Release notes for SIP Express Router (ser)
***********************************************

$Id: NEWS,v 1.38 2004/12/16 17:39:46 andrei Exp $

0.8.99-dev changes


new archs:
 - mips2/cobalt experimental support
 - x86_64 support
 - OS X (darwin) support
 - sparc32 single cpu highly experimental support

modules:
 - enum - support for more than one NAPTR
 - msilo - explicit multidomain support -- recipient's user ID is stored in
   the columns username and domain -- r_uri column kept for compatibility
   reasons (will be removed in future) but not filled by this version of
   module
 - mysql - implements a connection pool, all modules will use same connection
   to access the database
 - nathelper received port  test (flag 16 for nat_uac_test): compares the
   source port of the message with sip port in the first Via and returns
   true if different.
 - permsions - support for multiple allow/deny files, allow_register function
 - TM has a new parameter: restart_fr_on_each_reply. If set (default)
   fr_inv timer will be restarted for each provisional reply, if not set
   it will be restarted only for the first reply and for replies >=180
   (but only if increasing, eg.: 180, 181 ...). Usefull when dealing with bad
   UAs that re-transmit 180s.
 - TM saves the avp list into transactions, and make it available into
   callbacks, failure and reply routes.
 - TM contains new command - t_write_unix("/tmp/sems.sock", "announcement")
   sends a message using unix socket interface instead of FIFO interface.
 - TM contains new config variable - unix_tx_timeout -- it specifies the
   transmit timeout of t_write_sock
 - VM functionality was transfered into TM module. Instead of fetching the
   email value from DB (as VM), TM looks for the "email" attribute to get the
   value.
   vm() function was replaced with t_write_req()
   vm_reply() fifo functions was replcated by TM with t_reply() fifo function
   NOTE!! because current version of SEMS/AA try to send reply via vm_reply,
   it will not work with the TM version.
 - xlog - printing the body of any header by specifying the name; new
   specifiers for user-agent, message buffer, message length, message's flags,
   message id.

new modules:
 - avp / avp_db / avp_radius - load and check avps per caller or callee
 - avpops - flexible module for operations with avps and database, introducing
   a pseudo-varible support in SER configuration file
 - cpl-c - implementation of Call Processing Language
 - dispatcher - implements a dispatcher for incoming requests using hashes
   over parts of the request to select the destination
 - diversion - implements the Diversion extensions as per 
   draft-levy-sip-diversion-08
 - flatstore - simple module that implements very fast inserts for accounting
   purposes
 - gflags - keeps a bitmap of flags in shared memory and may be used to change
   behaviour of server based on value of the flags
 - options - answer server options requests
 - speeddial - provides on-server speed dial facilities
 - uri_db - split from uri module, performs various checks related to SIP URI
   over database fields

removed modules:
 - vm - the functionality was transfered to tm module (see t_write_req(...)
   method)

core:
 - new parts:
       UNIX domain socket server implemented
 - changes: 
    - command line: removed -p port and extended -l:
       -l [proto:]addr[:port] , where proto=udp|tcp and 
       addr= host|ip_address|interface_name. The format is the same
       as for listen in the config file. ipv6 addresses must be enclosed in
       [].
    - added from_uri & to_uri: behave exactly like uri but use the
      "From:"/"To:" uris
       (e.g.: if (from_uri==myself) ..., if (to_uri=~"^sip:test@")... )
    - config: better escape support in strings (e.g. \", \<cr>, \x0a, \012)
    - bad network addresses are now automatically fixed
      (e.g. 192.168.1.80/27 => 192.168.1.64/27)
    - avp (Attribute-Value Pair) support added
    - avp alias support added
    - multicast support added (see mcast_loopback & mcast_ttl)
    - saving of procces group id enabled, if the -G option is specified
      (a safe way to quickly kill all ser processes)
    - core dump-ing is enabled by default, see also disable_core_dump
    - protocol and port can be specified in the alias and listen lines, e.g.:
        alias= tcp:foo.bar:* udp:test.bar:5080 foo.com
        listen= eth0   tcp:eth0:5065 udp:127.0.0.1 [3ffe::1]
    - multiple operator support: ==, != for special operations (e.g myself, ip)
                              ==, !=, ~= for strings
                              ==, !=, >, <, >=, <= for integers
    - database api changed to support usage of different drivers
      simultaneously. The database URL must start now with the name of the
      driver (module). Example: for mysql the DB URL
      'sql://user:password@dbhost:port/database' must be specified now as
      'mysql://user:password@dbhost:port/database'
 - new config variables:
   mcast_loopback = <yes/no> - loopback sent multicast datagram, default no.
   mcast_ttl = number - set multicast ttl, default OS specific (usually 1).
   sock_mode = <permissions> (e.g. sock_mode=0600:  default value = 0660)
       ser unix sockets and fifo will be created with this permissions
       (old name fifo_mode is still supported, but deprecated)
   sock_user = username|"uid"
   sock_group = groupname|"gid"
      change the owner and/or group of the ser unix sockets or fifo
      Short example config snippet:
           sock_mode=0600        # ser socket/fifo mode
           sock_user="www-data"  # ser socket/fifo owner
           sock_group=nogroup  
           user=nobody       # ser user (ser will suid to it)
   disable_core_dump= yes|no 
       by default core dump limits are set to unlimited or a high enough
       value, set this config variable o yes to disable core dump-ing
       (will set core limits to 0)
   open_files_limit= number
       if set and bigger than the current open file limit, ser will try
       to increase its open file limit to this number. Note: ser must be
       started as root to be able to increase a limit past the hard limit
       (which, for open files, is 1024 on most systems)
   tcp_connect_timeout= seconds
       time before an ongoing connect will be aborted
   tcp_send_timeout= seconds
       time after a tcp connection will be closed if it is not available 
       for writing in this interval (and ser wants to send something on it)
   tcp_accept_aliases= yes|no
       if a message received over a tcp connection has "alias" in its via
       a new tcp alias port will be created for the connection the message
       came from (the alias port will be set to the via one).
       Based on draft-ietf-sip-connect-reuse-00.txt, but using only the port
       (host aliases are too dangerous IMHO, involve extra DNS
        lookups and the need for them is questionable)
       See force_tcp_alias for more details.
   log_facility = LOG_LOCAL0
       if ser logs to syslog, you can control the facility for logging. Very
       useful when you want to divert all ser logs to a different log file.
       See man page syslog(3) for more detailes.
   unix_sock = "/tmp/ser.sock"
       The name of the socket the unixsock server should listen on.
   unix_sock_children = 1
       The number of children that will listen on the unix domain socket.
   unix_tx_timeout = 2000
       Timeout (in ms) used when sending replies through unix sockets.
 - new script commands:
   force_send_socket([proto:]address[:port])
       sends the message from the specified socket (it _must_ be one of the
       sockets ser listens on). If the protocol doesn't match (e.g. udp
       message "forced" to a tcp socket) the closest socket of the same
       protocol is used.
   force_tcp_alias()
   force_tcp_alias(port)
       adds a tcp port alias for the current connection (if tcp).
       Usefull if you want to send all the trafic to port_alias through
       the same connection this request came from [it could help 
       for firewall or nat traversal].
       With no parameters adds the port from the message via as the alias.
       When the "aliased" connection is closed (e.g. it's idle for too
       much time), all the port aliases are removed.
       Note: by default ser closes idle connection after 3 minutes (stable)
       or 1 minute (unstable) so to take full advantage of tcp aliases for
       things like firewall and nat traversal, redefine TCP_CON_*TIMEOUT
       in tcp_conn.h and recompile. Also right now there can be maximum
       3 port aliases to a connection (you shouldn't need more than one).
       To change this redefine TCP_CON_MAX_ALIASES in the same file
       (set it to you desired value + 1; 1 is needed for the real port).

utilities:
 - ngrep patch for displaying new lines in captured SIP messages is no longer
   needed; use ngrep V 1.42 with the option "-W byline"



***********************************************
* Changes/fixes introduced in 0.8.12
***********************************************
+--------------------------------------------------------+
| WARNING: if you want to use a 0.8.11 config script     |
| with 0.8.12, replace if ( len_gt(number) ) with:       |
|                      if ( msg:len > bumber )           |
+--------------------------------------------------------+

New Features
============

texops:
 - subst('s/re/repl/flags') support
core:
 - added switch to check the config file (-c)
 - changes: removed len_gt() and replaced with if (msg:len op number|max_len)
 - multiple operator support: ==, != for special operations (e.g myself, ip)
                              ==, !=, ~= for strings
                              ==, !=, >, <, >=, <= for integers
 - new config variables:
     advertised_address= ip | string
       address advertised in via and in the DST_* lumps (e.g RR)
       This is the default value, if empty (default) the socket
       address will be used.
       WARNING: - don't set it unless you know what you are doing
                 (e.g. nat traversal)
               - you can set anything here, no check is made
                (e.g. foo.bar will be accepted even if 
                 foo.bar doesn't exist)
    advertised_port= no
       port advertised in via and in the DST_*lumps (e.g. RR)
       This is the default value, if empty (default) the socket
       port will be used.
       Same warnings as above.
 - new script commands:
    set_advertised_address(ip|string)
       same as advertised_address but it affects only the current message:
       Message host/lump address= the set_advertised one if
       present, else advertised_address else socket address.
    set_advertised_port(no)
       same as advertised_port but it affects only the current
       message; see set_advertised_address & s/address/port/g

usrloc:
 - usernames are case insensitive
 
registrar:
 - lookup function succeeds when appending of a branch failed

auth_db:
 - support for rpid stored in database (thanks to Jakob Schlyter)

Bug fixes
=========
- memory leak in digest credentials parser fixed
- authenticathion ha1 didn't include domain if username was of the form
  user@domain and calculate_ha1 was set to yes (modules/auth_db)
- tm reply processing race condition (modules/tm), special thanks go to
 Dong Liu
- Many bugs in pa module fixed, works with registrar again.
 
Security updates
================
 
- fifo processing code will write responses only to other
 fifos and only if they are not hard-linked, also default
 ser fifo persmissions were changed to 0600.
                                                                                
Performance improvements
========================
- tuned internal malloc implementation parameters to better reflect the
actual workload (malloc is a little bit faster now)



***********************************************
* Changes introduced in 0.8.11
***********************************************

+--------------------------------------------------------+
| CAUTION: the 0.8.11 release include changes which      |
| are incompatible with scripts and databases used       |
| in previous versions. Care is advised when upgrading   |
| from previous releases to 0.8.11.                      |
+--------------------------------------------------------+

New features
=============
- RFC3261 support
	- TCP support and cross-transport forwarding [core]
	- loose routing support [rr module]
- New modules
	- vm -- voicemail interface [vm]
	- ENUM support [enum]
	- presence agent [pa]
	- dynamic domain management -- allows to manipulate 
	  hosting of multiple domains in run-time [module]
	- flat-text-file database support [dbtext]
	- rich access control lists [permissions]
- Feature Improvements
	- click-to-dial, which is based on improved tm/FIFO 
	  that better supports external applications [tm module]
	- web accounting -- acc module can report to serweb
  	  on placed calls [acc module]
	- improved exec module (header fields passed now
      as environment variables to scripts) [exec module]
- Architectural Improvements
	- powerpc fast locking support
	- netbsd support
	- 64 bits arch. support (e.g. netbsd/sparc64).
- New Experimental Features (not tested at all yet)
	- nathelper utility for Cisco/ATA NAT traversal [nathelper]
	- another NAT traversal utility [mangler]
	- postgress support [postgress]
	- fcp module [fcp]
	- pdt module (prefix2domain) [pdt]

Changes to use of ser scripts
=============================

About Multiple Transport Support
--------------------------------
SER now suports multiple transport protocols: UDP and TCP. As there
may be UAs which support only either protocol and cannot speak to
each other directly, we recommend to alway record-route SIP requests,
to keep the transport-translating SER in path. Also, if a destination
transport is not known, stateful forwarding is recommended -- use of
stateless forwarding for TCP2UDP would result in loss of reliability.


core
----
- reply_route has been renamed to failure_route -- the old name caused
  too much confusion
- forward_tcp and forward_udp can force SER to forward via specific
  transport protocol

acc module:
-----------
- radius and sql support integrated in this module; you need to
  recompile to enable it
- acc_flag is now called log_flag to better reflect it relates
  to the syslog mode (as opposed to sql/radius); for the same
  reasons, the accounting action is now called "acc_log_request"
  and the option for missed calls "log_missed_calls"
- log_fmt allows now to specify what will be printed to syslog

auth module:
------------
- auth module has been split in auth, auth_db, auth_radius, group
  group_radius, uri and uri_radius 
- all the parameters that were part of former auth module are now 
  part of auth_db module
- auth_db module contains all functions needed for database
  authentication
- auth_radius contains functions needed for radius authentication
- group module contains group membership checking functions
- group_radius contains radius group membeship checking functions
- is_in_group has been renamed to is_user_in and places to groups
  module
- check_to and check_from have been moved to the uri module
 

im module:
----------
- im is no longer used and has been obsoleted by TM

exec module:
------------
- exec_uri and exec_user have been obsoleted by exec_dset; 
  exec_dset is identical to exec_uri in capabilities; it 
  additionaly passes content of request elements (header 
  fields and URI parts) in environment variables; users of 
  exec_user can use exec_dset now and use the "URI_USER"  
  variable to learn user part of URI
- exec_dset and exec_msg return false, if return value of 
  script does not euqal zero
- exec_dset takes an additional parameter, which enables 
  validation of SIP URIs returned by external application

jabber module:
--------------
- presence support for Jabber users is enabled loading the PA
  module and using handle_subscribe("jabber") for SUBSCRIBE 
  requests to jabber user 

msilo module:
-------------
- m_store has now a parameter to set what should be considered
  for storing as destination uri. This enables support for saving
  the messages on negative replies.

radius_acc module:
------------------
- radius_acc module has been removed and radius accounting 
  is now part of acc module

registrar/usrloc modules:
-------------------------
- multi domain support, the modules user username@domain as AOR
  if enabled
- descent modification time ordering of contacts
- case sensitive/insensitive comparison of URI can be enabled

rr module:
----------
- addRecordRoute has been replaced with record_route
- rewriteFromRoute has been replaced with loose_route()
- a new option, "enable_full_lr" can be set to make life
  with misimplemented UAs easier and put LR in from "lr=on"
- rr module can insert two Record-Route header fields when
  necesarry (disconnected networks, UDP->TCP and so on)

tm module:
----------
- t_reply_unsafe, used in former versions within reply_routes,
  is deprecated; now t_reply is used from any places in script
- t_on_negative is renamed to t_on_failure -- the old name just
  caused too much confusion
- FIFO t_uac used by some applications (like serweb) has been
  replaced with t_uac_dlg (which allows easier use by dialog-
  oriented applications, like click-to-dial) 
- if you wish to do forward to another destination from 
  failure_route (reply_route formerly), you need to call t_relay
  or t_relay_to explicitely now
- t_relay_to has been replaced with t_relay_to_udp and t_relay_to_tcp

