NethServer 8 is landed, finally!

alefattorini · February 14, 2024, 9:08am

We are thrilled to announce that NethServer 8 (NS8) stable is released, so no testing versions anymore!

It’s been a long journey since we started developing this brand-new project

This release marks a significant milestone in delivering a robust and feature-rich platform.

Here are some key highlights and important details regarding this release

Key Highlights

Subscription (new from RC1)

A NethServer 8 cluster can be registered to a web portal to enable additional services.

When a cluster has an active subscription, the following services are enabled:

Remote support by Nethesis
Resources monitoring and alerting
Upload of leader node inventory
Automatic updates of core and applications
Upload of cluster backup (Enterprise only)

Depending on your subscription type, log in to my.nethserver.com or my.nethesis.it and obtain a unique subscription token for the cluster. Follow the portal-documented procedures to obtain it.

See the details in Subscription page.

Node Management

Add and remove nodes from the system.

Node resources

App Management

Install multiple app instances, move and clone apps across nodes

Centralized logging

Collect all logs into one place for easy monitoring.

Configuration and data backups

Regularly save cluster settings and data applications to local and remote providers, like Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, Microsoft Azure, and other S3-compatible cloud storages.

Authentication

Support for Active Directory and LDAP user directories.

Auditing

Track changes made within the system to ensure security and accountability.

Notifications

Modal notifications and brand new notification panel

Prebuilt software collection:

Collaborative tools: Includes Dovecot/Postfix/Rspamd mail server, ImapSync, WebTop, Roundcubemail, Nextcloud, Collabora Online, Dokuwiki, ejabberd, and Mattermost.
Development utilities: MariaDB and NGINX web server for creating dynamic applications and services.
Monitoring and analysis: Grafana, Prometheus, and node_exporter for tracking performance metrics and identifying potential issues.
Data storage: MinIO for managing large amounts of structured and unstructured data.
Network defense: CrowdSec for protecting local applications against remote attacks.

User Portal

Users within a domain can now change their own password through a dedicated web page. The user portal is accessible at https://IP_OR_FQDN/users-admin/DOMAIN_NAME/ and allows members of the Domain Admins group to manage the users and groups of the domain.

Other features

File server: Features an SMB (Server Message Block) file server that enables seamless integration with Windows-based networks.
Email relay: Use a smart host to route outgoing email traffic through a trusted server.
Custom web routing: Define custom URLs to handle specific requests.
Multi-factor authentication: Enable two-step verification for cluster administrators.
Built-in firewall: Protect against unauthorized access at the network level by implementing a local firewall.
Pre-built image – Images are based on Rocky Linux. Available formats are .qcow2 for QEMU/Proxmox and .vmdk for VMware.
Migration tool Migrating from 7 to 8 has always been a primary goal. The migration procedure is documented here.

Last updates

Password policy configuration: A new option has been introduced on the Domains and Users page. Users can now modify the password complexity and expiration policies for Samba and OpenLDAP domains.
Expanded backup options: In addition to existing cloud protocols, users can now create backup repositories on a Windows file share or local storage attached to a cluster node. More information is available in the Backup and Restore section.
Fetch Mail from Other Servers: Added a new advanced application, Imapsync, is introduced to retrieve email messages from remote IMAP servers at scheduled intervals and synchronize entire IMAP accounts.
Cockpit removed from pre-built image – Cockpit is not required to run NS8, therefore it is no more available in the NS8 pre-built image. If desired, it can be manually installed and enabled

Upcoming 8.1 Release Highlights

Looking ahead to the next release, our focus will be on the smooth migration of NS7 within existing environments. We aim to bridge feature gaps between the current and upcoming releases. Here’s a glimpse of what’s in store:

A) New Features in Development:

Basic DHCP and DNS Module
- A user-friendly module with customizable IP ranges and DHCP options.
- DNS service flexibility, allowing seamless integration with Samba AD.
- DNS can now resolve host names defined by HTTP routes and TLS certificates.
Alternative Monitoring Stack
- An alternative to the Prometheus/Grafana stack tailored for small clusters.
- Currently exploring Netdata as a potential monitoring solution.
Configurable Log Retention
- Users can configure Loki centralized log retention directly through the Cluster admin UI.
Mail Module Enhancements
- Enhanced relay rules and default transport (smarthost).
- Introduction of a sender/login match policy.
- Configurable queue lifetime.
- Mail archive for individual message restoration.

B) Ongoing Exploration:

In-Place Upgrade Path
- We are actively investigating the feasibility of an in-place upgrade path for future releases.

These planned enhancements are geared towards ensuring a seamless transition for users, addressing crucial functionalities, and enhancing overall system performance.

What is NethServer 8?

It’s an Open Source application platform for hybrid cloud that provides a simplified yet comprehensive experience for deploying, managing, and scaling your container-based applications.

NethServer can be installed on-premise, self-hosted, or managed cloud, providing consistent user experience, centralized management, and security across a hybrid infrastructure.

Plus, with multi-node installation, you can scale your infrastructure to meet the needs of your growing business.

Its modular design makes it customizable to fit specific needs, and its active community ensures continuous improvements and updates.

Like the previous versions it is still easy to administrate and perfectly suited for home setups to small offices and medium enterprises.

So, if you are looking for a easy-to-use application platform for hybrid cloud, look no further than NethServer 8: one platform to run your apps and data anywhere.

Additional resources:

How to install NethServer 8

You can install NethServer 8 on your preferred distribution starting from scratch or using one of pre-built images. Both methods require a working Internet connection.

Upgrade from NethServer 8 RC1

Upgrading from RC1 installation can be done through the Software Center page. However, please be aware of a known issue:

Core upgrade freezes Software Center page – The bug 6778 has been fixed in core version 2.2.6. If the upgrade from RC1 starts from core version 2.2.5 or lower, when the task progress bar freezes reload the web page with CTRL + SHIFT + R or an equivalent procedure. – Release notes — NS8 documentation

the upgrade download may be slow; avoid interrupting or rebooting until completion.

Resources and Documentation

Our Roadmap: we are now on GitHub Projects.
Translation Platform: we invite you to contribute by translating NethServer into your language with Weblate.

We’re writing along the way the documentation for sysadmins and devs, check them out for additional information.

Please help us with feedback

We would greatly appreciate any feedback to help us improve the stability and functionality of NethServer 8.

Please open a new discussion in our community with tag ns8

We are excited about the possibilities that NS8 brings to the table and look forward to your feedback and contributions. Your input plays a vital role in shaping the future of NethServer.

Thank you for being part of our community!

The NethServer team.

GG_jr · February 14, 2024, 1:08pm

Just upgraded without issues!
Congrats to everyone!

capote · February 14, 2024, 5:39pm

Congratulations to the developers and the entire team.

oneitonitram · February 15, 2024, 4:20am

Am looking at this from a perspective of NS7 supports rocky linux version that ns8 is supporting, then Allow for both installations to be done on the same sysstem

then the conversion and migration of files to NS8 specific directory, Migrations have always been painful in system development

Andy_Wismer · February 15, 2024, 4:27am

@oneitonitram

As far as I understand, in place upgrade is from 8.1 on, nothing to do with NS7.

My 2 cents
Andy

oneitonitram · February 15, 2024, 4:46am

Why would they be thinking of an inplace upgrade of NS8 and not NS7, this is in relation to NS7 into NS8, thats what inplace upgrade,

WHat microsft did upgrade to windows 10 from previous versions in place.
Doing upgrade from NS8 to NS8.1 is already factored in the codebase, and all modules have functionalities to handle all scenraios in relation to upgrades, migration, cloning and restore, NS7 did not have that.

Andy_Wismer · February 15, 2024, 4:54am

Maybe you need to read english correctly:

It does read “Future Releases”, after the Headline of " Upcoming 8.1 Release Highlights"…

NS6 → NS7 also needed a Migration, typical RedHat…

My 2 cents
Andy

Andy_Wismer · February 15, 2024, 6:59am

Windows Server still does not support In Place upgrades…

oneitonitram · February 15, 2024, 7:48am

you are system admins, you can do the job, a normal user cant.

HAve you never seen some softwares whihc are way too complex to deploy, so that just we can be paying installation and support fees when things break during upgrades

alefattorini · February 15, 2024, 8:34am

We’re working on an in-place upgrade from NS7 to NS8 but we can’t promise anything at the moment

oneitonitram · February 15, 2024, 12:47pm

Wonderful take. But honestly, just implement bei g able to connect NS7 to NS8 and should service most cases. Unless dev have figured it’s as easy.

oneitonitram · February 15, 2024, 3:01pm

@mark_nl how’s the ARM progress

davidep · February 15, 2024, 4:00pm

5 posts were split to a new topic: Subscription on a Debian based installation

yummiweb · February 15, 2024, 4:08pm

My congratulations and my highest recognition to all developers and other participants !!!

Regards
Yummiweb

smetroid · February 15, 2024, 4:26pm

Came to NS from ClearOS/pfsense, and was blown away by its features and how easy it was to set up congrats on all the hard work that has been put into this project.

I do have a quick question, will there be an NS8 ISO download in the future?

Riccardo_Fiorile · February 15, 2024, 5:07pm

congratulations to all ! we’ll talk via ticket

capote · February 15, 2024, 5:08pm

NS8 is the launch of the rocket, in-place migration from NS7 to 8.x would then be the lunar orbit.
This function becomes important for me when I have to migrate my servers booked on one (!) host with one provider.
The moon landing would be if my WordPress installations in a vhost would miraculously work again after the migration.

hector · February 15, 2024, 7:43pm

Thanks for the new server, to test the migration in this days, YOU COMPLETED IT BEFORE Centos 7/x dead .

Question: ¿“PHP/Virtualbox” like the 7 is already done? that’s a killer feature Nethsever 7, for a lot of people.

Preparing a laboratory for migrations…

Thanks to the pipiolinos (italians with mustaches!! like Mariobros ejejeje ) for the good news.

danb35 · February 17, 2024, 12:57pm

IIRC, that’s been gone for quite a while now. A much better solution is to install NS (7, 8, 9, whatever) as a virtual machine under, e.g., Proxmox or xcp-ng, and then create whatever other VMs are needed under that same environment.