Many people have asked me about NethServer 7 developments, obviously they’re right and fresh news is needed! Let me say that these were crazy weeks, we have shipped NethServer 6.8 (Beta and Final) and it has been about 1 month since 7 Alpha 3 release which seems like an eternity ago.
It’s time to break it all down and reveal what the future holds for NethServer 7 Beta1,
These are just a bunch of updates for Alpha version, beta1 ISO isn’t released yet but it will be available soon.
Certificate Management panel
With the NethServer update available in the last weeks comes a new certificate page where it will be possible to edit the default self-signed certificate or upload a custom certificate file bought from SSL certificate provider.
The same panel allows you to request a new Let’s Encrypt certificate making easier the procedure explained times ago
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Let’s Encrypt Client, it is a fully-featured, extensible client for the Let’s Encrypt CA (or any other CA that speaks the ACME protocol) that can automate the tasks of obtaining certificates and configuring service daemons to use them (like webserver)
MultiWan configuration is now merged into Network page
Providers configuration has been removed and moved to the Network page consequently new MultiWAN fields are added to the Red interface parameters.
Main settings, like mode balance/backup, will be still available In the MultiWan page
DHCP mode available for Green
It’s now allowed to configure a Green interface in DHCP mode, now DHCP on VPS is a scenario (Aruba or similar) we support perfectly.
Shared folder refactoring
As we already announced we have refactored the “Shared Folder” page with Virtual Hosts and AD Domain Controller role in mind. The “Shared folder” page configures only Samba shares and the “Web access” panel has been moved to the “Virtual hosts” page. User authentication, Extended ACLs and group ownership are enforced only if the server is member of an Active Directory domain
New Virtual Host panel
This new panel permits to manage the webserver configuration as simple as possible. There is a new kind of object that allows:
- FTP access to the vhost web root
- Folders permissions can be set from FTP
- SSL/TLS certificate selection.
The UI module has a plugin architecture, so additional features can be added by other packages.
About ProxyPass feature we’d release a separate page since it seems a different use case, more firewall oriented.
“Reload page” button in Software Center
After installing/removing a module from Software Center a button with the invite to “Reload page” appears.
New look for NethServer 7
We needed a new look for our next release to differentiate the release 7 from old NethServer 6, so our Alessia tried to make a few attempts. The rule was Few changes to code for little CSS and graphic refactor. Do not waste too much time doing it. After a brief survey in community we chose the new beautiful “Light Polygons” theme.
As part of new look we have also refreshed our First Configuration Wizard and the Network Panel with an eye towards usability and readability.
How to obtain these new improvements?
Just install NethServer 7 alpha 3 and click on Update button in the Software Center
Thank you
As usual, we’d like to first thank the overall NethServer community for contributions toward these improvements — whether it was in feedback, bug reports and suggestions.
NS7!
for 
and 
to get their hands dirty 
