# Web Asset Server 2.0 Release Announcement

**URL:** <https://speciforum.org/t/web-asset-server-2-0-release-announcement/3142>\
**Category:** Announcements & News\
**Tags:** Announcement\
**Created:** [November 14, 2025, 4:45pm UTC](https://speciforum.org/t/web-asset-server-2-0-release-announcement/3142 "2025-11-14T16:45:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Grant](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/speciforum.org/grant/32/4255_2.png) [@Grant](https://speciforum.org/u/Grant)\
**Post date:** [November 14, 2025, 4:45pm UTC](https://speciforum.org/t/web-asset-server-2-0-release-announcement/3142/1 "2025-11-14T16:45:29Z")

</div>

![SpecifyCollectionsConsortium](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/uploads/specifysoftware/original/1X/aa2323bbe5680d370804f6b8575910e11f014cb8.svg)

# Web Asset Server 2.0 Release Announcement

## [2.0](https://github.com/specify/web-asset-server/compare/v1.0.0..v2.0.0) (14 November 2025)

The Specify Web Asset Server 2.0 has released, bringing with it a number of major improvements to its dependencies.

Specify Cloud-managed asset servers will receive an update automatically this Sunday, November 16th.

> [!note] Tagged Releases
> 
> Starting with this update, releases for the Web Asset Server will be numbered and tagged on GitHub: [https://github.com/specify/web-asset-server/tags](https://github.com/specify/web-asset-server/tags)
> 
> All releases are available via Docker Hub: [specifyconsortium/specify-asset-service - Docker Image](https://hub.docker.com/r/specifyconsortium/specify-asset-service/tags)
> 
> **This release is available via the `v2` tag today!**
> 
> The previous release of the Web Asset is now available as `v1`.

* * *

### Documentation

- [Attachments in Specify](https://speciforum.org/t/attachments-in-specify/190)
- [How does Specify 7 work with the Web Asset Server?](https://speciforum.org/t/how-does-specify-7-work-with-the-web-asset-server/2817)
- [WorkBench Attachments](https://speciforum.org/t/workbench-attachments/2862)
- [Uploading Attachments via API](https://speciforum.org/t/uploading-attachments-via-api/2605)
- [Batch Attachment Uploader](https://speciforum.org/t/batch-attachment-uploader/1374)
- [Technical Docs](https://speciforum.org/t/technical-docs-for-the-web-asset-server-attachment-server/657)

### Added

- Adds instructions in the README for deploying alongside Specify 7
- Adds a utility script for managing collection directories

### Fixed

- Fixes an issue where PDF thumbnails were not being generated ([#9](https://github.com/specify/web-asset-server/issues/9))

### Dependency Updates

| Library / Software | Old Version | New Version | Old Version Notes | New Version Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Ubuntu](https://ubuntu.com/about/release-cycle) | 18.04 | 22.04 | EOL May 2023 | EOL Apr 2027 |
| [Python](https://devguide.python.org/versions/) | 3.6 | 3.12 | EOL Dec 2023 | (Latest Security) EOL Oct 2028 |
| [ExifRead](https://pypi.org/project/ExifRead/) | 2.3.1 | 3.5.1 | Released Aug 7, 2020 | (Latest) Released Aug 23, 2025 |
| [Paste](https://pypi.org/project/Paste/) | 3.4.4 | 3.10.1 | Released Sep 9, 2020 | (Latest) Released May 1, 2024 |
| [sh](https://pypi.org/project/sh/) | 1.14.0 | 2.2.2 | Released Aug 28, 2020 | (Latest) Released Feb 24, 2025 |
| [Bottle](https://pypi.org/project/bottle/) | \>=0.12.23,\<=0.13 | \>=0.12.23,\<=0.13 | (0.12.25) Released Mar 4, 2023 | |
| [boto3](https://pypi.org/project/boto3/) | - | \>=1.26.0,\<2.0 | | (1.40.46) Released Oct 6, 2025 |

* * *

You can find the source code on the [GitHub Web Asset Server repository](https://github.com/specify/web-asset-server).

If you need more information about the Web Asset Server or have any questions, feel free to email [support@specifysoftware.org](mailto:support@specifysoftware.org)!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Grant](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/speciforum.org/grant/32/4255_2.png) [@Grant](https://speciforum.org/u/Grant)\
**Post date:** [November 14, 2025, 6:04pm UTC](https://speciforum.org/t/web-asset-server-2-0-release-announcement/3142/2 "2025-11-14T18:04:52Z")

</div>



---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Heryk](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/speciforum.org/heryk/32/5730_2.png) [@Heryk](https://speciforum.org/u/Heryk)\
**Post date:** [November 14, 2025, 6:26pm UTC](https://speciforum.org/t/web-asset-server-2-0-release-announcement/3142/3 "2025-11-14T18:26:23Z")

</div>

Hi, I updated my Specify 7 testing environment this morning to SP7 v7.11.3 and MariaDB 11.8 LTS. It works fine. I’d like to check which version of the Web Asset Server I’m currently using. I deployed the Dockerized version of Specify, using the `specifyconsortium/specify-asset-service` image (no tags).

Can you confirm whether this corresponds to version 1 or version 2 of the Asset Server? Is there a way for me to check the version that I’m using? [specifyconsortium/specify-asset-service - Docker Image | Docker Hub](https://hub.docker.com/r/specifyconsortium/specify-asset-service/tags)

Thanks

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Grant](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/speciforum.org/grant/32/4255_2.png) [@Grant](https://speciforum.org/u/Grant)\
**Post date:** [November 14, 2025, 6:32pm UTC](https://speciforum.org/t/web-asset-server-2-0-release-announcement/3142/4 "2025-11-14T18:32:57Z")

</div>

Hi @Heryk,

Thanks for your question! Until today, the newest version of the `specifyconsortium/specify-asset-service:latest` tag was a version last pushed on October 28, 2020.

This is now identified as `v1.0.0` while today’s release is `v2.0.0`. If you have not pulled the latest tagged release explicitly (`specifyconsortium/specify-asset-service:v2`), it will default to the `latest` tag. If you have not pulled an image within the past 2 hours, you are likely on the release from Oct 2020.

You can check if you are on the latest version by running `cat /home/specify/requirements.txt` inside of the `web-asset-server` container:

**On `v2.0.0`:**

```sh
$ cat /home/specify/requirements.txt
ExifRead==3.5.1
Paste==3.10.1
sh==2.2.2
Bottle>=0.12.23,<=0.13
boto3>=1.26.0,<2.0
boto3-stubs>=1.26.0,<2.0

```

**On `v1.0.0`:**

```sh
$ cat /home/specify/requirements.txt
ExifRead==2.3.1
Paste==3.4.4
sh==1.14.0
Bottle==0.12.18

```