Passbolt beta testing: how to?

Dear Community,

as you might have heard, since version 4.0 (see this post) the Browser extension and API are released in beta versions prior to being published.

In this post we will provide the information on how to test the latest beta browser extension and release candidates of the API. New beta versions will be announced in separate posts. If you have questions on how to test beta versions, this is the thread. If you find issues relative to a given beta version, please post your findings on the dedicated thread.

Credits to @shelby for the original text!

Before the extension is released, we’re publishing it to the beta channel in the Chrome Web Store. This allows us to collaboratively test updates and ensure smooth transitions. And it’s your chance to try the latest features before they’re released.

Keep in mind, however, that this is a beta version. As there are major changes to the way the extension works, it’s important that you take the utmost care when installing and testing this beta release. There may be some kinks to iron out. Although we do our best to avoid bugs, it’s important that you know what to expect.

Browser extension

To test the beta, you can either create a new profile in Chrome or replace your stable profile. The first option is highly recommended.

Option 1: Creating a new profile (Recommended)

If you’re new to passbolt or are configuring a new profile on Chrome. You’ll need to download the browser extension while in the new profile . From there, just follow the usual installation process. There’s nothing specific to the beta installation.

Option 2: Override the current extension

Installing over an existing profile’s browser extension isn’t recommended as the beta channel is considered another extension and might conflict with the existing passbolt extension.

But, if you’d like to try anyway. Here is the process:

  1. Create a backup (always have a backup) - BACK UP ALL THE THINGS
  2. Sign out of your existing session of passbolt
  3. Disable the existing passbolt extension
  4. Install the beta version of the passbolt extension
  5. Run an account recovery with the beta browser

What about the API?

Now that the new extension is up and running, it is also possible to update the API to the latest version to take the testing further! Of course you should not do this in your production environment, but rather a new environment dedicated for this test.

To proceed, you can follow the install steps on Debian:

# Configure the environment as usual

wget "https://download.passbolt.com/ce/installer/passbolt-repo-setup.ce.sh"
wget "https://github.com/passbolt/passbolt-dep-scripts/releases/latest/download/passbolt-ce-SHA512SUM.txt"
sha512sum -c passbolt-ce-SHA512SUM.txt && sudo bash ./passbolt-repo-setup.ce.sh || echo "Bad checksum. Aborting" && rm -f passbolt-repo-setup.ce.sh

# Then replace passbolt stable  channel with testing

sudo echo "deb https://download.passbolt.com/ce/debian buster testing" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/passbolt.list

sudo apt update

sudo apt install passbolt-ce-server

We hope you enjoy the beta version of passbolt. Share your feedback in the dedicated thread and support us by giving us a :star: on our github repo.

Stable release is coming soon, so stay tuned! Want to be a contributor to passbolt? Click here to see how you can get involved.

Thanks for your support and contribution. :tada:

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