LISTSERV at Work L-Soft
Issue 4, 2011

What's New in the LISTSERV® Version 16.0-2011a Level Set

The LISTSERV 16.0-2011a level set includes all known fixes, patches and between-release enhancements up November 8, 2011. There are a number of bug fixes and enhancements in LISTSERV itself, and there are also changes and fixes to the WA CGI for the web interface and to the default web templates (default.wwwtpl) to support the WA changes.

Because very few of these changes affected the z/VM version of LISTSERV, a 2011a kit was not built for z/VM. There is also no new kit available for OpenVMS at this time. If you are running LISTSERV under OpenVMS and would like to have the level-set release, please contact: support@lsoft.com.

L-Soft strongly recommends that all sites running earlier versions of LISTSERV upgrade to this level-set. We believe that there are sufficient improvements and fixes that any site running an earlier version will find their LISTSERV experience to be greatly enhanced by this release.

The installation kits found on L-Soft's website can be used either to install a new copy of LISTSERV or to upgrade an existing installation. To download LISTSERV 16.0-2011a, simply go to L-Soft's website and download LISTSERV or LISTSERV Lite, then follow the installation instructions for your operating system. The kits can be found at:

http://www.lsoft.com/download/listserv.asp
http://www.lsoft.com/download/listservlite.asp

Older F-Secure versions at end of life

LISTSERV Classic and LISTSERV Classic HPO sites running F-Secure Anti-Virus or F-Secure Linux Security need to be aware that all versions of the F-Secure anti-virus products previous to version 9 are now either completely unsupported by F-Secure, or will be completely unsupported by F-Secure by the end of 2011.

What does this mean for LISTSERV operators?

First: L-Soft can no longer guarantee an uninterrupted virus signature update path for older versions of FSAV (7.x and older), which have been at end-of-life for more than a year.

Second: After December 31, 2011, L-Soft can no longer guarantee an uninterrupted virus signature path for FSAV 8 for Windows and FSLS 7 for Linux.

L-Soft therefore strongly recommends that LISTSERV sites currently running:

  • F-Secure Anti-Virus previous to version 9, or
  • F-Secure Linux Security previous to version 9;
  • and LISTSERV prior to version 16.0-2011a

should upgrade as soon as possible to the latest supported version of LISTSERV (currently 16.0-2011a), so that they can also install the latest version of FSAV and thus continue to be able to scan reliably for viruses and other malware.

While F-Secure version 9 products can be installed and will work with LISTSERV 15.0 or later, L-Soft strongly recommends that these products be used only with LISTSERV 16.0-2011a and following. This is due to an incompatibility introduced in the 9.x versions of the F-Secure products. The incompatibility may result in occasional spurious reports from LISTSERV of out-of-date anti-virus signatures. We have taken account of this incompatibility in LISTSERV version 16.0-2011a. To ensure that you have at least LISTSERV version 16.0-2011a, issue a SHOW LICENSE to your LISTSERV server. The build date reported should be November 8, 2011 or later.

Integration documentation and information about where to download the version 9 F-Secure files can be found at:
http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/16.0/fsav-install.pdf

LISTSERV 16.0-2011a Level Set Changes for LISTSERV

Since the original release of LISTSERV 16.0 in December 2009, many improvements and bug fixes have been made. Performance has been improved in several areas and cases where observed behavior did not match the documentation have been corrected.

A number of improvements and bug fixes have been applied to the WA CGI executable since WA version 2.4.1 R3904. The current version at level-set release is WA 2.4.1 R4241. There is also a revised set of web templates that complement the new WA release. Because many of the changes hook tightly into corresponding changes made in LISTSERV, it is not recommended to use the latest WA or templates with older versions of LISTSERV.

A more complete listing of changes and fixes in this level-set release can be found in the What's New document found at:
http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/16.0/LISTSERV16.0-2011a_WhatsNew.pdf

Because this is the first new release of LISTSERV in nearly two years, L-Soft strongly recommends that all sites currently running version 16.0 with a build date earlier than 8 Nov 2011 should upgrade to the 16.0-2011a level-set release, and to version 9.x of the appropriate F-Secure anti-virus product where used (Windows and Linux systems).

Applying LISTSERV 16.0-2011a

Important: Install (or ensure that it is installed) your LISTSERV 16.0 product LAK before upgrading. A valid product LAK (License Activation Key) with "REL=16.0" must be installed before upgrading or LISTSERV will not start after the upgrade. Also, a valid maintenance LAK expiring no earlier than November 8, 2011, is required in order to apply this level-set release.

If you have not received a LISTSERV 16.0 product LAK, please contact your sales representative or sales@lsoft.com before upgrading.

To find out if you can upgrade to LISTSERV 16.0-2011a with your current license key, please check the Server Administration Dashboard of the web interface or issue a SHOW LICENSE command to LISTSERV and examine the response.


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