I am pleased to announce the release of version 0.9.8 of the OpenISR 
system.  This release includes the following changes:

- Support kernels 2.6.32 and 2.6.33
- Support multiple compression profiles for memory image and disk chunks
- Automatically suspend running parcels when the host is suspended
- Allow ISR users to be given limited shell access to the server
- Performance improvements at runtime and during upload
- Other changes; see changelog below

Pocket ISR has correspondingly been updated to version 0.9.8-1.


UPGRADE NOTES
-------------

The OpenISR client now includes selectable compression profiles, 
allowing you to adjust how much effort the client should expend to 
compress memory images and newly-generated disk chunks.  Most ISR users 
have high-bandwidth connections to their servers, so strong compression 
would reduce their client's overall performance; therefore, the default 
in version 0.9.8 is to compress data only lightly. Users with slower 
connections to their ISR server may experience better overall 
performance if they choose a stronger compression profile.

The compression profile can be overridden with the "compression" 
configuration option or the -C/--compression command-line option. 
Compression profiles are names like "mild" (the current default), 
"moderate" (the historical default), or "painful"; see the isr(1) manual 
page for details.

Parcels created with previous versions of the OpenISR system support 
selectable compression profiles only for disk chunks.  For the chosen 
profile to affect memory image compression, the parcel must be upgraded 
on the server with the "isr_admin upgrade" command.  Upgraded parcels 
cannot be resumed by ISR clients older than version 0.9.8.

isr_admin will create new-format parcels by default, though this can be 
changed.  See the README.server file for details.


The OpenISR server now ships with isr_shell, a program which can be set 
as the login shell for ISR users who should not have unrestricted shell 
access to the server.  isr_shell permits users to perform ISR 
operations, but does not allow them to run arbitrary commands or obtain 
a prompt.  "isr_admin adduser" will configure new user accounts to use 
isr_shell, but existing accounts will not be modified; if you would like 
to convert existing users, you must do this by hand.  Note that 
isr_shell does not affect certain SSH features such as port forwarding; 
to prevent users from performing these actions, see README.server for 
instructions.


SUPPORTED LINUX DISTRIBUTIONS
-----------------------------

As of this release, we are producing binary packages (both 32-bit and 
64-bit) for the following Linux distributions:

- Debian Lenny (5.0)
- Ubuntu Hardy (8.04)
- Ubuntu Intrepid (8.10)
- Ubuntu Jaunty (9.04)
- Ubuntu Karmic (9.10)
- Fedora 11
- Fedora 12
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5

If your Linux distribution is not listed above but is sufficiently 
recent to meet the system requirements (see the README for details), you 
should still be able to build from source.


Release 0.9.8 of the OpenISR system is available for download at:

http://isr.cmu.edu/download/

--Benjamin Gilbert


CHANGELOG
---------

------ Client changes

- Support kernels 2.6.32 and 2.6.33
- Support parcel format 4
- Support named compression profiles via config file or command-line
   option
- Support LZF and LZMA compression for memory image
- Use LZF chunk and memory image compression by default when possible
- Significantly improve upload performance
- Add pm-utils hook to suspend running parcels when the host is
   suspended
- Don't give up when waiting for Parcelkeeper to exit after suspend
- Move disk space check to resume and make it non-fatal
- Allow isr checkp --splice to paper over more errors
- Improve logging on SQLite integrity check failures
- Nexus: Don't hash data twice when reading a chunk
- Prevent host file managers on newer systems from showing parcel disks
- Various minor improvements

------ VMM driver changes

- kvm: Improve display of input grabs and host key in windowed mode
- kvm: Check access to kernel KVM driver before resuming parcel
- virtualbox: Show VirtualBox first-run wizard on first resume
- virtualbox: Use PulseAudio driver for new parcels to improve
   reliability

------ Server changes

- Add restricted login shell for users that should not have shell access

------ isr_admin changes

- Support parcel format 4
- Add default_format config option and -T/--format command-line option
- adduser: Assign new users the restricted login shell
- export: Validate chunk data while reading it
- makeparcel/import: Use format 4 by default
- makeparcel/import: Change default MAXKB from 2x virtual disk size to
   1x
- upgrade: New command to upgrade parcels to newer format
- Various minor improvements