Cockpit 164

Closes cockpit-project#156

Author: martinpitt

_posts/2018-03-21-cockpit-164.md

@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+---
+title: Cockpit 164
+author: pitti
+date: 2018-03-21 13:00
+tags: cockpit linux
+slug: cockpit-164
+category: release
+summary: Cockpit with usability and accessibility improvements
+comments: 'true'
+---
+
+Cockpit is the [modern Linux admin interface](http://cockpit-project.org/). We release regularly.
+Here are the release notes from version 164.
+
+### Storage: Usability improvements
+
+We recently ran a usability study targeting the storage area. Based on the
+findings, we redesigned and adjusted the NFS, VDO, and RAID storage devices.
+
+Previously, Cockpit used checkbox "arming" and drop-down buttons to reveal
+available actions. Usability tests indicated these interface elements
+were too hard and unintuitive to discover. Cockpit now expresses these
+concepts in a more straightforward way.
+
+Available RAID and VDO actions are now directly shown next to the
+corresponding device:
+
+![Storage RAID action buttons](/images/storage-raid-action-buttons.png)
+
+NFS mounts are now clickable:
+
+![Storage NFS list](/images/storage-nfs-list.png)
+
+Clicking an NFS mount now shows a new details page with directly
+available actions:
+
+![Storage NFS list](/images/storage-nfs-details.png)
+
+### System: Show available package updates and missing registration
+
+The System overview page now shows pending enhancements, bug fixes, and
+security updates when they are available:
+
+![System available security updates](/images/system-security-updates.png)
+
+As unregistered RHEL systems cannot receive updates they now display a warning:
+
+![System unregistered](/images/system-unregistered.png)
+
+### System: Fix inconsistent tooltips
+
+Before this release, the System page had three different styles of tool tips.
+Thee have been unified to use the standard
+[Bootstrap tooltips](https://getbootstrap.com/docs/4.0/components/tooltips/)
+like other Cockpit pages. Relatedly, the performance profile used a static blue
+"i" for additional information. We removed the icon and attached the tooltip
+directly to the profile name.
+
+![System tuned profile](/images/system-tuned-profile.png)
+
+The navigation redesign in
+[Cockpit 156](https://martinpitt.github.io/cockpit-project.github.io/blog/cockpit-156.html)
+increased the width of host navigation items. As the navigation labels are no
+longer truncated, their corresponding tooltips have been removed.
+
+### Logs: Change severities
+
+On the Logs page, the severity filter now displays the officially defined
+[syslog(3) levels](https://linux.die.net/man/3/syslog) instead of the previous
+Cockpit-specific names:
+
+![Log severity levels](/images/logs-syslog-severity-levels.png)
+
+_Thanks to Kirill Glebov for this improvement!_
+
+### Machines: Add error notifications
+
+The Machines page now shows individual and dismissable error notifications for
+all virtual machines:
+
+![Machines error notifications](/images/machines-error-notifications.png)
+
+_Thanks to suomiy for this  improvement!_
+
+### Accessibility improvements
+
+This Cockpit release includes several accessibility fixes. Notably,
+[ARIA markers](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Accessibility/ARIA),
+role tags, tabindex fixes, and several other improvements should help with
+keyboard navigation and screen reader support.
+
+There's still more accessibility related work to do, but these changes are
+a step in the right direction.
+
+### Reloading the page in the browser now reloads Cockpit package manifests
+
+Cockpit now refreshes the navigation menu on a browser reload. Installing,
+removing, or updating Cockpit-related packages previously required logging
+out and back in to see the changes.
+
+### Try it out
+
+Cockpit 164 is available now:
+
+ * [For your Linux system](http://cockpit-project.org/running.html)
+ * [Source Tarball](https://github.com/cockpit-project/cockpit/releases/tag/164)
+ * [Fedora 27](https://bodhi.fedoraproject.org/updates/cockpit-164-1.fc27)
+ * [Fedora 28](https://bodhi.fedoraproject.org/updates/cockpit-164-1.fc28)
+
+*[RHEL]: Red Hat Enterprise Linux
+*[NFS]: Network File System
+*[VDO]: Virtual Data Optimizer
+*[RAID]: Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks
+*[ARIA]: Accessible Rich Internet Applications
+