Craving speed? Announcing Amahi 7, faster, more polished

Craving speed for your home server gear? Today we’re very happy to announce the availability of Amahi 7!

This has been a much anticipated (and delayed) release, in part because we re-implemented virtually the whole platform to use up-to-date technologies. It’s also our biggest release ever.

Want the goods? Click on the image to get started. For some juicy goodies/extras, keep on reading at the bottom.

Here are some new features in this release:

  • Express DVD “headless” install, with a built-in streamlined installer. On modern systems the install can take less than 7 minutes
  •  Faster, more polished dashboard thanks to more efficient modular code for reduced size and increased speed
  • One-click option to enable/disable each of the DNS and DHCP servers separately
  • Support for vertical-tabbed themes
  • Much improved HDA search, to locate your files more easily
  • One-click permission “repairing” for all files in a share

Pro features for advanced users and developers:

  • Developer-friendly advanced settings to easily use RSA keys for password-less access (via SSH). Use your system like a pro.
  • New plugin system, where plugins can be very easily developed. We’re very excited about this one!
  • Increased transmission speeds to our  Amahi Sync service.  Sync your files faster!
  • When a user is made admin, that user also becomes sudo-capable at the system level
  • Toggling of disk temperature readout between degrees Centigrade and Fahrenheit
  • One-click selection of the upstream DNS servers to OpenDNS, Google DNS or custom
  • Easily change the DHCP lease time
  • Easily change the gateway IP address

Here is some new technology packed in the release:

  • Switch to a much smaller footprint DHCP/DNS server (called dnsmasq)
  • Samba 4.0, the latest in stability and most compatible file sharing support
  • Use Ruby 2.0, which is substantially faster than the previous version of Ruby we used in Amahi 6
  • Based on Fedora 19, with support for the latest hardware (incl. EFI systems)
  • Recent Linux 3.10 kernel, efficient, mean and lean with and support for systems with low memory
  • Using a recent stable yet fast and mature version of Ruby on Rails with the delightful Slim template engine
  • Recent Greyhole release (0.9.31), with improved stability and performance (not integrated yet, see FAQ’s below)

This release has been possible through the effort of many users in the community, who patiently helped test various aspects of the platform, helped with apps, packaging the release, etc. Special kudos go to @bigfoot65 (Rod, our testmaster), @inquam (Daniel), @northridgegrp (Ken), @repat (Pat), @slm4996 (Solomon), @stgfoo, @mattman, @effem, @dnfalk, @totss and a few others! Thanks for your dedication and patience!

We hope you enjoy it, go download it now!

To celebrate the release, we have prepared some goodies!

  • A brand new videos area we unveil today with some screencasts to help in installing and using Amahi. Enjoy them! We hope to develop more soon
  • In that area, a screencast with an Amahi 7 install overview video. Thanks to @cmfisher for getting us started is this direction!
  • A 10% discount on the Amahi Shop, discount code AMAHI7
  • A nice printable disc cover for the Express disc!
  • A bunch of frequently asked questions for Amahi 7 just below

Enjoy and share!

The Amahi Team

FAQs about Amahi 7

  • Is there an upgrade path from Amahi 6 (on Ubuntu 12.04) to Amahi 7 (on Fedora 19)? Unfortunately there is no upgrade path at the moment. Not only the OS has changed, the whole Amahi platform has been re-done. We always go for stability. If your system is running reliably (as it should), there is no urgent need to upgrade. If you really want to run the newest, the best way is to cleanly take your data drives out, reinstall and add the data drives back in
  • Are there apps available? Yes, a few, but we’re verifying them for Amahi 7 as fast as we can
  • Will I be able to install the apps that I purchased before from the Amahi app store? Yes, assuming they are available (see above)
  • This is an Express Disc headless install (without desktop). Will there be a desktop install method for Amahi 7? Probably. We did not get to it yet, but if you want to try it, these instructions will probably work. When we do, we will announce it and also document it in the docs site. We
  • Is Greyhole storage pooling available? Not yet, but we expect to have it running shortly. In the mean time, the Greyhole package is available and you can install Greyhole by hand.
  • Will Amahi 7 be available for ARM? We expect Amahi to be available for certain ARM platforms in the future. We’re looking for developers for this release. Join the mailing list, stop by the IRC channel and get involved if you are interested!
  • Wait, are you abandoning Ubuntu? No. We plan to support the next Ubuntu LTS (Long-term Release) when it comes out unless something unforeseen or some needed features in the system are missing.