Release Announcements
=====================
-This is the first preview release of Samba 4.5. This is *not*
+This is the first preview release of Samba 4.8. This is *not*
intended for production environments and is designed for testing
purposes only. Please report any defects via the Samba bug reporting
system at https://bugzilla.samba.org/.
-Samba 4.5 will be the next version of the Samba suite.
+Samba 4.8 will be the next version of the Samba suite.
UPGRADING
=========
-Nothing special.
-
NEW FEATURES/CHANGES
====================
+KDC GPO application
+-------------------
+
+Adds Group Policy support for the samba kdc. Applies password policies
+(minimum/maximum password age, minimum password length, and password
+complexity) and kerberos policies (user/service ticket lifetime and
+renew lifetime).
+
+Adds the samba_gpoupdate script for applying and unapplying
+policy. Can be applied automatically by setting
+
+ 'server services = +gpoupdate'.
+
+Time Machine Support with vfs_fruit
+===================================
+Samba can be configured as a Time Machine target for Apple Mac devices
+through the vfs_fruit module. When enabling a share for Time Machine
+support the relevant Avahi records to support discovery will be published
+for installations that have been built against the Avahi client library.
+
+Shares can be designated as a Time Machine share with the following setting:
+
+ 'fruit:time machine = yes'
+
+Support for lower casing the MDNS Name
+======================================
+Allows the server name that is advertised through MDNS to be set to the
+hostname rather than the Samba NETBIOS name. This allows an administrator
+to make Samba registered MDNS records match the case of the hostname
+rather than being in all capitals.
+
+This can be set with the following settings:
+
+ 'mdns name = mdns'
+
+Encrypted secrets
+=================
+Attributes deemed to be sensitive are now encrypted on disk. The sensitive
+values are currently:
+ pekList
+ msDS-ExecuteScriptPassword
+ currentValue
+ dBCSPwd
+ initialAuthIncoming
+ initialAuthOutgoing
+ lmPwdHistory
+ ntPwdHistory
+ priorValue
+ supplementalCredentials
+ trustAuthIncoming
+ trustAuthOutgoing
+ unicodePwd
+ clearTextPassword
+
+This encryption is enabled by default on a new provision or join, it
+can be disabled at provision or join time with the new option
+--plaintext-secrets.
+
+However, an in-place upgrade will not encrypt the database.
+
+Once encrypted, it is not possible to do an in-place downgrade (eg to
+4.7) of the database. To obtain an unencrypted copy of the database a
+new DC join should be performed, specifying the --plaintext-secrets
+option.
+
+The key file "encrypted_secrets.key" is created in the same directory
+as the database and should NEVER be disclosed. It is included by the
+samba_backup script.
+
+smb.conf changes
+================
+
+ Parameter Name Description Default
+ -------------- ----------- -------
+ auth methods Removed
+ binddns dir New
+ gpo update command New
+ map untrusted to domain Removed
+ oplock contention limit Removed
+ prefork children New 1
+ mdns name Added netbios
+ fruit:time machine Added false
+ profile acls Removed
+
+
+NT4-style replication based net commands removed
+================================================
+
+The following commands and sub-commands have been removed from the
+"net" utility:
+
+net rpc samdump
+net rpc vampire ldif
+
+Also, replicating from a real NT4 domain with "net rpc vampire" and
+"net rpc vampire keytab" has been removed.
+
+The NT4-based commands were accidentially broken in 2013, and nobody
+noticed the breakage. So instead of fixing them including tests (which
+would have meant writing a server for the protocols, which we don't
+have) we decided to remove them.
+
+For the same reason, the "samsync", "samdeltas" and "database_redo"
+commands have been removed from rpcclient.
+
+"net rpc vampire keytab" from Active Directory domains continues to be
+supported.
+
+vfs_aio_linux module removed
+============================
+
+The current Linux kernel aio does not match what Samba would
+do. Shipping code that uses it leads people to false
+assumptions. Samba implements async I/O based on threads by default,
+there is no special module required to see benefits of read and write
+request being sent do the disk in parallel.
+
+smbclient reparse point symlink parameters reversed
+===================================================
+
+A bug in smbclient caused the 'symlink' command to reverse the
+meaning of the new name and link target parameters when creating a
+reparse point symlink against a Windows server. As this is a
+little used feature the ordering of these parameters has been
+reversed to match the parameter ordering of the UNIX extensions
+'symlink' command. The usage message for this command has also
+been improved to remove confusion.
+
REMOVED FEATURES
================
-only user and username parameters
----------------------------------
-These two parameters have long been deprecated and superseded by
-"valid users" and "invalid users".
+The two commands "net serverid list" and "net serverid wipe" have been
+removed, because the file serverid.tdb is not used anymore.
-smb.conf changes
-----------------
+"net serverid list" can be replaced by listing all files in the
+subdirectory "msg.lock" of Samba's "lock directory". The unique id
+listed by "net serverid list" is stored in every process' lockfile in
+"msg.lock".
- Parameter Name Description Default
- -------------- ----------- -------
- only user Removed
- username Removed
+"net serverid wipe" is not necessary anymore. It was meant primarily
+for clustered environments, where the serverid.tdb file was not
+properly cleaned up after single node crashes. Nowadays smbd and
+winbind take care of cleaning up the msg.lock and msg.sock directories
+automatically.
KNOWN ISSUES
============
-Currently none.
+https://wiki.samba.org/index.php/Release_Planning_for_Samba_4.8#Release_blocking_bugs
+
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