[Packetfence-devel] ANN: PacketFence v2.0.0

[Ludovic M. <lma...@in...>]

The Inverse Team is pleased to announce the immediate availability of 
PacketFence 2.0.0. This is a major release bringing new features, new 
hardware support, performance enhancements, documentation update and 
other smaller changes. This release is considered ready for production use.

=== What is PacketFence ? ===

PacketFence is a fully supported, trusted, Free and Open Source network 
access control (NAC) system. Boosting an impressive feature set including:

  * Registration and remediation through a captive portal
  * Detection of abnormal network activities using Snort IDS
  * Proactive vulnerability scans using Nessus
  * Isolation of problematic devices
  * 802.1X for wired and wireless networks
  * Wireless integration for all provided features
  * Supports complex and heterogeneous environments
  * VoIP / IP Telephony support and more!

A set of screenshots is available from 
http://www.packetfence.org/tour/screenshots.html and a set of videos is 
available from http://www.packetfence.org/tour/videos.html

=== Changes Since Previous Release ===

New Hardware Support
  * SMC TigerStack 6128 L2 support in Port Security (feature sponsored 
by Seattle Pacific University)
  * HP ProCurve MSM710 Mobility Controller
  * Meru Networks MC3000 Wireless Controller
  * Juniper EX Series in MAC RADIUS (Juniper's MAC Authentication)

New Features
  * Simplification of the Wireless, Wired 802.1X and Wired MAC 
Authentication configuration. Because of a new FreeRADIUS module and a 
Web Service interface, everything is now using standard PacketFence 
proccesses and configuration files.
  * VoIP devices authorization over RADIUS (#1008)
  * Proxy interception. PacketFence can now operate in an environment 
where there is a client-side proxy configured. Check proxy-bypass in 
addons/ for details. (#1035)
  * Passthroughs support! You can now configure PacketFence to let your 
users reach specific websites even if they are in registration or 
isolation. (#772) (feature sponsored by Shippensburg University)
  * New pf::web::custom extension point to customize the captive 
portal's code without the usual maintenance burden on upgrades (#1045)
  * Bulk importation of nodes through CLI or Admin Web interface
  * New parameter in switches.conf to ease FreeRADIUS integration
  * Optional automatic configuration of FreeRADIUS' clients using 
switches.conf (see addons/freeradius-integration/README for details)
  * New 'pending' status for node. Allows for a wide range of captive 
portal workflows where an administrator approves network access (by 
email, SMS...)

Enhancements
  * New information available in Node Lookup (Connection Type, SSID, 
802.1X User-Name, ...)
  * FreeRADIUS module improvements (#1034) and major revamping
  * Easier installation process using yum groupinstall (#1089)
  * Faster Web Services layer running under mod_perl
  * Refactoring of the pf::vlan method names for more meaningful ones
  * Removed unnecessary database connections and duplicated code
  * 802.1X improvements (#995, #1002)
  * General code base improvements, refactoring (#914, #977, #1001, #973)
  * Usability improvements (#1006, #820, #1075)
  * Migrated to the new Emerging Threats rules for snort and added rules 
for botnets, malware, shellcode, trojan and worm by default (#1102)
  * New DHCP fingerprints (HP ProCurve Wireless, Ricoh MFP, 
Cisco/Linksys, Netgear, D-Link, Trendnet, Belkin Home Wireless Routers, 
Sony Ericsson, Android, Aruba Access Point, Avaya IP Phone, Gentoo Linux 
and Fedora Linux 13)
  * pfcmd_vlan's logging is now consistent with the rest of the system 
(#874)
  * configurator.pl now handles DNS and DHCP basic configuration (#1112)

Documentation
  * Merged Installation and Administration guides into a more coherent 
document
  * New documentation about DHCP and DNS services. Now easier to manage! 
(#1113)
  * New documentation about running in a routed environment
  * Improved documentation about Snort, Oinkmaster, and log rotation in 
Admin Guide
  * Improved documentation on violations (external remediation pages and 
redirect_url) in the Administration Guide

Bug fixes
  * Captive Portal remediation pages can be hosted externally again! (#1024)
  * Fixes to the SMC TigerStack 8824M and 8848M modules (see UPGRADE)
  * No error reporting when trying to change configuration files with 
bad rights (#1088)
  * Violation priorities are now enforced according to documentation (1 
= highest)
  * Wrong URL in the provided oinkmaster.conf (#1101)
  * MAC addresses of format xxxx.xxxx.xxxx properly recognized in pf::util

... and more. See the ChangeLog file for the complete list of changes 
and the UPGRADE file for notes about upgrading. Both files are in the 
PacketFence distribution.

=== Getting PacketFence ===

PacketFence is free software and is distributed under the GNU GPL. As 
such, you are free to download and try it by either getting the new 
release from:

http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/packetfence/packetfence-2.0.0.tar.gz?download

or by getting the sources from the official monotone server using the 
instructions at 
http://www.packetfence.org/development/source_code_repository.html

Documentation about the installation and configuration of PacketFence is 
available from:

http://www.packetfence.org/documentation/documentation.html

=== How Can I Help ? ===

PacketFence is a collaborative effort in order to create the best Free 
and Open Source NAC solution. There are multiple ways you can contribute 
to the project:

  * Documentation reviews, enhancements and translations
  * Feature requests or by sharing your ideas
  * Participate in the discussion on mailing lists 
(http://www.packetfence.org/support/community.html)
  * Patches for bugs or enhancements
  * Provide new translations of remediation pages

=== Getting Support ===

For any questions, do not hesitate to contact us by writing to 
su...@in...

You can also fill our online form 
(http://www.inverse.ca/about/contact.html) and a representative from 
Inverse will contact you.

Inverse offers professional services to organizations willing to secure 
their wired and wireless networks with the PacketFence solution.

-- 
Ludovic Marcotte
lma...@in...  ::  +1.514.755.3630  ::  www.inverse.ca
Inverse inc. :: Leaders behind SOGo (www.sogo.nu) and PacketFence (www.packetfence.org)