Monitoring TYPO3 updates

Keeping track of all TYPO3 projects is difficult. If the check for available updates is not to cost any time and still be effective, the use of supporting software is worthwhile.

Motivation
Like any software, the content management system TYPO3 is constantly being expanded with new functions or bugs are fixed. These updates are available for the TYPO3 Core, which is published by the TYPO3 Association, as well as for the many helpful extensions, whose authors take care of the further development.

The more extensions are in use, the higher the probability that updates will be available. Then there are the extensions that are very current and are constantly being developed further and those that quite often have some security gaps.

How can you tell if updates are available for TYPO3?
Ontheone hand, administrators can have the list of extensions updated in the TYPO3 backend. The extension list is thus received from the TYPO3 Extension Repository (TER) and available updates are displayed. Information about TYPO3 core updates and important security updates can be found on the TYPO3 mailing lists or Twitter accounts.

The more TYPO3 installations have to be maintained by an administrator, the more steps are necessary for the verification. There is usually no real overview of where which extension is installed. If customers also have TYPO3 admin rights and can install extensions, de facto even the best overview list can no longer be maintained.

TYPO3 Monitoring To have an overview of many TYPO3 installations and to know quickly which TYPO3 installation needs updates, we at Brain Appeal have developed the TYPO3 Monitor as an internal support system for our daily work. It has been monitoring our clients' websites since 2011.

The installation is quite simple. A TYPO3 extension has to be installed in the TYPO3 instance to be monitored and a key pair, which is necessary for secure data exchange, has to be stored. Then the domain of the website is stored in the TYPO3 monitor. From now on, the website will be monitored.

Alarm for updates
For each site you can set individually when an email should be sent. For us it was important to distinguish between the following 2 scenarios:

1. the customer should decide if an available update should be applied.
2. an available update should be imported directly according to the contract.

So the TYPO3 Monitor can be configured for every website and every need and sends mails to the customer or to us. From the mails to us, tickets are directly created in the customer maintenance contract, which are then implemented by the developers.

Current status
At this year's TYPO3 Camp Stuttgart the TYPO3 Monitor was presented to the public by me for the first time, because there was a demand for the topic "Monitoring of TYPO3". In a session I presented the tools I know and explained the functions of the TYPO3 Monitor in daily use.

Even though the TYPO3 Monitor has been reliably fulfilling its core function for many years, it has always been developed with our internal purposes in mind. Due to the demand in the community we have now decided to extend the TYPO3 Monitor to make it available to other agencies as well.

Currently the TYPO3 Monitor is in the CLOSED BETA phase. This means that interested participants get an account to test the system.

What's next?
Afterthe CLOSED BETA phase there will be an open BETA phase. Here everyone will be able to create an account. In addition, there will be more features that are already in the pipeline. In the future it will also be possible to host the TYPO3 Monitor on your own servers.

Stay on the ball! Up-to-date information about the TYPO3 Monitor will be published on the website https://www.t3monitor.de and on Twitter @t3monitor.

Like any software, the content management system TYPO3 is constantly extended with new functions or bugs are fixed. These updates are available for the TYPO3 Core, which is published by the TYPO3 Association, as well as for the many helpful extensions, whose authors take care of the further development.

The more extensions are in use, the higher the probability that updates will be available. Then there are the extensions that are very current and are constantly being developed further and those that quite often have some security gaps.

How can you tell if updates are available for TYPO3?
Ontheone hand, administrators can have the list of extensions updated in the TYPO3 backend. The extension list is thus received from the TYPO3 Extension Repository (TER) and available updates are displayed. Information about TYPO3 core updates and important security updates can be found on the TYPO3 mailing lists or Twitter accounts.

The more TYPO3 installations have to be maintained by an administrator, the more steps are necessary for the verification. There is usually no real overview of where which extension is installed. If customers also have TYPO3 admin rights and can install extensions, de facto even the best overview list can no longer be maintained.

TYPO3 Monitoring In order to have an overview of many TYPO3 installations and to know quickly which TYPO3 installation needs updates, we at Brain Appeal have developed the TYPO3 Monitor as an internal support system for our daily work. It has been monitoring our clients' websites since 2011.

The installation is quite simple. A TYPO3 extension has to be installed in the TYPO3 instance to be monitored and a key pair, which is necessary for the secure data exchange, has to be stored. Then the domain of the website is stored in the TYPO3 monitor. From now on, the website will be monitored.

Alarm for updates
For each site you can set individually when an email should be sent. For us it was important to distinguish between the following 2 scenarios:

1. the customer should decide if an available update should be applied. 
2. an available update should be imported directly according to the contract.

So the TYPO3 Monitor can be configured for every website and every need and sends mails to the customer or to us. From the mails to us, tickets are directly created in the customer maintenance contract, which are then implemented by the developers.

Current status
At this year's TYPO3 Camp Stuttgart the TYPO3 Monitor was presented to the public by me for the first time, because there was a demand for the topic "Monitoring of TYPO3". In a session I presented the tools I know and explained the functions of the TYPO3 Monitor in daily use.

Even though the TYPO3 Monitor has been reliably fulfilling its core function for many years, it has always been developed with our internal purposes in mind. Due to the demand in the community we have now decided to extend the TYPO3 Monitor to make it available to other agencies as well.

Currently the TYPO3 Monitor is in the CLOSED BETA phase. This means that interested participants get an account to test the system.

What's next?
Afterthe CLOSED BETA phase there will be an open BETA phase. Here everybody will be able to create an account. In addition, there will be more features that are already in the pipeline. In the future it will also be possible to host the TYPO3 Monitor on your own servers.

Stay on the ball! Up-to-date information about the TYPO3 Monitor will be published on the website https://www.t3monitor.de and on Twitter @t3monitor .

On the one hand, administrators can have the list of extensions updated in the TYPO3 backend. The extension list is thus received from the TYPO3 Extension Repository (TER) and available updates are displayed. Information about TYPO3 core updates and important security updates can be found on the TYPO3 mailing lists or Twitter accounts.

The more TYPO3 installations have to be maintained by an administrator, the more steps are necessary for the verification. There is usually no real overview of where which extension is installed. If customers also have TYPO3 admin rights and can install extensions, de facto even the best overview list can no longer be maintained.

TYPO3 Monitoring In order to have an overview of many TYPO3 installations and to know quickly which TYPO3 installation needs updates, we at Brain Appeal have developed the TYPO3 Monitor as an internal support system for our daily work. It has been monitoring our clients' websites since 2011.

The installation is quite simple. A TYPO3 extension has to be installed in the TYPO3 instance to be monitored and a key pair, which is necessary for the secure data exchange, has to be stored. Then the domain of the website is stored in the TYPO3 monitor. From now on, the website will be monitored.

Alarm for updates
For each site you can set individually when an email should be sent. For us it was important to distinguish between the following 2 scenarios:

1. the customer should decide if an available update should be applied. 
2. an available update should be imported directly according to the contract.

So the TYPO3 Monitor can be configured for every website and every need and sends mails to the customer or to us. From the mails to us, tickets are directly created in the customer maintenance contract, which are then implemented by the developers.

Current status
At this year's TYPO3 Camp Stuttgart the TYPO3 Monitor was presented to the public by me for the first time, because there was a demand for the topic "Monitoring of TYPO3". In a session I presented the tools I know and explained the functions of the TYPO3 Monitor in daily use.

Even though the TYPO3 Monitor has been reliably fulfilling its core function for many years, it has always been developed with our internal purposes in mind. Due to the demand in the community we have now decided to extend the TYPO3 Monitor to make it available to other agencies as well.

Currently the TYPO3 Monitor is in the CLOSED BETA phase. This means that interested participants get an account to test the system.

What's next?
Afterthe CLOSED BETA phase there will be an open BETA phase. Here everybody will be able to create an account. In addition, there will be more features that are already in the pipeline. In the future it will also be possible to host the TYPO3 Monitor on your own servers.

Stay on the ball! Up-to-date information about the TYPO3 Monitor will be published on the website https://www.t3monitor.de and on Twitter @t3monitor .