The new Release ? ... and away!

Hi Team,

Nethserver was i good solution for me:

  • no microsoft stuff
  • no dependencies regarding AD or Microsoft domain technology
  • I could use accounts and groups without LDAP und such oversized things
  • Mail-Server in combination with SOGo realy useful
  • realy reliable also as KVM virtual machine (Proxmox)
  • and many things more

BUT

  • no Backup concept or no useful
  • no update way from 6.8 to 7 final
  • and the most important point: in the new version you have to have a Accounts Provider ?!? And without this you can’t create users and groups in the old way ?

OK, if this is the future of Nethserver, then without me!

So I have to determine this project is anotherone that was in the beginning quiet easy to use and is now straight forward to rise the expert level more and more and more complexness …

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Hi Telekomiker,

and what exactly is your problem?

Regards

Uwe

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Hi Telekomiker,

I think that you have misunderstood or you do not know the beneath layers of functionality.
There has always been an account provider in NS!

The difference now is that things got better and have been displayed more clearly.

Since 7 has just been finalized the team did not yet have a upgrade path for it. so you will have to wait, or pay for support if you are really needing it asap.

There is a backup process for data and config. It is not the best option ever but it is as good as possible with the current possibilities. But is work in progress)

Still your option to go forward with NS or to choose something else.

But please try to understand that this is done via contribution and you have use it for free.
Demanding or making such comments is not helpful

Best regards
Bogdan

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Oh my god !!! I’m using NethServer since two years as a firewall/gateway… And I never hear nothing about account provider :flushed:

Is it an other name for the domain nane entry? :thinking::upside_down_face:

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An account provider is nothing more than a running LDAP server. :wink:
In NS6 the only choice was OpenLDAP (which wasn’t installed by default).
In NS7 you can choose between OpenLDAP and Samba 4, or even an external server.

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Because you use NS6 only as a Firewall and Gateway, you don’t need it.
That don’t mean that it doesn’t exist!

As @giacomo said, in NS6, OpenLDAP is not installed by default, it will be installed only if you will use Mail, File Server or something else that needs OpenLDAP.

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… in NS7, it’s intalled by default? :grin:

No, only if you need (if you use NS as Firewall/Gateway, you don’t need any of Accounts Provider).
If you need, you can choose between OpenLDAP and Samba AD.

Firewall — NethServer 7 Final
Users and groups — NethServer 7 Final

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Don’t be hurry, you will have security updates till November 30, 2020

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well… even if true, if a customer ask you a to upgrade his server (an HW upgrade) now, what would you do? upgrade to 7.3 without any clear path? reinstall 6.8?

the upgrade path/procedure must be the first thing to think about just before releasing a major release… IOW, when you release it, you must already have the procedure (and tested)

IMO (I’m not the only one, some one else told the same in other 3ad) 7.3 has been released in hurry, and with some (quite big) unresolved issue (network, setup procedure, account provider)…
they should have been solved during the beta stage, refined and totally documented during RC stage…

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You have been here for a while so thanks for your support so far. As you may know, our mission is leveraging the power of Linux without the complexity, so please help us to keep the project straightforward. I’m always eager to know your feedback in that way!
We’re already working hard on the update from 6.8 please bear with us.

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Hi Alesso,

first of all: You and the staff do a really good work !!! There is
nothing I have to criticized on technical site !!!

Nethserver 6.5-6.8 are really reliable, also update procedures. The
solution is expendable and so on. In Germany we say “Eier legende
Wollmilchsau” (a porc who gives you eggs and wool and milk) meaning
/all-in-one device suitable for every purpose*.*/ I used many years
sme-server and I am happy to found the future of it.

Many thanks for that !

My English knowledge is unfortunately very poor, so that my critical
words on my last mail was possible aggressive. But I was angry, YES,
after the 5th or 6th try to work based on the new Version7.0. Let me
tell you why:

  1. I added an non-official feature named “Dokuwiki” (many thanks to
    Stephane de Labrusse!!!) and I am extremely satisfied with it. It’s
    running very well from the beginning. Any time later I found a
    plugin that requested imagemagic. While the installation process
    comes a error message, the version of epl should be wrong, and I
    decided to change that (wrong) version. The result is, that
    imagemagic st not running (not important) and my Nethserver
    implementation is no longer updateable (that’s important!). So I
    hoped on the new version 7.0 and a useful upload way.

Without the possibility to upgrade I did the decision to build a new
Configuration an the Nethserver 7! I found no way to add users and
groups in a easy way like the previous version 6.8. Instead I have
to have a LDAP-Server or AD, and only ONE chance to determine how, a
later change where not possible. So I was pissed of!

  1. My job in the last (more than) 25 years was and is now to develop
    products, sell them and communication solutions and develop
    marketing concepts. In the beginning PC-based, since 15 years LAN-
    and WAN solutions. So I’m sure to know what customers requests. As
    sales men my most important issue to sell was tho get knowing the
    base of decision on my “new” customers and as product manager I have
    tho realize products and concepts for sales.

And from my opinion the most important issue, what they want, is a
Solution for affordable business continuity !!!

Unless all aspects (we cat discuss many hours, days months about
business continuity) there must be a upgradeable solution. That’s
such a important request, that this feature has to be in every
planning of new versions on the minimum 3th position. No one will
accept a new product version, that is not upgradeable from the
beginning on!

  1. A aspect of business continuity do I realize using Proxmox (3
    nodes), so that my nethserver impemention is running on a VM (KVM)
    with daily backup. I use 3 NAS and a separately firewall/router.
    Nethserver is located in a DMZ.

  2. I will switch into pension middle of the year, and after some months
    vacancies with my (beautiful) wife I will consult SoHo or SME
    offices for affordable business continuity, and Proxmox AND
    Nethserver should part of my consulting. And additional important
    for you: I don’t plan to overtake the solution responsibility for my
    clients. I want to help them to take the right decisions and show
    them the way to administering self-employed and using and paying
    Support from YOU … !

So long … :slight_smile:

Telekomiker !

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Thanks for your trust, I appreciate it.

It will definitely be a fair reminder for the next release, thanks for pointing it out.

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There’s a rationale behind the delay between the release of a new major version and the update procedure.
When you adopt a new system, you expect to go through a period of learning (like when you buy a new car).
This period let us fix some “teething troubles”.
When you have a running system, changes must be tested in advance.
Think about when you moved from 6.7 to 6.8: no changes, no procedure to follow, no delay.
Here we’re talking about selecting which of the new functions of NethServer 7 you would like to use.
Then testing them and deploy in production.
BTW, we began working on the 6->7 update months ago, but I don’t want to block the release until all the update scenarios have been developed and tested.

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I partially agree, but once the new release is in RC state, an upgrade path must be public, because people can start making tests… helping you to fix “teething troubles” (in RC stage, not after the stable release)

now you have a brand new release, no upgrade path (so no one can just test it, improve it and learn) and so you’re delaying all the process… moreover, since the main groupware for NS7 is webtop (ATM almost unknown to everybody), people feels that the “learning” curve will be long, too long… migrating from a major release to a new one is a big deal, migrating from a release to another changing the main groupware app is worse, not having idea about how to deal with this matters is a problem, because (and I repeat myself), if a customer of mine asks me for a new server, I sincerely don’t know what to propose him…
this is the kind of questions that at the moment have no answer yet.

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There is an updatepath: backup and restore.
For the automated update you have to be patient.
It’s a bit unfair to draw WT to this discussion. I think it has been discussed enough in other topics.
Before drawing any conclusions, lets wait and see what WT can offer us for the short and long term. In the meantime, you are free to keep using SOGo or even plain roundcube if you prefer one of those.
I would say: give all involved some slack to come up with a good Groupware solution.

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too many things are changed between the releases… and maybe you can’t simply restore a NS6 backup on a NS7 if you choose to use AD…
about WT, it’s still one of the “open issue” and it has its weigth in deciding/planning an update…

let me be clear: I guess that many of us will setup NS to their customers too… let’s forget about the homeusers… now, we’re talking about business… in my perspective and from my point of view, I’ve got a big issue here, cause I have to hold my customers (new installs or migration)…
don’t get me wrong, but we’re not only “playing with our server and distro” :wink:

If you don’t feel comfortable there are 2 other options:

  • wait
  • get paid support.

If you don’t like those 2 options: though!

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There’s a third one… Move away :wink:

No please don’t move away! Not again :frowning:

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