Server maintenance: security updates, a clean restart and 2.2 GB of cache cleared

A maintenance pass on 1 October. We installed the pending operating system and database security updates, restarted the server once, made sure the service starts by itself after any restart, cleared old browser cache from linked numbers that were not in use, and tightened access to the server. Your database was backed up and checked before anything was touched.

Highlights

Operating system, OpenSSL, Linux kernel and MongoDB security updates installed

Initializing WhatsApp connections...

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In this release5

SecuritySystem
Operating system and database security updates
The server had 95 package updates waiting, including a new Linux kernel that needed a restart before it took effect.
What we did:
- Before touching anything, we took a full backup of the database and checked it against the live data. All 27 collections and the record count matched exactly.
- Installed the pending updates, including OpenSSL, the Linux kernel and a MongoDB patch release (8.0.12 to 8.0.32, same 8.0 line, no change to how your data is stored).
- Restarted the server once at 16:56 UTC. It was back within a minute, and the database, cache and web server all came up on their own.
- Held Google Chrome at its current version on purpose. The update jumps 15 major versions, and Chrome is what runs your linked WhatsApp numbers, so we will test that jump separately before rolling it out.
FixedSystemHigh impact
The service now starts by itself after a server restart
While preparing the restart we found that the process manager running the API and the dashboard was not registered to start at boot. It had been running fine for months, but if the server had restarted for any reason, the API and the dashboard would have stayed down until somebody started them by hand.
What we changed:
- The process manager is now a system service that starts at boot and brings back the API, the dashboard and the log rotation.
- We saved the current list of running apps, so a restart brings back exactly what was running.
- Today's restart was the test: everything came back without anyone logging in to the server.
If one of your numbers shows as disconnected after today, open your dashboard once. It reconnects from the stored session and you do not need to scan a QR code again.
Before
After a server restart, the API and the dashboard stayed down until they were started by hand.
After
After a server restart, the API, the dashboard and log rotation start on their own.
PerformanceSystem
2.2 GB of old browser cache cleared without logging anyone out
Every linked number keeps its own Chrome profile on the server. Over a year these profiles had grown to 7.8 GB, mostly from cached files of numbers that were no longer in use.
What we did:
- Checked every profile against your accounts. Almost all of them still belong to existing accounts, so we did not delete any profile, since that would log the number out and force a new QR scan.
- From the profiles that were not running, we removed only the cache folders that Chrome rebuilds by itself when it needs them. The login data was left exactly as it was.
- Profiles of numbers that were online at the time were not touched.
7.8 GB
5.6 GB
28% lowerDisk used by the browser profiles of linked numbers
SecuritySystem
Tighter access to the server
What we changed:
- Logging in to the server with a password is now turned off. Only approved keys can log in.
- Repeated failed login attempts are now blocked automatically. Five failures within ten minutes blocks that address for an hour.
- An old domain from a product we no longer run was still pointing at this server. We removed it and its certificate. Nothing you use was served from it.
ImprovedSystem
Application logs now rotate by themselves
The API logs used to grow forever until somebody cleaned them up by hand.
What we changed:
- Logs now rotate every day, or sooner if one reaches 50 MB.
- The last 14 days are kept and compressed, so we still have the history we need to look into a problem you report.

Server maintenance: security updates, a clean restart and 2.2 GB of cache cleared

Server maintenance: security updates, a clean restart and 2.2 GB of cache cleared

In this release5

Operating system and database security updates

The service now starts by itself after a server restart

2.2 GB of old browser cache cleared without logging anyone out

Tighter access to the server

Application logs now rotate by themselves