The Leading K-12 Curriculum Learning Object Repository

SAFARI Montage® Version 8.10.x


Product Release Information


Product: SAFARI Montage
Version: 8.10
Release Date: 1/27/2023
Cumulative Release Notes: 8.10.x Release Notes
Customer Support: https://www.safarimontage.com/support

Introduction

This document contains the release notes for SAFARI Montage v8.10. Please note that this version has several server requirements that must be met before updating:

  • Servers updating from SAFARI Montage v8.5 and earlier utilizing OneRoster CSV imports must migrate the OneRoster import configuration from the previous SIS Import implementation to the new OneRoster implementation prior to updating. A guide for this migration is available here.
  • Servers updating from SAFARI Montage v8.2 and earlier require FreeBSD v10.1 or later OS drives.
  • Servers updating from SAFARI Montage v7.5 and earlier must ensure SSL is configured to support third party integrations and LTI Consumer Tools use HTTPS when configuring the LTI Launch URL.
  • Servers updating from SAFARI Montage v7.2 and earlier will require an intermediate update to SAFARI Montage v7.5.13.
  • Servers updating from SAFARI Montage v4.x and earlier will require a new OS drive and may require increased RAM or a new server.
Please contact SAFARI Montage Technical Support (1-800-782-7230) regarding SAFARI Montage v8.10 update options.


New in 8.10.x

LOR

  • Uploaded learning objects now feature Rich Text Formatting for descriptions, including the ability to format text and add hyperlinks

Playlists

  • PDFs displayed in playlist Teacher Presentation and Student View now display using a SAFARI Montage native PDF viewer instead of the browser's default PDF viewer to promote consistency and compatibility across devices
    • This feature is enabled by default and may be disabled using the Enable JavaScript PDF Viewer setting under Admin > Settings > System
  • Playlist items are now numbered in Classic, Teacher Prep, and Student Views

Academic Standards

  • The academic standard sets for Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, North Dakota, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Vermont state standards as well as the Next Generation Science Standards have been updated to include new standards and update existing standards documents

Video Streaming Library

  • We have added 685 new videos from premier educational publishers to our K-8 and 9-12 Super Core Content Packages, including titles from A&E, PBS, Dreamscape Media, Janson Media, PBS, PBS News Hour, National Geographic, TMW, and Wonderscape Education
  • We have also added over 2,000 new Free and Open Educational Resources in English Language Arts, STEM, Social Science, and more from publishers such as Simon Kids, BookTube Jr., Science Trek, Science Channel, eduPLEX, Alabama Public Television, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Library of Congress, TED-Ed, and more

Web Browser Support

Operating System Microsoft® Edge® Chrome® Apple® Safari® Firefox
Microsoft Windows® 10 (Desktop Mode) 109.0 or greater 109.0 or greater N/A 109.0 or greater
Apple Mac OS® X 11 or greater 109.0 or greater 109.0 or greater 16.0 or greater 109.0 or greater
iOS 16.0 N/A 109.0 or greater 16.0 or greater N/A
iPad OS 16.0 N/A 109.0 or greater 16.0 or greater N/A
Android N/A 109.0 or greater N/A N/A

Supported Content Packages

  • Video
    • Core K-8 Content
    • K-8 Expansion Content
    • K-8 Super Core Content
    • Core 9-12 Content
    • 9-12 Expansion Content
    • 9-12 Super Core Content
    • Core K-12 Content
    • K-12 Super Core Content
    • Additional Schlessinger Media® K-8
    • BestQuest Teaching Systems®
      • Algebra'scool®
      • Math'scool®
    • National Defense Education Program STEM
    • Arab American Stories
    • Almanac Newsreel
    • National Underground Railroad Freedom Center®
    • The Video Encyclopedia of the 20th Century®
    • Career Clips
    • NASA Digital Resources
    • National Park Service Natural & Historical Digital Resources®
    • National Science Foundation Digital Resources
    • NOAA Digital Resources
    • Global Oneness Project
    • Streamable Learning Recorded and Live Virtual Field Trips
  • Audio
    • IRC: History Pictures
    • Digital Resources from the Encyclopedia of Life
    • U.S. Air Force Band Music
    • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Photographs
  • Interactive
    • Visual Dictionary
    • VIVED 3D Science
  • eBooks
    • Project Gutenberg eBooks
  • Documents
    • World Factbook
    • Mr. Nussbaum Reading Comprehension Passages
    • National Archives Digital Resources
    • National Park Service Natural & Historical Digital Resources
    • The Concord Consortium Digital Resources
    • Encyclopedia of Life Digital Resources
  • Still Images
    • Schlessinger Media Image Library
    • World Factbook
    • Paintings by the Masters
    • NASA Digital Resources
    • IRC: History Pictures
    • National Atlas of The United States Maps
    • NOAA Digital Resources
    • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Photographs
    • Images From The National Gallery of Art
    • National Archives Digital Resources
    • Digital Resources From FEMA
    • Global Oneness Project
    • The Metropolitan Museum of Art Digital Resources
    • Victorian Illustrated Shakespeare Archive Digital Resources
  • Web Links
    • Themed Resources from the Library of Congress
    • Khan Academy Web Links
    • Digital Resources From the Encyclopedia of Life
    • Scholastic Channel Web Links
    • Reading Rockets Web Link
    • Numberphiles Web Links
    • MIT OpenCourseWare Web Links
    • Mathispower4u Web Links
    • Mini BIO Web Links
    • Minute Earth Web Links
    • Minute Physics Web Links
    • MyWhyU Web Links
    • Scientific American Video Web Links
    • TED-Ed Web Links
    • The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History Web Links
    • The New York Times Video Web Link
    • PhET Interactive Simulations
    • LinkedIn Learning Video Web Links
    • Crash Course Web Links
    • HooplaKidz Lab Web Links
    • Sport Instruction Web Links
    • Common Craft Web Links
    • Harry Kindergarten Music Web Links
    • Edutopia Web Links
    • Howard Hughes Medical Institute BioInteractive Web Links
    • The Citizen Genius Project Web Links
    • SpokenVerse Web Links
    • SciShow Web Links
    • Driver Education Web Links
    • Crash Course Kids Web Links
    • Civil War Trust Web Links
    • National Museum of the American Indian Web Links
    • Smrt English Web Links
    • TICE Art 1010 Web Links
    • Flocabulary Web Links
    • KidsHealth Web Links
    • SciShow Kids Web Links
    • All-Star Orchestra Web Links
    • CK–12 Foundation Web Links
    • Bozeman Science Video Links
    • Art with Mati & Dada Video Links
    • Storyline Online Video Links
    • ConnectEd Video Links
    • National Geographic Kids Video Links
    • World Language Instruction Video Links
    • Lit2Go Web Links
    • Oyez Supreme Court Web Links
    • National Endowment for the Humanities Lesson Plan Links
    • Science Max Video Links
    • Simple History Video Links
    • Fresberg Cartoon Video Links
    • Osmosis Video Links
    • Basho & Friends Video Links
    • Today in Georgia History Web Links
    • National Geographic Video Links
    • Science and Star Wars Video Links
    • McGraw-Hill PreK-12 Video Links
    • Cambridge English Video Links
    • Shmoop Video Links
    • GoNoodle Video Links
    • PhysEd Games Video Links
    • Rumpus! Video Links
    • California Academy of Sciences Video Links
    • KQED Video Links
    • Amoeba Sisters Web Links
    • WellCast Web Links
    • Great Chicago Stories Web Links
    • Florida Humanities Council Video Links
    • Anne Frank House Video Links
    • ClassDojo Video Links
    • Common Sense Education Video Links
    • Computer History Video Links
    • ESPN Sport Science Video Links
    • Esports Video Links
    • Georgia Public Broadcasting Video Links
    • HISTORY Video Links
    • MIT+K12 Video Links
    • Music Education Video Links
    • National Constitution Center Video Links
    • National Science Foundation Digital Resources
    • NowThis News Video Links
    • Pulitzer Center Lesson Plan Links
    • RocketKids Video Links
    • Sesame Street Web Links
    • Writing Prompts Content Package
    • SparkFun Electronics Video Links
    • Texas Historical Commission Video Links
    • United States Golf Association Video Links
    • World101 Digital Resources
    • Civics 101 Podcasts
    • Science Friday Podcasts
    • The Concord Consortium Digital Resources
    • Digital Resources Curated by SAFARI Montage
    • COVID-19 Resources


Microsoft® Windows®

Operating System

  • Windows 10

Web Browsers

  • Microsoft® Edge® 109.0 or greater
  • Firefox® 109.0 or greater
  • Google Chrome 109.0 or greater
Apple® Mac OS®

Operating System

  • Mac OS X v13.0 Ventura
  • Mac OS X v12.0 Monterey
  • Mac OS X v11.0 Big Sur

Web Browsers

  • Microsoft® Edge® 109.0 or greater
  • Safari® 16.0 or greater
  • Firefox® 109.0 or greater
  • Google Chrome 109.0 or greater

Network Requirements
  • Minimum 100Mbps Full Duplex Wired Ethernet

SAFARI Montage Applications

  • SAFARI Montage Chrome Browser Extension
  • SAFARI Montage iOS App
    • The SAFARI Montage server (including any ULB server used for iPad Broadcasting) must be configured with a commercial SSL certificate

Third-Party Applications

Additional software maybe required to create or view certain LOR content.

  • VideoLAN (VLC) Media Player
  • Software clients for the associated file types
    • SMART Notebook® software / SMART Notebook Interactive Viewer software - .NOTEBOOK / .NBK
    • Promethean® ActivInspire® / ActiveStudio® / Flipchart Viewer - .FLIPCHART / .FLP / .AS3A
    • Hitachi® StarBoard® - .YAR
    • eInstruction® Workspace - .GWB
    • Egan® TeamBoard® - .TMB
    • Mayer-Johnson® Boardmaker® - .BM2
    • Clear Touch Interactive® EasiNote® - .ENB
    • Microsoft Office / Office Vewiers - .DOC/.DOCX, .XLS/.XLSX, .PPT/.PPTX
    • OpenOffice.org® - .SDW/.ODT, .SDC/.ODS, .SDD/.ODP, .ODG; .ODF, .SDP
    • Apple iWork® - .PAGES, .NUMBERS, .KEY
    • Adobe Acrobat Reader - .PDF
    • eBook Reader - .MOBI, .LIT, .EPUB
  • Interactive Whiteboard Integration - supported software versions
    • SMART Notebook Software / Notebook Interactive Viewer - v 9.5 or greater
    • Promethean ActivInspire (v 1.5 or greater) / ActiveStudio (v 2.5 or greater) / Flipchart Viewer
    • StarBoard (v 8.11 or greater) / StarBoard LE - Viewer Only (v 3.0 or greater) / StarBoard for OS X (v 9.2 or greater)
    • eInstruction Workspace for Windows (v 8.90 or greater) / eInstruction Workspace for OS X (v 5.10 or greater)
    • Egan TeamBoard Draw v3 or greater
    • Mayer-Johnson Boardmaker (v6 or greater) / Boardmaker Studio (v14 or greater)
    • Clear Touch Interactive EasiNote v 3.1 or greater
  • VivEd 3D Science
    • Requires:
      • Graphics card support for Web GL 2.0 (OpenGL ES 3.0)
      • One of the following web browser types:
    • Operating System Microsoft® Edge® Chrome® Apple® Safari® Firefox
      Microsoft Windows® 10 109.0 or greater 109.0 or greater N/A 109.0 or greater
      Apple Mac OS® X 11.0 or greater 109.0 or greater 109.0 or greater 16.0 or greater 109.0 or greater
      Chrome OS N/A 109.0 or greater N/A N/A
      iOS 16.0 N/A 109.0 or greater 16.0 or greater N/A
      iPad OS 16.0 N/A 109.0 or greater 16.0 or greater N/A
      Android N/A 109.0 or greater N/A N/A

Special Considerations for your SAFARI Montage Environment
  • Interoperability Support
    • LTI integrations require that SSL be configured and LTI Consumer Tools must use HTTPS when configuring the LTI Launch URL in version 8.x or later
  • SAFARI Montage Endpoints
    • SAFARI Montage Endpoints must be configured to use the host name of the SAFARI Montage server in version 8.x or later. Using an IP address in 8.x or later will result in a security error displaying on the Endpoint.
  • Lecture Capture and SupeTube
    • SupeTube and Lecture Capture recordings do not support ABR conversion. The SAFARI Montage Auto-Converter must be configured to enable "Convert to H.264 MP4s:" if the "Adaptive Bitrate Streaming (ABR)" auto-conversion option is enabled.
  • Classroom Media Contollers (CMCs)/KIOSKs
    • CMCs and KIOSKs do not support playback of ABR video and require that the SAFARI Montage Auto-Converter be configured to enable "Convert to H.264 MP4s:" if the "Adaptive Bitrate Streaming (ABR)" auto-conversion option is enabled and requires SuperSet 37 or earlier content drives for playback of packaged content

Instructions For Updating SAFARI Montage to v8.10.x


Please read these instructions in their entirety before you begin:

  • These instructions and all related documents are available online at http://www.safarimontage.com/support
  • It is important that you review the SAFARI Montage 8.10.x Release Notes available online, as these may include Known Issues that you should understand before running the upgrade
  • Review the SAFARI Montage 8.10.x System Requirements, which include important information that will ensure your environment meets all requirements
  • Allow for time to back up your system in your update planning
  • No one should use the SAFARI Montage System during the update process, so please perform this update during off-hours
  • If monitoring the update from the console, be aware that the system may appear to be inactive at certain times during the upgrade. This does not mean that the upgrade has stopped.
  • Review any questions with Technical Support in advance. Please note that SAFARI Montage Technical Support is available Monday - Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time and they may be contacted by telephone at 800-782-7230 or online via http://www.safarimontage.com/support

Requirements

  • An email from SAFARI Montage containing a link to download the update ISO
  • FreeBSD v10.1 or later OS drives

Please note the following version-specific requirements before starting the update process:

  • Servers updating from SAFARI Montage v8.5 and earlier utilizing OneRoster CSV imports must migrate the OneRoster import configuration from the previous SIS Import implementation to the new OneRoster implementation prior to updating. A guide for this migration is available here.
  • Servers updating from SAFARI Montage v8.2 and earlier require FreeBSD v10.1 or later OS drives.
  • Servers updating from SAFARI Montage v7.5 and earlier must ensure SSL is configured to support third party integrations and LTI Consumer Tools use HTTPS when configuring the LTI Launch URL.
  • Servers updating from SAFARI Montage v7.2 and earlier will require an intermediate update to SAFARI Montage v7.5.13.
  • Servers updating from SAFARI Montage v4.x and earlier will require a new OS drive and may require increased RAM or a new server.
WARNING: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO APPLY THIS UPDATE IF YOUR SYSTEM DOES NOT MEET THE ABOVE REQUIREMENTS. DO NOT INTERRUPT THE UPDATE IN ANY WAY OR POWER OFF THE SERVER AT ANY TIME DURING THE UPDATE PROCESS OR DATABASE OPTIMIZATION. DOING SO WILL RENDER YOUR SERVER INOPERABLE.

Download and Upgrade Instructions:

  1. Back up your SAFARI Montage system via the Administration tools:
    1. Navigate to Admin > Data Recovery > Backup
    2. Perform a full backup:
      • Set Type to Data & User Content and select to either keep or overwrite the previous backup
  2. Download upgrade media (ISO) using the link provided in the email from SAFARI Montage
  3. Upload the ISO file to the SAFARI Montage system via the Administration tools:
    1. Navigate to Admin > Tools > Software Update History
    2. Click on the Upload an ISO image of the update and install link
    3. Browse to the location of the ISO file downloaded in Step 2 and click on Open

The ISO will begin uploading to the server. Once the upload is complete, the upgrade will begin and will take approximately one to two hours, after which the server will reboot.


If you are running WAN Manager with Expansion Server(s):
  1. The Expansion Controller must be upgraded first. See Upgrade Instructions above.
  2. Once the Expansion Controller has been upgraded, it will automatically push the upgrade to all of the Expansion Servers. The progress of the upgrade can be viewed by navigating to Admin > Expansion Server > Expansion Servers.
If you are running WAN Manager with Remote School Server(s):
  1. The WAN Manager Parent server must be upgraded first. See Upgrade Instructions above.
  2. Once the upgrade is completed on the WAN Manager Parent server, you will be able to automatically 'push' the upgrade to the Remote School Servers, thereby eliminating the need to upgrade them separately on-site
    1. Navigate to Admin > WAN Manager > Remote School Servers
    2. Either check 'Remote update all servers', which will update five servers at a time until they have all been upgraded, or select individual servers to be upgraded by checking the box next to the server name.

Total time to upgrade all expansion and/or remote school servers will depend upon the total number of servers and available bandwidth. The upgrade will be downloaded to each remote server, where the upgrade process will run automatically and can take several hours to complete. If 'Remote update all servers' is selected, servers will be processed in groups of five, and upgrades will run concurrently on each group of remote servers.

~ THIS COMPLETES THE SERVER UPDATE PROCESS. PLEASE TEST FROM A CLIENT BROWSER. ~