Opencast 16: Release Notes
Opencast 16.1
This is an important bugfix release fixing a problem preventing the presentation node from properly starting up and therefor breaking cluster installations. Additional, it fixes a problem with Tobira harvesting new events. Don't try to use 16.0 use this release!
It also comes with a lot more bug fixes. Especially the new admin interface got a lot of work.
Opencast 16.0
Features, Improvements and Behavior changes
- Replaced Solr Search with OpenSearch/Elasticsearch. [#5597]
- Removed Paella 6 with OC 16. [#5605]
- Added Playlists. Playlists are a list of videos, similar to the same concept in YouTube. This provides an n:m mapping, meaning that every playlist can contain multiple videos, and each video can be included in multiple playlists. (As opposed to the 1:n mapping of Opencast series, where each video is part of at most one series.) [#5478]
- Added Playlists to Tobira Harvest API. [#5734]
- Whisper is the new default STT engine [#5473]
- Implemented the ability to define multiple custom roles and custom roles that need to be added [#5312]
- The default encoding profiles changed to be less restrictive about GOP size, giving the codec more opportunity to compress better.[#5545]
- Added the possibility to enable 360°videos with paella player 7. [#5592]
- Turned old admin interface into a plugin. This patch disables the old admin interface by default. Users can still activate this if they really want/need the old interface. [#5811]
For more details, please take a look at the full changelog.
Update
If you want to update Opencast from a previous version, please carefully read through the upgrade guide. For this upgrade, you should be particular aware of the following facts:
- Solr has been removed from Opencast which means that the presentation node now needs to have access to OpenSearch or Elasticsearch.
- The search REST API for publications has slightly changed. This may impact integrations.
- Thew new admin interface is the default and the old one is disabled by default and only available via plugin.
- The feed generator has been removed from Opencast.
- Paella Player 6 has been removed from Opencast.
Release Schedule
| Date | Phase |
|---|---|
| May 06, 2024 | Release Branch Cut |
| June 12, 2024 | Release of Opencast 16.0 |
Release Managers
- Lars Kiesow (Osnabrück University)
- Michael Schwenk (University of Bremen)