repositories and ViewVC browser.

Issue Tracking and Feature Requests

Jira and GitHub Issues are the primary trackers.

Bugzilla is still supported for legacy projects.

Apache Allura is an alternative tracker (contact via [email protected]).

Guidelines are provided for requesting a tracker and writing good bug reports.

Integration of Repositories with Jira

Infra can activate Subversion and Git integration with Jira tickets.

Source Publishing/Subscription Services

SvnPubSub

PyPubSub

Build Services

Apache supports continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) with services such as Travis CI and AppVeyor.

Product Naming

Refer to the product name selection guide.

Code Signing

Access Digicert code‑signing service.

Guidelines for using Digicert.

Apple App Store publishing instructions.

General code‑signing and publishing information.

Code Quality

SonarCloud offers free static analysis for open‑source projects, checking for bugs, code smells, and security vulnerabilities across 20+ languages.

Code Distribution

Nexus Repository Manager is used to browse and review Apache project releases, with links to current releases, historical archives, Rsync mirrors, and the Nexus portal.

Virtual Servers

Infra provides Ubuntu virtual machines, with policies and request procedures documented.

Using nightlies.a.o

Nightlies is a short‑term storage solution; see the usage policy for details.

Online Voting

Projects can use the Apache STeVe voting system, with Jira tickets created to prepare for STeVe usage.

Other Tools

DNS management via Namecheap.

URL shortener (s.apache.org).

Paste – service for sharing code snippets or file excerpts.

Host keys and fingerprints list.

Apache Whimsy – provides organizational information and automates volunteer workflows, including contributor search.

Conclusion

The Apache Software Foundation offers a broad and well‑documented set of services and tools—including Jira, Confluence, Slack, Git, GitHub, SonarCloud, Digicert, Nexus, and many others—providing a robust, risk‑aware infrastructure for open‑source development.