# Ansible 2.6

Topics

- Ansible 2.6
  - Release Schedule
    - Actual
    - Expected
  - Release Manager
  - Engine improvements
  - Core Modules
  - Cloud Modules
  - Network
    - Connection work
    - Modules
    - Other Features
  - Windows

## Release Schedule

### Actual

- 2018-05-17 Core Freeze (Engine and Core Modules/Plugins)
- 2018-05-21 Alpha Release 1
- 2018-05-25 Community Freeze (Non-Core Modules/Plugins)
- 2018-05-25 Branch stable-2.6
- 2018-05-30 Alpha Release 2
- 2018-06-05 Release Candidate 1
- 2018-06-08 Release Candidate 2
- 2018-06-18 Release Candidate 3
- 2018-06-25 Release Candidate 4
- 2018-06-26 Release Candidate 5

### Expected

- 2018-06-28 Final Release

## Release Manager

- 2.6.0-2.6.12 Matt Clay (IRC/GitHub: @mattclay)
- 2.6.13+ Toshio Kuratomi (IRC: abadger1999; GitHub: @abadger)

## Engine improvements

- Version 2.6 is largely going to be a stabilization release for Core code.
- Some of the items covered in this release, but are not limited to are the following:
  - `ansible-inventory`
  - `import_*`
  - `include_*`
  - Test coverage
  - Performance Testing

## Core Modules

- Adopt-a-module Campaign
  - Review current status of all Core Modules
  - Reduce backlog of open issues against these modules

## Cloud Modules

## Network

### Connection work

- New connection plugin: eAPI proposal#102
- New connection plugin: NX-API
- Support for configurable options for network_cli & netconf

### Modules

- New `net_get` - platform agnostic module for pulling configuration via SCP/SFTP over network_cli
- New `net_put` - platform agnostic module for pushing configuration via SCP/SFTP over network_cli
- New `netconf_get` - Netconf module to fetch configuration and state data proposal#104

### Other Features

- Stretch & tech preview: Configuration caching for network_cli. Opt-in feature to avoid `show running` performance hit

## Windows