HQbird 2027: What's New

Release notes for HQbird 2027. Installers: HQbird 2027 Download.

This document lists the changes in each HQbird 2027 release, newest first. Each release adds a new section at the top; earlier sections stay.

Downloads: HQbird 2027 Download (files under /download/hqbird/v2027/) (Windows setup .exe and Linux .run for Firebird 2.5, 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0; SHA256SUMS has the checksums). Docker images: GitHub Packages (ghcr.io/ibsurgeon/hqbird2027-fb25, -fb30, -fb40, -fb50).

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2027.2.28 (2026-11-12)

Versions

Component	Version	Changed
HQbird agent (fbagent, enroll)	3.0.0	yes
HQbird Monitor	1.53.1	yes
Config editor (in HQbird Monitor)	1.56.0	yes
fbmcp (MCP server for Firebird)	2027.2.21	no
HQbird RCM	2027.5.8	no
HQCluster node	2027.5.8	no
Firebird	2.5.9.27194, 3.0.15.33893, 4.0.8.3332, 5.0.5.1917	no

Agent 3.0.0

• FBDataGuard import takes over existing verified and nbackup journals into the new jobs, keeps FBDataGuard level names (naming.noPrefix), and names imported jobs with the database name.
• Group backups can mirror the source folder tree (paths.mirrorSourceTree), including after FBDataGuard import.
• Create a user in a security database through the Local API (secdb_user_create); HQ Monitor’s Security.fdb/Users page uses it.
• Built with Go 1.26.11 (GO-2026-6859 in net/http).
• Video/nbackup calendar fix for the HQbird 2027 explainer; gbak login options refused in vbackup jobs with a clear message.

HQbird Monitor 1.53.1 + config editor 1.56.0

• Security.fdb/Users settings page and Create user dialog.
• Boxes for “Repeat the source folder tree” and nbackup naming.noPrefix.
• Configs page collapses equal consecutive conf copies; Firebird version from agent 2.98.0+ DetectVersion records is shown again.

2027.2.27 (2026-11-10)

Versions

Component	Version	Changed
HQbird agent (fbagent, enroll)	2.99.0	yes
HQbird Monitor	1.53.0	yes
Config editor (in HQbird Monitor)	1.55.0	yes
fbmcp (MCP server for Firebird)	2027.2.21	no
HQbird RCM	2027.5.8	no
HQCluster node	2027.5.8	no
Firebird	2.5.9.27194, 3.0.15.33893, 4.0.8.3332, 5.0.5.1917	yes (3.0, 4.0, 5.0)

Firebird builds

Windows and Linux packages for Firebird 3.0.15.33893, 4.0.8.3332 and 5.0.5.1917 replace the previous kit builds. Firebird 2.5.9.27194 is unchanged.

Server status on every database

The agent still lists five databases in databases[], but it now judges every database on the host. Databases outside the list appear in one finding per rule (…/_others), with a count and the worst names. Rates (tx/min, deadlocks, GC) come from the agent’s own counters for every database. Each active_findings entry carries evidence and hint.

Backup jobs that refuse a setting

For agent 2.99.0 and newer, a new vbackup or nbackup job with a setting the agent refuses is saved disabled, with a clear reason. An enabled job in the live file is not turned off: Save is blocked. Problems shows such a job in amber; Run now is off for it. A disabled nbackup job that conflicts with another job of the same database is a warning, not an error; a forced run of that disabled job is refused so it cannot break the enabled chain.

Resource guard defaults (schema 33)

The default CPU threshold is 30% (was 20). Persist after confirmed trips is 3 (was 2). Agent self-health restart confirm cycles is 2 (was 3). A run the guard cancels is no longer counted as a task failure.

HQbird Monitor report and servers

The Servers page shows the agent verdict, level and headline in the status cell. The report header uses the verdict; system panels (Agent, Disks, Transactions, Replication) show detail tables from the snapshot. Three or more findings with the same key prefix can merge into one card. API answers use compact JSON and gzip when large enough.

Config editor

Run now shows which database will run, with tick boxes for a group job. Nbackup plan mode uses 24-hour time and shows the agent zone offset. Keep counts sit beside each level; compression options show only for Deflate.

Upgrading

Install or update with the 2027.2.27 Windows setup or Linux .run, or take the components from the zone catalog after they are published. Plan mode and cycle retention still need agent 2.98.0 or newer; saving a refused backup job disabled needs agent 2.99.0 or newer.

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2027.2.26 (2026-11-10)

Versions

Component	Version	Changed
HQbird agent (fbagent, enroll)	2.98.0	yes
HQbird Monitor	1.52.0	yes
Config editor (in HQbird Monitor)	1.53.0	yes
fbmcp (MCP server for Firebird)	2027.2.21	no
HQbird RCM	2027.5.8	no
HQCluster node	2027.5.8	no
Firebird	2.5.9.27194, 3.0.15.33892, 4.0.8.3331, 5.0.5.1916	no

Incremental backups: plan mode

An nbackup job, for one database or for a group, can now run from a plan. Each rule names a level (0 to 4), the days and the time. The configuration editor shows the rules, a calendar of the coming weeks, the next runs and a storage forecast. Read-only accounts can open the calendar.

• Same minute, lower level. When two rules start in the same minute, the lower level runs. A plan can also force a level 0 when the last full backup is older than a set number of days, and a lower level when an increment grows past a share of the database size.
• A failed higher level does not throw away what was built. If level 0 is built and a higher level fails, the built levels count. The retry builds only the missing levels. A group retry runs only the failed databases.
• Retention can keep whole cycles. Policy cycles keeps a level 0 together with its increments, by number of cycles, by days and by a size limit. The newest complete cycle is never deleted. Policy levels is unchanged.
• Plan mode needs agent 2.98.0 or newer. The editor refuses to save a plan, or cycle retention, for an older agent. An agent older than 2.98.0 is not offered an update while an enabled job uses plan mode or cycle retention. A config push to an agent that is already older, an installer downgrade and a restored config are not blocked: an agent before 2.98.0 makes no backup for a plan job and gives no warning.
• Simple mode, same minute. A weekly level 0 that starts in the same minute as a daily level 1 now runs. A group job runs a slot once, and does not run level 0 again after a level 1 cycle.

Resource guard

• The hard memory restart now comes in about 1.5 minutes. The guard looks every 30 seconds, including during its grace and its cooldown, and no longer waits for a trip or for the 5-minute server status. This restart runs only in mitigate mode. In watch there is no hard limit.
• A running backup, restore or SQL script holds that restart until memory reaches 1.5 times the limit. Above that the agent restarts and names the jobs in the log. While a restart is blocked, the guard cancels a running performance report.
• A CPU trip lasts until the CPU falls. Low memory no longer ends it at once. A memory trip, in the same way, lasts until the memory falls. Hosts with frequent CPU trips will see more paused tasks during a cycle.
• When one running task holds the memory, the guard cancels that run and returns the memory to the operating system. Other tasks are not paused for that. A task the guard switches off stays off until you clear it and reload the configuration. While it is off, the agent status shows a warning.
• A memory trip during an open CPU cycle takes over. Tasks the CPU cycle had paused run again, and the memory rules decide.
• A run cut short by a service stop, an update or a self-restart is no longer recorded as a timeout.
• watch set just after --bootstrap-config is kept at the first start. Previously the first start turned it into mitigate.

Performance reports

• The report timeout now stops the build. timeout_seconds stops at the next minute file. A cancelled window writes no report. A window whose build is cut short twice (a cancel, the timeout, a crash or a memory restart) is closed with a short note, and the next window is built. An ordinary stop of the agent is not counted.
• HQbird Monitor says why there is no report. Those closed windows are listed with a one-line reason. The page opens the latest real report by default. A query for such a window says “No Perf report for this time”.
• The upload to HQCenter skips the temporary files that exist only while a report is being built.

databases.conf and aliases.conf

• Add database is a dialog with Alias and Path, in place of two browser prompts. A refused entry (duplicate alias, a path already in the file, a character the file cannot hold) stays in the dialog with what you typed. The new entry is unsaved until Save.
• Firebird 2.5 opens aliases.conf as text only. The Form/Text switch is hidden, and the Configs page shows aliases.conf snapshots.
• A missing copy has a clear message. In remote mode, before the agent has sent the file, the page says the copy comes after the agent restarts.
• Save works on a Linux install when the agent cannot write next to the file. The backup then goes to the agent’s bak/ folder. If the file itself cannot be written, the error names the account and the command, sudo chown <account> <path>. A new Linux setup gives databases.conf (aliases.conf on 2.5) to the agent account. An existing install needs the chown once; see Upgrading.
• After the agent moves to another HQCenter, or is reinstalled with its data folder kept, the first start sends a fresh copy. The editor is not left on “no source” until someone edits the file.
• If Firebird is not running at start, the agent retries version detection until it succeeds. Start-up does not wait for it.

Verified backup

• A group test-restore path without a trailing separator is a folder shared by every database of the group. Two databases no longer race to create one file, which made gbak fail with “Access is denied”.
• Two databases with the same file name in different folders do not restore into one file. That test restore is skipped and named; the backups are still made.
• A test restore no longer refuses its own copy because a client is attached to it. The agent drops those attachments and restores again. Changing the restore path no longer deletes a file the job did not restore.
• A packed restored database keeps the name you set inside the archive (for example RESTORE_R.FDB), not the backup file’s stem. The archive file name does not change.

Upgrading

• Run the 2027.2.26 setup over the installed version (Windows .exe, or sudo sh hqbird2027-fbNN-linux-2027.2.26.run --yes). Agents with auto-update get 2.98.0 from HQCenter.
• Plan mode and cycle retention need agent 2.98.0. An older agent makes no backup for a plan job. Do not point a plan at an agent you still need to keep below 2.98.0: while such a job is enabled, that agent is not offered the update.
• On an existing Linux install, if Save of databases.conf fails with “permission denied”, run once sudo chown firebird /opt/firebird/databases.conf (on Firebird 2.5: sudo chown firebird /opt/firebird/aliases.conf).
• Firebird, HQbird RCM, HQCluster node and fbmcp are the same builds as in 2027.2.25.

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2027.2.25 (2026-11-09)

Versions

Component	Version	Changed
HQbird agent (fbagent, enroll)	2.97.0	yes
HQbird Monitor	1.51.0	yes
Config editor (in HQbird Monitor)	1.52.0	yes
fbmcp (MCP server for Firebird)	2027.2.21	no
HQbird RCM	2027.5.8	no
HQCluster node	2027.5.8	no
Firebird	2.5.9.27194, 3.0.15.33892, 4.0.8.3331, 5.0.5.1916	no

Agent memory and the resource guard

• The resource guard acts by default. Mode is mitigate at 4 GiB of agent memory (was watch at 1 GiB), and the agent restarts itself at 8 GiB. In watch the guard only wrote reports, so a perf-report window could hold 18–28 GB with no action. Existing agents move to the new defaults once (config schema 31). To keep the old behaviour, set resource_guard.mode to watch after the update.
• Backups and delivery are never paused or turned off by the guard. The protected list now includes vbackup, nbackup, the packer and send_outcoming. Before, a memory or CPU trip could stop a backup until its job was missed, or stop uploads including the guard’s own report.
• A task the guard turns off shows as Suspended in the configuration editor (disabled_by: resource_guard). Clear & enable turns it back on.

Perf report memory

• Statements without a plan are grouped by text with literals replaced. Under perf_group_by: plan, an EXECUTE BLOCK sent with new values each time was a new entry each time, and process_perf_report grew to tens of gigabytes on replication hosts. Such statements are now keyed with strings and numbers replaced by ?. Minute files stay readable by older and newer agents. HQ Monitor finds the Performance report row through the new group_key.

Setup

• The Server name page can check the server again. The 2027.2.24 setup asked the agent for an install plan with --agent-id, and the agent refused that pair, so the page stopped with “Setup could not check this server”. 2.97.0 accepts --agent-id with --install-plan.

Self-restart limits

• Daily and cooldown restart limits hold across the restarts they limit. They were counted only in memory, so every new process started with a fresh allowance and an agent past the hard memory limit could restart every half hour all day. The agent now keeps restart_history.json across starts.

Upgrading

• Run the 2027.2.25 setup over the installed version (Windows .exe, or sudo sh hqbird2027-fbNN-linux-2027.2.25.run --yes). Agents with auto-update get 2.97.0 from HQCenter.
• After the update, check resource_guard.mode if you relied on watch only. Backups stay protected; other tasks may show Suspended after a memory trip — use Clear & enable when the host is healthy again.

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2027.2.24 (2026-11-09)

Versions

Component	Version	Changed
HQbird agent (fbagent, enroll)	2.96.0	yes
HQbird Monitor	1.50.0	yes
Config editor (in HQbird Monitor)	1.51.0	yes
fbmcp (MCP server for Firebird)	2027.2.21	yes
HQbird RCM	2027.5.8	yes
HQCluster node	2027.5.8	yes
Firebird	2.5.9.27194, 3.0.15.33892, 4.0.8.3331, 5.0.5.1916	no

Cluster: publication before init, space and short names

• A reinit is refused when the publication is off (or on with no table that has a key). Before, RCM could finish an init and show “Ok” while the replica never received a change. The init dialog reads the publication state first; the job code is publication_off. Sync the publication, then init again.
• “Remove the old replica copy” frees space for a large reinit. When the replica volume is short, the reinit can remove the previous replica database before the copy (both nodes need 2027.5.8). The pair stays NEEDS_REINIT until the new image is in place. Without the option, a space error names it when it would help.
• Shorter member names. RCM names a new member from the agent’s

ode_name (the server name from the setup) as -master / -replica, instead of a long id with the date and -fb50. Link hosts shows the Member ID. Members that already exist keep their ids.

• A table list per database for the verify and the periodic data check. A table that a database does not have is “absent”, not a mismatch. The data-check settings in RCM apply without a node restart.
• The first init in the smooth mode works under write load when the archive is still empty (the node waits for writers that began before the publication). The false parse_no_observations alert on a new master with no published database is gone. Conflicts during the replay after a smooth reinit no longer raise eplication_conflict_resolved.

Agent updates and traffic

• The agent id from the setup is the server name as typed (no -fb50 suffix). Folders and Windows services keep their instance names.
• Less traffic to HQCenter / goafts. One shared mTLS connection; release checks about once an hour while the config poll works; a staged node or RCM that is not installed is checked every 6 hours; the version report is sent only when it changes. The config editor shows the healthy-poll and staged-check intervals.

fbmcp

• Operator CLI (bmcp ctl) prints one line per command; doctor and pprove are clearer. Gated tools check arguments before the gate. The tool list hides tools the caller cannot use.

Upgrading

• Run the 2027.2.24 setup over the installed version (Windows .exe, or sudo sh hqbird2027-fbNN-linux-2027.2.24.run –yes). Agents with auto-update get 2.96.0 from HQCenter.
• Update the agent, HQbird Monitor, RCM and the nodes together for the cluster changes (protocol minor 18). An older node refuses

emove_old_replica.

• After the update, sync the publication on every master database before the next reinit if it was left off.

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2027.2.23 (2026-11-07)

Versions

Component	Version	Changed
HQbird agent (fbagent, enroll)	2.95.0	yes
HQbird Monitor	1.49.0	yes
Config editor (in HQbird Monitor)	1.50.0	yes
fbmcp (MCP server for Firebird)	2027.2.20	no
HQbird RCM	2027.5.7	no
HQCluster node	2027.5.7	no
Firebird	2.5.9.27194, 3.0.15.33892, 4.0.8.3331, 5.0.5.1916	no

Command history of every job

• The agent keeps the commands it launched. Every job that runs gbak, nbackup, gfix or another tool now has a history: up to 50 launches per job and phase. In HQbird Monitor, the config editor’s Commands band shows the two newest launches under each planned command (time, database, command, copy button), “Show more” up to 50, and a “differs from the plan” mark.
• Test restore band: the two newest events, each with the backup command and the restore command that made and read the file.
• “Will be created” shows the real test restore path, also when the config leaves the vbackup folders blank.

vbackup checks

• gbak -Y is refused in every vbackup job. -Y sends gbak’s output to a file, so the agent’s log check failed and the backup was deleted. The config editor marks the option, and the agent does not apply a config with it. The HQbird 2024 import drops -Y.
• A job that streams to S3 refuses -SE in the restore options too.
• The test restore replaces its old copy also when clients use it. The agent disconnects the other attachments of the old test database first (only in its own test restore or backup folder).
• New vbackup jobs and imported legacy jobs restore with -rep, so gbak overwrites the test database a previous run left.

Setup

• Linux: the setup opens its ports in ufw when firewalld is not active, and the uninstall removes those rules.
• Windows: XNET works on the second Firebird of a host. A Firebird on a port other than 3050 gets IpcName = FIREBIRD_<port>.
• Shorter setup output.

Fixes

• HQbird Monitor shows the agent version of every Windows server. On a server set up with the default folders (for example C:\HQbirdData\fbagent-fb50), the agent did not send its status file, so HQbird Monitor showed no agent version for it. The agent now sends the file from any logs folder.
• databases.conf: DatabaseAccess is no longer offered in a per-database block (Firebird ignores it there; set it in firebird.conf).
• HQbird Monitor: with “reduced motion” in the system, links inside a page jump to their target without smooth scrolling.

Upgrading

• Run the 2027.2.23 setup over the installed version (Windows .exe, or sudo sh hqbird2027-fbNN-linux-2027.2.23.run --yes). Agents with auto-update get 2.95.0 from HQCenter.
• Check your vbackup jobs for gbak -Y: after the update the agent refuses such a job. Remove -Y and its file name from the backup and restore options.
• A databases.conf block that sets DatabaseAccess now fails the check: move the setting to firebird.conf.

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2027.2.22 (2026-11-06)

Versions

Component	Version	Changed
HQbird agent (fbagent, enroll)	2.94.2	yes
HQbird Monitor	1.48.0	yes
Config editor (in HQbird Monitor)	1.48.0	yes
fbmcp (MCP server for Firebird)	2027.2.20	no
HQbird RCM	2027.5.7	no
HQCluster node	2027.5.7	no
Firebird	2.5.9.27194, 3.0.15.33892, 4.0.8.3331, 5.0.5.1916	no

Linux setup through sudo

• HQ Monitor now installs when the .run setup runs through sudo. In 2027.2.21 and before, sudo sh hqbird2027-fbNN-<ver>.run installed Firebird and the agent, but not HQ Monitor (the setup showed only a warning). Now the console runs as the owner of agent_config.json (firebird). When HQ Monitor is not installed, the summary gives no console address.
• On a host installed through sudo with 2027.2.21 or before: run the 2027.2.22 .run setup again with sudo sh ... --yes. It updates the installation in place and installs HQ Monitor.
• A failed product helper shows its reason in one line of the setup log.
• Uninstall: --setup-uninstall also removes the RCM that the setup made, and on Windows the uninstall of the last Firebird line removes fbmcp.

Encrypted backup archives

• A vbackup job can encrypt its zip archive with AES-256 (WinZip AES, opens in 7-Zip with the password). Keys are in the new backup_encryption block of the agent config; in HQ Monitor: Settings, “Backup encryption keys”, and “Encrypt (AES-256)” in the vbackup forms. The agent checks the archive with the key before it deletes the .fbk. Restore, test restore and Run now read encrypted archives on disk and in S3. See docs/BACKUP_ENCRYPTION.md of the agent.
• Escrow: with escrow_public_key set, the config snapshot carries the passwords sealed to the owner’s key (--escrow-keygen, --escrow-open).
• HQbird 2024 import carries the zip passwords of upload jobs over as keys, so the agent restores the archives HQbird 2024 sent.
• A restore on Linux no longer leaves the unpacked backup readable by every user (folder mode 0750, owner of the target folder).
• An agent older than 2.94.2 writes archives in the clear and cannot read an encrypted one: update every agent that restores these backups.

Backups and sweep

• vbackup maxDurationMin stops only the server gbak of its own job. Before, on Firebird 3 and 4 it also stopped another gbak -se of the same database; on Firebird 2.5 the cancel failed.
• Sweep no longer disconnects a running gbak -se on Firebird 2.5, 3 and 4 (pre_disconnect with keep_process_pattern), when the client gbak runs on the same host as the agent.
• Backup jobs imported from FBDataGuard get twice the time limits by default (vbackup backup 480 min, restore 960 min; nbackup 48 h), when the legacy job file does not set them.

HQ Monitor

• Servers page: the Firebird mode from the goafts server list. A console that reads its server list from goafts now shows the Firebird mode; this needs goafts with the same fix (it comes with the next site stack).
• Demo mode keeps the word “Database”. A database file named database.fdb no longer makes demo mode mask every “Database” label.
• User Guide for 1.47 (English and pt-BR), with new pictures.

Security

• The compression libraries of the agent and HQ Monitor are updated (brotli 1.2.7, klauspost/compress 1.20.2; GO-2026-6888, GO-2026-6865).

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2027.2.21 (2026-11-05)

Versions

Component	Version	Changed
HQbird agent (fbagent, enroll)	2.94.1	yes
HQbird Monitor	1.47.0	yes
Config editor (in HQbird Monitor)	1.47.0	yes
fbmcp (MCP server for Firebird)	2027.2.20	new
HQbird RCM	2027.5.7	no
HQCluster node	2027.5.7	no
Firebird	2.5.9.27194, 3.0.15.33892, 4.0.8.3331, 5.0.5.1916	no

2027.2.20 was not released: its setups had an old agent build. 2027.2.21 has all its changes, with agent 2.94.1.

fbmcp: one per host

• The setup now installs fbmcp, the MCP server for Firebird. There is one fbmcp per host; it serves every Firebird line of the host. The setup runs fbmcp ctl hqbird-install. Options: --no-fbmcp, --fbmcp-allow-from, --fbmcp-port, --fbmcp-dns, --fbmcp-ip. A problem in this step is a warning, not a failed install.
• API keys are a separate step: fbmcp ctl apikey new.
• The agent updates fbmcp like its other products. The agents of one host take turns through a host lock.
• On Linux the fbmcp binary belongs to root (/opt/hqbird/fbmcp). Before an update is put in place, root checks its vendor signature. An unsigned build or an older version is refused. On a host installed before, run fbagent --refresh-sudoers as root once.

Firebird mode

• HQbird Monitor shows the mode Firebird runs in (SuperServer, SuperClassic, Classic): in the Servers list after the version, and in the report header. When firebird.conf sets another mode, a note says that it takes effect after a Firebird restart.
• New findings: engine/server_mode_pending (info, a ServerMode change waits for a restart) and engine/server_mode_conflict (warning, Classic runs with ServerMode = Super, so new connections fail).
• Prometheus: fbagent_firebird_server_mode_info{mode}.

databases.conf keeps its comments

• A push of databases.conf from HQbird Monitor no longer removes comments, empty lines and CRLF. The agent ships a byte-exact copy of the file, and the push editor opens this copy.
• When the file on the server changed after the editor opened it, the agent refuses the push. The page asks you to make the change again on the current file.
• With an older agent the editor opens the old snapshot and warns before a save that comments will be lost.

Backups

• nbackup merges the delta of a crashed run at the next tick. Before, the database stayed in backup lock until the next backup run.
• A streamed backup no longer waits for ever on a dropped network link: an S3 call with no progress for 3 minutes fails the upload.
• A multipart upload that stays open after a network break is listed in s3-open-uploads.json; the next run aborts it.
• vbackup maxDurationMin now stops a backup through the Services API too.
• A failed test restore removes its partial database (Windows too).
• A restore from object storage on Firebird 3 uses the Services API: about five times faster (1 GB: 22 s against 107 s).
• A config with vbackup errors (a duplicate job id, an enabled job with no database) is refused, and the config ack names the error.

Fixes

• Metadata tracking reports a change only when the schema changed. Before, every metadata_tracking run reported a change, because it compared the zip files and not the schema text in them.

• --cluster-init and --cluster-join no longer leave the agent stopped. The setup also checks the agent service after --cluster-init and starts it when it is stopped.

• Windows setup: log rotation and the agent log now move with the data folder. An agent installed before keeps its config: set log_rotation.logs_path to storage.data_path by hand.

• HQbird Monitor, Servers page: right after a new install it waits for the first agent data and opens the table by itself.

• Chart time labels are back at Last 1h and Last 6h.

• Config editor: a file_send target has an “Add field…” list; the vbackup group form no longer shows settings that do nothing; the database picker shows aliases on Firebird 2.5.

• Report colors for serious, warning and ok findings.

• User Guide for 1.46 (English and pt-BR) with new pictures; many console texts translated in all five languages.

Upgrading

• Update the agent and HQbird Monitor together: the Firebird mode and the databases.conf push editor need agent 2.94.1.
• Linux hosts installed before: run fbagent --refresh-sudoers as root, so the agent can update fbmcp.

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2027.2.19 (2026-11-04)

Versions

Component	Version	Changed
HQbird agent (fbagent, enroll)	2.93.0	yes
HQbird Monitor	1.46.0	yes
Config editor (in HQbird Monitor)	1.46.0	yes
HQbird RCM	2027.5.7	yes
HQCluster node	2027.5.7	yes
Firebird	2.5.9.27194, 3.0.15.33892, 4.0.8.3331, 5.0.5.1916	no

Who uses memory

• A new “Who uses memory” card in HQbird Monitor. It is on the dashboard under the CPU and disk cards, closed at first. It shows a RAM bar (Firebird, the agent, other services, file cache, kernel, free), the services (Linux) or programs (Windows) that hold the most memory, and memory by kind over the selected time range.
• Databases in the OS cache (Linux 6.5 and later): how much of each database file the operating system keeps in memory.
• New finding “Firebird memory pressure” (Linux): the share of time Firebird waited for memory. Warning at 10%, serious at 25%. The hint names the service limit, the service that holds the RAM and the databases that left the OS cache. The thresholds are in the config editor, Server status section.
• The RAM % on Linux is now total minus available. Before, memory in tmpfs and /dev/shm (for example Firebird sort files) was not counted. On such hosts the percent is now higher; the thresholds do not change. The chart marks the minute of the change with a dashed line.
• Memory by service is on by default. To turn it off, use the config editor: System metrics, Memory by service.

Cluster: install without HQCenter

The setup now makes a cluster manager (HQbird RCM) on the host and gives it a first administrator. Other hosts join it from the RCM console.

• The setup creates the cluster RCM. At the end it prints the RCM console address, the login rcmadmin and the first password. RCM asks you to change the password at the first login (new Password page).
• The RCM console uses HTTPS on port 7444. The login page shows the cluster CA hash and lets you download the CA certificate.
• Link hosts. In the RCM console, Settings, Link hosts: enter the hosts where HQbird is installed. RCM invites each agent; an agent accepts an invitation for 24 hours after setup (port 7450).
• Settings, Cluster page in RCM: the cluster, the agents that joined, join tokens and revoke.
• RCM keeps the cluster programs for the hosts. The setup copies its signed HQCluster node and RCM releases to RCM, and the agents offer theirs. HQCluster node and RCM on the hosts update from RCM, not from the download server.
• HQbird Monitor, Clusters page can work with RCM directly: set rcm_admin_url, rcm_admin_user and rcm_admin_password_file.
• The setup opens ports 7443, 7444, 7051 and 7450 in the firewall; uninstall closes them. To install without RCM, use --rcm off.

Certificates (gencerts)

• gencerts keeps the cluster CA: -add signs a certificate for a new node, -renew extends certificates, -renew-ca extends the CA, -list shows the end dates. Before, a new node or a renewal needed a new CA and a restart of every node.
• The CA is now valid for 10 years; node certificates stay at 90 days.

Linux installer (.run)

• The .run now installs when the distribution package firebirdN-server-core is present (for example on Ubuntu 26.04 with HQbird 2024). This package has only the engine libraries. Before, the .run stopped with exit code 7. The package firebirdN-server (a distribution Firebird server) still stops the install.

Upgrading

• Update the agent and HQbird Monitor together: the memory card needs agent 2.93.0.
• An agent that is already in a cluster stays as it is. The new cluster install applies to new installations.
• Existing HQCenter clusters keep working as before.

---

2027.2.18 (2026-11-04)

Versions

Component	Version	Changed
HQbird agent (fbagent, enroll)	2.92.0	yes
HQbird Monitor	1.45.0	yes
Config editor (in HQbird Monitor)	1.45.0	yes
HQbird RCM	2027.5.6	no
HQCluster node	2027.5.6	no
Firebird	2.5.9.27194, 3.0.15.33892, 4.0.8.3331, 5.0.5.1916	no

Backup-restore cycle and restore

• gfix goes through the local server. Every gfix of a restore and of the cycle (shutdown, online, header fixes, the shutdown again on rollback) opens the database as localhost/<port>:<path>. Before, gfix opened it through the embedded engine first. While the server held the file, this failed at once, and the cycle rolled back without a shutdown.
• Windows: a file being read no longer stops the cycle. When another program (for example a virus scanner) held the cycle’s state file, the write failed with “Access is denied” and the cycle rolled back a healthy database. The agent now waits and tries again.
• Recovery deletes the .fbk. After the agent was stopped during the restore or the swap, the recovery kept the backup file. Now it deletes it, as the rollback does.
• gbak options on one line. The extra backup and restore options are one text field, as on the command line: -p 16384 -bu 2048. Before, they were a list with one argument per line, and -P 16384 on one line made the agent refuse the cycle. Old configs are converted.
• Sizes of a small database show in TB, GB, MB or KB, not 0.0 GB (+0 MB).

Jobs

• A new job does not show a deleted job’s history. A job deleted and created again at the same place showed the old job’s last command and result. Now the history belongs to the job by its id.
• Config editor: the restore consent box is shown once, under the Restore heading. It is one setting for all restore jobs.

Upgrading

• Update the agent and HQbird Monitor together. The one-line gbak options need agent 2.92.0 (config schema 30); with an older agent the editor keeps the list.
• After the update the agent rewrites old option lists into one line. A rollback puts back the config saved before the update.

---

2027.2.17 (2026-11-03)

Versions

Component	Version	Changed
HQbird agent (fbagent, enroll)	2.91.0	yes
HQbird Monitor	1.44.0	yes
Config editor (in HQbird Monitor)	1.44.0	yes
HQbird RCM	2027.5.6	yes
HQCluster node	2027.5.6	version only (same code as 2027.5.5)
Firebird	2.5.9.27194, 3.0.15.33892, 4.0.8.3331, 5.0.5.1916	no

Database state from the header page

• The agent reads the state of each database from its header (gstat -h): full shutdown, single-user and multi-user maintenance, nbackup lock and merge, replica, read only. Every 5 minutes it also reads the header of databases that nobody is attached to. A database in full shutdown has no attachments, so before it did not show at all.
• No attach to a database in shutdown. When the header says shutdown or maintenance, the agent does not attach for its metrics. In single-user maintenance its attachment could take the one place the DBA needs.
• HQbird Monitor shows state badges under the database name on the dashboard and next to it on the database page: full shutdown (red), single-user, multi-user shutdown and nbackup lock (yellow), nbackup merge, replica and read only (blue). The tooltip says where the state comes from and when. A database in full shutdown is listed again.
• Sweep interval. The dashboard list and the database page show the automatic sweep interval from the header: “Sweep 20000”, or “Sweep off”.

Backup-restore cycle renames the database aside

• No staging folder and no safe copy any more. The cycle shuts the database down full, renames it to <db>.orig4replace_<date>T<time>, backs it up, restores into <db>.temp4replace beside it and renames the new file in. Each failure before the swap puts the original back online. Free space: two database sizes on one volume (file mode), one in pipe mode.
• A database with a databases.conf block is used through temporary aliases with the same block. They are written before the shutdown: when the agent cannot write databases.conf, the run fails and the database stays online.
• Originals kept: 1 by default (1 to 10), beside the database.
• The cycle deletes its .fbk after the swap. A backup whose restore failed is kept as <job>_<date>T<time>.restore-failed.fbk.
• Config editor: the cycle form has the backup folder only; the staging, safe copy and swap folders and the shutdown mode are gone. The database picker does not offer the cycle’s own files.

Config editor: tooltips and lists

• Every field, section and task has a written description, checked against the agent’s code, in English, Russian, German, Spanish and Portuguese (Brazil). The description comes first, the JSON key last.
• Fields with a fixed set of values are lists: compression and its level, logging.level, goafts.mode, the nbackup and dump group job order and checks, and others.
• An imported backup family with all jobs off shows 0 of N on and all jobs off, not gates differ.

HQbird Monitor

• Dashboard layout v2. “← Servers” is back in the header of every server page. “Server status” at the start of the time line opens the newest report. Six cards start closed and open with a click; the open cards are remembered. From 769 px every chart row has two columns. Windows agents have no Load Avg line.
• Errors page: Export CSV downloads every row with the current filters and time range; the date of each error is under its time.

HQbird RCM: the HQbird Monitor look

• The RCM web UI takes the HQbird Monitor style: header and logo, menu, badges, tables, cards, buttons, dialogs and the login page. The fonts are embedded: no request leaves the RCM host.
• Color scheme and density. Settings → RCM → Appearance: Light, Dark or High contrast, and Compact, Normal or Sparse. The choice is shared with HQbird Monitor on the same host.

Fixes

• Disk IO by service on Windows: late ETW events were counted twice (up to 28% more bytes than the disk after a burst at the end of a minute).

Upgrading

• Update the agent and HQbird Monitor together. The state badges and the sweep interval need agent 2.91.0; older agents show none.
• Backup-restore cycle: paths.stagingRestoreDir, paths.safeOriginalDir, stagingDir and shutdown.mode are not read any more (one warning per job). Check free space beside the database. retention.keepSafeOriginals unset or 0 now keeps 1 original (was 3).
• Update RCM before the HQCluster nodes.

---

2027.2.16 (2026-11-03)

Versions

Component	Version	Changed
HQbird agent (fbagent, enroll)	2.90.0	yes
HQbird Monitor	1.43.0	yes
Config editor (in HQbird Monitor)	1.42.0	yes
HQCluster node, RCM	2027.5.5	no
Firebird	2.5.9.27194, 3.0.15.33892, 4.0.8.3331, 5.0.5.1916	no

Disk IO by service: who uses the disk

• The agent now sees who moves the bytes of each disk. Each minute it splits the reads and writes of each measured disk into Firebird, the agent and the busiest other services (up to 8 rows; the rest is “other”).
  • Linux: one row per systemd service (cgroup v2), with up to 3 program names. A Firebird row is marked “shared” when other programs run in the same service.
  • Windows: one row per process, from a kernel ETW session of the agent.
• HQbird Monitor, Dashboard: “who uses the disk” table under the Disk IO charts. For the chosen disk it shows, for the 10 minutes before the snapshot, each service with its programs, reads and writes per second and its share of the disk.
• Firebird lines of this disk. When the services are known, the Firebird read and write lines on the Disk IO chart show this disk only, not all disks. The legend then says “this disk”. On Windows only the read line: writes through the cache belong to the system.
• Better disk hints in the server status. The slow disk and disk stall hints name the top disk user, for example “top disk user: postgresql@16-main 80% of reads (Firebird 10%)”. When slow writes wait behind another service’s reads, the hint names that reader.
• Config editor: Disk IO has the switch disk_io.by_service (on by default).
• Linux needs IO accounting. It is off on a plain Ubuntu 24.04, Debian 13, Rocky 9 or Alma 9. Without it the table says why and gives the command to turn it on: sudo systemctl set-property <agent unit> IOAccounting=yes. The agent does not turn it on itself.
• Privacy: with disk_io.by_service and system_metrics.programs on, the names of other services and their programs leave the host. Turn system_metrics.programs off to keep only the Firebird and agent rows, or disk_io.by_service off to send no services at all.

HQbird Monitor: navigation and empty pages

• Breadcrumb line under the header. Every page shows its path, for example Servers › SRV › employee › Statistics › Trends. Each step is a link. It replaces the ← Servers button.
• Metrics and Clients Versions say why there is no data. By default the agent reads MON$ only for the active databases, up to 10 per server. The page now says when the agent does not collect this database, or collected it only at other times. A snapshot that the agent could not read shows the agent’s message and an orange frame instead of a row of zeros.
• Dashboard gstat chips open the report tab that explains them. The chip and the trend tab show the same forecast.
• Report Backups table shows the full database path and a new kind column (none, nbackup_locked, stale, …).

Fixes

• Agent: client versions. A time-out or a lock error on Firebird 3, 4 or 5 was written as “Firebird 2.5 has no MON$CLIENT_VERSION” and counted as a success. Now it is a warning and the database fails the run.
• Agent: advanced database stats. An attach error was counted as a success. Now the database fails the run, and HQbird Monitor shows the warning on the Metrics page.
• HQbird Monitor: long paths in the report Queries table and on the Conflicts page wrap inside their cell.
• HQbird Monitor, demo mode: the folders in a finding key are masked too (they often hold the customer’s name).
• HQbird Monitor: debug fields with console paths go to admins only.

Upgrading

• Update the agent and HQbird Monitor together. The “who uses the disk” table needs agent 2.90.0.
• On Linux, turn on IO accounting for the agent’s unit to see the services (command above). Without it the other features work as before.
• disk_io.by_service is on when the config does not have it. Nothing else to do.

---

2027.2.15 (2026-11-02)

Versions

Component	Version	Changed
HQbird agent (fbagent, enroll)	2.89.0	yes
HQbird Monitor	1.42.0	yes
Config editor (in HQbird Monitor)	1.41.0	yes
HQCluster node, RCM	2027.5.5	no
Firebird	2.5.9.27194, 3.0.15.33892, 4.0.8.3331, 5.0.5.1916	no

CPU and memory by program

• The agent now sees which programs use the host. Each minute it records the CPU and memory of Firebird, of the agent itself and of the busiest other programs (top 5 by CPU, top 3 by memory). Processes are grouped by program name. Processes that live too short to be named are counted as “short-lived processes”.
• HQbird Monitor, Dashboard: new Programs row under Disk IO. A bar shows the host CPU split into Firebird, agent, other programs, short-lived processes and idle. A table lists the top programs with average and maximum CPU, memory and share of RAM. Click a minute on any chart to see the 10 minutes around it. A chart beside the table shows the same split over the whole time range.
• Better hints in the server status. When Firebird uses less than half of the host CPU, the CPU hint names the top program, for example “top program: java ~58% of host CPU (Firebird 12%)”. The memory hint names a program that holds more memory than Firebird.
• Config editor: Host CPU/RAM has the switch system_metrics.programs (on by default).
• Privacy: with the switch on, the names of other programs leave the host. Command lines, paths and users do not. Turn the switch off to keep the names on the host.

Disk IO: Firebird reads and true Firebird writes

• Firebird reads per second are now on the Disk IO chart (Linux). “Disk reads 100 MB/s, Firebird 29 MB/s” can be read at a glance. The server status has the Firebird read share per disk, and a slow-read hint says when Firebird reads only a small part of the bytes on a disk.
• Fixed: Firebird writes above the disk’s writes. Linux counts a page as written when it turns dirty, also when its file is deleted before it reaches the disk (Firebird sort files and /tmp/firebird). HQbird Monitor could show “Firebird 21 MB/s” on a disk that wrote 15 MB/s. Now the agent subtracts these cancelled writes. HQbird Monitor draws the Firebird write line only from the new data; the tooltip shows the part dropped before the disk.

Fixes

• Disk speed test (perf_test) on a Classic server without database_dir failed with “Permission denied”: it chose a root-owned folder. On Linux it now takes the folder of a database that Firebird holds open, and skips folders that the agent or Firebird cannot write to. Windows Classic still needs database_dir.
• HQbird Monitor: the hint of Temp files (count) lists the kinds of files behind the count (fb_sort, fb_blob, fb_lock, …).
• HQbird Monitor: a report link without a date opens the day of the newest snapshot instead of an error.
• HQbird Monitor User Guide (English and pt-BR) covers 1.40 and 1.41 with new pictures.

Upgrading

• Update the agent and HQbird Monitor together. The Programs row and the Firebird read line need agent 2.89.0.
• Right after the agent update, the Firebird write share is empty for 10 minutes and the Firebird write rate until the first new minute.
• Existing agent configs get the system_metrics section on upgrade. Nothing else to do.

---

2027.2.14 (2026-11-02)

Versions

Component	Version	Changed
HQbird agent (fbagent, enroll)	2.88.0	yes
HQbird Monitor	1.41.0	yes
Config editor (in HQbird Monitor)	1.40.0	yes
HQCluster node, RCM	2027.5.5	no
Firebird	2.5.9.27194, 3.0.15.33892, 4.0.8.3331, 5.0.5.1916	no

Backup jobs keep their service files in the agent’s data folder

• The backup folder now holds only backups. vbackup and nbackup jobs (individual, group, dump) keep the journal, status, reports, run records, schedule state and gbak logs in <data_path>/job_state/<config path>/job-<id>/. Before, these files were beside the backups and were named after the database file.
• Files belong to the job id, not to the database name. A renamed database no longer starts a new journal, so the old backups made under the old name are rotated again. An old journal that no job takes over is merged into the job’s journal when the job alone uses the folder.
• Reports: the newest 100 are kept (group jobs: 200).
• nbackup: one journal per chain, in the folder of the job that makes level 0. An advanced job above level 0 with no level 0 job of the same database and folder does not run and reports W_NB_CHAIN_NO_LEVEL0. Before, it made its own level 0.
• A job removed from the config: its state folder is deleted after 30 days. Its backups stay and show as unattributed.
• Test restore file is named by the job id: restore.<job id>.fdb (group: restore.<job id>.<db key>.fdb).
• Config editor: the job id row shows the folder of the service files. A saved job’s id is read-only. The journal path field is removed; paths.journalPath is deprecated (W_BACKUP_JOURNALPATH_IGNORED).

Disk speed test (perf_test) runs only at night

• Execution window, default Saturday 22:00 to Sunday 06:00 in the agent’s time zone. Outside the window a run is skipped. Inside it the test stops before the window ends.
• The default schedule is Sunday 01:00 (was 05:30) with a 900 s limit (was no limit). Your own schedule or limit is kept.
• Only one test runs at a time. After a timeout or cancel, the test database is dropped (the agent retries for up to 100 s).
• The test no longer writes an error into the Firebird trace.
• The config editor shows the window on the Jobs row; the timeout column reads “Timeout, s”.

Fixes

• Log rotation no longer deletes the agent’s state and backups. With the default settings, rotation walked the agent’s data folder and deleted files older than 10 days, including backups in the default backup folder, journals and the license markers.
• Backups and databases are no longer sent to the console with the logs (fblogspacker 1.5.8). Job reports and gbak logs still travel.
• Server status counts group backups per database. A database backed up only by a group job had no last backup and a false warning backups/none.
• HQbird Monitor: Jobs and Backups are marked in the top menu on their own pages. Info messages stay 5 s.

Upgrading

• Update the agent and HQbird Monitor together.
• The agent moves the service files of each backup job at its first run after the update. Until that run, the files are copied, so a rollback to 2.87.0 still finds them.
• Remove paths.journalPath from backup jobs; the config editor does it on Save after the move.
• Check advanced nbackup jobs above level 0: each needs a level 0 (or simple) job of the same database and folder.

---

2027.2.13 (2026-11-02)

Versions

Component	Version	Changed
HQbird agent (fbagent, enroll)	2.87.0	yes
HQbird Monitor	1.40.0	yes
Config editor (in HQbird Monitor)	1.39.0	yes
HQCluster node, RCM	2027.5.5	yes (node fixes; RCM has the same code as 2027.5.4)
Firebird	2.5.9.27194, 3.0.15.33892, 4.0.8.3331, 5.0.5.1916	no

Disk speed of the database and temp disks

• New job collect_disk_io (Windows and Linux, every minute, on by default). It reads the disk counters of the operating system for the disks with databases, the Firebird temp folders and disk_io.extra_paths: operations, bytes, busy time, read and write latency. It puts no load on the disk. disk_io.enabled turns it off.
• Server status (schema 22), area io:
  • io/disk_latency/<disk>: reads against 20 / 50 ms, writes against 10 / 30 ms (with ForcedWrites each commit waits for a write);
  • io/disk_stall/<disk>: the slowest minute of the last hour against 200 / 1000 ms. Two slow writes in one minute are now seen; the 10-minute average hid them;
  • a disk without databases (temp only) is a warning at most;
  • when the agent’s own backup or sweep makes the disk slow, the finding is info and names the task.
• Baselines: the read and write latency of each database disk joins the hour-of-day baselines. 8 ms on a disk that is usually at 0.5 ms is reported.
• Prometheus: fbagent_host_disk_reads_total, _writes_total, _read_bytes_total, _written_bytes_total, _read_time_seconds_total, _write_time_seconds_total, _busy_time_seconds_total and fbagent_host_disk_info.
• HQbird Monitor dashboard: a new row of Disk IO charts per disk: read and write latency with the IOPS, and MB/s read and written. A yellow band marks the minutes of the agent’s own heavy tasks (backup, restore, sweep, disk speed test). On Linux a dashed line shows what Firebird wrote: much less than the disk wrote means another program loads the disk. The temp files chart has a third line: the speed of the temp disks.
• Config editor: a Disk IO row in the Health check group and the new thresholds disk_io_write_latency_ms and disk_io_stall_ms.

Server state over a period (HQbird Monitor)

• Health report matrix. The top of the report shows one row for the server and one per system (18 systems). Each cell is 1 h, 4 h or 6 h of 24 hours, 7 days or 14 days, colored by the worst level in it. A click on a cell opens the report at that time. Option “only systems with problems”. Below: totals, a chronology of the problems, and System details with charts (CPU, memory, disk write latency, attachments) and dashed threshold lines.
• Server strip on the Servers page and the dashboard: one cell per status snapshot, green, orange or red; hatched grey for a gap. The tip shows the time, the level, the headline and the problem areas. A click opens the report at that snapshot. On the dashboard it replaces the AI report widget.
• Previous and next snapshot buttons in the report, also across midnight. Back and Forward of the browser now work in the report.

Backup status

• Another server’s files in a shared backup folder no longer count as this server’s. They are shown as unattributed files and folders, with the info finding backups/foreign_files. Its action in the config editor opens the backup scan paths.
• The backup scan has a time limit: backup_status.scan_max_seconds (default 120 s). The status names each folder that was cut short.

Security (Linux installation)

• Root no longer follows symbolic links in the agent and HQbird folders, during --install and in the installer scripts.
• Root runs only the checked copy of the HQbird agent, from its own temp folder.
• Archive extraction (Firebird update, setup) cannot write outside the target folder.
• Downloads use https only, redirects included. A host whose curl cannot check the certificate pin (CentOS 7) stops with a message: pass --bootstrap-ca FILE.
• The enrollment token and the SYSDBA password are no longer visible in the process list. New options --token-file FILE and --sysdba-pass-file FILE; the environment variables FBAGENT_ENROLL_TOKEN and SYSDBA_PASS also work.
• HQCluster node: no setting can add a line to replication.conf through a line break, and a database path with a control character is skipped.

Fixes

• TempDirectories in firebird.conf is split on ;, as Firebird does.
• The agent’s bak/ folder keeps the 3 newest copies of each file after a self-update. One host had 27 old binaries (1.2 GB) there.
• Linux --install --service-name X no longer replaces the default agent service.
• HQCluster node: the enroll reply could read settings that another request was changing at the same moment.
• HQbird Monitor local install scripts keep the 3 newest binary copies.

Upgrading

• Update the agent and HQbird Monitor together. The Disk IO charts, the disk thresholds and the disk findings need agent 2.87.0; with an older agent HQbird Monitor shows no Disk IO row.
• The disk IO job is on after the update. Set disk_io.enabled to false to turn it off.
• Where a shared backup folder holds other servers’ backups, the number of databases in the backup status can drop after the update. This is expected.
• HQCluster: update RCM first, then the nodes, to the same version 2027.5.5.

---

2027.2.12 (2026-10-31)

Versions

Component	Version	Changed
HQbird agent (fbagent, enroll)	2.86.0	yes
HQbird Monitor	1.39.0	yes
Config editor (in HQbird Monitor)	1.37.0	yes
HQCluster node, RCM	2027.5.4	no
Firebird	2.5.9.27194, 3.0.15.33892, 4.0.8.3331, 5.0.5.1916	no

Linux limits of Firebird

On Linux the HQbird agent now watches the operating system limits that stop Firebird from starting new processes, threads or files. This matters most for Classic Server, where each connection is a process.

• What is measured, each minute: the systemd task limit of the Firebird service (TasksMax) and the refused forks, the process limit of the Firebird user (LimitNPROC), open files (LimitNOFILE), the host’s kernel.threads-max, pid_max, fs.file-nr and OOM kills. cgroup v1, v2 and hybrid are supported.
• Server status (schema 19) has a new area limits with the peak of the last 10 minutes. A warning comes at 80% of a limit and a serious finding at 95% (setting server_status.thresholds.limits_usage_pct). Refused forks, thread-creation errors in firebird.log and OOM kills are serious at once. For Classic the status says how many more connections the closest limit allows. The hint gives the command to raise the limit; the agent changes nothing itself.
• Also new in server status: swap traffic, tasks blocked on I/O and CPU steal (finding memory/swap_activity).
• Prometheus: fbagent_host_limit_used, fbagent_host_limit_max and fbagent_host_firebird_connections.
• Less load: one pass over /proc replaces three. On a host with 3,500 processes it takes about 17 ms instead of about 100 ms.
• firebird.log: thread-limit errors (pthread_create failed and similar) count as resource errors, not as authentication failures. Deleted lock files (“TouchFile failed … No such file or directory”) are a new serious class, lock_files.
• HQbird Monitor shows the limits area in the health report after memory.

Backup-restore cycle

• Saturday 02:00 by default. A backup-restore cycle job with an empty schedule ran every 5 minutes and replaced the live database each time. It now runs on Saturday at 02:00 in the agent’s time zone (0 0 2 * * 6). A new job gets this schedule and starts disabled. The job form has its own Schedule field and shows this default.
• An interrupted cycle is undone or finished. The agent keeps a file that names the step in progress. After a stop or a crash it reads the file at start: a cycle stopped before the swap is rolled back, one stopped in the middle of the swap gets the original database back, and one stopped after the swap is finished. The job result is a warning with the reason interrupted. A cycle that fails while the agent runs rolls back the same way. Guide: see the backup-restore cycle documentation shipped with the agent.

HQbird Monitor and Config editor

• “Configuration” is now “Jobs” in the server menu, the server list and the editor header. The address /agent-config/ does not change.
• Job forms show their fields in titled groups, in two columns. Rare groups are folded under More settings; Expand all and Collapse all do every group. A group with an empty required field or a warning opens by itself. Groups about one feature (S3 streaming, file transfer, test restore, shutdown before the swap, disconnect before sweep) have its switch in the title. No field was removed.
• Sizes next to percents. The CPU and RAM chart (dashboard and Servers page) shows used and total RAM in the RAM % tooltip, for example RAM %: 63 (10.1 GB / 16.0 GB). The disk bars show used and free sizes under the percents; a tooltip on a bar gives the mount, used, free and disk size. The health report CPU card adds the RAM sizes. An older agent without sizes still shows only percents.
• On the Servers page the charts of an opened server list all lines of the hovered minute (CPU, Load and RAM), as on the dashboard.

Fixes

• Backup-restore cycle: the free space check adds up the backup file, the staging database and the safe copy on each disk they share.
• Backup-restore cycle: the safe-copy rotation of one job no longer counts (and deletes) the copies of another job in the same folder.
• Backup-restore cycle: a reconnecting client no longer fails the cycle. When Firebird refuses gbak -b or gfix -online because the database is shut down, the step runs again (up to 10 times). Before, a refused gfix -online could leave the database offline.

Upgrading

• Update the agent and HQbird Monitor together. An older agent runs a backup-restore cycle with an empty schedule on every tick, whatever the editor shows. Set an explicit schedule on such jobs if you keep an older agent.
• The Linux limits need no setup. Linux only; Windows hosts show no limits area.

---

2027.2.10 (2026-10-31)

Versions

Component	Version	Changed
HQbird agent (fbagent, enroll)	2.85.0	yes
HQbird Monitor	1.36.0	yes
Config editor (in HQbird Monitor)	1.35.0	yes
HQCluster node, RCM	2027.5.4	no
Firebird	2.5.9.27194, 3.0.15.33892, 4.0.8.3331, 5.0.5.1916	no

Backups

• Group backups: “Auto-exclude individual backups”. The vbackup, nbackup and nbackup dump group jobs have one new setting. On (the default, also for existing configs): a database that has its own individual backup job is left to that job. Off: the group job backs it up too. For nbackup, “off” gives a warning, because two level chains of one database break each other. The old “Autoexclude VIP databases” setting is gone from the group forms.
• Group scans no longer skip databases in use. A backup does not depend on whether a database has connections. A test restore still never writes over a database in use.
• The job result shows the test restore. For a vbackup job with the test restore on, the job result has the restore result (ok, failed, skipped, not run), the gbak restore command, the exit code, the duration, and the source and target files. HQbird Monitor shows this as a Test restore row in Last outcome.

Which job backs up a database:

HQbird Monitor and Config editor

• Top bar buttons say what they do: Discard changes, Save and Save and apply now. When the agent offers “Save and apply now”, it is the main button.
• Mask hints. Each group form says what the include and exclude masks are matched against, and what an empty include list means.
• "+ Add job" scrolls to the new job’s form.

Fixes

• A database with its own nbackup dump job was also taken by the nbackup group scan, so two jobs wrote levels into one backup history.
• A test restore into a folder (for example C:\TEMP\GROUP RESTORE\) failed. A path that ends with \ or /, or names a folder, now gets a default file name: restore.<db.key>.fdb (group) or restore.<db.id>.fdb (individual).
• The backup journal held null instead of an empty list after the first backup of a database failed.

Upgrading

• FBDataGuard import: autoExcludeVIPDB maps to the new group setting.
• Update the agent and HQbird Monitor together. With an older agent the new “Auto-exclude individual backups” box has no effect, and the Test restore row is not shown.

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2027.2.9 (2026-10-30)

Versions

Component	Version	Changed
HQbird agent (fbagent, enroll)	2.84.0	yes
HQbird Monitor	1.35.1	yes
HQCluster node, RCM	2027.5.4	no
Firebird	2.5.9.27194, 3.0.15.33892, 4.0.8.3331, 5.0.5.1916	no

Setup

• New names by Firebird line and instance number. A new agent is named after the Firebird line, not the port: fbagent-fb50, then fbagent-fb50-2, fbagent-fb50-3. The same suffix is on the agent service, the HQbird Monitor service, the agent id and the data folder. A second Windows Firebird of the line gets Firebird50-2 and service FirebirdServerHQBirdInstanceFB5-2. Installed agents keep their names on update and repair.
• Windows setup opens the HQbird Monitor port in Windows Firewall (rule HQbird Monitor (TCP <port>)). Uninstall removes the rule.
• New page order and plain texts in the Windows setup: Server check results, Installation type, Older HQbird services, Installation folders, Firebird server, SYSDBA, HQbird Monitor, Trial period, License file, Connect to HQCenter, Ready to Install.
• A refused install plan stops Next only on the page with the setting to change, and says which setting (Firebird port, Firebird folder or service name, HQbird Monitor port).
• Docker: the container keeps the agent’s folder in setup-state.env, so a changed HQBIRD_FB_PORT no longer loses the agent.

HQbird agent and HQbird Monitor

• The server status gives the time of the daily filesystem check.
• HQbird Monitor server report: the filesystem cards list the paths found (up to 5, with the reason) and the time of the check.
• HQbird Monitor server report: larger text.

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2027.2.8 (2026-10-30)

Versions

Component	Version	Changed
HQbird agent (fbagent, enroll)	2.83.0	yes
HQbird Monitor	1.35.0	yes
Config editor (in HQbird Monitor)	1.34.0	yes
HQCluster node, RCM	2027.5.4	no
Firebird	2.5.9.27194, 3.0.15.33892, 4.0.8.3331, 5.0.5.1916	no

Setup

• The uninstaller and a copy of the setup go into <HQbird folder>\setup\fbNN, not into Program Files.
• A silent new install without /HQMPASS gets HQbird Monitor user admin with a generated password, as documented. Before, it ended with exit 1.
• Windows: a new HQCluster node or RCM goes into the HQbird folder (<HQbird folder>\hqclusternode, <HQbird folder>\hqbirdrcm). Installed nodes do not move.
• Windows installers work in PowerShell 7.

HQbird Monitor

• Server report: one Errors card and an Errors section with the three most frequent kinds of trace error. KPI cards link to their section. Top queries show the execution plan and a link to the Performance report.
• Errors page shows the application, client address and ERROR AT function of each trace error. A click puts the value into the filter.
• databases.conf editor: one backup copy per edit session instead of one per Save, a Reload button, and the editor fills the window. The database picker lists the databases and aliases that databases.conf names.
• Logs: a server without firebird.log or replication.log shows an empty log instead of an error.
• Demo mode no longer freezes large pages.
• Settings keeps the server navigation.

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Earlier releases

See the product changelogs: fbagent CHANGELOG.md, HQbird Monitor CHANGELOG.md, Config editor configeditor/CHANGELOG.md.