Server Deployments Week 15

As always, please refer to the server deployment thread in the forums for the latest information and updates.

On Tuesday, April 7th the Main (SLS) channel will receive the server maintenance update previously deployed to the three RC channels. This is primarily focused on trying to prevent inventory loss issues, and sees UDP inventory messaging deprecated (see HTTP Inventory, below, for more important information)

On Wednesday, April 8th all three RC channels should receive a new server maintenance package comprising: A fix for a server crash when rezzing an object A minor change for CDN configuration Adjusted internal server configuration.



SL Viewer Updates

A new release candidate viewer was released towards the end of last week. The HeatWave viewer, version 3.7.27.300424. This is essentially the maintenance RC viewer with an additional URI parser fix to prevent a viewer crash bug, but has retained a project name to differentiate the two RCs from one another.

HTTP Inventory

With the Tuesday deployment (noted above), the main grid now only supports HTTP Inventory fetching. This means you must have the HTTP Inventory option enabled in the viewer (it can be found under the Develop(er) menu).

Should you disable it for any reason, you will encounter two issues:

Your avatar will not render, but will remain a cloud

Should you refresh your inventory for any reason (clear cache), your viewer will never complete the process of inventory fetching.

Unfortunately, and coincidentally, the Main channel deployment on Tuesday, April 7th came at a time when asset server / inventory issues were being experienced across the grid, and inventory database maintenance was carried out as a result.

These issues and the maintenance may have masked any problems some people may have been having purely as a result of HTTP Inventory being disabled in their viewer.

Therefore, if you are encountering problems with your avatar remaining a cloud, or your inventory failing to load, please try the following steps to see if they resolve your situation:

Make sure you have the Develop(er) menu enabled in your menu bar at the top of the viewer. Press CTRL-ALT-Q if you cannot see it. Click on Develop(er) to list the menu options. Make sure there is a tick in front of the HTTP Inventory option. If HTTP Inventory does not have a tick in front of it, then it is disabled. Click on it to enable it (and display the tick). Closed the Develop menu and re-log. Hopefully, following your re-log, your avatar will render / your inventory load properly.

UDP Inventory Messaging Deprecated

The reason for this is that the Lab has now deprecated the “old” method of inventory messaging (referred to as UDP messaging). However, if you disable the HTTP Inventory option in your viewer, the viewer will still attempt to use the “old” method, and thus you’ll have problems.

There are plans in hand for the Lab to remove the HTTP Inventory option from the viewer, and some TPVs may opt to remove it ahead of any update from the Lab. Until that time, it is essential you keep the option enabled to assist with the smooth functioning of your inventory.

Experience Keys / Tools

Not a lot to report on this project. Simon Linden has been working on the Key Value (KVP) database store used by Experiences. This work appears to be related to the Lab working to ensure the when deployed Experience Keys / Tools can be properly scaled to meet the anticipated demand for them. Commenting in general terms on the work, Oz Linden said during the Simulator User Group meeting on Tuesday, April 7th, “if we are as successful as we’d like to be with Experiences being adopted, it would run into problems. So we’re trying to solve them before we get to that point.”