The long-awaited X-Road 7 “Unicorn” is almost here. Building the new version started in October 2020, so it has been rather a marathon than a sprint. The first public beta version of the Security Server was released in December 2020, and it provided the first view on the new major version. The first public release introduced a new visual style, but it didn't offer any functional changes yet. Since the initial release, many things have changed under the hood, and the new visual style has been polished. Now it's an excellent moment to look into the mouth of the Unicorn and have a comprehensive overview of X-Road 7.
X-Road 6 was initially released in 2015, and it has experienced several major changes during its lifecycle, but the core principles have remained the same. Over the years, X-Road 6 has proven to be secure, reliable, and scalable. Therefore, it was decided to use it as a basis for the next major version. Thanks to the solid foundation, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. The aim is to keep all the good in X-Road 6 and get rid of the bad and the ugly. In other words, X-Road 7 will have all the strengths of X-Road 6 with numerous improvements in various areas. All in all, X-Road 7 is an evolutionary version of X-Road 6.
What happens to X-Road 6 when X-Road 7 is released?
X-Road’s current lifecycle policy is to support the latest version plus two previous versions. The supported versions are defined on MAJOR.MINOR level so the release of patch versions (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH) does not effect on the support. The supported versions receive patches in case of bugs and vulnerabilities. Also, version upgrades are supported and tested between the supported versions. However, with X-Road 7.0.0, there's one exception – upgrade to version 7.0.0 is supported from version 6.26.0 only. If you're running an older version of X-Road, upgrade to version 6.26.0 is required first before upgrading to version 7.0.0.
Version 6.26.0 is the last planned release for X-Road 6. According to X-Road’s lifecycle policy, it will be supported until version 7.2.0 is released. Currently, the planned release date for version 7.2.0 is November 2022. However, version 6.26.0 or any other older version doesn't stop working when a new X-Road version is released. Instead, older versions continue to work without any immediate effects.
Nevertheless, it’s strongly recommended to use a supported version of X-Road to be safe if bugs or security vulnerabilities are detected. In addition, X-Road member organisations should follow X-Road ecosystem-specific guidelines and policies regarding supported versions set by the X-Road operator. For example, a common practice is that the operator first upgrades the Central Server to the new version, and the member organisations are allowed to upgrade their Security Servers only after that.
Is X-Road 7 backward compatible with X-Road 6?
The last major version upgrade from X-Road 5 to X-Road 6 required a lot of work from X-Road member organisations because the message protocol between information systems and the Security Server changed. It meant that upgrading the Security Server wasn't enough, but the information systems required changes too. The good news is that X-Road 7 is backward compatible on the interface level with X-Road 6 since there are no changes in the Message Protocol for SOAP and the Message Protocol for REST. Upgrading the Security Server software is enough, and no changes to the connected information systems are required. However, the Service Metadata Protocol for REST and the Security Server REST management API have some changes that might not be fully backward compatible depending on the client application.
However, some changes in the Security Server's configuration are not backward compatible, and manual actions may be required depending on the current configuration. Overall, the estimated effort for the activities is low, and the version upgrade from version 6 to version 7 is more like a version upgrade between two X-Road 6 minor versions, e.g., version upgrade from version 6.23.0 to version 6.24.0.
How is X-Road 7 developed?
X-Road 7 will be implemented iteratively using agile software development methods. All the changes will not be included in the first production version, but they will be introduced one by one over time in various X-Road 7 minor versions.
The development of X-Road 7 is divided into multiple high-level focus areas. Each focus area consists of several topics that will be turned into actual features. The high-level focus areas and their main topics are:
messaging patterns
message logs
onboarding process
architecture
operational insights
sustainability.
More information on the focus areas is available on the X-Road website.
What’s new in X-Road 7.0.0?
In version 7.0.0, the focus is on the Security Server, and there are only a few minor changes on the Central Server side. The Security Server will have a new visual style that implements the X-Road 7 visual style guide, while the Central Server still has the version 6 visual style. Here’s a summary of changes included in version 7.0.0:
New X-Road 7 look and feel for the Security Server UI.
Security improvements on the Security Server:
Encrypt backup files (opt-in)
Verify integrity of backup files on restore.
Improvements in Security Server message logging:
Encrypt message payload in message log database (opt-in)
Encrypt message log archives (opt-in)
Group message log archives by member or subsystem (opt-in)
Support for fully disabling message logging.
Change PIN code on the Security Server.
Return REST API type (OPENAPI3 / REST) and API endpoints in REST metaservice responses.
Run the Security Server on Java 11 by default.
Make Security Server more modular by enabling installation without a local Postgres server.
Version compatibility check for version upgrades - it is no longer possible to update from an unsupported version.
Official Docker support for the Security Server with the Security Server Sidecar images.
Other enhancements and bug fixes.
The development focus will shift to the Central Server in 2022 when it gets a new user interface and a management REST API. Also, the new Central Server will include several architectural changes, which will make X-Road more extensible and easier to operate.
What is the release schedule?
Version 7.0.0 will be released in Q4 / 2021. Before the final release version, there will be a public beta version available in October 2021. The beta version will include all the main features available in the final release, and it's targeted at anyone interested in testing the new version in advance. The official release notes that provide detailed information about all the changes included in the release will be published together with the beta. In addition, a separate migration guide that offers detailed information about any manual actions required in the upgrade process will be published.
This writing is the first part in a series of X-Road 7 related blog posts. More writings providing insights on X-Road 7 will be published on the NIIS blog during the following months. Stay tuned!