CHANGES

2.8
  - uml-utilities have been recompiled with dynamic linking and with Ubuntu
    patches applied. This makes them work also under Ubuntu 10.10. Moreover,
    uml_mconsole now also looks inside $HOME/.uml for management console sockets.
  - Fixed an incompatibility with the dash shell that caused sudo to fail to
    work (bug #9).
  - Fixed setup of network interfaces when using gnome-terminal or konsole (bug
    #10).
  - Fixed bugs with bash autocompletion, which broke it with most recent bash
    releases.
  - Fixed warnings issued by dash when starting labs.
  - Using konsole tabs now works with KDE 4 (and no longer does with KDE 3).
  - Environment variables are now expanded in kernel paths.
  - Kernel modules directory failed to mount when a custom kernel was specified
    on the command line using a relative path. Fixed.
  - Several (harmless) interface assignment warnings occurred on Ubuntu hosts
    when starting a lab. Fixed.
  - Setup of tap interfaces could hang for a while because of iptables attempting
    to perform DNS lookups. Fixed.
  - Small changes to the man pages. Also, documentation for lab.conf and lab.dep
    has been moved from the lstart man page to a dedicated page.
  - Improved checks in check_configuration.sh: filesystem is checked for sparse
    files support and host is checked for the ability to run 32-bit binary
    executables.

2.7
  - A tricky bug prevented tap interfaces not having lowest or highest
    numbering from being properly configured. Fixed. (bugs #2,#4)
  - Enabled the use of sudo (instead of su) to gain root privileges for
    administrative operations (e.g., setup of tap interfaces). See the man page
    of netkit.conf for more information about the feature (look for USE_SUDO
    and SETTING UP NETKIT FOR USE WITH SUDO). (bug #3)
  - Introduced an option that allows to bypass the port-helper to attach the
    primary console of virtual machine to a terminal emulator. Results in
    faster startup and more stable environment. This option is enabled by
    default and is only exposed through netkit.conf (look for CON0_PORTHELPER).
  - Introduced experimental support for command line completion (for bash users
    only). Put the following line at the end of your .bashrc and there you go:
      . $NETKIT_HOME/bin/netkit_bash_completion
    Autocompletion is supported for all command line options, existing collision
    domain names, file and directory names, terminal types, according to the
    context.
  - Introduced the possibility to hide virtual machine .disk files. Machines
    continue to operate normally, since disk files are only unlinked once
    there is no process left that is using them.
  - Some configuration parameters in lab.conf (list of machines, generic lab
    information) were incorrectly processed by the ltools or not processed at
    all. Fixed.
  - Improved ltest. Virtual machines are now started without a terminal
    attached, which eases the execution of regression tests. Also, ltest now
    supports a signature-and-test cycle: creates a signature of a correctly
    running lab upon first execution, and compares it with the results of
    subsequent tests to assess the operation of the lab. User-defined tests now
    override built-in tests by default in the verification phase. Fancier output
    and return code are now supported to enable scripted lab tests. Also
    improved built-in test scripts.
  - Instructions for building a custom kernel have been moved to the README
    file of the Netkit kernel package. The man page netkit-kernel (7) has been
    removed. The same applies to filesystem build instructions and to the
    netkit-filesystem (7) man page.
  - Fixed incompatibilities in using escape sequences with the dash shell.
  - A lock file in konsole_tabs.sh is now forcedly (-f) removed.
  - Dropped version numbers from Netkit commands. They were confusing and
    provided no additional information.
  - If two different users ran virtual machines with the same name and one of
    the user names was a substring of the other, the behaviour of vcommands
    was messed up. Also, vlist improperly allowed to show the details of a
    specific virtual machine when all users were considered (-u -). The first
    behavior has been fixed, while the second one has been forbidden.
  - Using the -x option instead of -e for gnome-terminals.
  - Removed deprecated options from vstart and vlist.
  - Disabled log files for virtual machines. They were pretty useless. Cleaning
    commands (e.g., lclean) still take care of removing them, if found to
    exist.
  - Fixed small bugs in reporting the kernel and filesystem version.
  - lstart now requires at least a lab.conf or a lab.dep file to be present in
    the lab directory, unless option -F is used. This has been introduced in
    order to prevent the user from accidentally starting random virtual machines
    from a directory that does not contain a lab.
  - Reverted behaviour of the -m option of vstart. Before this change, using the
    default filesystem or the NETKIT_FILESYSTEM environment variable assumed
    that the filesystem image contained a partition table, while option -m did
    not. Now also option -m does.
  - Increased default memory amount for virtual machines to 32MB.
  - lclean now removes .testdone files.
  - lstart now places virtual machine filesystems inside the lab directory.
  - Number of simultaneously started virtual machines when using parallel startup
    (-p option) has been raised to 5.
  - lstart did not operate properly when used with option -d (hung after the
    first virtual machine). Fixed.

2.6
  - Changed the scripts to avoid SELinux warnings during the boot phase of
    virtual machines.
  - ltools have been slightly changed to simplify development on our part
    (e.g., virtual machines named CVS are no longer tolerated, etc.)
  - Fixed a small bug in the portion of code reporting version numbers.
  - Slightly enhanced error reporting in vconfig. Also, fixed a bug that caused
    a virtual hub to be started even when detaching a network interface.
  - Minor fixes in the README and INSTALL files.
  - Upgraded the uml tools to version 20070815 (Debian lenny).

2.5
  - Lstart now tolerates commas and dots in interface names when defining a tap
    interface.
  - Fixed a very little bug which caused vstart to print an error when using
    options -q and -p in the presence of tap interfaces.
  - Fixed a bug which prevented ltest from working properly if asked to work
    using parallel startup (-p option).
  - It is now possible to launch virtual machines without a primary console.
  - Fixed the scripts for more strict POSIX compliance. This makes them
    compatible with Ubuntu Linux distributions.
  - vconfig now supports dinamically removing network interfaces from running
    virtual machines (consequent to the corresponding support provided by newer
    versions of the UML kernel).
  - Raised default memory amount for virtual machines to 16MB.
  - Fixed a bug that prevented tap interfaces from working properly upon first
    usage.
  - Fixed some minor bugs in the scripts and removed some redundant function
    definitions.
  - Updated documentation according to the above fixes.

2.4
  - Very improved ltools:
    - Some new options have been introduced, allowing to change the behaviour of
      the underlying vtools. The most interesting improvement is the possibility
      to start multiple virtual machines simultaneously. Depending on user
      needs, this can also be done while keeping an eye on dependencies (e.g.,
      "pc3 can only start after pc1 and pc2"). In a few words: lab.dep is now
      supported!
    - lstart now warns if there are duplicate interface definitions inside
      lab.conf. Also, any option of vstart can be used inside lab.conf. 
    - lclean now also removes log files.
    - lrestart has disappeared, and is now simply a link to lstart. The same
      holds for ltest, which is a link to lstart. Depending on the name with
      which it is invoked, lstart's behaviour changes as needed.
    - lstart now produces much terser output.
    - By default, lcrash removes virtual machines filesystems, so that a lab can
      be restarted without having to use lclean first.
    - No more need to use the "." to tell the ltools that the lab is in the
      current directory.
    - The command line help is now much clearer.
    - A new lcommand has been introduced: linfo. It provides general information
      about a lab without starting it. Optionally, it may also generate a
      PostScript file with a sketch of the link-level topology of the lab.
  - (More or less slightly) improved man pages.
  - Enriched the documentation with several warnings about installing Netkit on
    FAT32 filesystems and using scripts and/or lab configurations which use the
    CR+NL line break convention.
  - Removed a vcrash warning stating the impossibility to delete a socket file
    for a virtual hub.
  - Fixed a bug which prevented vlist and halt/crash related commands from
    working properly with accounts using long user names (maximum tolerated user
    name length is now 35 characters - I know it's weird to set a limit on it,
    but it's really necessary ;-).
  - Improved check_configuration.sh (now it has a modular structure and also
    warns about VDSO support in the host kernel).
  - The --version option now reports information about the version number of all
    the installed Netkit components as well as that of the host kernel.
  - Improved vcrash mechanism. Hangups of the mconsole helper tool are now
    detected and properly handled (any of you who has ever seen those
    everlasting "Crashing..." lines knows what I am talking about). Moreover, if
    crash via mconsole fails, then vcrash automatically attempts to kill virtual
    machines without user intervention. Last but not least, the process killing
    routine has been revised; before this fix, there were chances of leaving
    some processes running even after a "hard kill". Now there are very fewer
    chances for virtual machines to survive ;-)
  - Depending on PIDs usage, the uptime information returned by vlist could be
    incorrect.  Uptime has now been completely removed from the output of vlist,
    as it can be obtained by using the `uptime' command inside virtual machines.
  - Improved support for Konsole tabs. Better management of stale locks and of
    simultaneously started virtual machines.
  - The fuser command is not required any more: it has been replaced by an
    invocation of lsof.
  - Missing parameters in netkit.conf are now assigned default values.

2.3
  - Improved checks for the presence of terminal emulator applications (both in
    check_configuration.sh and in the Netkit scripts).
  - Fixed a bug inside vcrash and vclean (wrong signal spec when killing
    processes broke both vcrash and vclean).
  - Placed a workaround to avoid early hangs of the port-helper process when
    booting virtual machines.
  - Removed some minor warnings issued by vstart and vclean.
  - Fixed a small bug in the output of vlist.

2.2 Beta
  - Updated check_configuration.sh (there was no check for the correctness of
    the PATH environment variable).
  - Updated INSTALL file.

2.1 Beta
  - Fixed a bug that prevented correct recognition of running processes (caused
    vlist and related commands - vcrash, etc. - not to work).
  - Suppressed a warning popping out when killing a virtual machine having two
    (or more) network interfaces attached to the same virtual hub.
  - Fixed minor bug that caused reporting wrong console information when using
    vlist to get detailed info about a running virtual machine.

2.0 Beta
  - Netkit now consists of three separate pieces: a "core", a filesystem, and a
    kernel. Changelogs are maintained separately as well.
  - Netkit is now documented! The distribution includes a plethora of man pages
    which guide you throughout Netkit usage and setup.
  - Introducing a more robust `check_configuration.sh' script, replacing the old
    `config'.
  - Environment variable pointing to the Netkit directory has been renamed to
    NETKIT_HOME (VLAB_HOME is still supported).
  - Default configuration parameters for newly started virtual machines and, in
    general, for the Netkit environment, can now be easily altered by editing
    the netkit.conf file.
  - All Netkit commands can now limit their scope of action to virtual machines
    owned (=started) by the desired user.
  - All Netkit commands are now more robust and provide a clearer output.
  - Virtual machines can now be configured with network interfaces connected to
    a real network. This can be done automatically by using an option of the
    vstart command, which will take care of asking you for the root password
    when needed.
  - Network interfaces can now be attached to a running virtual machine ``on the
    fly'' by using the vconfig command.
  - The vstart command no longer requires the use of the (very very boring)
    --new option when starting new virtual machines.
  - Virtual hubs are automatically stopped when the last machine that uses them
    quits (no matter whether by graceful halt or by crash).
  - The vstart command allows the use of alternative UML kernels and filesystems
    for the virtual machines.
  - Better management of consoles has been introduced (virtual machine consoles
    can now be attached to different terminal emulators in a more flexible way).
    Also, each machine supports two consoles.
  - Vstart now allows to pass parameters directly to the virtual machine kernel
    command line.
  - The vlist command can now be used to ask for detailed information about a
    running virtual machine.
  - Vcrash supports different shutdown strategies (by management console or by
    process signaling). It also allows to remove a virtual machine filesystem
    upon its crash.
  - Vhalt now allows to remove a virtual machine filesystem after shutdown.
  - A new command (vclean) has been introduced to clean the host system from
    hanging processes and unused virtual hubs. It also allows to remove any
    configuration settings that have been altered to setup interfaces connected
    to a real network.
  - All the ltools now allow to perform operations on a subset of the virtual
    machines of a lab. This is useful, for example, when only few machines are
    to be restarted.
  - Lstart now allows to configure a different amount of emulated memory for
    each virtual machine.
  - Lstart now supports an option inside `lab.conf' which can be used to
    restrict the set of enabled virtual machines for a lab.
  - A new testing system for the labs has been introduced. It can be used to
    automatically perform arbitrary checks on a Netkit lab. This is especially
    useful to ease the distribution of a lab, because it provides with a
    one-shot solution to test that the lab works properly on a different machine
    or Netkit distribution.
  - Something else we may not have mentioned......


The following entries describe the changes history for Netkit releases prior to
Netkit version 2. Consider that, up to this version, changes to the Netkit
filesystem and to the Netkit kernel were not maintaned separately. 

1.4.2
  - fixed a (nasty) bug in the UML kernel which caused virtual machines to crash
    when attempting to write to the host filesystem (i.e., the "/hosthome"
    directory); this bug caused some of the scripts distributed with Netkit not
    to work
  + improved vstart script, which now supports two new options:
    - "--noxterm", to attach a virtual machine terminal to the current console
    - "--port", to attach a virtual machine terminal to a telnet port
  - fixed vcrash script, which killed up the whole world upon crashing a virtual
    machine without an xterm; also, vcrash now sends SIGCONT before SIGKILL,
    which tries safely stops hanging processes
  + filesystem has been updated:
    - suppressed some other bootup warnings
    - vim has been installed (no more keyboard tricks are needed... ;)

1.4-1
  - fixed a bug in the vstart script which did not allow to
    start machines over existing file systems
  - made the vlist and vcrash scripts a bit more distribution-compliant
  - slight speed-up in the lcrash script
  - the vcrash script now looks for "surviving" processes after machines
    are crashed, and attempts to kill them

1.4
  + updated filesystem:
    - some startup warnings have been fixed
    - created a valid partition table
    - enabled console "Home" and "End" keys inside virtual machines
  - updated uml utilities (now using 20040406 version)
  - new kernel 2.6.8.1 (uml patch 2.6.8.1-1)
  - fixed virtual machine crash when using long kernel command lines
  + improved vstart and lstart scripts:
    - vstart now suppresses kernel boot messages by default (use "--verbose" to
      revert to the old behavior)
    - both vstart and lstart now support up to 30 network interfaces
  - fixed some problems in locating the 'lsof' command

1.3

  - filesystem defrag
  - new support for lab scripting lstart, lcrash, ecc.
  - updated guest startup/shutdown scripts
  - vstart allows 32MB in the --mem option
  - vstart creates /tmp/uml, when needed, before creation of the first hub

1.2.5
  - uml tools updated to fix uml_switch bug

1.2.4

  - vstart now waits for the socket of uml_switch to be created before
    starting the VM.

1.2.3

  - the vstart script has been changed so that 
    uml_switch now really works as a hub ("-hub" used)

1.2.1
  
  - now vcrash kills also port helper and xterm

1.2
  
  - updated filesystem
  - new kernel 2.4.22 uml patch 5
  - now the standard uml daemon network devices uses connected sockets so 
    bridging works without patching the kernel  

1.1