anyVID-STOR Release Notes

v5.0.3

2022 December 22

Added a fix for using GoBack with HLS Relays in certain XC conditions
Added a fix for watching video with certain versions of Firefox and/or using Firefox with certain Add-Ons
HLS Relays can now Relay from previous HLS Relays
- It is better to point all Relays to a Source XC, since each HLS Relay jump introduces latency
Custom Playlists are now supported on GoBack and DVR Recordings
Includes additional bug fixes, GUI updates, and stability improvements

v5.0.1

2022 December 12

Brand new Graphical Management Interface:
- Entire layout is refreshed with better colors, easier to read fonts, and widget blocks for all Admin functions
- Menus are now located in a side bar, instead of at the top with drop-down menus
- Tables have been improved and now support a global search feature
- Updated all popups for a consistent feel
- Alarm notifications are now always visible at the top of the screen
- GUI look and feel now closely mirrors all other products
For STORs with limited Linux OS support, a message is displayed at the bottom following the Software version
Updated the Chassis Monitor screen
- Depending on what Core OS is used, some widgets/gages may not be available to be displayed
- *** New *** Added the Program Summary widget
  - It tracks current DVR statistics
    - Number of scheduled recordings
    - Number of programs currently recording
    - Number of recordings ready to be viewed
  - It tracks VOD statistics
    - Number of existing assets
    - Number of assets in progress of being transferred to the STOR
- *** New *** Added the Service Summary widget
  - - Monitors HLS relay statistics, per HLS relay
      - CPU cores used
      - RAM used
      - Output bitrate graph to monitor bitrate over time
- The Network Usage widget has been revamped
  - - Renamed it to Network Summary
    - It now graphically tracks traffic through each port over time
- The Disk Usage widget has been revamped
  - Renamed it to Disk/IO Summary
  - Modified it so that gages are being used to monitor key statistics
    - IO pressure over time
    - Drive Space Used
- The Memory Summary widget has been revamped
  - Modified it so that gage widgets and graphs are being used to monitor key statistics
    - Memory pressure over time
    - Simultaneous stalls
    - Memory usage over time breakdown
- The CPU Usage over Time widget has been revamped
  - Renamed it to CPU Summary
  - Modified it so that gage widgets and graphs are being used to monitor key statistics
    - CPU pressure over time
    - CPU Temp
    - CPU usage over time breakdown
- The System widget has been combined with the System Alerts widget
- The Device Alarms widget has been revamped
  - Renamed it to System Alerts
  - Active alerts appear at the top of the screen
  - Historical alerts can e viewed by selecting the bell icon in the upper-right hand corner of the screen
- The Drive Health widget has been revamped
- The Swap widget has been removed
- The Ping widget has been removed
- The Services Status widget has been removed
HLS Relays have been updated to support the new encryption engine
***New Feature*** Dynamic URL support has been added to HLS Relays – this is feature already present in XC transcodes which creates a powerful new layer of security
- Live Stream Relay Keys are used to when creating a relay, instead of a playlist URL
Fixed an issue where output transcoding logs are sometimes delayed several minutes before being visible
DVR and VOD content screens have been separated
*** New Feature *** Added the ability to review VOD video content in the GUI
*** New Feature *** Added an Alarm Thresholds screen
- Gives the ability to create warnings/alarms based on customer chosen criteria instead of the default criteria
New video security option available
enWall functionality no longer includes client-side encryption, and is only used for server-side security
- enWall still provides packet interrogation and request fingerprinting
- enWall still includes cryptographically generated on-the-fly URLs per user request & service
- enWall is enabled/disabled globally in Settings, but a reference to the current status exists in the output settings for each stream
***New Feature*** Completely overhauled the Background Monitor Process (Mission Control) including new Chassis Monitoring Screen.
- System level metrics (CPU, RAM, Processes, etc.), as well as Stream Health and Bitrate are now monitored ~2 seconds providing near-real-time detection of issues
- All Chassis View Graphs and charts are automatically updated on-the-fly every 2 seconds with the latest data available.
- Additional advanced metrics are available directly on-screen in Chassis View
- All Metrics are now stored in a custom Big Data file-based database separate from the Software database, which supports storage/access of millions of metrics without speed or CPU penalties.
- Additional Alarms and Alerts have been added within the Mission Control Process
Modified VM to STOR communications
Revised upload method when using a custom TTL/SSL Certificate
Added additional triggers to the process that automatically creates a new TLS certificate, when required, for any device using an anyVID supplied certificate
In Global Network Settings, you can now select a Default Multicast Interface
Removed the Historical Logs area from the Maintenance screen
- Historical alarms/logs are now available by selecting the bell icon in the upper-right hand corner of the screen
*** New Feature *** In Maintenance, Software Images can now be reverted (downgraded) to the previous Software Image
- Only one level of downgrade is currently supported
- Database changes will remain, but all database changes are backwards compatible
- Some Linux updates cannot be reverted, due to other dependencies
***New Feature*** Ability to manually check for software upgrades
*** New Feature *** Add the ability to backup/restore the entire database, or just the streaming settings
- The backup file can be downloaded to a local computer
- The backup file does not contain any device-specific information, so it can be applied to another anyVID-STOR, if desired
- This can make cloning HLS Relay configurations very easy; simply backup the streams and reapply elsewhere
*** New Feature *** Added support for installing Beta Software on-demand
- Software is delivered at the same time as normal upgrades
*** New Feature *** It is now possible to inline-edit basic HLS Relay Info by double-clicking a row (spreadsheet mode)
It is now possible to backup/restore all HLS Relay Info directly from the Maintenance Menu
- Fully supports adding streams from another STOR to provide easy building of new STORs with similar HLS Relay Settings
- In combination with easy spreadsheet-based editing of Source Info (above), new STORs can be fully configured in minutes
The xml-based Metrics API now requires credentials, as part of anyvid's DevLock Security Initiative
A second advanced json-based advanced Metrics API is now available to select partners, which contains hundreds of new Metrics
All DevLock Security features from other products have been ported to the STOR
- Includes lockout of SSH Port 300
- Includes new Web Server Security
- Includes latest version of enWall
*** New Feature *** Added full http2 support. http2 support benefits include:
- Increased loading speed for apps and GUIs
- Reduction of header bloat and requests
- Improved video on slow networks
Added additional checks to detect and purge orphaned services/processes
Added support for manual upgrades via a local upgrade package
*** New Feature *** Added a new console login user for initially setting up an STOR and advanced troubleshooting of issues, which is available to any authorized operator of this STOR, who wishes to use it
- This powerful menu driven Interface will receive ongoing additional tools over time
- Available commands include free, iostat, nslookup, new top features, traceroute, date, uptime, ntpdate syncing, more...
[Security] Phase 1 of our new DevLock Security Initiative has been implemented DevLock is company-wide effort to review and heavily invest in additional security measures across our products wherever possible via internal reviews, 3rd parties and via the newest Industry-wide Guidelines
- Implemented the latest recommended TLS Encryption Ciphers and disabled deprecated Ciphers
- Added full TLS 1.3 support [when supported by the core OS]
- Installed a new advanced firewall with greater support for hacker attacks
- SSH is no longer available publicly or privately on any IP Address via port 300 (blocked by the new firewall), except 1 dedicated IP Address used only by anyVID Tech Support
  - This means that the user "configure" can no longer access the STOR over open networks. However, the "configure" user is still available via Console Port.
- As a part of our new security initiative and in accordance with the Linux Foundation, and associated package maintainers, the core OS of some older STORs is no longer supported by anyVID Solutions until an upgrade has been implemented, due to lack of new security and kernel updates.
  - We will continue to provide security updates for a limited number of internal items under our control, but do not have the ability to support critical items
  - Moving forward, some new features will not be backwards compatible to STORs with older core OSs
- Includes additional security enhancements
Miscellaneous bug fixes and improvements

v4.0.3

2021 February 10

Modified how HLS Relay Streams are handed to resolve playback issues experienced with DVR recordings and usage of GoBack, when watching live (still playing) content.
Fixed an issue preventing the reporting of internal server statistics to the anyVID-AC
Added additional support for anyVID-VM (VOD Manager) to anyVID-STOR Communications
Miscellaneous bug fixes and improvements

v4.0.2

2020 November 7

Fixed an issue that was causing the "RECORDING" flag in the GUI/Database to report that a program is still recording hours after the recording completed.
- This would not extend the recording time beyond the expected interval
- This could cause unexpected playback issues, if a recording is watched within hours of recording and the flag is still set to "RECORDING"
Fixed an issue that could result in duplicate concurrent programs sharing the same internal Process ID, if more than 1000 programs are already scheduled over the next 14 days.
- This only happened on sites with many recordings
- Unexpected behaviors would include programs being stopped early, programs being recorded at the wrong times, and potential corruption within programs that had been recorded.
Fixed minor visibility issues in anyServer Monitor.
Fixed an error that could cause an Alarm for low RAM, when RAM was normal.
Updated enWall Security to work around a known Apple iOS 14, which triggered enWall's Theft Protection Module, denying Video for some Live and DVR Streams on iOS 14 iPhones and iPads.
Updated enWall Security to work around a known Apple iOS bug in iOS 13 - 14, which can cause loss of Video and potential App crashes on iPhones and iPads that keep bouncing between weak Wifi and Mobile Networks, while watching content.
Miscellaneous bug fixes and improvements

v4.0.1

2020 August 6

***New Feature*** Added automated backup snapshot feature to recover deleted and/or corrupted video files
- Snapshots capture the state and changes of files
- Snapshots are taken daily
- While able to fully recover deleted files, snapshots take up very little space per snapshot due to it's inherent flexibility
***New Feature*** Added custom SSL/TLC certificate uploader
***New Feature*** Added ability to upgrade software with from a file, when internet access is not available
***New Feature*** Replaced the "Monitor" screen with our new anyServer Monitor Widgets, which provide a new extensive monitoring experience
Improved HLS Relay feature
- Faster acquisition and playlist update times, which leads to a more stable relay in the face of challenging network conditions
- Fixed issues related to GoBack and HLS Relays
- Added additional error logging capability
- Fixed issue when loss of connection to input HLS Streams could result in long system hangs before automatic restart of a Relay
Fixed an issue where the old asset clean-up process (taking place at the beginning of the month) could lead to inadvertently deleting valid video recordings
Miscellaneous bug fixes and improvements

v3.1.1

2020 January 28

Base version for this iteration of Release Notes