[ Beta 2 was released on November 14, 2003. Click here for more information. ]

October 29, 2003

We, at Aprelium Technologies, are proud to announce the availability of the first beta release of Abyss Web Server X1 version 1.2. This version includes many significant technical improvements and inaugurates the MacOS X and FreeBSD ports.

Less Memory Requirements

We have pushed the limits and made Abyss Web Server require less memory. This gain in resources is better seen on Windows where the software uses about 1MB with a typical configuration.

Improved Robustness

Despite its well-known and proven stability, we have redesigned the core of Abyss Web Server to make it more robust.

This new version is based on the APX architecture. APX, which stands for Anti-crash Protection eXtension, was created, here at Aprelium, to make the server crash-proof. If it happens now that the server causes a critical error and crashes (which is by the way very improbable), a report will be generated if possible and the server is automatically restarted. The downtime in such a case won't exceed 1 second.

To test this feature, browse http://yoursite/_killme_. For security reasons, this special URL is only reachable from your local computer or other computers on your LAN. It will be removed from the final release.

MacOS X and FreeBSD Versions

Many people kept asking us if there will be a Macintosh or a FreeBSD version of Abyss Web Server. So we decided to port our software to both these platforms.

The Macintosh version was designed to take into account all the specificities of MacOS X and to perfectly integrate with this system. Click on the image below to see a full-size screenshot of Abyss Web Server running on MacOS X.

Installation Instructions

This version is still not suitable for production environments. Please use it only for test purposes.

If you are upgrading from a previous version, please read the next sections.

• For Windows:
  Download Abyss Web Server X1 version 1.2 Beta 1 for Windows (140 KB) and execute it to start the installation.
   
• For Linux:
  Download Abyss Web Server X1 version 1.2 Beta 1 for Linux (113 KB) and execute the command tar xzfm abwsx1.tgz to uncompress the package.
   
• For MacOS X 10.2 (Jaguar) and higher:
  Download Abyss Web Server X1 version 1.2 Beta 1 for MacOS X (211 KB), double-click on the downloaded file to open the package, and read the Installation Instructions file.
   
• For FreeBSD 4.8 and higher:
  Download Abyss Web Server X1 version 1.2 Beta 1 for FreeBSD (113 KB) execute the command tar xzfm abwsx1.tgz to uncompress the package.
   

Upgrading the Windows version

To upgrade from the previous version, download Abyss Web Server 1.2 Beta 1 for Windows and run the installer. It will detect the presence of an older version and will ask you to uninstall it. Once the old version removed, the installer will setup the new version.

CAUTION: Be careful and read all the on-screen dialog boxes. In fact, the uninstaller will ask you if you want to remove Abyss Web Server's setup directory. You must answer NO to keep your web site and your configuration file.

Upgrading the Linux version

Download Abyss Web Server 1.2 Beta 1 for Linux, go to the directory where Abyss Web Server is installed and execute the following commands (which purpose is replacing the old application files with newer ones):

mv htdocs/index.html htdocs/index.html.bak
cd ..
tar xfzm abwsx1-linux.tgz
cd abyssws
mv htdocs/index.html.bak htdocs/index.html

If errors are reported when executing the first and the last command, ignore them. Obviously, they occurred because you have no index.html file in the htdocs directory.

Feedback

Please send all your feedback and bug reports to beta@aprelium.com.

To discuss about this beta release with other testers, please use the 1.2 Beta section in our Forum.