ODK Central v1.1

We are excited to announce a new release of ODK Central, the ODK server. Central replaces Aggregate, which is no longer being updated.

If you haven't used Central, the easiest way to get started is with ODK Cloud. Our cloud hosting provides Central servers with automatic updates, daily backups, uptime guarantees, and fast support on any issues.

If you are technical and prefer to self-host, start with our installation docs.


Release Overview

Central v1.1 makes improvements to viewing and downloading Submissions and makes improvements to backups. It also adds an App User QR code that sets up ODK Collect so that it exactly matches the Forms available on Central.

This version adds Indonesian to the Central web management interface. As always, we are deeply appreciative of the translators who contribute their work to ODK. If your language is missing from Central, please contribute it!

Improvements to Viewing and Downloading Submissions

You can now limit the rows that appear in the Submission table, filtering by the Submission author and the date. These filter controls are available just above the Submission table and also apply to the Submission download.

You can also show more columns in the table by accessing the "Columns shown" dropdown and selecting the columns you wish to see. In addition, you can now download Submission data without media files and without data from repeat groups.

These features are also available via the API. You can filter which Submissions you download, as well as specify if you want media files included. The API also now provides access to a CSV that can be used and automatically refreshed in downstream reporting tools.

For more information on accessing Submissions, click here.

App User Managed QR Code

By default, the App User QR code will now set up ODK Collect so that it exactly matches the Forms available to the App User, including automatically applying updates. Users will not need to manually Get Blank Forms.

For more information on App User QR codes, click here.

Improvements to Backups

It is now possible to immediately download a backup of your database to your own computer. As of Central v1.1, you will need to have managed backups configured in order to access this functionality in the web management interface. You can also use the API to download a backup without configuring managed backups. Finally, Central will now send an email if a scheduled backup fails.

For more information on immediate backups, click here.

Other Highlights

Thanks in part to feedback from our users and contributions from community developers, we have made a number of additional improvements:

  • Speed up the initial load time of the web management interface.
  • Add help links and a link to view the version of ODK Central in use.
  • Indicate the strength of a new password. Thanks to @dexter21 for contributing this feature!
  • Add the ability to view the Form XML in the browser.
  • Allow a Submission to attach the same file twice. Thanks to @cesar and @danbjoseph for reporting this issue!
  • Prevent API endpoint ambiguity by prohibiting a form ID ending in .xml, .xls, or .xlsx. Thanks to @aurdipas for reporting this issue!
  • Exclude deleted App Users from the App User count. Thanks to @dmenne for reporting this issue!
  • Fix an issue that caused exports with large Media Attachments to fail.

As always, we have updated our User Documentation and API Documentation for the latest changes.

More notes about changes to the API for v1.1 can be found in the Changelog, which lists additions, breaking changes, and other things of note for each major release.

What’s Next

To learn more about the roadmap for Central, read What’s coming in Central over the next few years.

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ODK Central v1.1.1 is now available. It includes the following bug fixes:

  • Fix an issue downloading an immediate backup of a larger database.
  • Fix an issue restoring from an immediate backup.
  • Fix an issue sending email after a scheduled backup fails.
  • Do not generate an audit log entry if backups are not set up.
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ODK Central v1.1.2 is now available. It includes the following changes:

  • App User Managed QR codes will now set up ODK Collect to automatically send finalized Forms as soon as a connection is found.
  • Upgrade pyxform to v1.3.4.
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