Opencast 16: Release Notes
Opencast 16.4
This release fixes a critical bug which may cause ingests to fail. Please skip the 16.3 release and update to 16.4 directly.
Opencast 16.3
This is again a bugfix release of Opencast 16. For example the broken docker compose command is fixed. A new version of Opencast's admin interface is included as well. [#6100]
Opencast 16.2
This is a biugfix release of Opencast 16. Among several other problems, this fixes an important bug causing problems for non admin users when (re)publishing events. We recommend updating to this as soon as possible.
Additionally, this includes a new version of Opencast's admin interface, which in turn fixes a number of bugs including one which could cause data corruption.
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)