Connectivity issues last Tuesday

TL;DR: Some of you had connectivity issues when connecting to Jitsi last
Tuesday. The issue was the latest auto-update for Google Chrome 86.

The latest version of Google Chrome 86 changed the way WebRTC (used to
do audio/video in the browser) works and pushed it out to everyone that
has auto-update turned on. The latest update contains a security feature
that wasn't intended to affect WebRTC, but it does, and it's a feature
that Jitsi depended on. The Jitsi developers worked through the weekend
and there is now a software fix that requires a Jitsi upgrade in order
for Google Chrome to work again.

In other words, the community server didn't go down -- the latest Google
Chrome broke backward compatibility (welcome to the new browser
monoculture, everyone!). There are a few fixes we're looking into. In
the meantime, here are some alternatives:

* Use Firefox
* Use Edge (version prior to Chromium Engine 86 - before Oct 6th)
* Use Chromium (prior to 86)
* Use Google Chrome (prior to Chromium Engine 86)
* Dial in via phone and use IRC

We're going to do a controlled upgrade to the community Jitsi system in
an attempt to become compatible with the latest version of Google
Chrome. No ETA on when the upgrade will be done as we need to make sure
the upgrade doesn't break anything.

For those that want to read through the gory details:

https://community.jitsi.org/t/jitsi-meet-not-working-on-chrome-86/81475

https://community.jitsi.org/t/help-stops-work-with-new-chrome-version-86-0-4240-75/80715

-- manu

PS: There is a slim chance that there were connectivity issues to the
east coast data center as well, but not enough data to be certain. The
more probable cause is the Google Chrome issue above.

-- 
Manu Sporny - https://www.linkedin.com/in/manusporny/
Founder/CEO - Digital Bazaar, Inc.
blog: Veres One Decentralized Identifier Blockchain Launches
https://tinyurl.com/veres-one-launches

Received on Friday, 16 October 2020 20:56:00 UTC