Ghost Release: 3.42.7

TL;DR

Ghost 3.42.7 introduces a critical fix for the ETag header issue that was causing outdated admin content to be served after upgrades. It also adds a new forceUpgrade configuration setting for better upgrade management and improves the release notification system. This maintenance release focuses on improving caching behavior and upgrade experiences rather than adding new user-facing features.

Highlight of the Release

• Fixed ETag header issue that was causing outdated admin content to be served after upgrades
• Added new forceUpgrade configuration setting for better upgrade management
• Improved release notification system with new workflow integration

Migration Guide

No migration steps are required for this release. The update can be installed using your standard Ghost update process.

If you're using custom code that interacts with the admin interface caching mechanisms, be aware that the ETag generation has been modified to use content-based hashing rather than relying on file metadata.

Upgrade Recommendations

This release is recommended for all users as it fixes an important caching issue that could cause the admin interface to malfunction after upgrades.

The update is particularly important for:

• Sites that have recently upgraded or plan to upgrade soon
• Installations that use caching mechanisms or CDNs in front of the Ghost admin interface

The upgrade process follows the standard Ghost update procedure and requires no special steps or configuration changes.

Bug Fixes

Admin Interface Caching Fix

• Fixed a critical issue with the ETag header for admin templates not changing between versions (#13695)
  • Previously, the admin interface could serve outdated cached content after an upgrade
  • This could result in broken functionality due to references to JS/CSS files that no longer existed
  • The issue was caused by weak ETags from Node's send package combined with consistent file sizes and fixed modification dates from npm pack
  • Solution: The Admin app's controller now reads the template and generates an MD5 hash of the contents to serve a strong ETag header value
  • This ensures proper cache invalidation when serving the /ghost/ admin interface

New Features

New Configuration Options

• Added forceUpgrade configuration setting as a property of host_settings
  • This new setting can be used together with the Built-in Members Authentication (BMA) feature
  • The configuration is passed to the Admin client for better upgrade management

Improved Release Workflow

• Added RELEASE_NOTIFICATION_URL secret to the release workflow
  • This enhancement allows for automated notifications when a release is completed
  • Integrated with the action-ghost-release GitHub Action for streamlined release processes

Security Updates

No security fixes were included in this release.

Performance Improvements

Caching Improvements

• Improved caching behavior for the admin interface by implementing proper ETag header generation
  • The new implementation uses MD5 hashing of template contents to ensure accurate cache invalidation
  • This allows browsers to properly cache admin interface content while still receiving updates when new versions are deployed
  • Eliminates unnecessary reloads while preventing stale content issues

Impact Summary

Ghost 3.42.7 is primarily a maintenance release that addresses an important caching issue with the admin interface. The fix for the ETag header ensures that after upgrading Ghost, users will always receive the correct version of the admin interface rather than potentially outdated cached content.

The addition of the forceUpgrade configuration setting provides administrators with more control over the upgrade process, especially when used in conjunction with the Built-in Members Authentication feature.

The release workflow improvements with the RELEASE_NOTIFICATION_URL secret enhance the development and release process, though this change is mostly relevant to Ghost core contributors rather than end users.

Overall, this release improves reliability and maintainability without introducing any breaking changes or requiring migration steps.

Full Release Notes