ESS 24.07: Enhanced deployment health monitoring and next generation authentication

We’re excited to bring you Element Server Suite (ESS) 24.07, this month’s release of our hosting software includes deployment health indicators, the experimental launch of our next generation authentication system (OIDC), and several other improvements to make your organisation’s Element experience smoother and more efficient.

So stay ahead of the curve with ESS, where timely security fixes are our top priority. We also backport these fixes to our LTS version, ensuring your systems remain robust and protected. Check out more details on a high severity issue fixed earlier in the year.

Deployment health insights: clarity at your fingertips

One of the standout features in ESS 24.07 is the new deployment health indicator, now visible directly in the configuration settings. This empowers administrators with real-time insights into the health of their workloads, ensuring smooth deployments and easier troubleshooting.

Real time monitoring made simple

Gone are the days of relying on kubectl to see what’s happening behind the scenes during deployment. With the new deployment health indicators, you can now monitor the status of your installations in real time. This feature provides a clear, visual representation of workload health, allowing you to identify issues swiftly and efficiently.

Progress on the next generation of user management and authentication

For those eager to stay on the cutting edge, we’re introducing the next standards-based generation of user management and authentication for Matrix as an experimental component in this release of ESS.

Matrix Authentication Service (MAS) is based on modern OpenID Connect (OIDC) and therefore enables us to rethink the way we handle authentication from the ground up. It puts user management and authentication on rock-solid foundations by following standardised flows and by improving security - ultimately it helps us to be more interoperable. MAS is a lightweight OIDC provider capable of operating in standalone mode (with a local user database), or by leveraging a customer’s own OIDC-based identity provider, or by sourcing users from an LDAP/AD system. When switched on, it allows customers to experiment with Element X (our next generation mobile app) while maintaining compatibility with our current Element apps. It follows security best practices and enables sophisticated authentication for organisations looking to leverage the latest Element features.

Embrace the future of authentication

Being experimental makes MAS perfect for customers who are ready to explore, and provide feedback on, the future of Element. There are a couple of caveats still, though:

• There is no migration of existing installations yet. The new stack can only be enabled on fresh installations.
• There is no standalone identity provider support yet. You can only use it with an upstream OIDC identity provider or LDAP.  Local user support is disabled in this release.
• There are temporary incompatibilities with certain ESS features. These are outlined in the Admin Console and the features in question are disabled when MAS is enabled.
• The Matrix protocol changes needed to support native OpenID Connect for authentication are still maturing - see areweoidcyet.com for details.

Standalone support is just around the corner. This is one of the main reasons for MAS still being marked as ‘experimental’. In one of the next ESS releases, the new stack will become the default user management and authentication system for new ESS installations. When the time comes, we will support existing deployments in their migration to ensure a smooth rollout and transition.

Transforming communication for everyone

ESS 24.07 is a testament to our commitment to continuous innovation and user-centric improvements. With experimental features like MAS and real-time deployment health indicators, we’re demonstrating our commitment to enhancing your user experience and empowering your organisation to be able to control its communication data.

We invite you to explore the new features in ESS 24.07 and share your feedback. If you’re not yet a customer, get in touch with our technical specialists to learn how ESS can transform your communication and productivity.