unrealircd/doc/RELEASE-NOTES

UnrealIRCd 4.0.19-rc2 Release Notes
====================================

This is the second release candidate for UnrealIRCd 4.0.19. Please help
test this release and report all bugs to https://bugs.unrealircd.org/

Enhancements:
* New option to disable a module: blacklist-module "modulename";
  This will cause any 'loadmodule' lines for that module to be ignored.
  This is especially useful if you only want to disable a few modules
  that are (normally) automatically loaded by conf/modules.default.conf.
  https://www.unrealircd.org/docs/Blacklist-module_directive
* Next three new features have to do with SASL. More information on SASL
  in general can be found at https://www.unrealircd.org/docs/SASL
* A new require sasl { } block which allows you to force users on the
  specified hostmask to use SASL. Any unauthenticated users matching
  the specified hostmask are are rejected.
  See https://www.unrealircd.org/docs/Require_sasl_block
* New "soft kline" and "soft gline". These will not be applied to users
  that are authenticated to services using SASL.
  These are just GLINE/KLINE's but prefixed with a percent sign:
  Example: /GLINE %*@10.* 0 Only SASL allowed from here
* New "soft" ban actions for spamfilter, blacklist, antirandom, etc.
  Actions such as "soft-kline" and "soft-kill" will only be applied to
  unauthenticated users. Users who are authenticated to services (SASL)
  are exempt from the corresponding spamfilter/blacklist/antirandom/..
  See https://www.unrealircd.org/docs/Actions for the full action list.
* WARNING: If your network also contains UnrealIRCd servers below v4.0.19
  then it is not recommended to use global soft bans (such as soft gline
  or any spamfilter with soft-xx actions). There won't be havoc, but the
  bans won't be effective on parts of the network.
* The following extban modules are not new but are now enabled by default:
  extbans/textban, extbans/timedban and extbans/msgbypass.
  In case you don't like them, use blacklist-module as mentioned earlier.
  Just as a reminder, they provide the following functionality:
  * TextBan: +b ~T:block:*badword* to block sentences with 'badword'
  * Timed bans: ~t:duration:mask
    These are bans that are automatically removed by the server.
    The duration is in minutes and the mask can be any ban mask.
    Some examples:
    * A 5 minute ban on a host:
      +b ~t:5:*!*@host
    * A 5 minute quiet ban on a host (unable to speak):
      +b ~t:5:~q:*!*@host
    * An invite exception for 24 hours (1440 minutes):
      +I ~t:1440:*!*@host
    * A temporary exempt ban for a services account:
      +e ~t:1440:~a:Account
    * Allows someone to speak through +m for the next 24hrs:
      +e ~t:1440:~m:moderated:*!*@host
    * And any other crazy ideas you can come up with...
  * Ban exception ~m:type:mask to allow bypassing of message restrictions.
    Valid types are: 'external' (bypass +n), moderated (bypass +m/+M),
    'censor' (bypass +G), 'color' (bypass +S/+c) and 'notice' (bypass +T).
    Some examples:
    * Let LAN users bypass +m: +e ~m:moderated:*!*@192.168.*
    * Let ops in #otherchan bypass +m: +e ~m:moderated:~c:@#otherchan
    * Make GitHub commit bot bypass +n: +e ~m:external:*!*@ipmask
    * Allow a services account to use color: +e ~m:color:~a:ColorBot
  * Timedban support in +f [5t#b2]:10 (set 2 minute ban on text flood).
* AntiRandom: The module will now (by default) exempt WEBIRC gateways
  from antirandom checking because they frequently cause false positives.
  This new behavior can be disabled via:
  set { antirandom { except-webirc no; }; };
* Server linking attempts and errors are now also put in the log file.

Major issues fixed:
* Blacklist: Potential crash issue when concurrently checking DNSBL
  for the WEBIRC gateway and the spoofed host.
* Blacklist: In case of multiple blacklists the 2nd/3rd/.. blacklists
  were not always checked properly.

Minor issues fixed:
* Remote includes: ./Config didn't properly detect libcurl on Ubuntu 18
  (and possibly other Linux distributions as well)
* Timeouts during server linking attempts were not displayed.
* Delayjoin: Halfops did not see JOIN's when channel mode +D was set.
* IRCOps with minimal privileges lost their user modes on MODE change.
* IRCOps could not override channel mode +z (when not using SSL/TLS)
* Channel names sometimes truncated if using accents or special chars.

Removed:
* allow::options::sasl has been removed. Use the new and more flexible
  require sasl { } block instead.

Other changes:
* Windows users may be prompted to install the Visual C++ redistributable
  package for Visual Studio 2017. This is because we now build on VS 2017
  instead of VS 2012.
* We now use standard formatted messages for all K-Lines, G-Lines and
  any other bans that will cause the user to be disconnected.
  For technical details see the banned_client() function.
* The except throttle { } block now also overrides any limitations from
  set::max-unknown-connection-per-ip. Useful for WEBIRC/cgiirc gateways.
* Localhost connections are considered secure, so these can be used even
  if you have a plaintext-policy of 'deny' or 'warn'. (This was already
  the case for servers, but now also for users and opers)
* Allow slashes in vhost/chghost/sethost/.. (but not through DNS)

Module coders:
* Windows: Be aware that we now build with Visual Studio 2017. This means
  3rd party modules should be compiled with VS 2017 (or VS 2015) as well.

Future versions:
* We intend to change the default plaintext oper policy from 'warn' to 'deny'
  later this year. This will deny /OPER when used from a non-SSL connection.
  For security, IRC Operators should really use SSL/TLS!

==[ CHANGES IN OLDER RELEASES ]==
For changes in previous UnrealIRCd releases see doc/RELEASE-NOTES.old or
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/unrealircd/unrealircd/unreal40/doc/RELEASE-NOTES.old