Qubes OS r4.3 release notes

[alimirjamali]

resolves: QubesOS/qubes-issues#10070

[parulin]

It is the rst branch so you need to use reStructuredText files :)

You can use pandoc to convert them.

For documentation internal link, you can use something like:

:doc:`/user/downloading-installing-upgrading/installation-guide`

[marmarek]

This is a good point. The qubes-dist-upgrade tool can help here now, but we need to document how to do that.

[alimirjamali]

This point was exactly copy pasted from r4.2 release notes. I thought it might be good to keep.

[maiska]

@alimirjamali Hey, there are two ways to handle this :)

• rebase your PR to the main branch of qubes-doc. Once the PR is not drafted anymore and ready i will merge and convert (open a PR to rst branch with your changes)
• or you can create a new PR to the rst branch with rst files, for which i can also provide a sample PR with the converted new markdown files to rst files for your convenience.
  I would prefer the first option, so that in this tricky period of freezing the documentation and transfering to rST and RTD we got everything (old and new) covered irt release notes :)

[alimirjamali]

You can use pandoc to convert them.

Thank you very much for the pandoc hint. The converted files look much better (with appropriate line breaks which keeps the file tidy).

• or you can create a new PR to the rst branch with rst files, for which i can also provide a sample PR with the converted new markdown files to rst files for your convenience.
  I would prefer the first option, so that in this tricky period of freezing the documentation and transfering to rST and RTD we got everything (old and new) covered irt release notes :)

I converted this branch to rst format and amended the PR. Hope this is good.

[marmarek]

And then, maybe worth repeating devices UI changes here - widget improvements (QubesOS/qubes-issues#8537), but also new device assignment tab in global config (configure attachment policy, and also auto attach).
That said, it feels like all the devices-related changes could use a separate article, so maybe keep it short?

[alimirjamali]

And then, maybe worth repeating devices UI changes here - widget improvements (QubesOS/qubes-issues#8537), but also new device assignment tab in global config (configure attachment policy, and also auto attach).

Sure. I will add it.

That said, it feels like all the devices-related changes could use a separate article, so maybe keep it short?

Yes. In my view, it deserves a separate article. It is one of the complex major highlights of r4.3

[alimirjamali]

Review notes:

Some of old PNG files were executable. I removed the executable attribute.

[marmarek]

Looks like we need also an upgrade guide . Should be pretty similar to 4.2 one, just change the qubes-dist-upgrade --releasever=4.3 --help output (the need to use --releasever=4.3 is new):

$ sudo qubes-dist-upgrade --releasever=4.3 --help
Usage: qubes-dist-upgrade --releasever=VERSION [OPTIONS]...

This script is used for updating QubesOS to the next release.

Options:
    --releasever=VERSION               Specify target release, for example 4.3 or 4.2.

This script is used for updating current QubesOS R4.2 to R4.3.

Options:
    --update, -t                       (STAGE 1) Update of dom0, TemplatesVM and StandaloneVM.
    --release-upgrade, -r              (STAGE 2) Update 'qubes-release' for Qubes R4.3.
    --dist-upgrade, -s                 (STAGE 3) Upgrade to Qubes R4.3 and Fedora 41 repositories.
    --template-standalone-upgrade, -l  (STAGE 4) Upgrade templates and standalone VMs to R4.3 repository.
    --finalize, -x                     (STAGE 5) Finalize upgrade. It does:
                                         - resync applications and features
                                         - create LVM devices cache
                                         - update PCI device IDs
                                         - enable minimal-netvm / minimal-usbvm services
                                         - cleanup salt states
                                         - enable preloaded disposables if system has more than 16GB memory
    --check-supported-templates        (STAGE 6) Check if all templates are supported
    --all-pre-reboot                   Execute stages 1 to 3
    --all-post-reboot                  Execute stages 4 to 6

    --assumeyes, -y                    Automatically answer yes for all questions.
    --usbvm, -u                        Current UsbVM defined (default 'sys-usb').
    --netvm, -n                        Current NetVM defined (default 'sys-net').
    --updatevm, -f                     Current UpdateVM defined (default 'sys-firewall').
    --skip-template-upgrade, -j        Don't upgrade TemplateVM to R4.3 repositories.
    --skip-standalone-upgrade, -k      Don't upgrade StandaloneVM to R4.3 repositories.
    --only-update                      Apply STAGE 4 and resync appmenus only to
                                       selected qubes (comma separated list).
    --keep-running                     List of extra VMs to keep running during update (comma separated list).
                                       Can be useful if multiple updates proxy VMs are configured.
    --max-concurrency                  How many TemplateVM/StandaloneVM to update in parallel in STAGE 1
                                       (default 4).
    --enable-current-testing, -e       Enable current-testing repositories for the update time.
                                       The enabling with this option do not persist after
                                       successful update. If you want to keep it enabled,
                                       use the normal method instead.

With testing releases (like release candidate), the --enable-current-testing option may be necessary.

[maiska]

The images are very cool! Would you move them to doc subfolder in attachment (all from site)
Also would you be so kind to add alternative text for screen readers for each image using the :alt: option, as well as captions explaining briefly and concisely what they are depicting where applicable (f.ex. more than one images in a sequence) in the documentation itself? :)

[parulin]

To me, all the images should have an empty alt and no caption. They are decorative / the notes already present concisely the content of the images.

[marmarek]

I may be old-fashioned, but IMO all images should have alt-text, so you can see what should be there if image is not loaded (or for screen readers etc).

[maiska]

It is OK to have different opinions:)
Since alt text is used by screen readers it is more inclusive, and thus imho mandatory for an enhanced user experience.
I strongly disagree to a rule, that encompasses all images, context matters :) One such example is https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-doc/pull/1504/files#diff-8a29b3782c008b9d7bfd846fb234deba2bcc666dc07220d8690e34f0409cef50R44 (irt captions this time :) )
So I kindly ask @alimirjamali to do the changes.

Of course other opnions on the matter are more than welcome to reach a consensus:
@rapenne-s @unman @marmarek ?

[alimirjamali]

Would you move them to doc subfolder in attachment (all from site)
Also would you be so kind to add alternative text for screen readers for each image using the :alt: option, as well as captions explaining briefly and concisely what they are depicting where applicable

This is done

[parulin]

It is OK to have different opinions:) Since alt text is used by screen readers it is more inclusive, and thus imho mandatory for an enhanced user experience. I strongly disagree to a rule, that encompasses all images, context matters :) One such example is https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-doc/pull/1504/files#diff-8a29b3782c008b9d7bfd846fb234deba2bcc666dc07220d8690e34f0409cef50R44 (irt captions this time :) ) So I kindly ask @alimirjamali to do the changes.

Of course other opnions on the matter are more than welcome to reach a consensus: @rapenne-s @unman @marmarek ?

I don't think that commenting under @alimirjamali's PR is the right place to discuss this :) Where should we continue?

[maiska]

It is OK to have different opinions:) Since alt text is used by screen readers it is more inclusive, and thus imho mandatory for an enhanced user experience. I strongly disagree to a rule, that encompasses all images, context matters :) One such example is https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-doc/pull/1504/files#diff-8a29b3782c008b9d7bfd846fb234deba2bcc666dc07220d8690e34f0409cef50R44 (irt captions this time :) ) So I kindly ask @alimirjamali to do the changes.
Of course other opnions on the matter are more than welcome to reach a consensus: @rapenne-s @unman @marmarek ?

I don't think that commenting under @alimirjamali's PR is the right place to discuss this :) Where should we continue?

You are correct. Will tag you theses days in a suitable issue.

[alimirjamali]

@maiska The slightly amended PR fixes a missing screenshot in UI/UX section and mentions drop of Windows 7 support from QWT. Otherwise nothing was changed.

[maiska]

@maiska The slightly amended PR fixes a missing screenshot in UI/UX section and mentions drop of Windows 7 support from QWT. Otherwise nothing was changed.

All right :) Heads up: it will take still a little bit longer for this PR :)

[marmarek]

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