[ncc-services-wg] RPKI Validator 2.13 released

Hello everyone,

We just released RPKI Validator 2.13 and I would just like to highlight a couple of important improvements and fixes.

1. Single, unified configuration file
We recently received a request to allow overriding the default paths of the application to allow Debian packaging. This meant we ended up with so many startup flags and environment variables that we decided to put every user configurable option together in one single file. You can choose your own name and path for the config file, to allow for easy updating without overwriting your preferences. 

2. Application health and trust anchor monitoring
Quite some users have asked us to implement monitoring, so they can keep an eye on whether the application itself is running properly and if the RPKI repositories are available and serving data. Application health monitoring currently only checks if the rsync binary can be found and executed. For Trust Anchor monitoring we built a dedicated page. For example:

http://localcert.ripe.net:8088/trust-anchor-monitor/44a4f26e67

Both are a basic, initial implementations. We’re actively looking for feedback on which checks you would like to see and how you would like to be able to implement them in your monitoring setups.

3. Deep linking 
You can specify an AS Number or prefix in the URL of the ROA and BGP Preview pages to get direct, bookmark-able access to information. For example:

- http://localcert.ripe.net:8088/roas?q=2001:7fb:fe01::/48
- http://localcert.ripe.net:8088/bgp-preview?q=AS12654

4. Bug and conformance fixes 
At IETF88 in Vancouver we did some rigorous testing with other implementors to see how the application handles malformed objects. A couple of bugs and other anomalies came to light that have been fixed in this version.

You can download RPKI Validator 2.13 here:

https://www.ripe.net/lir-services/resource-management/certification/tools-and-resources

We recommend that you update to this release. As always, we look forward to your feedback. 

Kind regards,

Alex Band
Product Manager
RIPE NCC