v2.01.8-rc5 build 4685 is ready for testing

[tony]

Do not apply this update unless you have easy access to the system in question. Always backup your configuration before upgrading.

Read the previous release notes before applying this update.

Changes since v2.01.7:
*) core components have been updated.
*) ssh server has been upgraded to openssh v4.2.
*) ssh logging has been reduced.
*) syslog server no longer shows --MARK-- lines if redirected to a remote server.
*) small atheros update to resolve an optimization problem introduced in an earlier build.
*) zebra 0.95 (rip, ospf & bgp) has been replaced with quagga 0.98.5.
*) rip, ospf and bgp are no longer disabled during 'activate changes'. (problem was introduced in rc1)
*) quagga watchdog will now ensure the routing daemons do not quit.
*) iptables marking, layer-7 and connlimit features are available for use via the firewall passthrough.
*) cbq now supports gre, esp, ah, and vpn protocols. (vpn will match any packet with gre, esp or ah protocols)
*) cbq 'all' protocol for shape, and qshape now catches all ipv4 protocols, and not just tcp, udp and icmp.
*) firewall 'lallow' (local allow) is now implemented, with the same syntax as 'allow', but will only effect traffic 'to' the host system.
*) firmware upgrade will now show the edition of the current, and uploaded firmware.
*) ssh interface will now show the edition in use.

Release Caveats:
*) none

[tony]

BETA downloads are now available.
Areas of focus while testing this release are:

*) ensure this release works on the same hardware as previous releases.
*) atheros stability and performance compared to the past 2.01.5+ releases.
*) rip, ospf and bgp testing.
*) iptables layer-7, mark and connlimit testing.
*) cbq gre, esp, ah and vpn protocol shaping options.
*) firewall 'lallow' testing.
*) overal stability compared to previous releases.

Please post your results in this thread. Given the test results from the areas listed, either a new beta will be released, or this version will be renamed to 2.01.8 build 4669 and made public on our website downloads page.

Router WRAP Edition
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strrw-2.01.8-rc5-4685.bin
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strrw-2.01.8-rc5-4685.raw
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strrw-2.01.8-rc5-4685.iso

Router Desktop Edtion
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strr-2.01.8-rc5-4685.bin
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strr-2.01.8-rc5-4685.raw
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strr-2.01.8-rc5-4685.iso

Server Desktop Edition
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strs-2.01.8-rc5-4685.bin
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strs-2.01.8-rc5-4685.raw
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strs-2.01.8-rc5-4685.iso

Router Routerboard Edition
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strrb-2.01.8-rc5-4685.bin
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strrb-2.01.8-rc5-4685.raw
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strrb-2.01.8-rc5-4685.iso

Router Soekris Edition
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strrs-2.01.8-rc5-4685.bin
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strrs-2.01.8-rc5-4685.raw
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strrs-2.01.8-rc5-4685.iso

[mmc1800]

Just finished loading rc5 onto all 16 of my OSPF enabled WRAPs...

I will report back as I get more info, but I can tell you just from the process of resetting the radios when I was doing the upgrades, I think the OSPF is more resistant to problems when other radios are rebooting, far less problems. Of course not far enough in to really tell anything, but this process seemed different than rc4. There still seem to be some issues, but I think it is possible that ping watchdogs and the quagga watchdog working together might be able to make it possible for the network heal itself. We will see.

--MMC

[oscarBravo]

Right now, that would be good enough for me. We're about to increase the size of our network by an order of magnitude, and I can live with routing glitches once they can fix themselves pretty promptly.

Once again, thanks guys for addressing this.

[tony]

We are about to wrap up this BETA, however I would like to resolve the Soekris issue beforehand. For all who have tried this BETA on a soekris system, and have found it to not boot, what processor does your board use? (eg. Geode, or AMD SC520).

Thanks!

[mmc1800]

OSPF and overall in general in RC5 seems to be running at least as stable as any of the previous Star-OS releases I have run. I have not had to restart OSPF on any of the radios since yesterday when I finished installed it, but it is not unheard of (it is uncommon) for that amount of time to pass without needing a lot of interaction.

I am planning on going around the network and resetting key radios and watching the recovery process and see how that goes then I will know quite a bit more. I will probably not get a chance to do that till late tonight, Monday morning is a bad time for me to break the network repeatedly for testing.

-MMc

[tony]

Thank you, I'll be looking forward to your results in the coming days.

[mmc1800]

Well I was not planning on testing the network this soon, but mother nature helped me out with a lightning storm and a couple power outages.

Usually power outages are a major mess for my network, because several client machines that do not have UPS's on them and do have OSPF running get reset. The result is usually the OSPF network basically falling apart requiring several rounds of restarting OSPF and starting OSPF on machines where it died.

With RC5 on all the OSPF radios they recovered completely without any intervention. That is a first. THANK YOU! I can see little issues here and there on nagios, probably where OSPF is loosing its routes, but the ping watchdog kicks in and resets the radios, and they are all fixing themselves. I have not touched OSPF on any of the radios and they are all back working correctly. There is no doubt some more to test and learn, but I have no problem saying this is a HUGE improvement!

THANK YOU -- THANK YOU -- THANK YOU -- THANK YOU

--MMc

[tony]

Great news! I am very pleased to hear everything seems to be working better than the previous releases.

Thank you for the feedback.