This article is intended for partners and customers who run DRACOON on their own servers (on-premises).
It is not relevant for DRACOON cloud customers.

Planned new features and changes in the next  release of DRACOON

The next release of DRACOON for on-premises customers will be released under the name DRACOON Server, will be the successor to the current release LTS 2019-1, and will include numerous significant new features and changes:

New The new DRACOON Web App

In the next DRACOON release, the new DRACOON Web App (version 5) will replace the previous DRACOON Web App (version 4). The new web app was developed from scratch and is based on the latest web technologies. It offers powerful new features, is easier to use, faster, and fully responsive—and can therefore also be used on mobile devices for the first time. The development of the new web app was based on lots of feedback from our customers, which we received about the previous web app as well as during the beta test of the new web app.

New: The new web app includes numerous improvements inspired by customer feedback, such as context menus.

The new DRACOON Web App has been available on the DRACOON cloud since December 2019. Since then, we have constantly improved and optimized it. As a result, with the next DRACOON release, you will receive a mature version of the new web app that has proven its reliability on the DRACOON cloud with hundreds of thousands of users for months of daily use.

New Many new features in the new web app such as file comments, uploads in the background, profile pictures, and shares that can be edited after creation

The new web app also offers a large variety of new features: For example, users can add comments to files, files are uploaded in the background and are no longer blocking, users get a "face" through profile pictures, already created shares can be changed anytime without affecting the existing share link, and much more.

New Rich notifications

With the next release, DRACOON will offer powerful new notifications: Users can, for example, be notified by email when new files are added to a data room or as they are granted access to another data room. Users choose on their own which notifications they want.

New: In the new web app, users can configure in detail which notifications they want.

New Improved emails with company logo and colors

Emails sent by DRACOON (e.g. for initial login, notifications, or password resets) are now HTML-based and therefore more concise and user-friendly. They use custom elements such as company logo, specific colors, and mail signature and thus reflect the individual branding of the respective company.

New: HTML emails with buttons and custom elements such as logo, colors, and signature

New Completely self-administered branding

Starting with the next DRACOON release, customers will be able to manage the branding for DRACOON completely on their own. They will no longer have to rely on the support of the DRACOON team to adjust the colors of the web app or change the mail signature, for example. Changes made to the mail signature will become active immediately.

New: By using the DRACOON Branding web application, the branding can be changed by the respective configuration manager himself.

New S3 direct upload

If S3 storage is connected to DRACOON, the so-called S3 direct upload will be supported in the next DRACOON release. This means that when uploading to DRACOON, files are immediately transferred to the S3 storage and no longer have to take a detour to the DRACOON storage. With S3 direct upload, uploads can be faster and cause less traffic.

Previously: File uploads are passed trough the DRACOON storage

Now: File uploads are transferred directly to the S3 storage

New DRACOON for Windows/Mac, DRACOON for iOS, and DRACOON for Android as separate versions for on-premises customers

The DRACOON client "DRACOON for Outlook" was already offered in a special version for users of the DRACOON version for on-premises customers. With the next release of DRACOON, more clients will follow: In the future, dedicated variants of DRACOON for Windows/Mac, DRACOON for iOS, and DRACOON for Android will be released for on-premises customers, ensuring long-term compatibility of those clients with the next release of DRACOON.

 

Release schedule

• DRACOON Server, the successor of the current release LTS 2019-1 for on-premises customers, will be released in March 2021.
• DRACOON Server is no longer offered in the form of Docker containers or as a Spring Boot installation, but as a software appliance, i.e. packages that can be installed via the operating system (.rpm installer, published via corresponding repositories). A change of the type of installation (existing Spring Boot or Docker installation) is mandatory for the update and will be supported by our operations team, which means we will perform this for you within the scope of installation support if required.
• Update support from DRACOON will be available in January at the earliest. Early bookings can only be made after consultation with your DRACOON account manager.
• The update to DRACOON Server including all clients should be completed by the end of Q2/2021.
• If your DRACOON environment is managed by DRACOON (fully-managed service, dedicated), you will receive further information by email in January. DRACOON will update these environments in January at the earliest.

 

How to prepare for the next release

At the moment, we recommend the following steps to prepare for the next release of DRACOON:

1. Learn more about the changes in the new DRACOON Web App.
   In the following article you will find an overview of all changes in the new DRACOON Web App:
   Changes in the new DRACOON Web App
2. Try the new web app in our test environment.
   We'll offer you the opportunity to get to know our new web app in a test environment on our DRACOON cloud and to try it out yourself. This way, you can familiarize yourself with new features of the new web app and get hands-on experience.
   The test environment of the new web app is available under the address lts.dracoon.team.
   You will receive further information about the test version (login data etc.) via newsletter shortly.
3. Prepare a branding for the new web app for any required DRACOON environment and specify it in the DRACOON Branding web application.
   If you are using the current release LTS 2019-1 (DRACOON version 4.12), you can already use the new DRACOON Branding web application. You can use it to specify a branding before the release of the next DRACOON version so that the branding is already present when you switch to the new DRACOON release and can be displayed in the new web app from the beginning. If you manage several DRACOON environments, a separate branding should be created for each environment (if an individual branding is desired for the respective environment).
   How to provide a branding for the new DRACOON Web App
4. Ask your mobile app users to switch to the new DRACOON Server mobile apps as soon as possible.
   If your users use DRACOON for iOS or DRACOON for Android, they should switch to the new variants of the mobile DRACOON apps for DRACOON Server as soon as possible as only these will remain compatible with DRACOON Server in the long run.
   How to switch to DRACOON for iOS for DRACOON Server
   How to switch to DRACOON for Android for DRACOON Server

 

Next steps

This article should give you a first overview of the planned next release of DRACOON for on-premises customers and should help you prepare for its release.

If you have any questions about the next DRACOON release, please feel free to contact us.

We are pleased to accompany you on the way to this exciting new release.