SAFARI Montage® Version 8.6.x
Product Release Information
Product: | SAFARI Montage |
Version: | 8.6 |
Release Date: | 5/14/2021 |
Cumulative Release Notes: | 8.6.x Release Notes |
Customer Support: | https://www.safarimontage.com/support |
Introduction
This document contains the release notes for SAFARI Montage v8.6. Please note that this version has several server requirements that must be met before updating:
- Servers updating to SAFARI Montage v8.5.14 and later that utilize OneRoster CSV imports will need to migrate their OneRoster import configuration from the previous SIS Import implementation to the new OneRoster implementation as soon as possible. SIS Import is no longer supported, and will be removed in the Summer 2021 release. A guide for this migration is available here.
- Servers updating to SAFARI Montage v8.3.x and later require FreeBSD v10.1 or later OS drives
- Servers updating to SAFARI Montage v8.x and later require that SSL be configured to support third party integrations and LTI Consumer Tools must use HTTPS when configuring the LTI Launch URL
- Servers updating from SAFARI Montage v7.2.x or earlier will require an intermediate update to SAFARI Montage v7.5.13
- Servers updating from SAFARI Montage v4.x or earlier will require a new OS drive and may require increased RAM or a new server
New in 8.6.x
Security
- Password requirements for local and system user accounts have been updated to enforce the use of complex passwords
- Password requirements:
- Minimum of 8 characters
- Must include one letter, one number, and one symbol
- Password cannot contain the user's username
- A list of the most common passwords subject to brute force compromise are also excluded
- Examples include: "m!ll!0n" "m@st3r"
- Password changes/creation produce an error unless the password meets these requirements and displays a reminder of the password complexity requirements
- If an existing local or system account password does not meet the complexity requirements, the password must be changed before changes to a local account or the Admin > Settings > System page will be accepted
Get it?
- Teacher as Learner Mode introduces the ability for teachers to participate in Get it? formative assessments as a student while otherwise maintaining their ability to view content and interact with the system as a teacher
- Teachers toggle between Teacher Mode and Teacher as Learner Mode using a dropdown menu on the Dashboard
- While in Teacher as Learner Mode, teachers experience the following changes:
- Create Get it? and Get it? Results dashboard icons are removed
- Join a Get it? and Get it? Review Playlists dashboard icons are added
- Get it? assessments no longer display the Preview or Launch options
- Returning to Teacher Mode displays Get it? options as normal
LOR Lesson Presenter
- Teachers may now add any playlist to the course scope and sequence in the My Other Playlists section
- My Other Playlists are only visible to the teacher that added them
- The Course Overview has been revised to more clearly distinguish tiers in the scope and sequence
Administration
- The Users page now displays additional information about user account type
- A Type column has been added, which displays one of four values:
- OneRoster: Account is provisioned via OneRoster and is not authenticated with LDAP
- OneRoster + LDAP: Account is provisioned via OneRoster and is authenticating with LDAP
- LDAP: Account created using the LDAP import method or upon interactive login
- Local: Account created manually on the SAFARI Montage server
- The Active column has been changed to display the status of LDAP, OneRoster, and OneRoster + LDAP accounts
- If the account is active, the column will read TRUE
- Local accounts display a green checkbox and retain the option to enable or disable the account by clicking the checkbox in this column
Help and Tutorials
- The LOR User Guide and LOR Curriculum Administrator User Guide have been updated to incorporate the latest features
Academic Standards Enhancements
- Over 150 Academic Benchmarks standards have been added or updated
- Support for IMS Global CASE standards has been added for the following standards sets:
- Georgia Standards of Excellence for Social Studies
- Illinois Learning Standards for Mathematics
Web Browser Support
- Password requirements:
- Minimum of 8 characters
- Must include one letter, one number, and one symbol
- Password cannot contain the user's username
- A list of the most common passwords subject to brute force compromise are also excluded
- Examples include: "m!ll!0n" "m@st3r"
- Password changes/creation produce an error unless the password meets these requirements and displays a reminder of the password complexity requirements
- If an existing local or system account password does not meet the complexity requirements, the password must be changed before changes to a local account or the Admin > Settings > System page will be accepted
- Teachers toggle between Teacher Mode and Teacher as Learner Mode using a dropdown menu on the Dashboard
- While in Teacher as Learner Mode, teachers experience the following changes:
- Create Get it? and Get it? Results dashboard icons are removed
- Join a Get it? and Get it? Review Playlists dashboard icons are added
- Get it? assessments no longer display the Preview or Launch options
- Returning to Teacher Mode displays Get it? options as normal
- My Other Playlists are only visible to the teacher that added them
- A Type column has been added, which displays one of four values:
- OneRoster: Account is provisioned via OneRoster and is not authenticated with LDAP
- OneRoster + LDAP: Account is provisioned via OneRoster and is authenticating with LDAP
- LDAP: Account created using the LDAP import method or upon interactive login
- Local: Account created manually on the SAFARI Montage server
- The Active column has been changed to display the status of LDAP, OneRoster, and OneRoster + LDAP accounts
- If the account is active, the column will read TRUE
- Local accounts display a green checkbox and retain the option to enable or disable the account by clicking the checkbox in this column
- Georgia Standards of Excellence for Social Studies
- Illinois Learning Standards for Mathematics
Operating System | Microsoft® Edge® | Microsoft® Internet Explorer® | Chrome® | Apple® Safari® | Firefox™ |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Microsoft Windows® 10 (Desktop Mode) | 90.0 or greater | 11.0 | 90.0 or greater | N/A | 88.0 or greater |
Apple Mac OS® X 10.14 or greater | 90.0 or greater | N/A | 90.0 or greater | 14.0 or greater | 88.0 or greater |
iOS 14.0 | N/A | N/A | 90.0 or greater | 14.0 or greater | N/A |
iPad OS 14.0 | N/A | N/A | 90.0 or greater | 14.0 or greater | N/A |
Android 9 (Pie) | N/A | N/A | 90.0 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
SAFARI Montage Media Player
Microsoft® Windows®
Operating System
- Windows 10
Web Browsers
- Microsoft® Edge® 90.0 or greater
- Internet Explorer® 11.0 or greater
- Firefox® 88.0 or greater
- Google Chrome™ 90.0 or greater
Apple® Mac OS®
Operating System
- Mac OS X v11 Big Sur
- Mac OS X v10.15 Catalina
- Mac OS X v10.14 Mojave
Web Browsers
- Microsoft® Edge® 90.0 or greater
- Safari® 14.0 or greater
- Firefox® 88.0 or greater
- Google Chrome™ 90.0 or greater
Network Requirements
- Minimum 100Mbps Full Duplex Wired Ethernet
SAFARI Montage Applications
- SAFARI Montage Media Player
- Version 7.0.10 (Microsoft® Windows® 10)
- Required for:
- Selective Video Streaming (SVS) multicast streaming support in browser
- Playback of packaged content at bitrates greater than 300Kbps on content drives prior to SuperSet 32
- Requires:
- Browser support for NPAPI plugins:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 11
- VideoLAN (VLC) Media Player 32-Bit
- SAFARI Montage Chrome Browser Extension
- Version 1.0.8 available in the Chrome Web Store
- More information
- SAFARI Montage iOS App
- The SAFARI Montage server (including any ULB server used for iPad Broadcasting) must be configured with a commercial SSL certificate
- Lecture Capture Client
- Requires version 1.0.59 or greater
Third-Party Applications
Additional software maybe required to create or view certain LOR content.
- VideoLAN (VLC) Media Player
- The SAFARI Montage Media Player is compatible with the use of the VideoLAN VLC media player for live stream and Video on Demand (VOD) playback, along with the Launch in VLC feature for SVS streams
- Sun® Java®
- Java is available as an alternative method to upload update ISO files if HTML5 uploads are unavailable
- Version 8 or greater
- 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 90.0 or greater 90.0 or greater N/A 88.0 or greater Apple Mac OS® X 10.14 or greater 90.0 or greater 90.0 or greater 14.0 or greater 88.0 or greater Chrome OS N/A 90.0 or greater N/A N/A iOS 14.0 N/A 90.0 or greater 14.0 or greater N/A iPad OS 14.0 N/A 90.0 or greater 14.0 or greater N/A Android 9 (Pie) N/A 90.0 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 v8.6.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 8.6.x Release Notes available online, as these may include Known Issues that you should understand before running the upgrade
- Review the SAFARI Montage 8.6.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
- For customers utilizing the SAFARI Montage Media Player, we recommend you update all client computers to the current version of the SAFARI Montage Media Player prior to running the server update. Not doing so will result in all users receiving an alert upon logging in to SAFARI Montage instructing them to update the player. Administrators can suppress this notification in the following location: Admin > Settings > System > Alert to Install SAFARI Montage Media Player. The latest version of the player is available for download at http://www.safarimontage.com/support
- 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 v7.2 or earlier will require an intermediate update to SAFARI Montage v7.5.13
- Servers updating from SAFARI Montage v4.x or 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:
- Back up your SAFARI Montage system via the Administration tools:
- Navigate to Admin > Data Recovery > Backup
- Perform a full backup:
- Set Type to Data & User Content and select to either keep or overwrite the previous backup
- Download upgrade media (ISO) using the link provided in the email from SAFARI Montage
- Upload the ISO file to the SAFARI Montage system via the Administration tools:
- Navigate to Admin > Tools > Software Update History
- Click on the Upload an ISO image of the update and install link
- 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):
- The Expansion Controller must be upgraded first. See Upgrade Instructions above.
- 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):
- The WAN Manager Parent server must be upgraded first. See Upgrade Instructions above.
- 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
- Navigate to Admin > WAN Manager > Remote School Servers
- 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. ~
Deploying the SAFARI Montage Media Player:
Go to http://www.safarimontage.com/support/ to download the latest version of the SAFARI Montage Media Player and for instructions on how to deploy the player to your client environment