EZproxy V5.6 released

EZproxy V5.6 is released.

The EZproxy 5.6 release is now available from the OCLC Web site

New features added to EZproxy 5.6 increase the system’s ease of use,
including the following:

•       Beta EZproxy implementations now no longer require a
license—the betas will simply “expire,” which makes it easier for
libraries to try things out

•       A new way to detect and resolve crashes, down to identifying
the actual machine instruction that caused it

•       In the Administration Screen, Server Status, the display now
shows detailed information about the “Option Cookie” directives that
are in place for each database definition on the “Extended
Information” display.

General bug fixes:

•       Removed extraneous repeating lines in messages.txt for
Shibboleth and UUAcquireMutex/UUReleaseMutex

•       Changed timers for the Guardian process and for Athens sites,
eliminating a potential restart

•       When a Shibboleth V2.x attribute was received without a XML
attribute FriendlyName specified, EZproxy would crash; EZproxy no
longer requires the XML attribute FriendlyName to be present

•       Resolved a potential problem in the SSL certificate import
process: In some cases, a failed SSL certificate import would leave an
incomplete .cnf file

•       Resolved a problem where, in rare cases, EZproxy would have
problems running from a symlinked directory

•       Resolved an issue with referring URL authentication where some
users were being sent the suspend.htm file instead of being
transparently authenticated

•       Resolved a problem that, in rare cases, EZproxy used case
sensitive comparisons for starting point URL comparisons

•       In some cases, EZProxy would crash when querying a Shibboleth
Identity Provider for attributes; this problem has been resolved

•       EZproxy once again ignores SIGHUP signals, so the Guardian
process will keep running when a SIGHUP signal is received

•       Resolved an invalid pointer in the UTF-16 parser, preventing
unauthorized access to the Siku Quanshu content, one of the largest
collections of books in Chinese history

•       A number of additional security issues were also addressed in
this release.

A note about future supported operating platforms:

Release V5.6 of EZproxy is the last release to support Solaris SPARC
hardware and Operating System platforms. Support for Solaris on Intel
platforms continues unchanged. The next release (V6.0, expected late
2012) will not include a SPARC build.

In addition, EZproxy V6.0 will be the first release to use a revamped
compile and build process, which will reduce maintenance and provide
support for IP V6. The new compile and build process supports
consuming newer system libraries such as those needed for IP V6 that
the previous one did not.

As part of this process transition, we are looking for beta testers of
EZproxy V6.0 for each supported platform. Please e-mail
ezproxy <at> oclc.org by 1 August 2012 to participate.

EZproxy Hosted service is available

A hosted version of EZproxy is available. Libraries that subscribe to
the hosted version are automatically and seamlessly upgraded with each
new release of the service. They also enjoy 24 x 7 x 365 support for
off-site authentication of electronic content with no servers or IT
infrastructure required.

Upgrade now

We encourage you to upgrade to EZproxy 5.6 or move to the hosted
version to stay current with the latest features. Please review the
enhancements page and upgrade at your earliest convenience.

For more details and a full list of changes, please go to:
www.oclc.org/support/documentation/ezproxy/changes.htm

To upgrade to EZproxy 5.6: www.oclc.org/support/documentation/ezproxy/download/

User Group meeting
Join us at the next OCLC EZproxy Virtual Users Group meeting on May 30
from 10:00–11:00 am, ET. We’ll discuss the latest EZproxy release and
IPv6: what it is, what it means and how to be ready for it. Register
now at http://registration.oclc.org/reg/?pc=EZP_UserGroup_Spring2012

http://www.oclc.org/news/announcements/2012/announcement21.htm
--
Don Hamparian
Sr. Product Manager
Identity Management, EZproxy, and Webservices
OCLC

614.764.6017 (w)
614.975.5750 (m)

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