[IAEP] Fwd: [Server-devel] XSCE Release 5.1

[Adam Holt]

*This is just the beginning, but quite monumental work has been achieved
below by Tim Moody, George Hunt and Team here =)*


From: Tim Moody <tim at timmoody.com>
Date: Sun, Jul 27, 2014 at 7:57 PM
Subject: [Server-devel] XSCE Release 5.1
To: xsce-devel at googlegroups.com, Internet In a Box Working Group <
iiab at sgvhak.org>, server-devel at lists.laptop.org

  On behalf of the many contributors to the School Server Community Edition
I am pleased to announce Release 5.1.

XSCE 5.1 has been tested on a variety of hardware platforms including OLPC
XO-4 laptops, 64 bit servers, and VBox VMs.

Please help with further testing.

To get started (assuming you have git setup) please follow the instructions
at https://github.com/XSCE/xsce/blob/master/docs/INSTALL.rst or the
instructions in the Release Notes.

The 5.1 release can be cloned by

git clone https://github.com/XSCE/xsce.git --branch release-5.1 --depth 1

or if you want the entire repository:

git clone https://github.com/XSCE/xsce.git
git checkout release-5.1

The release notes that follow are at
https://github.com/XSCE/xsce/blob/master/ReleaseNotes5.1.rst

Release Notes for XSCE 5.1

Release 5.1 pursues two parallel goals, the addition of New Features and
Improvements to Existing Features.

<https://github.com/XSCE/xsce/blob/release-5.1/ReleaseNotes5.1.rst#new-features>New
Features
<https://github.com/XSCE/xsce/blob/release-5.1/ReleaseNotes5.1.rst#samba>
Samba

In addition to being a web server, XSCE can now operate as a file server.
For this release /library/public is publicly shared by default, but another
directory can chosen by changing the variable {{ shared_dir }}. N.B. that
an XO does not have a samba-client installed by default.
 <https://github.com/XSCE/xsce/blob/release-5.1/ReleaseNotes5.1.rst#xovis>
XOVis

The XO Visualization package, created by Martin Dluhos, draws graphs that
represent XO usage extrapolated from backup files on the server. There are
a number of ansible variables that can customize this package.
 <https://github.com/XSCE/xsce/blob/release-5.1/ReleaseNotes5.1.rst#vnstat>
vnStat

vnStat is another arrow in the management quiver that allows console-based
network traffic monitoring for analysis and trouble-shooting.

<https://github.com/XSCE/xsce/blob/release-5.1/ReleaseNotes5.1.rst#easier-customization-and-administration>Easier
Customization and Administration

With 5.1 we begin a framework to make customizing installations easier.

   - Introduction of vars/local_vars.yml: variable values in this file will
   override the values in vars/default_vars.yml. A new git repo has also been
   created, https://github.com/XSCE/xsce-local, in which branches can be
   used to store variable settings for a particular deployment.
   - Conditional Install: we have begun to add install and enable flags for
   optional features. Hopefully this will be built out further in the next
   release.
   - Standard Admin User: Variables are in place to add an administrative
   user the name and password of which can be customized through
   local_vars.yml. There is also provision for a custom authorized_keys file
   which can be specified for a particular deployment.


<https://github.com/XSCE/xsce/blob/release-5.1/ReleaseNotes5.1.rst#support-for-fedora-20>Support
for Fedora 20

A new rpm repo has been added with rpms for Fedora 20 at
http://download.unleashkids.org/xsce/repos/xsce/testing/.

<https://github.com/XSCE/xsce/blob/release-5.1/ReleaseNotes5.1.rst#improvements>
Improvements
<https://github.com/XSCE/xsce/blob/release-5.1/ReleaseNotes5.1.rst#internet-in-a-box>
Internet-in-a-Box

The version of IIAB has been upgraded to include Full Text Search in the
wikipediae and in Open Street Maps.
 <https://github.com/XSCE/xsce/blob/release-5.1/ReleaseNotes5.1.rst#squid>
Squid

Whitelist filtering and https filtering have been added.

<https://github.com/XSCE/xsce/blob/release-5.1/ReleaseNotes5.1.rst#ansible-structure>Ansible
Structure

Nine aggregate categores have been created to make a clearer delineation of
xsce features. Changes required by ansible 1.6. have also been implemented.
 <https://github.com/XSCE/xsce/blob/release-5.1/ReleaseNotes5.1.rst#openvpn>
OpenVPN

OpenVPN was in previous releases, but without sufficient customization to
make it easily implemented. This is now greatly improved and includes
support for 3g modems.
 <https://github.com/XSCE/xsce/blob/release-5.1/ReleaseNotes5.1.rst#portal>
Portal

More localization and directory-driven content menus have been added.
 <https://github.com/XSCE/xsce/blob/release-5.1/ReleaseNotes5.1.rst#testing>
Testing
<https://github.com/XSCE/xsce/blob/release-5.1/ReleaseNotes5.1.rst#server-install>Server
Install

To get started please install git and ansible and then issue as root:

cd

git clone https://github.com/XSCE/xsce.git --depth 1 -b release-5.1

cd xsce

./runansible

On an XO-4 the machine will reboot and it is necessary to execute
./runansible again.

Some services, such as samba and Authserver, do not become active until a
reboot.

<https://github.com/XSCE/xsce/blob/release-5.1/ReleaseNotes5.1.rst#server-tests>Server
Tests

A testing checklist is at
https://github.com/XSCE/xsce/blob/master/docs/TESTING.rst.

The first step in automating testing is reflected in
https://github.com/XSCE/xsce-tests, which includes scripts that can be
loaded onto an XO client to perform basic smoke tests.

Please help test this and file bugs at
https://github.com/XSCE/xsce/issues?state=open

<https://github.com/XSCE/xsce/blob/release-5.1/ReleaseNotes5.1.rst#platforms>
Platforms

   - 64 bit Intel: tested on both VBox and physical machines.
   - XO-4: the install works, but it may be necessary to issue ./runansible
   more than once or use the runtags command to install in smaller steps.


<https://github.com/XSCE/xsce/blob/release-5.1/ReleaseNotes5.1.rst#known-problems>Known
Problems

   - Pathagar has a problem at source and is not installed by default.
   - On XO-4 it is sometimes necessary to reboot when network is configured
   and NetworkManager fails to restart.


Tim Moody


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