9.3. Migrating from Anjay 2.3.x or 2.4.x

9.3.1. Introduction

While most changes since Anjay 2.4 are minor, some of them (changes to commonly used APIs such as Attribute Storage and offline mode control) are breaking. Additionally, avs_commons cryptography support libraries have undergone a significant redesign and there are some changes which might prove to be breaking if old APIs have been used directly.

Additional slight updates might be necessary if you are using any alternative build system instead of CMake to compile your project, of if you maintain your own implementation of the socket layer.

9.3.2. Change to minimum CMake version

Declared minimum CMake version necessary for CMake-based compilation, as well as for importing the installed library through find_package(), is now 3.6. If you’re using some Linux distribution that only has an older version in its repositories (notably, Ubuntu 16.04), we recommend using one of the following install methods instead:

This change does not affect users who compile the library using some alternative approach, without using the provided CMake scripts.

9.3.3. Changes in Anjay proper

9.3.3.1. Change of security configuration lifetime

  • Getter function for retrieving security information from data model

    • Old API:

      anjay_security_config_t *anjay_security_config_from_dm(anjay_t *anjay,
                                                             const char *uri);
      
    • New API:

      int anjay_security_config_from_dm(anjay_t *anjay,
                                        anjay_security_config_t *out_config,
                                        const char *uri);
      
    • The security configuration is now returned through an output argument with any necessary internal buffers cached inside the Anjay object instead of using heap allocation. Please refer to the Doxygen-based documentation of this function for details.

      Due to the change in lifetime requirements, no compatibility variant is provided.

9.3.3.2. Refactor of the Attribute Storage module

The Attribute Storage feature is no longer a standalone module and has been moved to the library core. From the user perspective, this has the following consequences:

  • Explicit installation of this module in runtime is no longer necessary. The anjay_attr_storage_install() method has been removed.

  • The ANJAY_WITH_MODULE_ATTR_STORAGE configuration macro in anjay_config.h has been renamed to ANJAY_WITH_ATTR_STORAGE.

  • The WITH_MODULE_attr_storage CMake option (equivalent to the macro mentioned above) has been renamed to WITH_ATTR_STORAGE.

Additionally, the behavior of anjay_attr_storage_restore() has been changed - from now on, this function fails if supplied source stream is invalid and the Attribute Storage remains untouched. This change makes the function consistent with other anjay_*_restore() APIs.

9.3.3.3. Refactor of offline mode control API

Since Anjay 2.4, offline mode is configurable independently per every transport. Below is a list of removed functions and counterparts that should be used:

Removed function

Counterpart

anjay_is_offline()

anjay_transport_is_offline()

anjay_enter_offline()

anjay_transport_enter_offline()

anjay_exit_offline()

anjay_transport_exit_offline()

anjay_schedule_reconnect()

anjay_transport_schedule_reconnect()

New functions should be called with transport_set argument set to ANJAY_TRANSPORT_SET_ALL to achieve the same behavior.

9.3.3.4. Addition of the con attribute to public API

The con attribute, enabled via the ANJAY_WITH_CON_ATTR compile-time option, has been previously supported as a custom extension. Since an identical flag has been standardized as part of LwM2M TS 1.2, it has been included in the public API as part of preparations to support the new protocol version.

If you initialize anjay_dm_oi_attributes_t or anjay_dm_r_attributes_t objects manually, you may need to initialize the new con field as well, since the empty ANJAY_DM_CON_ATTR_NONE value is NOT the default zero-initialized value.

As more new attributes may be added in future versions of Anjay, it is recommended to initialize such structures with ANJAY_DM_OI_ATTRIBUTES_EMPTY or ANJAY_DM_R_ATTRIBUTES_EMPTY constants, and then fill in the attributes you actually intend to set.

9.3.3.5. Default (D)TLS version

When the anjay_configuration_t::dtls_version field is set to AVS_NET_SSL_VERSION_DEFAULT (which includes the case of zero-initialization), Anjay 3.0 and earlier automatically mapped this setting to AVS_NET_SSL_VERSION_TLSv1_2 to ensure that (D)TLS 1.2 is used as mandated by the LwM2M specification.

This mapping has been removed in Anjay 3.1, which means that the default version configuration of the underlying (D)TLS library will be used. This has been done to automatically allow the use of newer protocols and deprecate old versions when the backend library is updated, without the need to update Anjay code. However, depending on the (D)TLS backend library used, this may lead to (D)TLS 1.1 or earlier being used if the server does not properly negotiate a higher version. Please explicitly set dtls_version to AVS_NET_SSL_VERSION_TLSv1_2 if you want to disallow this.

Please note that Mbed TLS 3.0 has dropped support for TLS 1.1 and earlier, so this change will not affect behavior with that library.

9.3.3.6. Persistence of disabled servers

Core Persistence API (anjay_new_from_core_persistence(), anjay_delete_with_core_persistence()) now also persists disabled servers (either by execution of /1/x/4 or call to function from anjay_disable_server*() family) and the time at which the client shall reconnect them. Previously those disabled servers weren’t persisted at all and freshly initialized client was automatically connecting to them without any regard for specified timeout.

9.3.4. Changes in avs_coap

9.3.4.1. Changed flow of cancelling observations in case of errors

CoAP observations are implicitly cancelled if a notification bearing a 4.xx or 5.xx error code is delivered, or if an attempt to deliver a notification times out.

In Anjay 3.4.x and earlier, this cancellation (which involves calling the avs_coap_observe_cancel_handler_t callback) was performed before calling the avs_coap_delivery_status_handler_t callback for the specific notification. Since Anjay 3.5.0, this order is reversed, so any code that relies on this logic may break.

This change is only relevant if you are using avs_coap APIs directly (e.g. when communicating over raw CoAP protocol) and in case of notifications intended to be delivered as confirmable. The LwM2M Observe/Notify implementation in Anjay has been updated accordingly.

9.3.5. Changes in avs_commons

9.3.5.1. Move of public-key cryptography APIs from avs_net to avs_crypto

Public key cryptography APIs, previously defined in avsystem/commons/avs_socket.h, have been moved into a new header called avsystem/commons/avs_crypto_pki.h.

Additionally, client-side and server-side certificate info structures are no longer separate, and both have been merged into a single type.

Here is a summary of renames:

Old symbol name

New symbol name

avs_net_trusted_cert_info_t
avs_net_client_cert_info_t

avs_crypto_certificate_chain_info_t

avs_net_client_key_info_t

avs_crypto_private_key_info_t

avs_net_security_info_union_t

avs_crypto_security_info_union_t

avs_net_trusted_cert_info_from_buffer()
avs_net_client_cert_info_from_buffer()

avs_crypto_certificate_chain_info_from_buffer()

avs_net_trusted_cert_info_from_file()
avs_net_client_cert_info_from_file()

avs_crypto_certificate_chain_info_from_file()

avs_net_client_key_info_from_buffer()

avs_crypto_private_key_info_from_buffer()

avs_net_client_key_info_from_file()

avs_crypto_private_key_info_from_file()

avs_net_trusted_cert_info_from_path()

avs_crypto_certificate_chain_info_from_path()

9.3.5.1.1. Renamed CMake configuration options

The WITH_X509 CMake configuration option has been removed; the new equivalent option is WITH_PKI. Please update CMake invocations in your configuration scripts.

9.3.5.1.2. Renamed configuration macros in avs_commons_config.h

The following configuration macros in avs_commons_config.h has been renamed. You may need to update your configuration files if you are not using CMake, or your preprocessor directives if you check these macros in your code:

Old macro name

New macro name

AVS_COMMONS_NET_WITH_PSK

AVS_COMMONS_WITH_AVS_CRYPTO_PSK

AVS_COMMONS_NET_WITH_X509

AVS_COMMONS_WITH_AVS_CRYPTO_PKI

AVS_COMMONS_NET_WITH_VALGRIND

AVS_COMMONS_WITH_AVS_CRYPTO_VALGRIND

9.3.5.2. Introduction of new socket option

avs_commons 4.10.1 bundled with Anjay 2.15.1 adds a new socket option key: AVS_NET_SOCKET_HAS_BUFFERED_DATA. This is used to make sure that when control is returned to the event loop, the poll() call will not stall waiting for new data that in reality has been already buffered and could be retrieved using the avs_commons APIs.

This is usually meaningful for (D)TLS connections, but for almost all simple unencrypted socket implementations, this should always return false.

This was previously achieved by always trying to receive more packets with timeout set to zero. However, it has been determined that such logic could lead to heavy blocking of the event loop in case communication with the network stack is relatively slow, e.g. on devices which implement TCP/IP sockets through modem AT commands.

If you maintain your own socket integration layer or (D)TLS integration layer, it is recommended that you add support for this option. This is not, however, a breaking change - if the option is not supported, the library will continue to use the old behavior.

9.3.5.3. Refactor of PSK credential handling

avs_net_psk_info_t structure has been changed to use new types based on avs_crypto_security_info_union_t instead of raw buffers. This change also affects avs_net_security_info_t structure which contains the former.

  • Old API:

    /**
     * A PSK/identity pair with borrowed pointers. avs_commons will never attempt
     * to modify these values.
     */
    typedef struct {
        const void *psk;
        size_t psk_size;
        const void *identity;
        size_t identity_size;
    } avs_net_psk_info_t;
    
    // ...
    
    typedef struct {
        avs_net_security_mode_t mode;
        union {
            avs_net_psk_info_t psk;
            avs_net_certificate_info_t cert;
        } data;
    } avs_net_security_info_t;
    
    avs_net_security_info_t avs_net_security_info_from_psk(avs_net_psk_info_t psk);
    
  • New API:

    typedef struct {
        avs_crypto_security_info_union_t desc;
    } avs_crypto_psk_identity_info_t;
    
    // ...
    
    avs_crypto_psk_identity_info_t
    avs_crypto_psk_identity_info_from_buffer(const void *buffer,
                                             size_t buffer_size);
    
    // ...
    
    typedef struct {
        avs_crypto_security_info_union_t desc;
    } avs_crypto_psk_key_info_t;
    
    // ...
    
    avs_crypto_psk_key_info_t
    avs_crypto_psk_key_info_from_buffer(const void *buffer, size_t buffer_size);
    
    /**
     * A PSK/identity pair. avs_commons will never attempt to modify these values.
     */
    typedef struct {
        avs_crypto_psk_key_info_t key;
        avs_crypto_psk_identity_info_t identity;
    } avs_net_psk_info_t;
    
    // ...
    
    typedef struct {
        avs_net_security_mode_t mode;
        union {
            avs_net_psk_info_t psk;
            avs_net_certificate_info_t cert;
        } data;
    } avs_net_security_info_t;
    
    avs_net_security_info_t
    avs_net_security_info_from_psk(avs_net_psk_info_t psk);
    

This change is breaking for code that accesses the data.psk field of avs_net_security_info_t directly.

9.3.5.4. Separation of avs_url module

URL handling routines, previously a part of avs_net, are now a separate component of avs_commons. The specific consequences of that may vary depending on your build process, e.g.:

  • You will need to add #define AVS_COMMONS_WITH_AVS_URL to your avs_commons_config.h if you specify it manually

  • You may need to add -lavs_url to your link command if you’re using avs_commons that has been manually compiled separately using CMake

9.3.5.5. Refactor of avs_net_validate_ip_address() and avs_net_local_address_for_target_host()

avs_net_validate_ip_address() is now no longer used by Anjay or avs_commons. It was previously necessary to implement it as part of the socket implementation. This is no longer required. For compatibility, the function has been reimplemented as a static inline function that wraps avs_net_addrinfo_*() APIs. Please remove your version of avs_net_validate_ip_address() from your socket implementation if you have one, as having two alternative variants may lead to conflicts.

Since Anjay 2.9 and avs_commons 4.6, avs_net_local_address_for_target_host() underwent a similar refactor. It was previously a function to be optionally implemented as part of the socket implementation, but now it is a static inline function that wraps avs_net_socket_*() APIs. Please remove your version of avs_net_local_address_for_target_host() from your socket implementation if you have one, as having two alternative variants may lead to conflicts.

9.3.5.6. Refactor of time handling in avs_sched and avs_coap

It is now enforced more strictly that time-based events shall happen when the clock reaches at least the expected value. Previously, the tasks scheduled via avs_sched were executed only when the clock reached a value later than the scheduled job execution time.

This change will have no impact on your code if your platform has enough clock resolution so that two subsequent calls to avs_time_real_now() or avs_time_monotonic_now() will always return different values. As a rule of thumb, this should be the case if your clock has a resolution no worse than about 1-2 orders of magnitude smaller than the CPU clock. For example, for a 100 MHz CPU, a clock resolution of around 100-1000 ns (i.e., 1-10 MHz) should be sufficient, depending on the specific architecture.

If your clock has a lower resolution, you may observe the following changes:

  • anjay_sched_run() is now properly guaranteed to execute at least one job if the time reported by anjay_sched_time_to_next() passed. Previously this could require waiting for another change of the numerical value of the clock, which could cause undesirable active waiting in the event loop. This is the motivating factor in introducing these changes.

  • Jobs scheduled using AVS_SCHED_NOW() during an execution of anjay_sched_run() before the numerical value of the clock changes, will be executed during the same run. The previous behavior more strictly enforced the policy to not execute such jobs in the same run.

If you are scheduling custom jobs through the avs_sched module, you may want or need to modify their logic accordingly to accommodate for these changes. In most typical use cases, no changes are expected to be necessary.

9.3.5.7. Removal of avs_unit_memstream

avs_unit_memstream was a specific implementation of avs_stream_t within the avs_unit module that implemented a simple FIFO stream in a fixed-size memory area.

This feature has been removed. Instead, you can use an avs_stream_inbuf/avs_stream_outbuf pair, or an avs_stream_membuf object.