OpenX 2.8.1 Release Notes

OpenX 2.8.1 is the next generation release of the hugely popular OpenX Ad Server.

These release notes cover what's new, system requirements, download and installation instructions, known issues and frequently asked questions for OpenX 2.8.1.

Please read these notes before reporting any bugs.

Please tell us what you think on the OpenX forum.

What's New in OpenX 2.8.1 (since 2.8.0)

Release date: 2009-05-27
Bug Fixes

Zone probabilities are distributed amongst campaigns, independent of the number of banners. OX-3095
Fixed delivery of exclusive campaigns when banners have delivery limitations. OX-5450
Inventory lists now react to last visited parent. OX-4788
Displaying entity IDs in the UI is now optional. OX-5341
Fixed function declarations for various _adRenderX functions. OX-5355
For more information, please see https://developer.openx.org/jira/browse/OX/fixforversion/10843

OpenX Market Integration

Market campaign management tools, which allow you to set floors for multiple campaigns at the same time.
Ad quality tools, which allow you to review ads that have run on your sites and block advertiser campaigns.
Ability to re-associate your OpenX.org account to OpenX Market even if you had to switch instances of your OpenX Ad Server (i.e., due to a reinstall or server change).
For more information, please see http://www.openx.org/market.

Major security fix. Removed vulnerability that allowed anyone to log in as an admin user. See https://developer.openx.org/jira/browse/OX-5460

System Requirements

Before installing, please make sure your server meets the system requirements.

As always, backup your database prior to the upgrade!

Downloading and Installing

Downloading OpenX
You can always find the latest version of OpenX here.
Older and maintenance releases can be found here.
Installing OpenX 2.8.1
Installing OpenX 2.8.1 is a straightforward process. Follow these steps and use the links to refer to detailed information on each step where necessary.

Upgrading OpenX 2.8.1

Upgrading to OpenX 2.8.1 is a straightforward process. Follow these steps and use the links to refer to detailed information on each step where necessary.

Very Important: The upgrade process will upgrade your OpenX database and the database may no longer be compatible with your old code base. Therefore, you should create a backup of your database, just in case.

The upgrade wizard supports upgrading from the following previous releases of OpenX:

Product	Version(s)
OpenX 2.8	All versions
OpenX 2.6	All versions
OpenX 2.4	All versions
Openads 2.4	All versions
Openads 2.0 for MySQL (formerly phpAdsNew)	2.0.11-pr1
Openads 2.3 alpha (formerly Max Media Manager v0.3)	2.3.31-alpha-pr3 (v0.3.31-alpha-pr3)
Openads 2.3 beta	All versions
Max Media Manager v0.1	v0.1.29-rc
Openads 2.0 for PostgreSQL (formerly phpPgAds)	2.0.11-pr1

If you are not running one of these versions, you will need to upgrade your existing installation before you will be able to upgrade to OpenX 2.8.1. If you are upgrading from versions prior to 2.4, we strongly recommend you do so on a copy of your database.

Uninstalling OpenX 2.8.1

To remove OpenX from your server delete the installed files and database tables.

Known Issues

This list covers some of the known problems with OpenX 2.8.1. Please
read this before reporting any new bugs.

The upgrade process may time out with very large databases. See the FAQ for more information if you have a large database.
OpenX 2.8.1 requires PHP 5. If you are using PHP 4, you will need to update your web server to use PHP 5 before upgrading.
If you want to run OpenX with MySQL, please note that OpenX 2.8.1 requires MySQL 4.1 or higher. If you are using an older version of MySQL, you will need to update your database software before upgrading.
If you want to run OpenX with PostgreSQL, please note that OpenX 2.8.1 requires PostgreSQL 8.1 or higher. If you are using an older version of PostgreSQL, you will need to update your database software before upgrading.
Some of the PEAR libraries used are not compatible with database prefix names with double "_" characters (e.g. "ox__"). You should NOT install OpenX with a prefix of this format.
Some users have reported issues of being logged out when viewing statistics. This can be worked around by ensuring that the time zone is correctly set in PHP.
Cache folders may need to be cleared after plugin upgrades. Some issues have been seen with Smarty plugin templates not recognizing newly updated files.
Deletions of active banners are not immediately updated in the delivery cache.
Search functionality doesn't work on linked zones if the zone or website includes a backslash.
See here for the latest bug reports.

FAQ

What can I do to help?
We need developers and users to provide as much feedback as possible to help make OpenX even better. Please read these notes on how to report a bug before reporting any bugs. You can also give us your feedback through the OpenX forum.
Can I upgrade from phpAdsNew?
Yes. phpAdsNew was rebranded as Openads 2.0. You will need to ensure you first upgrade to the latest version of Openads 2.0 before using the OpenX 2.8.1 upgrade wizard.

However, please note that OpenX 2.8.1 requires PHP 5, and also a more modern version of MySQL or PostgreSQL than phpAdsNew did. Please see the Known Issues section above for more details.
Can I upgrade from Openads?
Yes. Openads was rebranded as OpenX. You will be able to upgrade from any version of Openads.

However, please note that OpenX 2.8.1 requires PHP 5, and also a more modern version of MySQL or PostgreSQL than Openads did. Please see the Known Issues section above for more details.
Does OpenX 2.8 support PostgreSQL?
Yes, OpenX 2.8.1 reintroduces support for PostgreSQL, although it is still experimental support. Please help us improve it by reporting bugs .
Where do I go for support?
Support is provided through the OpenX forum. In this way, we hope that the whole community benefits from the answers given.
Where's the source code?
You can access the OpenX source code using subversion. See our developer website.