It’s been a while, so we wanted to share an update on the development progress of Hermes SEG. As you may know, we’ve been migrating the Hermes SEG platform to Docker. The process has taken longer than expected due to several major roadblocks—specifically, previously reliable off-the-shelf Docker images that are no longer maintained and Broadcom-based images that were suddenly placed behind a paywall.
These challenges led us to create our own custom Docker images to eliminate third-party dependencies for development and updates. That effort required significant time, but we’re pleased to report that all Hermes SEG back-end functionality has now been successfully migrated to Docker.
In addition, we’ve introduced several new features, including a complete email server stack using Dovecot, fail2ban integration for enhanced security, and groupware functionality (contacts, calendar, and file management) via Nextcloud. We also transitioned to a fully LDAP-based authentication system for both administrators and users. This change provides greater flexibility, allowing integration with existing Active Directory or LDAP user directories without requiring manual user creation in Hermes SEG.
We’re now focused on updating the front-end to align with these back-end improvements. Assuming no major setbacks, we expect to complete this work within the next couple of months.
Note on current Hermes SEG users on Ubuntu 20.04
While you are waiting for the new Hermes SEG on Docker, you can do an in-place upgrade to Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS. There are no migration scripts necessary. After the upgrade, Hermes SEG should continue to operate as usual. Please ensure you take a full backup of your Hermes SEG installation before you attempt an in-place upgrade. We are not responsible for any issues that may arise from performing an in-place upgrade.
