ISO version and MD5 checksum

[Tunes]

When the ISO dated March 6 2012 was first posted, the MD5 checksum was 8fb2d7a35e943e47928ecbf1b9ccf1b2

That checksum was valid for that release.

Now, the ISO with the same March 6 2012 date shows as below:

The latest version of VortexBox is 2.0 (updated 03/06/2012)

Download vortexbox-2.0.iso

md5sum: 59e00deaffd2c22dff15dc2d68d2f5d0

From the above, it seems that the ISO has changed, and that it was updated at some date after03/06/2012.

Please correct the date and/or explain how the same version can have two different MD5 checksums.

[divreg]

VB2.0 has been updated a lot. I'm a bit puzzled myself that it's not being labeled VB 2.0.1, 2.0.2, 2.0.3, etc and older versions aren't kept on the site. You know, version control.

[Tunes]

VB2.0 has been updated a lot. I'm a bit puzzled myself that it's not being labeled VB 2.0.1, 2.0.2, 2.0.3, etc and older versions aren't kept on the site. You know, version control.

Expensive failures result because of poor software version control and configuration management.

Perhaps whoever posted the current, and incorrectly labeled, March 6, 2012 version will correct the date (not as meaningful as the 2.0.1, 2.0.2, 2.0.3 scheme divreg suggests) but useful nevertheless. If the version date is to remain meaningless, it should probably be removed from the download page.

Possibly problems folks experience with VB upgrading is associated with the lack of transparency, lack of version control, and lack of a comprehensive change log.

-Tunes

[Ron Olsen]

I asked Andrew about this a while ago, and his rationale for not providing different version numbers for different VB 2.0 ISOs is that, after a VB 2.0 ISO install, a software upgrade, and reboot, the VB will be running the same software, regardless of the contents of the VB 2.0 ISO that was used for the install. The advantage of updating the VB 2.0 ISO is that there will be fewer packages to upgrade to get an up-to-date system.

I encouraged Andrew to at least include the date the ISO was generated on the Download page. He did that, but unfortunately it appears that the 03/06/2012 ISO was updated, the md5sum changed, but the date was not updated to reflect the new date of ISO creation. I hope Andrew will correct this oversight.

Personally, I agree with the sentiments expressed here: have each updated ISO have a new version number (2.0, 2.0.1, 2.0.2, etc.), date, and md5sum. Keep the old ISOs around and available to users. Unfortunately, I don't think Andrew is going to do this, unless he changes his mind due to user feedback.

I also think users would benefit if Andrew were more diligent about providing detailed change logs in the vortexbox and vb-GUI rpm packages. You can see the change logs by

rpm -q --changelog vortexbox
rpm -q --changelog vb-GUI

but the change logs are incomplete and do not document all the changes that have been made.

I also think users would benefit if Andrew provided details of changes in the comments in each source file. Most of the VortexBox code is shell, Perl, and PHP scripts. Whenever I provide code for VortexBox, I always describe the changes I made and the date they were made in the header comments of these source files. Unfortunately, Andrew does not follow this practice. I wish he would.

Users have also asked for a version control system for VortexBox code, to make it easier for users to provide code enhancements. I think this is a good idea too. Perhaps if users keep asking for it, Andrew will put it higher on his priority list, much like the continual requests for better forum software finally resulted in fund-raising and replacement of the poor Simple:Press forum software with vBulletin.

VortexBox is a great system, and Andrew has worked very hard on it for all of our benefit. But improvements can (and should) be made to make VortexBox even better.

[Tunes]

The download of the currently-posted ISO produced a local MD5 of 655D1770D03FD8709089827C40A7DBE5.

I assumed the download was corrupt, so re-downloaded the ISO. That second download also produced 655D1770D03FD8709089827C40A7DBE5.

Because production of two identical local incorrect checksums is unlikely, it seems that the md5sum: 59e00deaffd2c22dff15dc2d68d2f5d0 currently posted is incorrect.

Will someone else please check what MD5 is generated from the currently-posted ISO?

Ron is correct. Please encourage Andrew to change his mind due to your feedback.

[andrew]

59e00deaffd2c22dff15dc2d68d2f5d0 is the correct md5sum for the current VortexBox iso.

[Ron Olsen]

59e00deaffd2c22dff15dc2d68d2f5d0 is the correct md5sum for the current VortexBox iso.

Agreed. On my Mac Pro:

$ md5sum vortexbox-2.0.iso 
59e00deaffd2c22dff15dc2d68d2f5d0  vortexbox-2.0.iso

[Tunes]

59e00deaffd2c22dff15dc2d68d2f5d0 is the correct md5sum for the current VortexBox iso.

In summary:
• Version 2.0 ISO with 59e00deaffd2c22dff15dc2d68d2f5d0 md5sum was posted on March 6.
• Version 2.0 ISO with 655D1770D03FD8709089827C40A7DBE5 md5sum was posted with the incorrect March 6 date, sometime after March 6.
• The original version 2.0 March 6 ISO with 59e00deaffd2c22dff15dc2d68d2f5d0 md5sum was restored after the anomaly was noted in this thread.
Please correct the above if it is inaccurate.

[Ron Olsen]

In summary:
• Version 2.0 ISO with 59e00deaffd2c22dff15dc2d68d2f5d0 md5sum was posted on March 6.
• Version 2.0 ISO with 655D1770D03FD8709089827C40A7DBE5 md5sum was posted with the incorrect March 6 date, sometime after March 6.
• The original version 2.0 March 6 ISO with 59e00deaffd2c22dff15dc2d68d2f5d0 md5sum was restored after the anomaly was noted in this thread.
Please correct the above if it is inaccurate.

I downloaded the VB 2.0 ISO on March 12, and also on March 19. Here are the results of running "ls -l" and md5sum on the two ISOs:

$ ls -l vortexbox-2.0-20120312.iso vortexbox-2.0-20120319.iso 
-rw-r--r--@ 1 ronolsen  staff  678901760 Mar 12 08:54 vortexbox-2.0-20120312.iso
-rw-r--r--@ 1 ronolsen  staff  678920192 Mar 19 08:46 vortexbox-2.0-20120319.iso

$ md5sum vortexbox-2.0-20120312.iso vortexbox-2.0-20120319.iso 
8fb2d7a35e943e47928ecbf1b9ccf1b2  vortexbox-2.0-20120312.iso
59e00deaffd2c22dff15dc2d68d2f5d0  vortexbox-2.0-20120319.iso

I also checked the contents of the two ISOs. The ISO I downloaded on March 12 has a creation date of March 6. The ISO I downloaded on March 19 has a creation date of March 16.

So I would say the timeline is as follows:

VB 2.0 ISO I downloaded on March 12: md5sum 8fb2d7a35e943e47928ecbf1b9ccf1b2; creation date 3/6.
VB 2.0 ISO downloaded by Tunes: md5sum 655D1770D03FD8709089827C40A7DBE5; creation date ??
VB 2.0 ISO I downloaded on March 19: md5sum 59e00deaffd2c22dff15dc2d68d2f5d0; creation date 3/16.