OpenSEA Xsupplicant Development

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The OpenSEA Xsupplicant Development Project

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Update on development of Xsupplicant
2.X.X release history
1.9.X release history

Update on development of the OpenSEA Xsupplicant

The Open1X group is pleased to announce the beta quality release of Xsupplicant 2.1.7 development version (8/05/2009) for Windows XP which follows the previous version released on 10/02/2009. This update includes a lot of bug fixes a number of new features; internationalisation of the user interface (using QT's linquist program), and the capability to compile and run on Linux (with a reduced feature-set). Please see the release notes and change log on the OpenSEA website for more information.

JANET(UK) is collaborating with the OpenSEA Alliance on an initiative to deliver an open-source IEEE cross-platform 802.1x supplicant. The work is based on the open source Linux Xsupplicant and aims to extend the functionality of the original product and produce a fully cross-platform easy-to-use supplicant. The intial target is to produce a version for Windows XP with fully GUI interface to resolve the issue of the shortcomings of the built in Windows supplicant. Versions for Vista and subsequent Windows versions, MAC and Linux will follow.

Up to date info on the progress and development of the GUI is available through the DOT1X jiscmail list and any input is greatly valued. Further information.

XSupplicant 2.0.1 is available foc here:

http://open1x.sourceforge.net/

2.X.X Release History

Release 2.1.6 (published 10/02/2009) included bug fixes and a huge number of feature additions; EAP-TLS support, machine authentication (experimental), GINA integration using pGINA (experimental), multi-user configurations, better interoperability with EAP-SIM, EAP-AKA, and EAP-FAST servers, building on the support of EAP-FAST included in 2.1.5 (released 10/11/2008).

2.1.4, released on 16/10/2008, introduced support for EAP-SIM and EAP-AKA. 2.1.3, released 30/06/08, built on the advances made in the previous 2.1.1 development version which included some major new features, a better user interface and some of the underlying engine was changed to allow better operation of the software across a range of machines. 2.1.3 included an almost complete redesign of the user interface which provided a lot of features that made the supplicant easier to use. Among them was a configuration wizard, an "at-a-glance" list of available SSIDs, and a quick connect option from the tray icon.

With version 2.1.1 included a number of significant new features. Firstly, support for EAP-GTC has been added - in the test environment, success has been achieved with PEAP-GTC authentication using RSA SecurID tokens. Secondly, network prioritisation has been included - the supplicant will now try to automatically connect to the best network that is currently available. Thirdly, the ability to have the supplicant disconnect the sessions when the user logs off is now available. Fourthly, opportunisitic key caching has been introduced. (This is sometimes also called Proactive Key Caching). This will allow the supplicant to roam to new access points in a shorter amount of time, since a reauthentication may not be needed. And last, but certainly not least, is removal of the reliance on WMI. This last feature is something that most people won't notice, but, if you had problems running the older supplicant versions, this change will probably resolve those problems.

XSupplicant version 2.0.1 was released on 5/02/2008. This release fixes bugs that have been found since the 2.0.0 release. It does not contain any new features.

With release of XSupplicant 2.0.0, development on the "SeaAnt" branch was frozen and all new development is now taking place on the next release with its code named "SeaBadger". Additional versions of 2.0 are expected, but they will only be bug fix releases, there will be no additional functionality added to 2.0. In June 2008, 2.0.x was updated to v 2.0.1 with some bug fixes. This version is considered stable for use by the test group, but it can not yet be considered ready for general release. Going back in time, there were a couple of new features added between the 1.9.8 release and the 2.0 release. They were generally small additions that addressed usability and clarity issues. Some of these additions include a plug-in that can be used to gather data to help OpenSEA solve problems that people may have. By right-clicking the tray icon, you can now select "Create Trouble Ticket". This will create a zip file that contains information that you should attach to any bugs that get filed. Another addition is the ability to import trusted root certificates in to the proper certificate store, and some fixes to how certificate chains are handled. A significant number of wireless utilities have also been added.

1.9.X Release History

The 1.9.7 development release was placed on sourceforge at the end of November 2007 with 1.9.8 available in December. Along with the usual set of small bug fixes, there are a couple of new things worth pointing out. First, the supplicant runs properly on Windows XP Home now. Second, the supplicant handles hidden networks better now. (Specifically, hidden networks using WPA and WPA2). Last, but not least, there have been some changes to the way that logging is handled. The UI now has a limit to the number of lines that it keeps in memory. For disk based logs you can set a size cap on them. When they reach that cap, they will be rolled. The number of rolled logs to keep on the system can also be controlled now. Version 1.9.8 marked the significant development hereby you can use ANY root CA certificate now - even if it doesn't have the special attributes that the Microsoft supplicant requires. The on-line help file has also been finished.

The previous development release, 1.9.6, introduced the capability of authenticating against the Windows 2003 IAS.

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