ZEN Master 18 November 2025 Release Notes
25 min
The following updates will be included in the ZEN Master release for November 11th, 2025.
Features
The following new features were implemented in this release:
- API Keys:
- API Keys now have an expiration date, along with the option to attach 1 or more Roles. The addition of Roles means now possible to set granular permissions on API keys to control what API operations are allowed using that key.
- All existing API keys, those created prior to the November 18th update, will expire 1 year from the release, on November 18th 2026.
- For new keys created after the release, the default and max. expiration is 1 year.
- See Configuring API Keys
- Live Events:
- As of November 18th 2025, Zixi will begin the process of transitioning Live Events to use Failover Sources as part of the planned deprecation of Failover Channels.
- The Live Events UI is updated to work with Failover Sources.
- To support Failover Sources, two new API parameters are introduced:
- NEW - failover_source_ids for POST/PUT.
- NEW - failoverSources for GET/responses.
- As of the release. Two API parameters are being marked as deprecated. Both parameters will remain fully functional until their scheduled retirement in April 2026:
- Deprecated - failover_channel_ids.
- Deprecated - failoverChannels.
- See Adding a Live Event
- Failover Channels deprecation:
- In the August 18th release of ZEN Master, Zixi ceased further duplicative development of Failover channels and transitioned to focusing on Failover Sources.
- Existing Workflows and API endpoints remain until the planned completion in April 2026.
- As of November 18th, 2025, the Failover Channel UI is marked for deprecation and moved to the “More Options” menu in the New Channel page for this release.
- We will begin the process of transitioning Live Events to use Failover Sources directly, and associated UI updates in the next release.
- See
- ESNI UI:
- The November 18th release introduces the monitoring tools for the ESNI Scheduling back-end.
- The UI is available when the ESNI server module of ZEN Master is enabled and configured.
- Speak to your technical representative to arrange a demo.
- See
- Change Tracking
- Will now record the initial creation of the object in order to store the initial configuration
- Applie only to objects created after this release
- See Change Tracking
- Support Private-IP-Only for AWS Cluster administration:
- When selecting a VPC with a NAT Gateway - there is no longer a need to attach a public ipv4 to instances for administration.
- This has multiple potential benefits:
- Reduces public IPV4 costs.
- Allows the use of a second NIC with a Public IP for DPDK server without the need to allocate an additional elastic IP.
- Potential security benefits.
- ‘Private IP’ support for Zixi PUSH Sources:
- ‘Private IP’ is now supported for Zixi PUSH Sources between systems within ZEN Master.
- NOTE: If checked, only the specific Broadcasters as selection options for ‘Target Broadcaster’.
- The resulting ‘Private IP’ will be displayed in the source details.
- Broadcaster Upgrade detailed dialog:
- Continuing progress for broadcaster version tools within ZEN Master, the Broadcaster dialog is once again available via the Broadcaster’s top right menu.
- As of the November release the “Install Version” option provides the more details Broadcaster Installation Dialog:
- Broadcaster active metrics.
- Current, and Target Version selection.
- System Architecture confirmation details.
- The ‘Active Objects’ table allows users to disable/mute objects before upgrading.
- “Error Message’ panel.
- The ‘Install’ action button.
- ‘Install’ will upload the selected installer to the Broadcaster and initiate the upgrade.
- The Installation script runs as before, and ZEN Masters standard monitoring cycle continues to monitor during the process
- Pre/Post-Installation Objects Status shown side by side:
- As the Installation begins:
- The ‘Initial Status’ column records an historical snapshot of the pre-install object 2.3.4.status.
- The current object ‘Status’ column continues to monitor the objects.
- a.Users can therefore compare the original and current status of an object as the upgrade progresses and connections are restored.
- The ‘Broadcaster’ column will also reflect if a PUSH or PULL source has failed over to another broadcaster in the cluster if it was considered to do so.
- Upgrade completion, error messages, etc. will appear in the GUI as the installation progresses, and be logged.
- Note – The historical status and any other data preserved in the dialog is front-end only and will be lost when the Operator exits the dialog.
- Conversely, Users wishing to perform consecutive upgrade, such as to step through an interim version to reach the final version, can re-use the dialog without the need to exit.
- Automatic recovery all ZM Sources/Channels/Targets on AWS broadcasters that get terminated/restarted by AWS:
- AWS Instances can be terminated for a variety of reasons outside of ZEN Masters control, such as AWS retirement, manual termination via the AWS Console, underlying system loss, etc.
- A subset of ZEN Master managed configurations exists locally in the instance, such as those of Zixi PULL inputs, UDP Outputs, etc.
- ZEN Master will now automatically recreate these configurations on the new instance that is launched by the AWS Auto-Recovery system, thus no longer requiring a manual restart of the object by the ZEN master operator.
- See Zixi and AWS
- New multi-select confirmation dialogs and tools:
- Dialogs confirming changes on multiple objects now display the list of objects and the result of the action, successful or otherwise, for each object.
- When performing a group action, such as muting many sources at once, the rearchitected table provides improved clarity and filtering for object management.
- See Actions on Sources
Improvements and Changes
- Multi-edit forms now support updating Cluster/Target Broadcaster:
- Users can update the ‘Processing Cluster’ and ‘Target Broadcaster’ for multiple Channels at the same time.
- ZEN Master diagrams can now be exported as PNG files.
- Full screen mode for tabs/panels in details view:
- Enhances ability to easily monitor singular tabs and details screens in NOCs etc.
- Zixi Pull Sources now support alternative hosts:
- For Disaster Recovery configurations involving the Alt. Host mechanism, PULL Sources are now supported.
- It is now possible to stop/start AWS Broadcasters without deleting them:
- Individual broadcasters in AWS Clusters can now be disabled and enabled.
- Note: This feature requires an IAM policy update.
- Live Events can now be ordered by countdown.
- Support for new AWS instance types
- Options now include instances from the c8gn family, as well as c7gn.4xlarge.
- Added an event log when objects are put into flapping
- Remote IP is now logged on connection/reconnection for Sources.state.
- “Automatically switch to Preferred Source” is now the default for new Failover Sources.
- Opening a link to an object that doesn't exist will now show a ‘404 landing’ page
- Further optimizations to Channel/Target list page initial loading times.
- Added WebVTT positioning to Transcoded/Adaptive Channels.
- In the Channel advanced section, the controls appear when ‘Convert CEA-708 to WebtVTT’ AND ‘Custom WebVTT Positioning’ are both enabled.
- See:
- Added playback (VLC/WebRTC) buttons to thumbnail Grids:
- VLC Playback option is available in the Grid element hover-over.
Added used packet counters to Failover Source diagrams:
- Removed the ZEN Master generated ID’s from TAG Multiviewer source implementation.
- Exposed Adaptive FEC controls on Zixi Sources/Targets.
- See the docs on adding Zixi Sources and Targets
- Added SDT table to existing Stream Analyzer:
- For Operators with the need to confirm SDT entries in the DVB tables.
API Changes
New API Endpoints
- Broadcasters (AWS Clusters only):
- NEW: PUT /broadcasters/{id}/enable or /disable.
- No payload.
- New API to list recent SCTE-35 messages on a Source:
- NEW: GET /scte35.
- List SCTE-35 messages for the specified Sources.
- Targets:
- NEW: PUT /targets/assignToChannelByExternalId.
- Assign a Target to a Channel using External IDs.
API Field Additions
- All object types:
- NEW object_link.
- Live Events:
- NEW external_link.
- Optional URL String.
- Default: empty.
- Channels:
- NEW WebVTT positioning fields.
- Adaptive, Transcoded Channels.
- Clusters:
- NEW private_ips_only.
- Optional boolean.
- Default: false.
- Failover Channels and Failover Sources:
- NEW automatic_max_bitrate boolean.
- SCTE-35 manipulation on Targets (POIS only for now):
- Types: rist, rtmp_push, srt_targets, udp_rtp, zixi pull/push.
- NEW enable_scte35_insertion.
- NEW scte35_insert_on_null_timeout.
- REMOVED scte35_replace_with_null.
- SCTE-35 manipulation on Sources:
- NEW scte35_insert_on_null_timeout.
- REMOVED scte35_replace_with_null.
- Sources / Targets:
- NEW adaptive_fec.
- Optional boolean.
- Default: true.
- Sources: Zixi Pull, Push, ZEC Push, MediaConnect.
- Targets: Push.
- Sources - Zixi Pull:
- Updated remote_host: Can now be a comma separated list of hosts.
- Transcode Profiles:
- New fields for logo insertion.
API Documentation Updates and Changes
- All:
- Standardized all ZM API Response Codes.
- Broadcasters, Feeders, Receivers:
- Updated tunnel_username to string.
- Channels:
- Combined Channels under one group.
- Events log:
- Added details about pagination.
- MediaConnect Sources:
- Added Documentation.
- Roles:
- Added API Keys schemas.
- Added new permissions.
- Sources:
- Added Error Concealment and SCTE-35 Manipulation.