Cockpit 172 released

[Martin Pitt]

http://cockpit-project.org/blog/cockpit-172.html

Cockpit is the modern Linux admin interface. We release regularly. Here
are the release notes from version 172.

System: Offer installation of PCP
---------------------------------

The System page now shows an "Enable persistent metrics…" link if the [PCP
package is not installed. This is similar to the on-demand installation of the
NFS client packages in Cockpit 169.

Screenshot: https://cockpit-project.org/images/pcp-install-on-demand.png

Software Updates: Improve layout in mobile mode
-----------------------------------------------

The Software Updates page improves spacing and layout in small browser windows
and mobile browsers.

Screenshot: https://cockpit-project.org/images/packagekit-mobile-optimization.png

Remove ability to drop privileges from navigation bar
-----------------------------------------------------

Before this release, Cockpit showed a “Locked” or “Unlocked” status in the
navigation bar. It reflected the “Reuse my password for privileged tasks”
checkbox on the login page. Clicking on “Unlocked” would lock the interface and
drop administrator capabilities.

In general, the capability downgrade feature is not well supported across
Cockpit. Most pages do not respond well to privilege changes.

A non-clickable administrative privilege badge (“Privileged”) replaces the old
interactive locked/unlocked status.

The ability to start cockpit without escalating privileges remains on the login
screen. Dropping privileges at runtime is still available in the user menu,
under "Authentication".

Screenshot: https://cockpit-project.org/images/cockpit-drop-privileges.png

Introduce flow control for all channels
---------------------------------------

The Cockpit API now has flow control to reduce buffering, improve memory usage,
and make the user interface more responsive.

Third-party Cockpit extensions may use the API to transfer large amounts of
data.

A notable example:  Welder (https://github.com/weldr/welder-web) downloads
customized operating system from remote machines. Without flow control, Welder
would become unresponsive and use large amounts of memory.

Python 3 support
----------------

Cockpit, along with all unit tests and most integration tests, now supports
Python 3. Building with Python 2 still works, but it is now deprecated.

Get it
------

You can get Cockpit here:

http://cockpit-project.org/running.html

Cockpit 172 is available in Fedora 28:

https://bodhi.fedoraproject.org/updates/cockpit-172-1.fc28

Or download the tarball here:

https://github.com/cockpit-project/cockpit/releases/tag/172

Take care,

Martin Pitt