## <a id="whats-new"></a> What's new
-### What's New in Version 0.0.11
+### What's New in Version 2.0.0 Beta 1
-* Redesigned cluster stack. #6192
-* Support for conditional command arguments. #5933
-* IDO: is_reachable attribute for hosts and services. #6094
-* IDO: Add missing events for service/host state changes. #6151
-* Lots of documentation updates. #6010, #6115, #6149, #6163, #6184, #6198, #6114, #6128, #5485
-* Plenty of bug fixes. #6179, #6148, #6111, #6131, and many more
+Lots of things. Please read [Icinga 2 in a nutshell](#icinga2-in-a-nutshell).
#### Changes
-> **Note**
->
-> Configuration updates required!
-
-* Configuration Changes. For a detailed list of changes check out [#5909](https://dev.icinga.org/issues/5909)
-* DB IDO schema upgrade required.
-
### Archive
Please check the `ChangeLog` file.
+## <a id="icinga2-in-a-nutshell"></a> Icinga 2 in a Nutshell
+
+* Use [Packages](#getting-started)
+
+Look for available packages on [http://packages.icinga.org] or ask your distribution's maintainer.
+Compiling from source is not recommended, and not the default either.
+
+* Real Distributed Architecture
+
+[Cluster](#distributed-monitoring-high-availability) model for distributed setups, load balancing
+and High-Availability installations. Secured by SSL x509 certificates, supporting IPv4 and IPv6.
+
+* High Performance
+
+Multithreaded and scalable for small embedded systems as well as large scale environments.
+Running checks every second - not an issue anymore.
+
+* Modular & flexible [features](#features)
+
+Enable only the features required for the local installation. Using Icinga Web 2 and requiring
+DB IDO, but no status data? No problem, just enable ido-mysql and disable statusdata.
+Another example: Graphite should be enabled on a dedicated cluster node. Enable it over there
+and point it to the carbon cache socket.
+
+* Native support for the [Livestatus protocol](#setting-up-livestatus)
+
+Next to the Icinga 1.x status and log files and the IDO database backend the commonly used
+Livestatus protocol is available with Icinga 2. Either as unix or tcp socket.
+
+* Native support for [Graphite](#graphite-carbon-cache-writer)
+
+Icinga 2 still supports writing performance data files for graphing addons, but also adds the
+capability of writing performance data directly onto a Graphite tcp socket simplifying realtime
+monitoring graphs.
+
+* Dynamic configuration language
+
+Simple [apply](#using-apply) and [assign](#group-assign) rules for creating configuration object
+relationships based on patterns. Supported with [duration literals](#duration-literals) for interval
+attributes, [expression operators](#expression-operators), [function calls](#function-calls) for
+pattern and regex matching and (global) [constants](#constants).
+Sample configuration for common plugins is shipped with Icinga 2 as
+part of the [Icinga Template Library](#itl).
+
+* Revamped Commands
+
+One command to rule them all - supporting optional and conditional [command arguments](#commands-arguments).
+[Environment variables](#command-environment-variables) exported on-demand populated with
+runtime evaluated macros.
+Three types of commands used for different actions: checks, notifications and events.
+Check timeout for commands instead of a global option. Command custom attributes allowing
+you to specify default values for the command.
+
+* Custom Runtime Macros
+
+Access [custom attributes](#custom-attributes) with their short name, for example $mysql_user$,
+or any object attribute, for example $host.notes$. Additional macros with runtime and statistic
+information are available as well. Use these [runtime macros](#runtime-custom-attributes) in
+the command line, environment variables and custom attribute assignments.
+
+* Notifications simplified
+
+Multiple [notifications](#notifications) for one host or service with existing users
+and notification commands. No more duplicated contacts for different notification types.
+Telling notification filters by state and type, even more fine-grained than Icinga 1.x.
+[Escalation notifications](#notification-escalations) and [delayed notifications](#first-notification-delay)
+are just notifications with additional begin and/or end time attribute.
+
+* Dependencies between Hosts and Services
+
+Classic [dependencies](#dependencies) between host and parent hosts, and services and parent services work the
+same way as "mixed" dependencies from a service to a parent host and vice versa. Host checks
+depending on an upstream link port (as service) are not a problem anymore.
+No more additional parents settings - host dependencies already define the host parent relationship
+required for network reachability calculations.
+
+* [Recurring Downtimes](#recurring-downtimes)
+
+Forget the external cronjob scheduling downtimes on-demand. Configure them right away as Icinga 2
+configuration objects and set their active time window.
+
+* Embedded Health Checks
+
+No more external statistic tool but an [instance](#itl-icinga) and [cluster](#itl-cluster) health
+check providing direct statistics as performance data for your graphing addon, for example Graphite.
+
+* Compatibility with Icinga 1.x
+
+All known interfaces are optional available: [status files](#status-data), [logs](#compat-logging),
+[DB IDO](#configuring-ido) MySQL/PostgreSQL, [performance data](#performance-data),
+[external command pipe](#external-commands) and for migration reasons a
+[checkresult file reader](#check-result-files) too.
+All [Monitoring Plugins](#setting-up-check-plugins) can be integrated into Icinga 2 with
+newly created check command configuration if not already provided.
+[Configuration migration](#configuration-migration) is possible through the Icinga Web 2 CLI tool.
+Additional information on the differences is documented in the [migration](#differences-1x-2) chapter.
+
+* [Vagrant Demo VM](#vagrant)
+
+Used for demo cases and development tests. Get Icinga 2 running within minutes and spread the #monitoringlove
+to your friends and partners.
+
+