November 20, 2023
In 2023, ASTi transitioned its Telestra and Voisus products to 8.X software. This application note discusses questions related to upgrading Telestra and Voisus systems running 7.X or earlier. For a complete list of all revisions and dates, go to the Telestra Software Release Notes and Voisus Release Notes. Contact ASTi Support at support@asti-usa.com if you’d like to discuss how this upgrade might impact your program.
To learn how this development affects your program, go to the Telestra 8.X Upgrade and Voisus 8.X Upgrade FAQs below.
Telestra's current production standard is Telestra 8.X, which runs a base operating system of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8. For the latest information and software versions, go to the Telestra Software Release Notes.
ASTi provides Telestra 8.X at no additional cost if you subscribe to ASTi's software and Information Assurance (IA) maintenance plan. Otherwise, the upgrade cost depends on a variety of factors, including the system's age and total software value. For pricing information, contact sales@asti-usa.com.
The risk of updating your Telestra system to 8.X is low. ASTi has prepared extensive internal tests, procedures, and quality assurance plans to make this upgrade as seamless as possible.
Additional testing may be needed if you are updating from a much older release (e.g., Telestra 6.X and earlier), or you used custom install scripts and unsupported operating system modifications. Advise ASTi of your existing software version with your request for an upgrade. As with any software update, application-specific testing is highly recommended.
Yes, ASTi always makes every effort to support customer requirements. We are still delivering and supporting existing Telestra 7.X releases as needed, and ongoing support for 7.X includes critical security or bug fixes, RHEL security patches, and testing against the latest RHEL 7 Security Technical Implementation Guide (STIG). However, feature changes and enhancements are limited and may incur additional costs. RHEL 7 moves to the Extended Life Cycle Support (ELS) on July 1, 2024. Contact ASTi Sales at sales@asti-usa.com if your Telestra 7.X IA requirements go beyond July 1, 2024.
If you're currently subscribed to ASTi's software and IA maintenance plan, you will automatically receive the latest available Telestra 8.X version with the October 2024 Q4 release. Your project's designated application engineer will contact you to make arrangements prior to the transition.
To determine if your configuration is compatible with 8.X, check the ASTi part number on your Telestra server (e.g., T4H-25350--69). Servers with part numbers beginning in T4H-0 and T4H-1 are incompatible. If you're running one of these configurations, you'll need to upgrade your hardware or transition to a supported virtual machine (VM) architecture. To learn more about requirements for Telestra in a VM or on customer/government-furnished equipment, go to the Telestra Cold Start Guide.
The initial release, Telestra 8.0.0, does not support diskless configurations. However, Telestra 8.1.0 will support iSCSI diskless configurations only.
Future Telestra releases will not support legacy PXE live image capability. If your program currently uses PXE live images, contact ASTi at support@asti-usa.com to discuss your specific requirements.
Telestra 8.X introduces a new TTS engine and voice library for streaming. Improvements include superior voice quality and the removal of third-party licensing management. During everyday use, TTS operates much like it did before, although you may notice that Telestra replaces some of the original voices with newer, higher-quality alternatives.
While Telestra's upgraded TTS capabilities bring significant improvements, they do require additional memory usage. If you have specific spare memory requirements, you may find that older systems no longer meet that requirement. Please contact ASTi Support at support@asti-usa.com to discuss upgrade options if you are concerned about memory usage or related performance.
Telestra 8.X uses an updated GCC library (version 8.X), which may require you to update your RTI version. Check the HLA RTI Compatibility list, or contact ASTi Support at support@asti-usa.com to find the right RTI version for your program.
Voisus's current production standard is Voisus 8.X, which runs a base operating system of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8. For the latest information and software versions, go to the Voisus Release Notes. Voisus 8.X is part of the approved Voisus Authority to Operate (ATO) and Risk Management Framework (RMF) enclave.
ASTi provides Voisus 8.X at no additional cost if you subscribe to ASTi's software and Information Assurance (IA) maintenance plan. Otherwise, the upgrade cost depends on a variety of factors, including the system's age and total software value. For pricing information, contact sales@asti-usa.com.
The risk of updating your Voisus system to 8.X is low. ASTi has prepared extensive internal tests, procedures, and quality assurance plans to make this upgrade as seamless as possible.
Additional testing may be needed if you are updating from a much older release (e.g., Voisus 6.X), or you used custom install scripts and unsupported operating system modifications. Please advise ASTi of your existing software version with your request for an upgrade. As with any software update, application-specific testing is highly recommended.
Yes, ASTi always makes every effort to support customer requirements. We are still delivering and supporting existing RHEL 7 releases as needed, and ongoing support for Voisus 7.X includes critical security or bug fixes, RHEL security packages, and testing against the latest RHEL 7 Security Technical Implementation Guide (STIG). However, feature changes and enhancements are limited and may incur additional costs. RHEL 7 moves to the Extended Life Phase on July 1, 2024. Contact ASTi Sales at sales@asti-usa.com if your Voisus 7.X IA requirements go beyond July 1, 2024.
If you're currently subscribed to ASTi's software and IA maintenance plan, you will automatically receive the latest available Voisus 8.X version with the October 2024 Q4 release. Your project's designated application engineer will contact you to make arrangements prior to the transition.
To determine if your configuration is compatible with 8.X, check the ASTi part number on your Voisus server (e.g., VSH-25350--69). Servers with part numbers beginning in VSH-0, VSH-1, VSH-3, and VSH-4 are incompatible. If you're running one of these configurations, you will need to upgrade your hardware or transition to a supported virtual machine (VM) architecture. To learn more about requirements for Voisus in a VM or on customer/government-furnished equipment, go to the Voisus Cold Start Guide.
Voisus 8.X uses an updated GCC compiler (ver 8.X), which may require you to update your RTI version. Contact ASTi Support at support@asti-usa.com to find the right RTI version for your program.