GroupServer 11.05 — Eskimo Pie with Middle Class Guilt

Authors:Michael JasonSmith; Richard Waid; Dan Randow
Contact:Michael JasonSmith <mpj17@onlinegroups.net>
Date:2011-05-27
Organization:GroupServer.org
Copyright:This document is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 New Zealand License by OnlineGroups.Net.

The main update to GroupServer that is present in the Eskimo Pie release is the new request membership system. However there are other minor fixes that have been made. You can get Eskimo Pie immediately. Work is now starting on GroupServer 11.06 — Soft Serve from Mr Whippy.

Request Membership

The Request Membership system [1] allows someone to request membership of a private group. The group administrator is informed of the request by email. The administrator can then accept or decline the request using a Web interface. Effectively the Request Membership system works like the system that is used to invite people to join groups, but in reverse.

Minor Fixes

Minor fixes in Eskimo Pie include the following.

  • An update to the Start a Group system so the system administrator is made the group administrator [2].
  • When an email address is verified it is made the preferred delivery address if the user has no other preferred delivery addresses [3].
  • The list of files that are associated with a post are more clearly demarcated from the body of the message [4].
  • Long URLs no longer word-wrap in the body of posts [5].
  • Zope has been updated to 2.3.6 [6]. This may cause problems with some configurations, as IPv6 support is now present.

Get Eskimo Pie

To get Eskimo Pie go to the Downloads page for GroupServer and follow the GroupServer Installation documentation.

Those who already have a functioning installation can update an existing GroupServer system.

Update an Existing GroupServer System

To upgrade an existing GroupServer system to Eskimo Pie you must first update the database and then update the packages.

Update the Database

The Request Membership update requires the creation of a new table to record information about membership requests. To update the database carry out the following steps.

  1. Log into the PostgreSQL database used GroupServer by using the following command:

    $ psql -Upgsql_user pgsql_dbname
    

    Note that pgsql_user and pgsql_dbname are the database user and database name that was setup during installation. Both can be found in the instance.cfg file in the installation directory of GroupServer.

  2. Run the following SQL to create the request membership table:

    CREATE TABLE user_group_member_request (
      request_id          TEXT                      PRIMARY KEY,
      user_id             TEXT                      NOT NULL,
      site_id             TEXT                      NOT NULL,
      group_id            TEXT                      NOT NULL,
      request_date        TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE  NOT NULL,
      message             TEXT,
      responding_user_id  TEXT,
      response_date       TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE,
      accepted            BOOLEAN
    );
    

Update the Packages

Carry out the following steps to update the package versions.

  1. Download the Eskimo Pie tar-ball from the GroupServer download page

  2. Uncompress the tar-ball.

  3. Copy the file groupserver-11.05/versions.cfg to your existing GroupServer installation.

  4. Copy the file groupserver-11.05/buildout.cfg to your existing GroupServer installation.

  5. In your existing GroupServer installation run:

    $ ./bin/buildout
    
[1]Adding the Request Membership system (finally) closes Ticket 49. More information in the Request Membership system can be found in the Request Membership topic.
[2]Setting the group administrator when the group is started closes Ticket 611.
[3]Setting the verified address as the preferred delivery address closes Ticket 661.
[4]Enhancing the file notification area closes Ticket 664
[5]Fixing the URLs so the do not break over multiple lines closes Ticket 671.
[6]Updating to Zope 2.3.6 is something I am sure to regret, because it has the potential to make GroupServer installation even more tricky than before. However, it is done, and I have closed Ticket 672.