CMS

12 November 2018--Last year (October time frame) Winlink moved all CMS server resources to the cloud and upgraded several critical infrastructure resources. One such resource was our low-level web services that applications like RMS Trimode, RMS Linux Gateway, BPQ32, Winlink Express, Pat, etc. use to report activity and get information to and from Winlink servers.

We believe most (if not all), application authors have made the necessary changes to switch to these new Winlink resources. While they did, we continued to run the legacy web services and support functions on our servers. However and unfortunately, not all users of the assorted programs have upgraded to the newer, changed versions. Now is the time! Really, NOW is the time.

Effective 1 January 2019 the older Winlink web services will be discontinued. Impacts to old program versions may range from none, to not showing up in channel listings, to simply just not working at all. Also, you are not likely to get support for older, now incompatible versions.

Be assured that current versions are in popular use and are well-tested. Please update your software today!

--The Winlink Development Team

On January 31, 2018 the Winlink Team and it's third-party partners rolled out updates to most every gateway and client program that will work on the system. Each has been updated to take advantage of the CMS's ability to use passwords with both UPPER and lower-case alpha characters. Previously, the system limited and stored passwords only using UPPERCASE alpha characters, and user software in many cases allowed input in lower case and then corrected it to uppercase for you before submitting it.

If you have had a password problem with a program or this web site, try this: enter your password using uppercase characters.

If this doesn't work for you, we suggest changing your password. You can do that using the link on your [My Account] page, or by changing it using Winlink Express client software. From now on with new software released on or near the 31st of January, you can use a password with mixed-case characters.

Still have a problem? Post on the support groups (see the main menu) details of your experience and someone will assist you directly by email.

UPDATE: February 12, 2018 -- We found several bugs in gateway programs and the WebMail app that caused users with mixed-case passwords not to authenticate with the CMS properly. These have all been fixed. If you run a gateway station, check that a user can successfully get a connection to a CMS when connected to your station. If not, the solution is in the latest version of RMS Trimode and RMS Packet. If you had an error when sending a message using WebMail, give it another try!

--The Winlink Development Team

On Sunday, July 16th from 15:00 UTC until 17:00 UTC (two hours) the Winlink development team will be testing a new central messaging server (CMS) system.

This test requires no action on your part, other than to use the system as you normally would during the period. However, if you use it during this period, potential impacts could include:

• Temporary system outage (unlikely)
• Messages from a winlink account to another winlink account that are not retrieved by the addressee before the end of the testing period will be lost. Mail to Internet (SMTP) accounts as well as mail from Internet accounts will not be impacted.
• Mail from Internet accounts may be duplicated (received a second time) after the testing period.
• Changes made to account settings (password, forwarding address, sysop details, etc.) during the test period will be lost.

With these impacts in mind, we hope you help us by using the system during this period.

Thanks.
Winlink Development Team