=============
78.0 Outbreak
=============

The Avocado team is proud to present another release: Avocado 78.0,
AKA "Outbreak", is now available!

Release documentation: `Avocado 78.0
<http://avocado-framework.readthedocs.io/en/78.0/>`_

Users/Test Writers
==================

* The HTML plugin now produces reports with resizeable columns and
  standardized tooltips (besides some internal cleanups).

* The ``avocado assets fetch`` command now accepts a
  ``--ignore-errors`` option that returns exit code 0 even when some
  of the assets could not be fetched.  This is useful in some
  unattended executions such as CI environments, in which the
  ``avocado assets fetch`` is used in conjunction with the canceling of
  tests that depend on assets not found.  Without this option, an
  entire CI job can be stopped at the initial failure.

* Avocado now supports "hint files" that can tweak how the Avocado
  resolver will recognize tests.  This is useful for projects making
  use of Avocado as a test runner, and it can allow complete integration
  with a simple configuration file in a project repository.  For more
  information check out the documentation about :ref:`the_hint_files`.

* The experimental N(ext) Runner now allows users to set the number
  of parallel tasks with the ``--parallel-tasks`` command line option
  (or by setting the ``parallel_tasks`` configuration under the ``nrun``
  section).  The default value is still the same (twice the number of
  CPUs, minus one).

* The experimental N(ext) Runner now checks the status of tasks right
  after spawning them.  This can serve as an indication if a task
  crashes too soon.  Users will now see a "<task> spawned and alive"
  on most cases.

* The experimental N(ext) Runner now provides a container based
  execution of tasks with command line option ``--podman-spawner``.
  While this is not yet intended for general use, it serves as an
  early technology preview of the multiple test isolation strategies
  that will be fully supported by the N(ext) Runner.

* The ``avocado vmimage get`` command now returns a proper error exit
  code when it fails to retrieve the requested image.

Bug Fixes
=========

* The :mod:`avocado.utils.asset` used to produce an empty string when
  the asset name parameter was not a full URL, resulting in a broken
  hash value.

* The :mod:`avocado.utils.asset` could fail trying to remove a
  temporary file that may not ever have been created.

Utility APIs
============

* The CentOS provider of the :mod:`avocado.utils.vmimage` module now
  supports the location and image file names for version 8.

* The OpenSUSE provider of the :mod:`avocado.utils.vmimage` module now
  returns the pure version numbers, instead of the ones containing the
  ``Leap_`` prefixes.

* The Debian provider of the the :mod:`avocado.utils.vmimage` module now
  properly matches the version numbers.

* The Ubuntu provider of the the :mod:`avocado.utils.vmimage` module
  now doesn't attempt to convert versions into numbers, which could
  result in lost digits (10.40 would become 10.4).

* The :mod:`avocado.utils.network.interfaces` module now supports
  different types output produced by ``iproute``.

* The :meth:`avocado.utils.ssh.Session.cmd` method now allows users to
  ignore the exit status of the command with the ``ignore_status``
  parameter.

* The :mod:`avocado.utils.cpu` changed how it identifies CPU vendors,
  architectures and families, making those more consistent across the
  board.

Internal Changes
================

* The experimental N(ext) Runner now produces less ambiguous state
  messages, with a dedicated ``result`` field on the final state
  message, instead of reusing the ``status`` field.

* A "release job" was introduced to be run in addition to the other
  selftests before a release is cut.  It currently includes a complete
  coverage of all the `:mod:`avocado.utils.vmimage` providers,
  amounting to almost 200 test variations.

* The ``loader_yaml`` and ``html`` plugins were migrated to the new
  (future) settings API.

For more information, please check out the complete
`Avocado changelog
<https://github.com/avocado-framework/avocado/compare/77.0...78.0>`_.