![[tokkee]](http://tokkee.org/images/avatar.png){kind=avatar}
diff --git a/ReleaseNotes b/ReleaseNotes
index df53914ffa3500659175486d37549103bfebd1ee..57b04e20460b9ff7240ead71fc23613b8eb79993 100644 (file)
--- a/ReleaseNotes
+++ b/ReleaseNotes
Compatibility Note:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
All pre 1.0 development snapshots are not considered stable yet. That is,
all interfaces, including the plugin API, the network protocol, or the query
language, may change in an incompatible way at any time. All changes are
<https://sysdb.io/>
+Version 0.8.0, Release Date: 2016-02-25
+---------------------------------------
+
+ This release focuses on a generic and much more powerful store (query)
+ interface and modular store implementations via plugins. The in-memory store
+ has been moved into a plugin on top of that. Various fixes and improvements,
+ mostly related to iterators, have been applied to the parser and query
+ language.
+
+ * build system:
+ - Fix VPATH (out of tree) builds.
+ - Fixed a build issue (configure failure) when using RRDtool 1.5.
+ - Enable silent build rules by default (if supported).
+ - Fix build issues with GCC 5.
+ * parser:
+ - Add a new, standalone parser module based on a generic (public) AST
+ (abstract syntax tree). This replaces the (internal) parser of the
+ frontend module.
+ - Improved error reporting for syntactic and semantic errors by
+ propagating error messages in the parser and analyzer.
+ * core / store:
+ - Fully support array access and comparison (all element types).
+ - Service/metric parent host names are now available via the "hostname"
+ attribute (populated automatically).
+ - Rebase the store query interface on top of the new parser: store
+ implementations prepare actual queries from an AST, thus, allowing
+ multiple implementations of store readers.
+ - Querying the store (through the new interface) will emit data to an
+ arbitrary writer implementation allowing for more flexible post-
+ processing.
+ - Fixed a memory leak in the TIMESERIES implementation.
+ - data: Added support for boolean values; this is a backward incompatible
+ change which breaks the network encoding.
+ - Include nano-second fraction of datatime values (if any) in the string
+ format (including JSON query results).
+ - Add new callback type for store-readers (query plugins) based on the
+ new generic query interface.
+ - memstore: Refactor the in-memory store implementation into a separate
+ data-type. It implements the writer and query/reader APIs.
+ - The main, in-memory store is no longer enabled by default (see
+ store::memory plugin). Instead, all updates go through the plugin API
+ and are distributed to all registered writers.
+ - Handle hostname canonicalization in the generic plugin module instead
+ of requiring each writer plugin to do so.
+ - Do not canonicalize hostnames when fetching time-series.
+ - Determine an object's backends and update interval in the generic
+ plugin module and pass it on to writer plugins which are expected to
+ merge it with existing entries.
+ - Let the JSON formatter implement the writer API to make it more
+ flexible and uncouple it from the memstore module; let it support
+ arbitrary top-level objects (besides hosts).
+ - FETCH (in the core) now supports all object types and child objects as
+ well as fetching the base object without children / siblings.
+ * frontend:
+ - Added the SERVER_VERSION command; this allows clients to check for
+ supported servers.
+ - Fixed a memory leak in failed FETCH commands.
+ - Switch to the new, pluggable query interface: use registered plugins to
+ write to or query the SysDB store.
+ - Move protocol-specific (query) logic out of the core and into the
+ frontend (based on the new query API).
+ - A generic TIMESERIES implementation based on the query API replaces the
+ in-core implementation.
+ * query language:
+ - Check types of comparison operands and arithmetic expression and treat
+ mismatches as errors; previously those comparisons would fail silently.
+ - Added the 'NOT IN' operator.
+ - Support iterators (ANY/ALL) of arbitrary array expressions.
+ - Change child-object iterator syntax to 'ANY/ALL <type>.name', that is,
+ require the field name and add support for accessing arbitrary fields.
+ - Added new field "value" for attribute values.
+ - Added new field "timeseries" (boolean) for metrics indicating whether
+ a time-series store is known to SysDB.
+ - Support attribute and backend iterators in FILTER expressions.
+ - Enforce that TIMESERIES end times are greater than start times.
+ - Added unary 'IS TRUE' / 'IS FALSE' operators.
+ - Iterator expressions may now reference a chain of sibling objects as
+ long as only one such reference is an iterator. For example,
+ `LOOKUP services MATCHING ANY host.backend =~ 'foo'`.
+ * testing:
+ - Use check "loop" tests; this will run all test-cases even if there are
+ failures.
+ - Create separate binaries for each test; this allows to run more in
+ parallel.
+ - Make it possible to run unit and integration tests separately; see
+ README.
+
+ Stores:
+ * store::memory: Added a store-writer/store-reader plugin providing an
+ in-memory store replacing the previous, always-enabled store. It is based
+ on the 'memstore' module.
+
+Version 0.7.0, Release Date: 2015-02-21
+---------------------------------------
+
+ This release introduces various features related to running SysDB as an
+ agent. Objects may now also be submitted by arbitrary applications using the
+ network protocol. Two new plugins are available to collect local facter fact
+ values and to mirror all store operations to another instance. Various fixes
+ and improvements have been applied to the client program (sysdb).
+
+ * build system:
+ - Added support for C++.
+ * sysdb:
+ - Fixed terminal resets on exit.
+ - Don't exit if the server closed the connection; instead reconnect
+ automatically on the next user input.
+ - Fixed string parsing: previously, quoted strings were not handled at
+ all and might have been terminated by an embedded semicolon.
+ - Also store failed commands in the history to enable history editing in
+ such cases.
+ - Improved program output: don't mix log messages with prompts after
+ sending a command; print log messages to the standard error channel.
+ - Fixed lookup of the .sysdb_history file for cases where the SysDB user
+ does not match the current operating system user.
+ * sysdbd:
+ - SSL options can be specified inside a <Listen> block.
+ - Unload all plugins on exit to ensure a clean shutdown.
+ * client:
+ - Simplified RPC handling by providing a helper function.
+ - Added support for TCP connections using SSL/TLS and supporting, both,
+ IPv4 and IPv6. Remote peer verification is required for any such
+ connection.
+ - New command line flags -K, -C, and -A to specify the SSL private key,
+ client certificate, and CA certificates file names.
+ * core:
+ - Fully support arrays of all types.
+ - Fixed (implemented) reloading of time-series fetcher plugins.
+ - Added new callback type for "store-writers", making that part of the
+ store pluggable (queries are not supported).
+ * store:
+ - Added support for querying an object's siblings.
+ - Send all stored objects to store-writer plugins in addition to storing
+ them in the in-memory store.
+ * frontend:
+ - Fixed parsing of time values.
+ - Add support for storing hosts, services, metrics, and attributes using
+ the new 'STORE' command.
+ - Fixed handling of subsequent requests on the same connection by
+ avoiding unnecessary pauses of up to one second, thus, greatly speeding
+ up request handling.
+ - Added support for TCP connections supporting, both, IPv4 and IPv6.
+ SSL/TLS is enforced for any such connection.
+ - Added support for and require actual client authentication:
+ UNIX socket connections require peer authentication.
+ TCP connections require client SSL certificate authentication.
+ * query language:
+ - Added support for expressions accessing an object's siblings by using
+ the '<object_type>.<sibling_type>' syntax.
+ * JSON format:
+ - Fixed handling of special characters which are now being escaped.
+ - Include a flag indicating whether time-series data are available for a
+ metric.
+ * utils:
+ - os: This utility module provides some Operating System related helper
+ functions: access user information (current user, homedir), manage
+ directories (create, delete, resolve), I/O helpers (select, read,
+ write), networking helpers (DNS resolution).
+ - proto: Added support for marshaling and unmarshaling messages encoding
+ a datum of any type, hosts, services, metrics, and attributes.
+ - ssl: This new module provides convenience functions for SSL/TLS
+ servers, clients, and sessions using OpenSSL.
+
+ Backends:
+ * facter: Added a plugin collecting local facter fact values using
+ libcfacter (C++).
+
+ Stores:
+ * store::network: Added a store-writer plugin sending all data to another
+ SysDB instance using the client library and low-level STORE commands.
+
+ Plugins:
+ * syslog: The log-level is now configurable using the "LogLevel" option.
+
+Version 0.6.0, Release Date: 2014-11-17
+---------------------------------------
+
+ This release focuses on a clearer query language. The underlying
+ architecture has been refactored to allow for more powerful and generic
+ expressions.
+
+ * core:
+ - Added support for arrays. Elements may be of any other supported
+ data-type but only integers, decimals, and strings are fully supported.
+ * store:
+ - Refactored matchers: all matchers now operate on one or two expressions
+ or other matchers, replacing the old and less flexible conditional
+ matchers.
+ - Attribute values may now be used anywhere in an expression.
+ - On data-type mismatch when comparing attribute values, the values will
+ be cast to string (previously only done for regex matches).
+ - Added support for querying an object's backends (array of strings).
+ - Added support for iterating child objects and array values.
+ - All matchers now return false if any operand is NULL (except for IS
+ NULL).
+ - All operations now return NULL if any operand is NULL.
+ - Fixed behavior of not-operators (!=, !~) and let them not match if any
+ of the operands is NULL.
+ - Add support for looking up all object types (hosts, services, metrics).
+ - Refactored the JSON formatter to be more flexible and powerful.
+ - Record parent objects for each stored object.
+ * frontend:
+ - Added a separate parser mode for expressions.
+ - Added a new queryable field 'name' to be used in place of the rather
+ magical keyword 'host' when looking up hosts.
+ - Improved error reporting in the parser and the (newly introduced)
+ analyzer.
+ - Apply filters to hosts in the FETCH command.
+ * query language:
+ - All operators may now be used in all places if the involved data-types
+ support the respective operation. For example, regular expressions may
+ be used to match any value. Non-string values are cast to strings for
+ that purpose. IS NULL / IS NOT NULL may be applied to arbitrary
+ expressions.
+ - Introduced the 'IN' operator to check if a value or an array of values
+ is included in an array.
+ - Added support for arrays: [<elem1>,<elem2>,...]
+ - Added support for string and array concatenation using the '||'
+ operator.
+ - Attribute names have to be strings instead of identifiers now.
+ - Access object fields using '<field>' rather than '.<field>'.
+ - Let the LOOKUP and FETCH commands support services and metrics.
+ - Introduced 'FETCH service|metric <host>.<name' for fetching services
+ and metrics.
+ - Added support for 'ANY' and 'ALL' operators which apply a matcher to
+ each value emitted by an iterator (a host's services and metrics or
+ arrays). 'MATCHING ANY service|metric|attribute <cmp> <expr>' replaces
+ 'MATCHING service|metric|attribute <cmp> <value>' expressions.
+
+Version 0.5.0, Release Date: 2014-10-06
+---------------------------------------
+
+ This release focuses on simplifications and more flexibility in the frontend
+ and the query language. Most of those changes are not backward-compatible
+ but easy client implementations.
+
+ * sysdb:
+ - Include priority when printing log messages.
+ - Fixed handling of empty queries.
+ * store:
+ - When serializing the entire store (LIST command), return an array of
+ host objects (rather than wrapping it into another object).
+ - Fixed JSON format of time-series data.
+ - Fixed error checks of invalid compare expressions and reject them.
+ - Fixed lookups by back-end name.
+ - Added support for comparing attributes with different types by
+ comparing their string values.
+ * frontend:
+ - Clarified details about asynchronous messages and authentication
+ options and made client implementation more robust.
+ - Introduced a new message type encoding the JSON serialized response of
+ a query and its data type.
+ - Include the priority in log messages.
+ - Include object types in FETCH, LIST, and LOOKUP messages.
+ - Added support for including services and metrics in LIST responses and
+ skip hosts without the respective children.
+ * query language:
+ - Added support for services and metrics to LIST command.
+ - Changed syntax for attribute lookup to 'attributes[<name>]'.
+ - Changed syntax for accessing queryable fields to '.<field>'.
+ * utils:
+ - strbuf: Improved memory management.
+
Version 0.4.0, Release Date: 2014-09-01
---------------------------------------
- Store plugin identifier (host, plugin, plugin_instance, type,
type_instance) as service attributes.
-Version 0.2.0, Release Date: 2014-07-01
+Version 0.2.0, Release Date: 2014-07-02
---------------------------------------
This is another development snapshot of SysDB. The main focus of this