We're excited to bring you an early look at a new feature for v2 - reusable Playlists. This is an extension to the existing Xibo capability of adding Widgets in sequence to a Layout Region, allowing you to reuse these Playlists across multiple Layouts, administer them separately and combine them with other Playlists.

In this "Upcoming in v2" series we will giving you a sneak peak at the things we're working on for the next major Xibo release. In many cases you can still influence the direction we're taking and your feedback in the comments is welcome.

The idea

Playlists in v2 bring together 2 core concepts - the Reusable Playlist and the Sub-Playlist. Reusable Playlists are a simple concept, taking the existing Region Timeline and making it accessible from a new Playlists page.

Sub-Playlists then allow reassignment of reusable Playlists to new Layouts, with options for mixing two or more Playlists together.

The options allowed are:

• Sequentially - put the playlists one after the other in order
• Round Robin - take one from each list and then repeat
• Evenly - automatically decide how often to take from each list so that there are no items left

If the Playlists assigned contain a different quantity of Widgets, the following can be done with the left over:

• Append - add left over Widgets to the end of the list
• Drop - use the smallest list as the total length and drop the rest
• Repeat - use the largest list as the total length and repeat the rest

Of course, you can have a Sub-Playlist with only 1 Playlist assigned.

Playlists will also have their own permissions, so it will be possible to create users who only have access to modify a Playlist.

The pain points

Playlists in v2 have been designed to address the most common feedback we've received for the way Layouts and Regions work. This means we've included:

• optional usage
• reusability across multiple Layouts
• multiple Playlists per Region
• created/edited independently of the Layout Designer
• from and to dates on Widget assignments

The technology

Playlists have been added to the core CMS, meaning they are fully integrated with the new work undertaken to improve the Layout designer and the robust XMDS and XMR communication with Players. A complete Layout file (XLF) will be generated containing the "realised list" of Widgets from the Playlists configured on that Layout.

The progress

Playlists and Sub-Playlists are being developed for release with the first 2.0.0-alpha release. So far we've laid the foundations for the functionality and will soon be moving on to improving the user interface.

Here is a snip of the Sub-Playlist edit form:

Watch out for the next post in this series which will look at another exciting upcoming improvement for v2.

Spring Signage are pleased to announce Xibo for Android v1.8 R105. This release works with Xibo CMS version 1.8 and has legacy mode for versions 1.4, 1.6, 1.7.

Features and Issues resolved in this release:

• Widgets not updating fast enough
• The Display going offline at random times due to the collection interval not being adhered to exactly
• Overlay Layouts not appearing when they should do in the schedule.
• Monitor Videos during playback to ensure they end at the correct time.
• Allow XMR to be completely disabled with the DISABLED keyword in the XMR Public Address
• Move XMR into a separate process to prevent issues with XMR causing "black areas" on the Layout.

Download Xibo for Android R105.

Download Xibo for Android R105 for DSDevices J18 and J19.

Instructions for upgrading from an earlier release can be found in the FAQ. It’s also well worth having a look at the Knowledge Base.

If you have a white label build of the application it is available in your account.

We are pleased to announce our 8th bug fix release for the 1.8 series of Xibo. The codename for this series is “Tempel”.

A new CMS is available with this release, with 34 resolved issues. We recommend that all users running 1.8 upgrade their CMS to this release.

The release notes are available in the manual and the download is available on Github.

We are pleased to announce our 9th bug fix release for the 1.8 series of Xibo. The codename for this series is “Tempel”.

A new CMS is available with this release, with 11 resolved issues. We recommend that all users running 1.8 upgrade their CMS to this release.

The release notes are available in the manual and the download is available on Github.

Currencies Module

Any users of 1.8 using the Currency Module should be aware that releases prior to 1.8.9 will cease to calculate the "Percentage Change" due to a 3rd party data source moving behind a pay wall. More information can be found in the Release Notes.

Widget Caching

This release fixes regressions introduced in 1.8.8 relating to the caching of Widgets. More information can be found in the Release Notes.

We're very excited to be releasing today a "Technology Preview" of our forthcoming Player for Linux.

We're aiming to gather some feedback from the Community on how well the Player runs on the various types of hardware that you anticipate running a Linux Player on, as well as seeing what issues might be encountered.

To that end, we've put together just the rendering engine of the Player and four sample layouts that we'd like interested parties to run on their systems, and give us some feedback about how things work. The sample layouts contain images licenced under the CC0 Creative Commons licence, and we thank the artists and photographers for their kind permission to use those images and videos.

We're targetting here users of Ubuntu 16.04 64 bit initially. The code should build on other platforms, but we've provided binaries for the above only.

Full instructions on installing the Player binary are provided in the release which you can find on Github here:

https://github.com/xibosignage/xibo-linux/releases/tag/0.2.1-a

Full source code (under AGPLv3) is provided in the same repository.

Assuming that the Player broadly operates as expected in the majority of cases, our attention will now move to the CMS interaction and we will release further early testing releases as is appropriate.

In additon to testing the packaged layouts, if you'd like to try your own content with the Player (although note not all media types are supported yet), then you can do so by connecting a Windows Player to your CMS, deleting the contents of the Player local library directory, and then setting that layout as the default layout for that display. Then allow the Player to download the layout completely, and stop the Player. Take a copy of the Player local library directory, and then copy that on to your Linux test computer. Pass the fully qualified path to the library directory you copied to the Player and it will attempt to run it.

Please leave any feedback in the comments for this blog post and we'll try to pick up any issues from there.

With an array of guides and an extensive knowledge base our Community website is a very useful starting point to help you on your way with all things Xibo.

Whether you need guidance with the basics to set up a Simple Layout...

… or interested in DataSets and how to use them to Display Meeting Room Bookings

Our Guides section will take you through Xibo features in worked examples or step by step instructions making it easy for you to follow and have a go yourself!

Need guidance with our value added services? The Knowledge Base category has many great resources to point you in the right direction.

Take a look today and see how you can get the most out of your Xibo!

Xibo in the Cloud, Xibo for Android and Xibo for webOS all come with free access to the commercial Helpdesk for technical support, just open a ticket!

For self hosted solutions who would like added peace of mind with a guaranteed SLA, our Support and Maintenance contracts will grant nominated users unlimited priority access to our technical support team. Contact us for more information.

Spring Signage are pleased to announce Xibo for Android v1.8 R106. This release works with Xibo CMS version 1.8 and has legacy mode for versions 1.4, 1.6, 1.7.

Features and Issues resolved in this release:

• Video regions sometimes went black after a period of time and became stuck.
• Occasionally the splash screen would appear for a whole collection cycle (due to a corrupted schedule message).
• RS232 commands did not have permission to run - permission is now asked for and defaulted, but it is up to Android whether this is remembered after a reboot.
• Changes to XMR configuration were not actioned until after a reboot or application restart.

Download Xibo for Android R106.

Download Xibo for Android R106 for DSDevices J18 and J19.

Instructions for upgrading from an earlier release can be found in the FAQ. It’s also well worth having a look at the Knowledge Base.

If you have a white label build of the application it is available in your account.

Use DataSets to design and store tabular data so you can easily produce Layouts that will automatically update from information held in a created DataSet.

DataSets come in two parts..

• The DataSet (Data structure and data)
  
• The Display (DataSet View / Ticker / a source of data for a custom Module)
  

Once defined in the Library the DataSet can be reused across multiple DataSet views and Layouts!

Take a look at our handy guides which will walk you through how to simply display 'Meeting room bookings' or build an ‘Hours since last incident’ counter which show you how you can easily utilise DataSets with Xibo!

If you're hosting your own Xibo CMS and using the Google Traffic widget to show local traffic conditions, you may have received an email in the past week from Google explaining that there are going to be some changes around the way that the Google API that widget uses will be charged.

Prior to July 16th 2018, Google gave everyone 25,000 map loads per day at no cost, which was plenty to display traffic maps for most peoples needs. If you went over that limit, then you could enable billing on your account, give them a credit card number, and they would charge you a small amount for the extra map loads.

Unfortunately, Google are changing that pricing structure so that all access to the Maps API is now billable, and the cost per map load is increasing significantly. Our understanding based on the numbers we have been shown is that it's an increase of around 15 times the prior cost.

That may mean that you will shortly be getting significant bills for using the Maps API from Google.

We strongly suggest that if you are using the Google Traffic widget, you check what your usage is currently and find out what that is going to cost you month on month under the new billing structure. You may then wish to limit your usage, or cease usage on that basis.

In the interim, we are discussing what options there are for reducing the amount of calls Xibo makes to the API, or swapping to an alternative data source provider.

Cloud Customers will receive a separate notification if these changes will mean we have to limit or remove the Google Traffic widget from the Cloud hosted CMS, or if we will require you to provide your own API key for Google Maps in the future.

Ever wanted Xibo to turn the TVs connected to your Players on and off automatically? Well thanks to DSDevices and the DSCS9, now you can!

Using the HDMI-CEC protocol, the DSCS9 Player can send a command to the TV over the HDMI cable connecting the two together telling the screen to power on and off. You can trigger that command to be sent directly from the Displays page inside your Xibo CMS, or via a Xibo Schedule.

We've published a guide over on our Community Site to help you get up and running with the new functionality straight away.

https://community.xibo.org.uk/t/android-cec-screen-power-on-off-with-dsdevices-dscs9/14727

We're very excited to be releasing today a "Technology Preview" of our forthcoming Player update for Windows. This will be a rewrite of the existing Player, updated to use newer technology.

We're aiming to gather some feedback from the Community on how well the Player runs on the various types of hardware that you already run the current Windows Player on, as well as seeing what issues might be encountered.

To that end, we've put together just the rendering engine of the Player and four sample layouts (plus the default layout) that we'd like interested parties to run on their systems, and give us some feedback about how things work. The sample layouts contain images licenced under the CC0 Creative Commons licence, and we thank the artists and photographers for their kind permission to use those images and videos.

We are not yet in a position to release the source code for this Player, however it will be AGPLv3 licensed and uploaded to GitHub as per our other releases.

You can download this preview here: https://github.com/xibosignage/xibo-windows/releases/tag/0.0.1

Assuming that the Player broadly operates as expected in the majority of cases, our attention will now move to the CMS interaction and we will release further early testing releases as is appropriate.

In additon to testing the packaged layouts, you can try your own content with the Player (please note: not all media types are supported yet). To do this connect a current Windows Player to your CMS, delete the contents of the Player local library directory, and then set that layout as the default layout for that display. Allow the Player to download the layout completely, then stop the Player. Take a copy of the Player local library directory, and copy that on to your test library. You can then enter the Layout ID to run when you start the new Player.

Please leave any feedback in the comments for this blog post and we'll try to pick up any issues from there.

We are excited to share with you a new feature we've been working on for 1.8.10 that should greatly improve the reliability of images in Media RSS and Twitter, and improve the consistency of data in all other modules.

What are we solving?

Xibo has had a long running quirk where a Player would ask for an updated Widget, the CMS would generate one containing new images, which it added to the Players required file list. The Player would show the new Widget but may not have finished downloading the associated images.

Xibo has another quirk where a Widget is loaded and the Player decides that it needs to request a fresh version. It does so, but it cannot wait for that to be returned, so its shows its current version, knowing that the updated one will be shown next time. This can result in stale data that is twice as old as expected.

How is it being solved?

The solution to this comes in 2 parts - firstly the Widget caching introduced in 1.8.8, improved in 1.8.9 and secondly a "Widget Sync" task in 1.8.10.

Prior to 1.8.8 the CMS cached all 3rd party resources (RSS, Twitter, etc) for a predefined period of time. If the resource was in the cache, it generated the Widget based on that cache each time it was requested. Post 1.8.8 the entire Widget is cached as well, based on criteria for each Widget.

The "Widget Sync" task is run by the CMS's task runner and every 5 minutes looks for Widgets that are active on any Display. If it finds any it updates their cache if required, including any images.

If this task is scheduled to run the Player should only ever be served content from the cache, meaning all of the files will be present and the Widget will be fresh at the point the Player sees it.

Spring Signage are pleased to announce Xibo for webOS v1.8 R11. This release works with Xibo CMS version 1.8.3 onward.

This release contains 9 improvements:

• The "Connect to CMS" options will stay on screen until manually dismissed or saved, instead of timing out
• XMR will reconnect reliably if it becomes disconnected
• Player will obey the logging level configured in the Display Settings
• Fixed "Unable to read property" error shown repeatedly in the logs
• Fix a problem with the splash screen not showing correctly on Displays with portrait orientation
• Unplayable Videos will be skipped instead of sitting at a black screen
• It is now possible to configure key locks to block the operation of on-monitor keys and remote control keys
• The Mac Address of the in use interface will be reported
• Opening the application triggers an update of all Widgets immediately as opposed to waiting for the first collection.

Download Xibo for webOS R11.

Instructions for upgrading from an earlier release can be found in the FAQ at the end of the installation guide. It’s also well worth having a look at the Knowledge Base.

If you have a white label build of the application it is available in your account.

We are pleased to announce our 10th bug fix release for the 1.8 series of Xibo. The codename for this series is “Tempel”.

A new CMS is available with this release, with 68 resolved issues. We recommend that all users running 1.8 upgrade their CMS to this release.

The release notes are available in the manual and the download is available on Github.

There are some special considerations to note in this release.

Google Traffic Module

Google are making changes to their Traffic API billing and terms. Please read our blog post for more information and the actions you need to take. If you do not act your Traffic Widgets may cease to function or you may face higher than expected bills for your usage from Google!

Dropdown Lists

This release also improves the drop-down selection lists for Layouts, Media and Displays in the CMS. We found that in CMS instances with a large amount of Layouts, Media and/or Displays, the user interface could become unresponsive and hard to use. We have improved this by filtering and paging drop-down lists for these types of data so that they open faster.

Widget Sync

We've also made improvements to the way we manage Widget Caching and updating 3rd party resources, such as Tickers and Twitter. Please read our blog post for more information.

Calendar Module

In response to customer feedback we have included a new Module which shows an iCal feed on a Layout - the Calendar Module. To get started with this great new module take a look at our new guide on the community.

Chart Module

Adding to the work he did with Remote DataSets in 1.8.4, LukyLuke is back with another fantastic contribution. The Chart Module can be used to show various Chart types on a Layout, based on data in a DataSet (perhaps even a remote one!). Have a go yourself with our new walkthrough guide on the community.

We are pleased to announce Xibo for webOS v1.8 R12. This release works with Xibo CMS version 1.8.3 onward.

This release fixes an issue with the Player not progressing past the "Loading..." screen when it is restarted or turned on without a network connection.

Download Xibo for webOS R12.

Instructions for upgrading from an earlier release can be found in the FAQ at the end of the installation guide. It’s also well worth having a look at the Knowledge Base.

If you have a white label build of the application it is available in your account.

We are pleased to announce our 11th bug fix release for the 1.8 series of Xibo. The codename for this series is “Tempel”.

A new CMS is available with this release, with 44 resolved issues. We recommend that all users running 1.8 upgrade their CMS to this release.

The release notes are available in the manual and the download is available on Github.

Xibo Signage are pleased to announce Xibo for Android v1.8 R107. This release works with Xibo CMS version 1.8 and has legacy mode for versions 1.4, 1.6, 1.7.

Features and Issues resolved in this release:

• Press the home button when Xibo is open and choose to use Xibo as a Launcher.
• Fix for "unexpected end of document" causing the splash screen to appear during some connection outages.
• Fix for XMR crashing and showing a "this application has stopped" window.
• New feature to run an intent when someone touches the screen.
• Fix for cookie support when showing a webpage in Manual Position/Best fit mode.

Download Xibo for Android R107.

Download Xibo for Android R107 for DSDevices J18 and J19.

Instructions for upgrading from an earlier release can be found in the FAQ. It’s also well worth having a look at the Knowledge Base.

If you have a white label build of the application it is available in your account.

Become a Xibo Signage Channel Partner!
Would you like to represent the Xibo brand by becoming a Channel Partner? Apply now. https://xibo.org.uk/become-a-partner

Summary

Alpine Linux, the container Linux distrubution upon which Xibo’s Docker containers are based has said there is a flaw in the way their package manager (apk) works. This flaw could potentially allow an attacker to inject their own code in to the container at build time.

We have no evidence to suggest that any Xibo containers have been “poisoned” in this way, however, we have issued an updated 1.8.11 CMS container and 0.7 XMR container as a precaution.

If you’re using Xibo on our Cloud service, then you don’t need to take any action. You are already protected, regardless of the version you are running.

If you are running Xibo with Docker, it's our recommendation that you upgrade to the 1.8.11 CMS container and 0.7 XMR container released today (15th September 2018).

If you are already on 1.8.11, then you will need to issue a docker-compose pull command, followed by a docker-compose up -d command (coupled with any -f switches you normally use). See below for further examples.

If you're on an earlier version of the Xibo CMS, you can simply upgrade to 1.8.11 in the normal way.

Overview

You may have read in the news that the Alpine Linux distribution, upon which many Docker containers are based, has reported that their apk package manager is potentially vulnerable to a “poisoning” attack where an attacker could use a man-in-the-middle attack to inject code in to a container during the build process.

Xibo uses Alpine as the basis for its Docker containers, as is common through the industry as Alpine is specialised for that task. Xibo's Docker containers are built directly by Docker's Cloud service, an independent trusted third party, so you have total transparency as to what is included in them.

The Vulnerability

According to reports, an attacker with access to the network in the build environment could potentially poison a container during the build process by injecting their code in to the Alpine package manager and it would include that code inside the resulting container.

Alpine have published an updated version that prevents that happening, and have rebuilt their base containers upon which our containers are based.

Our Response

We have no evidence to suggest that the Xibo containers have been poisoned in this way, however, as a precaution, we have decided to rebuild the CMS container for 1.8.11 and XMR container for 0.7 to make available a version with the fix provided by Alpine Linux included.

Our recommendation therefore if you're running with Docker is to ensure you are running the 1.8.11 container that we have released today (September 15th 2018).

If you're running an earlier version of Xibo, you can simply upgrade in the normal way. If you're running 1.8.11 already, you will need to manually pull the new version of the container and then up the containers again:

docker-compose pull
docker-compose up -d

If you normally use a -f switch (eg -f cms_custom-ports.yml) don't forget to add that in:

docker-compose -f cms_custom-ports.yml pull
docker-compose -f cms_custom-ports.yml up -d

Full details of the original vulnerabilty can be found here:
https://justi.cz/security/2018/09/13/alpine-apk-rce.html
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/09/15/alpine_linux_bug/

We are pleased to announce Xibo for webOS v1.8 R13. This release works with Xibo CMS version 1.8.3 onward.

This release fixes an issue checking licences in non-UTC timezones.

Download Xibo for webOS R13.

Instructions for upgrading from an earlier release can be found in the FAQ at the end of the installation guide. It’s also well worth having a look at the Knowledge Base.

If you have a white label build of the application it is available in your account.