Category: Simulator User Group

SL project updates week #48/1: server, e-mail verification, viewer

Posted on by Inara Pey

Malal's Autumn; Inara Pey, November 2017, on FlickrMalal’s Autumn – blog post

Server Deployments Week #48

  • There was no deployment on the Main (SLS) channel on Tuesday, November 28th, leaving servers running simulator version 17#17.11.11.510664.
  • On Wednesday, November 29th, the three RC channels should be updated with a new server maintenance package 17#17.11.17.510835, comprising:
    • IMs sent to an off-line resident will only be sent to verified email addresses.
    • Internal Changes to Outgoing Emails.

E-mail Verification

The RC server deployment sees a further step in the Lab’s plan to reduce the volume of e-mail traffic it generates by only sending e-mails to those addresses Second Life users have actually verified as being valid with Linden Lab (see Making Email From Second Life (More) Reliable).

With this deployment, and if you have not verified your preferred SL-related e-mail address with Linden Lab, you will no longer receive off-line IMs as e-mails sent from users on any regions using the RC channels. Further, once this change is deployed to the Main (SLS) channel, you will no longer receive off-line IMs as e-mails at all until such time as you have verified your SL-related e-mail address with the Lab.

So, if you haven’t already done so, ad wish to continue receiving off-line IMs as e-mails from wherever they originate in-world, make sure you have verified the e-mail address recorded in your viewer  with Linden Lab. Should you require detailed instructions on how to do this, please refer to my blog post Important: verifying your e-mail address with Second life.

SL Viewer

There have been no SL viewer updates thus far, leaving the current viewer pipelines as follows:

  • Current Release version 5.0.8.329115, dated September 22, promoted October 13 – formerly the “Moonshine” Maintenance RC.
  • Release channel cohorts:
    • Martini Maintenance RC viewer, version 5.0.9.329906 November 17th.
    • Alex Ivy 64-bit viewer, version 5.1.0.510354, November 2nd (still dated Sept 5th on the wiki page).
    • Voice RC viewer, version 5.0.8.328552, October 20 (still dated Sept 1 on the wiki page).
  • Project viewers:
  • Obsolete platform viewer version 3.7.28.300847, dated May 8th, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7.

 

SL project updates week #47: server, viewer, No Copy exploits update

Posted on by Inara Pey

Gallant Estates; Inara Pey, November 2017, on FlickrGallant Estates – blog post

Server Deployments

As always, please refer to the server deployment thread for the latest updates.

  • On Tuesday, November 21st the Main (SLS) channel was updated with server maintenance package #17.11.11.510664, previously deployed to the RC channels. This comprises internal fixes and a user-visible fix for BUG-139176, “Issue with OBJECT_REZZER_KEY reporting incorrectly after linking and delinking prims.”
  • There will be no deployment to the RC channels on Wednesday, November 22nd, also leaving them on  server maintenance package #17.11.11.510664.

SL Viewer

  • Current Release version 5.0.8.329115, dated September 22, promoted October 13 – formerly the “Moonshine” Maintenance RC.
  • Release channel cohorts (please see my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
    • Martini Maintenance RC viewer, version 5.0.9.329906 November 17.
    • Alex Ivy 64-bit viewer, version 5.1.0.510354, November 2 (still dated Sept 5 on the wiki page).
    • Voice RC viewer, version 5.0.8.328552, October 20 (still dated Sept 1 on the wiki page).
  • Project viewers:
  • Obsolete platform viewer version 3.7.28.300847, dated May 8, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7.

No Copy Exploits

One area of concern / upset for content creators has been the use of server exploits to generate copies of No-Copy items. While a long-standing problem, the issue has gained a lot more coverage of late due to the frequency with people have been using various exploits to illegal copy and then sell gacha items.

It is also a problem the Lab has been very aware of, and in my SL project update from week #43 (October 24th, 2017), a set of server-side updates were deployed grid wide in an attempt to address some of these problems – and work is continuing to address more of them.

However, the work does take time, and some creators are feeling frustration with the time being taken, and responses to things like Abuse Reports  (which can take time to investigate). On the technical front, and speaking at the Simulator User Group on Tuesday, November 21st, Simon Linden said:

I know you all want more info and details but I’m sorry that I just can’t get into what’s been done, what’s going on now or the future. I can say, however, that we really take it seriously and are actively working on the problem. Please do keep filing the reports with any info you have. I know support tickets don’t give much feedback on what’s going on, but these are taken seriously.

To which Oz Linden added:

Other considerations aside, it would be difficult to talk about details without giving hints about what we do and don’t know about what bad guys are up to. We know quite a lot, and are working hard on it, but there’s no reason to leak information we don’t need to.

So, to repeat Simon’s comments, if a creator notices that their items have been exploited, a JIRA Bug report an / or an Abuse Report should be raised.

SL project updates week #46: server viewer

Posted on by Inara Pey

Khodovarikha; Inara Pey, October 2017, on Flickr Khodovarikha – blog post

Server Deployments

  • There was not deployment on the Main (SLS) channel on Tuesday, November 14th, leaving servers running simulator version #17.10.06.509394.
  • On Wednesday, November 15th, the three RC channels should be updated with a new server maintenance package #17.11.11.510664, comprising internal fixes and a user-visible fix for BUG-139176, “Issue with OBJECT_REZZER_KEY reporting incorrectly after linking and delinking prims.”

SL Viewer

There have been no SL viewer updates since the end of week #45, leaving the current viewer pipelines as follows:

  • Current Release version 5.0.8.329115, dated September 22, promoted October 13 – formerly the “Moonshine” Maintenance RC.
  • Release channel cohorts (please see my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
    • Maintenance RC viewer, version 5.0.9.329795 November 8.
    • Alex Ivy 64-bit viewer, version 5.1.0.510354, November 2 (still dated Sept 5 on the wiki page).
    • Voice RC viewer, version 5.0.8.328552, October 20 (still dated Sept 1 on the wiki page).
  • Project viewers:
  • Obsolete platform viewer version 3.7.28.300847, dated May 8, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7. This viewer will remain available for as long as reasonable, but will not be updated with new features or bug fixes.

Animesh Mod Keys Proposal

One of the major subjects of discussion with Animesh is enabling attachments to be added to existing Animesh objects. In short, many pets and characters are created as No Modify objects, to help protect their capabilities. Thus, as No Mod objects, Animesh characters cannot be accessorized (the owner of an Animesh horse cannot add  / remove a saddle from an Animesh horse, for example). As Piscine Mackenzie explains in the forum, with highlights by Medhue Simoni, making Animesh pets  / characters Modify opens them to the risk of exploitation.

To this end, the Content Creation User Group has been a focus of discussion on overcoming this problem (see here and here). One proposal for handling the issue, which would also allow for broader capabilities, has been put forward via feature request BUG-139168. However, this could take some time to implement, delaying Animesh.

As an alternative, Vir Linden put forward the idea of a scripted mod key capability which would allow attachments to be linked and unlinked from an Animesh object, and more recently he has expanded on this idea with an outline proposal. This could provide a suitable foundation for allowing Animesh to move forward with a link / unlink capability, allowing further capabilities for a broader range of use cases to be added later.

Vir’s proposal will most likely be a core subject of discussion at the next Content Creation User Group meeting on Thursday, November 14th, 2017.

Breedable Issues

The HTTP updates earlier in 2017 resulted in issues with ABC horses being unable to give birth, which came down to the volume and timing of requests being made by the horses (see BUG-134275). The issue was eventually fixed by the horse maker making some changes in the number and timing of the requests sent by each horse, and by a server-side change in how the requests were authenticated.

However, issues have been noted on some regions breeding Stray Cats. It’s not clear if this  a similar issue, or something else. Those experiencing similar issues might want to raise a JIRA so the Lab can investigate and advise whether the creators of their breedable animals need to make an adjustment to their scripting.

 

SL project updates 45/1: server, viewer

Posted on by Inara Pey

Sol Existence; Inara Pey, October 2017, on FlickrSol Existence – blog post

Server Deployments for Week #45

As always, please refer to the server release thread for updates and the latest news.

On Tuesday, November 7th, the planned Main (SLS) channel deployment was cancelled when the restart system overloaded while trying to restart a few thousand regions around the same time. Some reported that RC regions were also being restarted during the deployment attempt, which may have contributed to the problem – although this has yet to be confirmed as being the case by the Lab.

Once the cause of the problem has been diagnosed, the deployment will be re-tried, although Oz Linden indicated this may not be before the usual Tuesday deployment in week #46.

There is no planned deployment to the RC channels on Wednesday, November 8th, 2017.

SL Viewer

The Wolfpack RC viewer which was functionally identical to the release viewer, but included additional back-end logging, was withdrawn from the Alternate Viewers page at the start of week #45. Otherwise, the viewer pipelines remain as for the end of week #44:

  • Current Release version 5.0.8.329115, dated September 22, promoted October 13 – formerly the “Moonshine” Maintenance RC.
  • Release channel cohorts (please see my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
    • Alex Ivy 64-bit viewer, version 5.1.0.510354, November 2 (still dated Sept 5 on the wiki page).
    • Maintenance RC viewer, version 5.0.9.329707 October 31.
    • Voice RC viewer, version 5.0.8.328552, October 20 (still dated Sept 1 on the wiki page).
  • Project viewers:
  • Obsolete platform viewer version 3.7.28.300847, dated May 8, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7.

New Premium Benefit

On Tuesday, November 7th, 2017, Linden Lab announced their new Premium benefit: a 90-day transaction history – read more here and here.

SL project updates 44/1: server, viewer

Posted on by Inara Pey

Pandora Resort; Inara Pey, October 2017, on FlickrPandora Resort – blog post

Server Deployments for Week #44

As always, please refer to the server release thread for updates and the latest news.

  • There was no deployment or restart for the Main (SLS) channel on Tuesday, October 31st
  • leaving it on package #17.10.06.509394.
  • On Wednesday, November 1st, the RC channels should be updated with a new server maintenance package, #17.10.25.510119, comprising internal fixes – notes still to be posted at the time of writing.

SL Viewer

The current Maintenance RC viewer updated to version 5.0.9.329707 on Monday, October 30th. All other viewers in the current pipelines remain as per the end of week #43:

  • Current Release version 5.0.8.329115, dated September 22, promoted October 13 – formerly the “Moonshine” Maintenance RC.
  • Release channel cohorts (please see my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
    • Wolfpack RC viewer,version 5.0.9.329478, dated October 20 – this viewer is functionally identical to the release viewer, but includes additional back-end logging “to help catch some squirrelly issues”
    • Alex Ivy 64-bit viewer, version 5.1.0.508209, dated September 5.
    • Voice RC viewer, version 5.0.8.329250, dated September 1.
  • Project viewers:
  • Obsolete platform viewer version 3.7.28.300847, dated May 8, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7.

 

SL project updates 43/1: server, viewer, exploits

Posted on by Inara Pey

La Vie; Inara Pey, October 2017, on FlickrLa Vie – blog post

Server Deployments for Week #43

As always, please refer to the server release thread for updates and the latest news.

  • There was no deployment or restart for the Main (SLS) channel on Tuesday, October 24th, leaving it on package #17.10.06.509394.
  • On Wednesday, October 25th, the RC channels should be updated with a sideways roll to server maintenance package, #17.10.06.509394, comprising internal fixes, cuerrently deployed to the Main (SLS) channel.

SL Viewer

On Tuesday, October 24th, the current Maintenance RC viewer updated to version 5.0.9.329650. All other viewers in the current pipelines remain as per the end of week #42:

  • Current Release version 5.0.8.329115, dated September 22, promoted October 13 – formerly the “Moonshine” Maintenance RC.
  • Release channel cohorts:
    • Wolfpack RC viewer,version 5.0.9.329478, dated October 20 – this viewer is functionally identical to the release viewer, but includes additional back-end logging “to help catch some squirrelly issues”.
    • Alex Ivy 64-bit viewer, version 5.1.0.508209, dated September 5.
    • Voice RC viewer, version 5.0.8.329552, dated September 1.
  • Project viewers:
  • Obsolete platform viewer version 3.7.28.300847, dated May 8, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7.

Exploits Update: No Copy Items

One area of concern / upset for content creators has been the use of server exploits to generate copies of No-Copy items. These have been frequently used to fold the Market with illicit copies of gacha items. The Lab has been aware of this, and some of the recent server-side updates (which are now grid-wide on Agni) have been to address these problems, as Simon Linden explained, relaying Mazidox Linden’s comments made at the Server Beta Group meeting on Thursday, 19th October:

Some of our recent internal fixes included changes to our back-end systems which will no longer allow certain exploits used for duplicating no-copy content, and make it easier for us identify when anyone uses similar techniques in the future. We haven’t solved all the problems outright, but we’re making good strides.

Simon went on to add, “There is more work to be done, and we want to do it.”

Obviously, the Lab is always interested in learning about potential exploits within the platform. Anyone identifying such an exploit – such as a means to deliberately crash a simulator – is asked to file a SEC (non public) JIRA detailing the exploit. There is a new region on Aditi (the beta grid), called Crash Me, which can be used to test  / demonstrate ways the simulator might be crashed.

If a creator notices that there are endless amounts of their items on marketplace, and they suspect their items have been exploited, and JIRA Bug report should be raised.