IRC Provisioning System 4 – Product Roadmap and Status Update

Virtual Hosting Company‘s Development Team is pleased to provide the following update for the IRC Provisioning System for WHMCS.  Development for v4 has been underway for a while now, but we’ve not made many announcements about the changes.  We’re pleased to be able to provide the following update on our Roadmap, information about the system, and a projected release date.

First, we’ll start with an update on what happened.  Way back in August of 2018, we announced that development of v4 started.  While we were originally expecting a release in 2019, development stalled.  This stall was more about the time needed to focus on the development vs the team loosing direction.  Minors changes were made, tweaks if you will, and we continued to drive forward.  Then, the 2020 Pandemic hit.  With it came lockdowns, shortages, restructuring, and fear.  Overall, it made for an eighteen-month, anxiety-ridden, highly-frustrating year and a half.  The impacts and implications are still being felt today.  But, we continue to drive forward.

Now, here’s an update on where we are today.  We’ve been changing a lot of aspects of the back-end of the WHMCS Addon system.  This includes restructuring the way the ‘Server’ module inside WHMCS works, as well as the way we generate and provide reporting details.  We’ve also improved the Server-side system to address some issues found within it.  The re-structuring process included re-aligning the way information is processed as well as improving the flow for ongoing development.  See the updated Roadmap below.

Version 4.0 Roadmap

Server-Side Client Changes

• Rewrite completely to improve performance, clean out old code, and update naming conventions. – Completed
• Name changes on files used for the system.
  • Both the core PHP file being called and the configuration file. – Completed
• Relocate primary configuration settings from the config file to the WHMCS Database. – Pending
• Incorporate API KEY based encryption for communication between the Server and the WHMCS Database – Pending
• Improved Notifications
  • Notifications now go to all admins with the CRON EMAIL status flag on their account – Completed
• Improved security for commands being issued – Pending
• Re-write the method in which ZNC Provisioning is Handled – New, In Progress
• Update Suspended User account management – New, Completed

WHMCS Add-on

• Enhanced Reporting
  • Breakdown of reporting in WHMCS to include:
    • By client – Completed
    • By server – Completed
    • By package – Completed
    • By term – Pending
  • System reports
    • Daily – Completed
    • Weekly – Completed
    • Monthly – Pending
    • Annually – Pending
  • System Queue – New, Completed
  • Improved Navigation – New, Completed
• Improved Functionality
  • Add-on page will provide updated information on every account on the system, with the latest update time, with different sort options.
    • Default to by Package Type – Completed
    • Optional by Client – Completed
    • Optional by Package Name – Completed
    • Optional by Server – Completed
  • Server Information page
    • A breakdown of the number of clients on each server, the types of packages, etc. – Completed
    • Optional estimated income by the server – Pending
    • Server information (OS, Kernel, RAM, etc.) – Pending

Timeline

With development well underway, we’re targeting a release date of September 30th, 2022.  We’re targeting support for PHP 8.1, 7.4, 7.3, 7.2, and 5.4, with support for CentOS 7, CentOS 8, Debian 10, and Debian 11.  More information to come.