jrohel/NetMount client-v1.5.0,server-v1.4.2

NetMount client version 1.5.0 and server version 1.4.2

on GitHub

Changes in NetMount server version 1.4.1 -> 1.4.2

NetMount Server 1.4.2 focuses on improved compatibility with older systems and optimization.

Build compatibility with FreeBSD 14.2 has been restored. This fixes a regression introduced in NetMount
1.4.0, where the use of std::chrono::utc_clock in the logging system broke the build on platforms
lacking support for it.

On Windows, the networking library is no longer linked unnecessarily when it's not needed - when
using serial port sharing via the built-in network stack.
Furthermore, on systems older than Windows Vista that lack support for inet_pton and inet_ntop,
the server automatically falls back to using the legacy inet_addr and inet_ntoa functions.

Optimizations

• Optimize volume label handling by skipping directory list

  Volume label requests are now handled directly, without generating
  the directory list.

Compatibility with older systems

• Use chrono::system_clock instead of chrono::utc_clock in log

  std::chrono::system_clock is sufficient for logging purposes.
  The resulting binary is smaller, and the system_clock is supported
  by older standard libraries, which improves compatibility. For example,
  the standard library in FreeBSD 14.2 does not support
  std::chrono::utc_clock.

• udp_socket_win: Use our to_big/from_big instead of hton/ntoh

  Replaced calls to htons, ntohs, and ntohl with our own to_big16,
  from_big16, and from_big32 functions. These are already used elsewhere
  in the codebase, so we no longer need to rely on the Windows versions.

• udp_socket_win: Dynamic load "ws2_32.dll" at runtime when needed

  The "ws2_32.dll" dependency is now loaded dynamically at runtime, and only
  if networking functionality is actually required. Previously, the library
  was linked at build time, which meant network functions were always needed,
  even when unused - such as when using serial port sharing.

  When serial port sharing is used, the server relies on a built-in,
  OS-independent network implementation. Therefore, there's no need to
  depend on Windows networking libraries at all.

  This change allows the server to run and share data over a serial port
  even on Windows systems without networking support (e.g., stripped-down
  configurations). Previously, Windows Vista or later was required due to
  link-time dependencies on inet_pton and inet_ntop.

• udp_socket_win: inet_pton/ntop fallback for pre-Vista Windows

  On Windows, inet_pton and inet_ntop are only supported starting with
  Windows Vista. To maintain compatibility with older versions, custom
  helper functions ip_from_string and ip_to_string were introduced.

  These helpers use inet_pton/inet_ntop when available, and fall back
  to the legacy inet_addr and inet_ntoa functions otherwise. This
  ensures IPv4 support across a wider range of Windows versions.
  The legacy functions have been available since the early days of IPv4
  support in Windows - at least since Windows 95 and Windows NT 3.1.

Other

• udp_socket_win: Log NOTICE if falling back to inet_ntoa/addr

  Logs a NOTICE if inet_pton and inet_ntop are unavailable (likely
  on pre-Vista Windows), and the server falls back to using inet_addr
  and inet_ntoa.

Binaries

The release includes the complete NetMount source code (server and DOS client) and server builds:

• 2 builds of server for Windows: for i686 and x86_64 (cross-compiled using MinGW on Linux, tested using Wine on Linux, and on Windows XP SP3)
• 4 builds of server for Linux: i686, x86_64, ARM aarch64 big endian, ARM aarch64 little endian (ARM binaries tested using QEMU)

The DOS client has not changed in this release; if needed, use DOS client builds from the older release https://github.com/jrohel/NetMount/releases/tag/client-v1.5.0%2Cserver-v1.2.0 .