# Opal 5.3, DSI 1.8, DSOpal 1.5, opalr 3.5, odbc.resourcer 1.0

**URL:** <https://datashield.discourse.group/t/opal-5-3-dsi-1-8-dsopal-1-5-opalr-3-5-odbc-resourcer-1-0/1387>\
**Category:** Releases\
**Created:** [11 November 2025 10:08 UTC](https://datashield.discourse.group/t/opal-5-3-dsi-1-8-dsopal-1-5-opalr-3-5-odbc-resourcer-1-0/1387 "2025-11-11T10:08:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![yannick](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/datashield.discourse.group/yannick/32/19_2.png) [@yannick](https://datashield.discourse.group/u/yannick)\
**Post date:** [11 November 2025 10:08 UTC](https://datashield.discourse.group/t/opal-5-3-dsi-1-8-dsopal-1-5-opalr-3-5-odbc-resourcer-1-0/1387/1 "2025-11-11T10:08:01Z")

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Hi all,

Here are some updates on the DataSHIELD infrastructure side 🚀 :

### Opal 5.3

- Improved Kubernetes integration with remote R session management,
- Built-in support of MS SQL Server databases.

See [Opal 5.3 release note](https://www.obiba.org/pages/news/release/opal/5.3/).

### DSI 1.8, DSOpal 1.5, opalr 3.5

Since remote R session creation can be time consuming when performed in a Kubernetes environment, DSI has to be able to give some feedback about this process progress, per DataSHIELD analysis node. The new DSI allows to create DataSHIELD remote R sessions (with async mode support) with progress feedback and independently from assign/aggregate operations, as specified by [RFC: Extension of the Datashield Interface (DSI) for Remote R Session Management](https://github.com/datashield/DSI/issues/23). See usage example of the new [datashield.sessions](https://datashield.github.io/DSI/reference/datashield.sessions.html) function, that can be explicitly called (optional).

The DSOpal implementation takes advantage of the new Kubernetes feature in Opal 5.3. DSI remains backward compatible with backends that **do not** implement this new interface (e.g. Armadillo, DSLite or older Opal).

### odbc.resourcer 1.0

This new `resourcer` R package allows extraction of tables from a MS SQL Server into data frames. It complements Opal’s MS SQL Server support as a resource-based alternative. The package is included by default in the latest `datashield/rock-base` Docker image.

In Opal, the user interface for provisioning such resource will look like this:

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/datashield1/original/1X/e4219087329858f3ba2331b76cd93e74acaf4181.png)

See details in [odbc.resourcer](https://www.obiba.org/odbc.resourcer/) documentation.

Regards  
Yannick