guid: 1390D163-9CEC-493D-839D-3930B9FFB6C4
author: Mihael Pranjić
pubDate: Wed, 05 Oct 2022 08:14:35 +0200
shortDesc: New Backend System, Opensesame Application, FLOSS Course

We are proud to release Elektra 0.9.<<VERSION>>.

What is Elektra?

Elektra serves as a universal and secure framework to access configuration settings in a global, hierarchical key database. For more information, visit https://libelektra.org.

You can also read the news on our website.

You can try out the latest Elektra release using our Docker image elektra/elektra. This is the quickest way to get started with Elektra without compiling and other obstacles, simply run:

docker pull elektra/elektra

docker run -it elektra/elektra

Highlights

Preparing new-backend merge
Olimex
Improving Elektra in FLOSS course

Preparing new-backend merge

In a separated branch we rewrote the whole backend system. With this new backend system, backends are now also plugins, allowing backends also to be non-file-based, e.g., using databases. The main purpose of this release is to give a last stable release before master gets disrupted with a huge change set. The next release is not to be expected in this year.

A huge thanks to _(Klemens Böswirth @kodebach)_, _(Maximilian Irlinger @atmaxinger)_ for the many changes in the branch. Thanks to _(Richard Stöckl @Eiskasten)_ for testing.

Olimex

Elektra is used for server, desktop and embedded. With this release, we strengthen our embedded mainstay, specifically in open source hardware OSHW. We developed a major application running on OSHW Olimex boards. The application is called opensesame. It is heavily relying on Elektra and ansible-libelektra.

In the initial release opensesame already allows:

[x] opening (garage) doors via a novel PIN entry method: you can press and release buttons in any sequence
[x] switching on entry lights
[x] ringing doorbells
[x] detection of fire
[x] report events to Nextcloud chats (English and German)

To give a smoother experience when running such an application we will develop Ansible scripts to customize the Olimex base images. They will allow changing the language, time zone, static network configuration etc.

Olimex likes this idea and will send us an A20 board. A big thanks to Olimex.

Improving Elektra in FLOSS course

Also in the upcoming term Elektra will be object of study how FLOSS initiatives work. Students will make improvements in Elektra as part of their homework, teamwork and, if chosen, also for their project. Alternatively, they can also improve other self-chosen FLOSS initiatives.

Plugins

The following text list news about the plugins we updated in this release.

fix unused-but-set-variable warnings. _(Markus Raab)_

csvstorage

Remove superfluous if-conditions that lead to a build error on Debian Unstable _(Maximilian Irlinger @atmaxinger)_

specload

fail if either the spec or parentKey parameter of elektraSpecloadSendSpec is NULL _(@hannes99)_

Libraries

The text below summarizes updates to the C (and C++)-based libraries of Elektra.

fix unused-but-set-variable warnings. _(Markus Raab)_

opts

opts: fix possible 'free(): invalid pointer' error and add test for it _(@hannes99)_

Bindings

Bindings allow you to utilize Elektra using various programming languages. This section keeps you up-to-date with the multi-language support provided by Elektra.

Python

add merging based on elektraMerge _(Maximilian Irlinger @atmaxinger)_

Rust

start again to publish on crates.io, used by opensesame _(Markus Raab)_

Documentation

Added Documentation Guidelines _(Markus Raab)_
Decisions for changes to keyIsBelow and new keyGetNextPart functions _(@kodebach)_
Apply fix spelling to more files. _(Markus Raab)_

Tutorials

opts: use arg/help instead of arg/name _(@hannes99)_

Man Pages

Update FAQ. _(Markus Raab)_

Tests

Use GoogleTest framework v1.12.1. _(Mihael Pranjić @mpranj)_

Build

CMake

Fix build with newer libgit2 versions _(Fabian Vogt)_
We now require at least CMake 3.12 (released in July 2018). _(Maximilian Irlinger @atmaxinger)_

Docker

Bump Alpine Linux to 3.16.0. _(Mihael Pranjić @mpranj)_
The Docker image for building the documentation is now based on Debian Bullseye. _(Maximilian Irlinger @atmaxinger)_
Add Fedora 36 images. _(Mihael Pranjić @mpranj)_

Infrastructure

Jenkins

We no longer build and test on Ubuntu Xenial and Debian Stretch due to outdated CMake versions _(Maximilian Irlinger @atmaxinger)_
Add Fedora 36 builds, remove Fedora 34 builds. _(Mihael Pranjić @mpranj)_

Cirrus

Update FreeBSD images to 13.1 and 12.3 and update packages before builds. _(Mihael Pranjić @mpranj)_
Bump Fedora builds to Fedora 36. _(Mihael Pranjić @mpranj)_

Website

The website is generated from the repository, so all information about plugins, bindings and tools are always up-to-date.

Outlook

We are currently working on following topics:

1.0 API _(Klemens Böswirth @kodebach)_ and _(Stefan Hanreich)_
Elektrify KDE and GNOME _(Mihael Pranjić @mpranj)_
Elektrify XFCE _(Richard Stöckl @Eiskasten)_
Mounting SQL databases _(Florian Lindner @flo91)_
Recording Configuration _(Maximilian Irlinger)_
Ansible-Elektra _(Lukas Hartl)_ and _(Maximilian Irlinger)_
Configure Olimex Base Images _(Maximilian Irlinger)_
Improving Build Server Infrastructure _(Lukas Hartl)_ and _(Maximilian Irlinger)_
Improve Java Development Experience _(Michael Tucek)_
Rewriting tools in C _(@hannes99)_