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.

 

It’s Independence Day for Amahi; Ubuntu Edition now live!

 

 

We’re happy to announce the general release of Amahi 6.1, Ubuntu Edition! With a great team effort, this has become a reality! Get started!

This is Amahi’s first release of the Ubuntu edition, so we expected occasional turbulence. Meanwhile, we are hard at work creating a
graphical installer to make this installation of Amahi Ubuntu Edition easier.

The team has always been of the opinion that the expansion to new Linux distributions is great. Now Amahi runs on two of the most popular Linux distributions! We expect to continue supporting at least both distributions going forward.

One person that cares deeply is all it takes to make things happen in the open source world! In this case, a few developers contributed to make Amahi more amenable to running on Ubuntu. Many underestimated the complexity of the undertaking. Eventually, Frans (a.k.a. eFfeM, our team lead for Ubuntu) persisted long enough to align everything and everyone’s skills and push through in this true team effort!

Here are some of the features in Amahi 6.1, Ubuntu Edition (but not limited to):

  • Latest storage pooling technology with the latest Greyhole 0.9
  • Reliability fixes and updates, including a new, professionally designed, polished look (see at the end of this post)
  • Support for both the 32 & 64 bit Desktop and Server versions of Ubuntu
  • Improved cloud storage with Amahi Sync
  • Some support for ARM systems, like the PandaBoard and BeagleBoard (these are not well tested, so, expect rough seas)
  • One-Click App installs via Amahi’s application store

For more details, release notes and known issues, check the Ubuntu wiki page. Experiment with Amahi Ubuntu Edition! If you break it, report it! The more bugs reported the smoother the eventual ride!

We are excited to have some support for ARM based systems! We’re revisiting the ARM architecture as it becomes more pervasive in our lives as cell phones, multimedia set top boxes and other automation conveniences. The ARM(v7) packages are available via Amahi’s Ubuntu repo. We strongly suggest a powerful ARM processor (such as omap4) and an external hard disk; SD booting is possible but sloow. Thanks also goes to open source startups and projects who are making ARM  programming easily accessible to the younger generation.

Again, many thanks to the Ubuntu team, the Applications team, the Greyhole team, the testers, you who reported bugs and suggested improvements!

Happy installing and we hope you enjoy and share it with your friends via Facebook and Twitter!

The Amahi Team

PS: check out a (reduced) screenshot of the new Amahi look!

App autobackups … Easy app updates!

We have been busy updating several of your favorite Amahi applications over the past few weeks.

One of theAmahi Safe most frequent issues that we hear about is the need to update an application to a newer version but the data from the old version may be essentially lost, unless you know how to back it up with things like phpMyBackup or phpMyAdmin (which can be error-prone).

No more! Steps have been taken to help protect your data for upgrade. Keeping with our data integrity mantra, we are proud to announce a new feature to Amahi!

We have deployed a new feature called “autobackup” for a selected group of applications.  These apps will automatically back up the existing database when select applications are uninstalled. When you install the new version, your data is imported, automatically!

These apps include some big ones like Drupal, Horde, FengOffice, eyeOS and Gallery. We are working to make this feature available to all apps that have data going forward. Tell us your favorite application you would like to see this feature for and we will do that first.

We hope you enjoy the updated versions for your HDA. It’s your network and Amahi helps you run it easily!

Thank you for your continued support!

The Amahi Team

Squeezebox Server, clipperz, phpman, adminer and more … enjoy!

“Rolling, … rolling, …  rolling on the river…”*

The Amahi Team is at it again. Rolling out 5.0 first, then it was four new apps, and now more! We know what you’re thinking… (we’re thinking it too) do those guys at Amahi ever sleep?

The short answer is occasionally! We’re busy working on Amahi 5.1 and bringing you all of these new applications for your enjoyment. We start with the very popular SqueezeCenter! Enjoy the Holidays and read on ….



Squeezebox ServerSqueezeCenter

Logitech introduces Squeezebox Server 7 (formerly SqueezeCenter and SlimServer) is a powerful and free Open Source software. Not only will it power any Squeezebox™ or Transporter®, but also any software MP3 player on your network.

This robust Open Source software includes contributions from a worldwide community of developers who are driven by the desire to work on exciting projects. The efforts of Logitech’s Open Source community results in rapid development and a rich set of features, evolving in response to user feedback.

Squeezebox Server Software

  • Web Interface—control the player and manage playlists from a web browser
  • MP3 & WMA Internet radio
  • Alarm clock
  • and much more…


phpManphpMan

phpMan is a unix Man page / Perldoc / Info page Web Interface runs on PHP 4.2 above. One file script makes it easier to read man pages which is lengthy and require you to use ‘more’ or ‘pg’ filters. This app allows you to search any command to get info on said command or get the manual for it (ie man). Just try it if you feel hard to remember the command for page back or need to dump man page into text/html format.



AdminerAdminer

Adminer (formerly phpMinAdmin) is a full-featured MySQL management tool written in PHP. Conversely to phpMyAdmin, it consist of a single file ready to deploy to the target server.
Features for Adminer include:

  • Connect to a database server with username and password
  • Select an existing database or create a new one
  • and much much more


ClipperzClipperz

You can think of Clipperz as your web Rolodex, a card index where you can enter any sort of confidential data without worrying about security. It can be used to store and freely organize passwords, confidential notes, burglar alarm codes, credit and debit card details, PINs, software keys, etc.
Clipperz does solve the “password fatigue” and make the Internet the most convenient and safe place to store private and sensitive data. However since passwords are the most common type of sensitive information that you need to protect, we added a lot of functionalities to make Clipperz the best online password manager.

Features

  • One-click login – Users can store the details of their online services into Clipperz and quickly create a “direct login” link for each of them: just one click to authenticate and access the online service without typing any username and password.
  • Offline copy – Users can dump their encrypted data from Clipperz servers to a local hard disk or USB drive and create a read-only portable version of Clipperz to be used when no Internet connection is available. Clipperz offline copy can also be easily moved to a USB drive.
  • Clipperz Compact – A stripped down edition designed for the Firefox sidebar. It makes “direct logins” even more addictive! And it works with Opera panels too.


phpYahtzeephpYahtzee

PHP Yahtzee is a web based single player Yahtzee game.

The object of the game is to score the most points by rolling five dice to make certain combinations. The dice can be rolled up to three times in a turn to try to make one of the thirteen possible scoring combinations.


Enjoy the holidays!

The Amahi Team

* We here at Amahi like all sorts of eclectic things and Creedance Clearwater Revival and Tina Turner comes to mind for this latest release.  CCR, (and then later Tina Turner in her smash hit in 1971) belted the amazing lyrics of “And we’re rolling, rolling on the river …” 🙂