2.9 Version Upgrade Module, Beta Program Status, More

Philippe Lindheimer

Philippe Lindheimer

The beta program is progressing very nicely and we are getting some really great feedback from a handful of people. I suspect the rest of you are out there silently testing and finding 2.9 flawless and feel we should just make it final! Well that’s probably wishful thinking on my part so my request is, if you are testing and have general feedback, please speak up. You can comment on this blog and let us know it’s going great, it’s not, etc. It always helps to know what aspects of the system are being tested and an idea of how many people are really actively using it.

[b]Installing the Upgrade Module[/b]

My general sense is that it is going good but not quite ready for a release candidate, though not too far off. The one gating element that usually ramps up beta testers like a hockey stick is when we publish the [url=http://mirror.freepbx.org/modules/release/2.8/versionupgrade-2.8.latest.tgz]2.9 Version Upgrade Tool[/url] to the online repository so that it just pops when people check for online modules. Well we are often tempted to do this since we provide [b]lots[/b] of warnings before you can actually commit to the upgrade, but we try to air on the side of caution. Most of you have learned to blindly trust anything we throw at the online repository and for that we are flattered. Therefore, we want to be careful not to introduce any surprises on you!

For now, there are a couple steps involved but it is still very straight forward and you can still do it all through the GUI.

Here’s how you get and install the Upgrade Module:

[list]
[*] Download the module to your desktop: [url=http://mirror.freepbx.org/modules/release/2.8/versionupgrade-2.8.latest.tgz]2.9 Upgrade Module[/url]
[*] Make sure 2.8 is fully up to date from all 2.8 available Updates.
[*] Click “Upload module” in Module Admin
[*] Choose the file you just downloaded (versionupgrade-2.8.latest.tgz)
[*] Click Upload
[*] Go to Manage local modules
[*] Install the new module (should show locally available)
[/list]

At this point you have done the equivalent of downloading and installing the module as if it had been available online. The rest is the same as it always has been:

[list]
[*] Go to the ‘2.9 Upgrade Tool’ tab
[*] Choose to upgrade and confirm
[*] Now check for Online Modules again, and you should see the Framework Module, load that
[*] Next, load Core
[*] Now load evertyhing
[*] Done! – start testing and exploring away!
[/list]

For those of you who have been through this before, we’ve made some minor but very helpful improvements. As you step through the upgrade process checking for modules, [b]only[/b] those that you should upgrade next are displayed in Module Admin. This is important since it is often required to follow the order specified in the upgrade process or [i]bad[/i] things can happen. This keeps you from going astray. The entire process should take no longer than a few minutes with a good internet connection. We’ll continue to monitor the feedback and when we are comfortable, we’ll move the module online thus “opening the flood gates” on the next step of testing.

[b]General Beta Status[/b]

Overall the program is progressing very nicely. We’ve seen the normal inflow of tickets and have been fixing them quicker then they are coming in. The tickets have been a mix of new 2.9 changes and existing issues that often get reported during beta programs but are not unique to the new release. There was a good chunk of work put into the new Asterisk 1.8 Call Camp-On feature and associated module that I added. We’re trying hard to make sure this gets accepted into Asterisk 1.10 at a minimum and your feedback and testing on the Device State Camp-On patch would be invaluable to make sure the Asterisk team sees enough interest and testing to make this happen. It’s also up on the Asterisk Code Review boad so [b]please[/b] show your interest by commenting on the ticket so that we get this in! Other Asterisk related patches that will help with 1.8 themes we’ve tried to pursue and you may be interested include CallCompletionRequest/Cancel fix and a Call Parking Connected Line fix both of which should find their way into 1.8 as bug fixes but your interest in seeing these happen (and thus your testing) will go a long way to raising their awareness. One last one that we currently have a bit of a kludge to work around is Asterisk Bug 18772 which is currently in need of someone smarter than me to come up with a patch to fix it (the others I was able to struggle through and supply patches in hope that they would accelerate fixes and adoption).

Given the current bug rate and feedback, my best guess for future release dates is another week or two in beta before I feel comfortable going to a release candidate, and once there, it’s usually another week or two for final, so we should have a final release before the end of March which keeps us within tolerance of the planned release date.

[b]Other News[/b]

I’ve talked about doing a project phone conference and although the feedback has been minimal, it’s still in progress. SkykingOH has come up with a phone bridge on top of “unlimited” bandwidth so I’ll be testing with him shortly to make sure all looks good and then pick and announce a date! I’ve hinted at the fact that Moshe (mbrevda with Schmoozecom.com) has been working on some really cool stuff in the background, and I’m here to simply tease you and say that it’s still coming along nicely but we aren’t ready to surprise you quite yet! Lastly, we get regular inquiries about the [url=https://www.freepbx.org/open-telephony-training-seminar]next OTTS class[/url] as it has been a while since we put one on. We’ve had a few false starts on logistics and locations but stay tuned as we hope to finalize something within the next couple weeks for the next class, and will make sure to include LOTS of 2.9 content in it. We are also looking at adding a one day class to focus solely on ACD (Queues) so for those of you who have a strong interest on that subject including past OTTS graduates. stay tuned!

For now, I’ll let you go so you can go pull down that [url=http://mirror.freepbx.org/modules/release/2.8/versionupgrade-2.8.latest.tgz]2.9 Upgrade Module[/url] and get testing!

[b]Philippe[/b] – On behalf of the FreePBX Team

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