March 2024 Update

Short update ths month focusing on schedules.

The next IdP update to V5.1 is planned for this week, along with the usual supporting library updates. This is a fairly significant minor update, though not on par with V4.1, but should be a routine patch for most deployers. There are a few “changes automatically” behaviors, so please do review the Release Notes while testing. As is the norm, V5.0 will be unsupported after this release as V5.1 becomes the current stable version.

Another reminder that support for the V4 branch ends on Sept 1, 2024. We haven’t made a decision yet on shipping a patch as a courtesy to refresh libraries and such, but at this point that may not be likely, as V5 is a simple upgrade from V4 for the vast majority of people. Of course if a serious issue arises over the next few months, we’ll take that into consideration.

On the plugin front, we should be close to releasing the Duo update with our new Passwordless mode, most likely once the dust settles a bit from the IdP release. The alpha release of our native WebAuthn plugin was announced on our dev list and is also available for early testing. OIDC plugin updates will be coming this Spring as we finish up the next round of work there.

The EDS received a rare update last month to roll up some old bug fixes and add some cookie related features such as SameSite support for those operating it as a shared service. Most of these additions came from a community contributor, so we extend our appreciation for that.

Finally, a brief word about our roadmap. Conversations have continued with the Board to determine our financial outlook moving forward and we should be able to provide a more detailed summary of our plans for the next few years, both developmental and financial in the near future, so members should be on the lookout for that. An updated discussion of our plans for the SP will be forthcoming at that time.