This means the ZFSguru project is now able to produce semi-automated system builds that produces system images together with all relevant services, ready for upload to the master server. It only takes a few hours to produce a new system image, whereas with the old build system this involved many manual steps and took weeks to get sorted out. Obviously, if the project is going to continue on a path towards a mature product, this had to be addressed.
Development strategy
As stated in the State of the Project 2014, I opted to address the hard task of building an automated build infrastructure rather early, with the project still being in an infant stage. The alternative would have been to focus on other areas, and have a rotting foundation at its core, draining lots of resources to produce new system images every few months or so. By doing the hard and tedious work rather early, I have done the most annoying work for this project in an era where the project is rather calm and docile. I think this is necessary to prevent issues arising once the project gains traction and scrutiny. Whether this strategy is the right one? Time will tell.
So, what do we have today? The first fully automated build of a new system image: 10.1-002. Not only that, it is accompanied by all the regular addon services that you are accustomed to. I also tried to polish the services and address some issues reported recently.
Theoretically, I could dish out a new system image every day or so, now that the new build infrastructure is alive and kicking. But to be honest, the new build infrastructure is still in its early stages. It works in that it produces the intended result, but it still lacks polishing. The uploading still has to be done manually, and modifying the remote database is still done using legacy tools.
Therefore, my next area of focus shall be the GuruDB remote database architecture. This will replace the current structure of remote data files that the ZFSguru web-interface accesses from the ZFSguru master servers. The old data files are not compressed and with the increasing number of services and system images, the database continues to grow and will slow down the web-interface when not accessed for an hour. To cope with that, the next major update of the web-interface will sport the next generation of remote data infrastructure, which I have dubbed 'GuruDB'. This is a highly XZ-compressed image with a modular structure aimed at coping with an increasing number of system image releases and addon services. This will speed up the web-interface.
But there is more! The new GuruDB database will also introduce Service Bulletins which allows for messages from ZFSguru developers to address our users, to warn about issues or to announce new releases.
GuruDB will also pave the way towards a new social interaction model for the web-interface, allowing users to interact with each other. Because our users might want to spend a little bit of time helping out other users, if this is accessible readily and easily within the web-interface. This kind of interaction will also be coupled with the ZFSguru website profile that you've created. There are a lot of ideas on paper, but it still has to be unfolded. But I hope you can appreciate a glimpse of what is yet to come.
With the most difficult development work done for now, the more enjoyable tasks come within reach. I would love to resume work on the web-interface, which did not receive any major update since the beginning of this year. But with a good foundation, I can continue work in this era without the rest of the project falling in disarray.
Information about system image 10.1-002
This system image should be stable because it is derived from the 10.1-RC1 branch (RELENG_10_1). This means that it is not the final 10.1 release yet, but a release candidate that should be very close to the final release. All services are present and should be working; except PS3MediaServer, which encountered some problems in my testing. Many services received polishing or updates aside from the newer packages.
Some highlights:
Updates for ZFSUpdates for NewCons also known as vt(4). This is the graphical console that continues to receive a lot of updates. It should fix the slow scrolling issue and some bugs.The system-portstree and system-sourcecode services should be working properly now.The Owncloud service should be working properly now. The first pageview after creating admin user account will still display an error, but will work after refreshing the page.The SABnzbd+ service has updated packages and runcontrol scripts, it should be working properly.The Gnome desktop environment should have fixed an issue of using up I/O resources because of a non-visible applet; this is only installed when the optional Gnome Extra service is installed.The 'ShellShock' security vulnerability in Bash has been fixed.Many more things I have already forgotten. ;-)Be aware that the newly produced system image is still slightly experimental, due to being built using the new build infrastructure. There could still be issues with addon services or even the system image itself that breaks functionality. Please provide feedback should you encounter any regressions.
My recommendation is to leave this system image alone for a few weeks if you are running a stable production system. But new installations should opt for this new image instead.
Warning: incompatible with beta9 web-interface!
Please use at least beta10 when running this system version. Also be aware that ZFS v5000 pools may be unbootable with beta10; an update for this issue should be released pretty soon! If you create a pool that you want to boot ZFSguru from, it is recommended you leave this pool at version 28. Non-bootable pools are unaffected and can be upgraded to version 5000 if you desire the additional functionality.
What is next?
GuruDB is the next item on the list. It should take about a month to complete. In the meantime you can expect beta11 to be released. After GuruDB being released the only feature missing for a 0.2 final is the Migration Manager functionality. In the meantime developer CiPHER is busy with the new master servers (alpha and bravo) and new website. Stay tuned for more updates! :-)
Cheers!
- Jason
