Release Notes - Zenoss 2.0

Zenoss Core Version 2.0 is available for download. Zenoss 2.0 marks a significant update for many areas of Zenoss Core, including overall look and feel, back-end performance enhancements and added functionality as well as the port of Zenwin to Linux.

Download Zenoss 2.0 Now...

!!! IMPORTANT NOTE !!!

It is CRITICAL that you carefully read, understand and follow the instructions in the Zenoss 1.x to 2.0 Data Migration Guide.

Zenoss 2.0 Release Details

Zenwin Ported to Linux

Zenoss Core no longer needs to run Zenwin (the WMI Service information collector) on a Windows host. For release 2.0 we have ported WMI functionality to linux using Samba 4. As a result Zenwin will now run natively on a Linux host. The new Linux-based Zenwin is now included in the 2.0 distributions.

ZenPacks

Zenoss 2.0 has in place the infrastructure to support ZenPacks. ZenPacks are packaged groupings of performance and modeling templates for specific device types or groups. Basically, if it is not discoverable, it is "packable". Any configurable items within Zenoss can be packaged and exported into a ZenPack. ZenPacks allow to you monitor similar devices in a similar way. For example, if someone has created a Cisco ZenPack for a model you have, you can get a sort of "built-in" monitoring package for your specific model. You would just download a pre-existing ZenPack and install it. There will be individual ZenPacks available in the future, but in the meantime, you can build and share your own.

User Interface Improved Look and Feel

The entire interface has been updated and changed to create an easier to use and more customizable user experience. There are dialogs, and improved feedback to users for confirmation of actions.

Addition of Menus and Menu Driven Functionality

Ability to hide the left navigation menu or to pin it in place depending on your screen real-estate needs. Many items and functions are now available using menus instead of the limited controls at the bottom of tables or on "Manage" tabs. Not only are the menus easier to use but we have been able to expose to the user interface many functions that were in the back end but currently unused. User created commands can now be quickly run from the menu items also.

Redesigned Event Console

The newly designed event Console has added dynamic data upload that uses partial data calls to allow smoother scrolling through large event list. Added live-searching to the console, so any partial matches will appear as you type.

Added Network Auto-Discovery to UI

Network auto-discovery and modeling of devices has now been integrated into that UI to allow automatic discovery and modeling of network devices directly from the UI and eliminating the need for command line usage.

Device Configuration Locking

You are now able to lock device configurations to prevent deletion from the configuration while a device component is missing during the modeling process. Locking also lets us now mix auto-discovery and manual modification with in any grouping of objects. If the modeler fails to discover something you can manually added it to the system. It also means that model changes added though Zenoss' external API can be integrated with auto-discovery.

Multiple Mix-In Template Inheritance

Mix-in Templating gives you the ability to apply multiple monitoring templates to devices and objects. Template mix in allows you to define a MySQL template at /Devices and them mix it in on devices in different parts of the device tree. So a Solaris box and a Linux box both running MySQL can use the same template with out the need for wacky tree manipulations or excessive template overriding.

Performance & Backend Improvements

Zenhub

Zenhub becomes an intermediary connection for almost all zenoss collection daemons to the Zeo and MySQL databases. This removes the direct connections to these databases and allows for simpler, faster, and more reliable connectivity between zenoss and the collection daemons. Zenhub uses a bidirectional connection between itself and the zenoss daemons which allows changes in the database to be pushed immediately to the collectors. There is no longer the need to wait for the next configuration cycle to receive new configurations.

Faster SNMP Collection

Higher-speed snmp collection using a re-factored low-level asynchronous python binding for Net-SNMP.

Zeo Database Re-factor

The Zeo database has been re-factored resulting in performance gains of up to 5x. When upgrading, this re-factor will necessitate a database dump and reload. (See upgrade instructions for details.)