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Hello Community,

March wasn't an easy month, mainly due to various administrative tasks related to running the project. While necessary, they do take up a fair amount of resources. That said, it wasn't all bad. We also had plenty of time for development work, which I'll get into shortly. Let's take a closer look at everything step by step.

Version 6.0.0

At the beginning of March, we released the new major version 6.0.0 and prepared packages available across all repositories. What makes us especially happy is the strong positive response from the Bacularis community and the increased activity that came with it. The level of interest is high, and the number of downloads has exceeded our expectations.

A big thank you for all your feedback, suggestions, and bug reports. We truly appreciate it.

Updates

We are preparing to update several tools that Bacularis relies on. We'd like to release a version that includes support for these updates. At this stage, we're still deciding whether to roll them out sequentially or bundle everything into a single release.

One of the most important updates in this area is our work on upgrading the PRADO framework that powers Bacularis. Our initial tests with the new version have been very promising in terms of compatibility, stability, and performance.

PHP version

Along with these updates, it will be necessary to change the minimum PHP version required by Bacularis. This is an important topic, and we're approaching it carefully and thoughtfully.

Currently, the minimum supported version is PHP 7.4. If possible, we'd prefer to keep supporting it for a while longer. However, some newer tools no longer support it. On the other hand, some older server operating systems still don't provide newer PHP versions in their official repositories.

We won't rush this decision. We want to give administrators plenty of advance notice so they can prepare. If we decide to raise the minimum version, we'll communicate it well ahead of time and provide guidance on upgrading PHP on older systems. Users running newer systems with up-to-date PHP versions won't need to take any additional steps.

The next minimum PHP version will most likely be PHP 8.1.

What are we working on?

Since March, we've been working on a brand-new plugin for Bacularis. This time it's something both new and perhaps unexpected - a plugin for Amazon EC2 backups. We're currently at an advanced stage of development for this feature.

In addition to new functionality, we're expanding the Bacularis YouTube channel with new tutorials and video guides, supporting the community in discussion groups, and contributing in many other areas.

Next release

The next planned release will be Bacularis 6.1.0. Due to the amount of work required for the Amazon EC2 plugin, it won't be included in this version, but rather in a subsequent release.

Version 6.1.0 will include small new features, usability improvements in the dashboard and other areas, as well as ongoing bug fixes. We're planning to release it in the second half of April.

And that's it for this report. We hope you enjoyed it. Thank you for being part of the Bacularis community. We wish you a great April and see you in the next report!

On behalf of the Bacularis Team
Marcin Haba