We're thrilled to announce the latest long-term support (LTS) release of Element Server Suite. This release represents a significant leap forward, especially for some of our larger customers who are using our previous LTS release of ESS which came out in October last year. This release focuses on enhanced reliability, new features, crucial bug fixes and improved security measures. Let's delve into the highlights brought to the table in this version.
Helm chart deployments
Reliability is paramount when it comes to deploying applications using Kubernetes and ESS 24.04 LTS introduces significant improvements in this area. The release enhances our Helm charts to enable the deployment of webhooks and custom resource definitions (CRDs) together, independently from our Kubernetes operator patterns. This was work we started some months ago, but have since further developed - streamlining the process ensures a smoother experience for IT teams, reducing potential issues and downtime.
For both Helm chart deployments and installer UI deployments, we've also added Kubernetes nodeSelector and tolerations support to all components of ESS, allowing Kubernetes administrators to control where individual ESS components (such as Synapse, Element Web, Element Call) are deployed in the cluster.
New features empowering collaboration
With ESS 24.04, several new features have been introduced aimed at enhancing collaboration and productivity across your organisation. We’re always listening to our customers and evolving to meet the growing needs of public sector organisations.
Some of the latest features includes:
- Media management in the administrator console: Gain greater control and visibility over multimedia content with the ability to allow administrators to view uploaded media with the Admin Console, and store media in an AWS Simple Storage Service (a.k.a. an ‘S3 bucket’) or equivalent
- Server health monitoring: Easily monitor the health of deployments or individual components using ‘kubectl’, providing invaluable insights into the status of your ecosystem. Kubectl is a command-line tool which allows you to run commands against Kubernetes clusters.
Security enhancements
Security is always a top priority for us. With ESS 24.04 LTS we address several security issues, including CVE-2024-32000, demonstrating the importance of open source code and transparency, and ensuring a safer environment for all users. These enhancements ensure users can communicate with confidence, knowing their data is protected.
ESS 24.04 LTS adds support for configuring SELinux options on all components, allowing administrators more control over component’s permissions and access.
Streamlined upgrade process
Smooth upgrading processes, minimising disruption and maximising uptime are essential to our customers - especially when we’re talking about customers using our long-term support versions of our software. We have made upgrading to ESS 24.04 as easy as possible, and have a whole new set of upgrade tests to formally verify upgrades between LTS versions.
The release of ESS 24.04 LTS is significant in our journey. It illustrates how far we’ve come from our startup days to now being an established technology company with large scale government customers who require consistency and maturity from their preferred suppliers.
Whatever price plan suits your requirements, this version of ESS is designed to empower your communication and collaboration efforts, enabling you to unlock the full potential of real-time communication. Upgrade now and experience the future of secure communication!
