Good day to all,

This update is going forward with a larger batch of firmware update
improvements that are important for 18.7 and beyond, addressing the
former lack of error handling, check for update speed and API check
capabilities for major upgrades.

Intrusion detection syslog behaviour changes slightly after a number
of good discussions, meaning that now syslog is always on, but fast
log alert info is steered by the former syslog option making the
option the best of both worlds and enabling future syslog export,
which is now also available in the development version.

Last but not least we want to mention the work done on allowing detached
UI development which is now included in the release.  For more information
check out the UI development tools[1] that have been released alongside.

There is more preparation underway for 18.7, but that info will have to
wait as it eludes the context of this announcement.  Feel free to
frequently check the milestone progress in the forums[2] in the meantime.

Here is the full list of changes:

o firewall: advanced option to reset states on IPv4 change
o interfaces: rename $wancfg to $lancfg in tracking code
o interfaces: further simplifications for dhclient usage
o reporting: add logging to database repair stage
o reporting: Insight click event issue
o system: use uppercase gateway names for compatibility
o system: gateway alert script always returns true
o system: align static ACL check with MVC variant
o system: pluggable backup support
o system: configurable user landing pages
o system: safety belt for password policy check
o wizard: add missing element IDs to fix scripting issues
o firmware: parse and return to be removed packages for update summary
o firmware: release type change properly updates the repository and summary
o firmware: extended settings can now be registered via XML files
o firmware: return repository errors in greater detail (4 new error types)
o firmware: make returned backend JSON a bit more human-readable
o firmware: fix leak of base/kernel update info on package manager updates
o firmware: refactor package manager update summary parsing for speed
o firmware: add and use API for major upgrades
o dhcp: fix unwanted name-server write in v6
o dhcp: ldap-server does not exist in v6
o intrusion detection: update classification.config
o intrusion detection: optional fast log to syslog
o ipsec: set ignore_acquire_ts to allow ASA compatibility
o ipsec: add ike_name to syslog output
o openvpn: improve validation between TCP, TCP4, TCP6, UDP, UDP4 and UDP6
o console: manual pages for opnsense-importer and opnsense-installer
o console: let opnsense-installer set up an early runtime environment
o console: show firmware reboot hint prior to update when applicable
o console: longer timeout for opnsense-importer invoke on first boot
o console: proper return values for opnsense-importer in edge cases
o mvc: support multiple directories for detached UI development
o mvc: add AddressFamily option to NetworkField
o mvc: non-functional menu node name tweaks
o rc: action changes for "||" avoidance
o ui: fix tokenizer selection when values and labels do not match
o ui: serve 404 when page was not found
o ui: add and use SVG logo support
o ui: upgrade nvd3 to version 1.8.6
o plugins: os-acme-client 1.15[3] (contributed by Frank Wall and Omar Khalil)
o plugins: os-freeradius 1.7.0 (contributed by Michael Muenz)
o plugins: os-haproxy 2.7[4] (contributed by Frank Wall)
o plugins: os-postfix 1.3 (contributed by Michael Muenz)
o plugins: os-siproxd 1.3 (contributed by Michael Muenz)
o plugins: os-telegraf 1.4.0 (contributed by Michael Muenz)
o plugins: os-theme-ciaca 1.1 (contributed by Team Rebellion)
o plugins: os-theme-rebellion 1.1 (contributed by Team Rebellion)
o plugins: os-theme-tukan 1.0 (contributed by Team Rebellion)
o ports: ca_root_nss 3.37.1
o ports: curl 7.60.0[5]
o ports: pcre 8.42[6]
o ports: php 7.1.18[7]
o ports: pkg upstream fix for segfault on upgrade[8]
o ports: unbound 1.7.1[9]

Stay safe,
Your OPNsense team

--
[1] https://github.com/opnsense/ui_devtools
[2] https://forum.opnsense.org/index.php?topic=8597.0
[3] https://github.com/opnsense/plugins/pull/682
[4] https://github.com/opnsense/plugins/pull/579
[5] https://curl.haxx.se/changes.html
[6] https://www.pcre.org/original/changelog.txt
[7] http://php.net/ChangeLog-7.php#7.1.18
[8] https://github.com/freebsd/pkg/issues/1663
[9] http://www.unbound.net/download.html