Universal Controller 7.1.0.0 Release Notes

Release Notes

Universal Controller release 7.1.0.0 contains the following high-level features. For a complete list of all the included features and fixes please refer to the Universal Controller 7.1.x Maintenance list.

Note

To support global filters, we had to use consistent name and description fields in the client.

This meant some automatic conversion when migrating to 7.1.x or while importing data from previous releases.

It should be noted that migrated filters, layouts, and reports that contain a description field may not be compatible with prior releases depending on the record type.

Architecture

Backlog

Title

Description

B-13955

Remove "Interact with Desktop" option from Windows Tasks

Since Windows Vista introduced the desktop isolation feature, which prevents tasks from accessing the interactive desktop session, the Interact with Desktop option for Windows Tasks has no effect. Therefore, it is being removed from the Windows Task Form.

B-04700

Upgrade to the new Log4j 2 library


B-13993

Preserve OMS Server suspended flag on List/Bulk Import when definition does not already exist

For both List/Bulk Import/Export:

The suspended field can be exported and imported:  the suspended field is a unmodifiable field.

  1. If importing an existing record, the current suspended value stays unmodified

  2. If importing a new record, the suspended value in the import file is imported.

B-13804

Immediately mark all agents associated with an OMS server as Offline when the OMS Server is suspended

All Agents associated with an OMS server will immediately be marked as offline when the OMS server is Suspended.

B-14003

Increase Group Email Field Length

The User Group Email Field has been increased to match User Email Field Length.

B-13968

Combine First Time Ran and Last Time Ran update into statistics event with other statistics updates

In order to optimize performance the events to update the first and last ran times for tasks have been merged into the statistics update event.

B-13958

Change MySQL UTF8 alias to UTF8MB4

The MySQL UTF8 alias UTF8MB3 has been depreciated, therefore this has been updated to UTF8MB4.

B-13965

Always use the same Statistics Thread for a particular task definition

Improved synchronization around updating task statistic information.

B-14045Configure database connection pool to prevent resetting auto commit when connections returned.

The connection pool was setting autocommit back to true when a connection was returned to the pool.

That meant, whenever a connection was obtained from the pool, autocommit was being set to false again.

An option is now being used to prevent this behavior when connections are returned to the pool, which takes away that overhead.

Automation

Backlog

Title

Description

B-09504

Provide an option for tasks to fail if a variable doesn't resolve.

A new system property Task Field Resolution Required (Default = False) has been introduced. When enabled, any task where a variable or a function (in a resolvable field. A field that supports variable or function. ex. Command, Script, Parameters, Environment Variables … ) that is not resolved will transit into Start Failure at runtime.

B-13298

Allow using wildcard in selecting a task to be monitored within the Task Monitor

A New Option "Wildcard" has been added for both “Generic Task” and “Workflow Name” Conditions

B-14077

Add Task Monitor field hints for Task Name Condition and Workflow Name Condition

Cursor hover over hints have been added for the Task Name Condition and Workflow Name Condition fields in the Task Monitor form.

B-13941

Run Criteria : Allow Multiple Select for Complex Noun and Qualifier

For Complex Run Criteria the Noun and Qualifier fields now allow a multi selection. For example you can now use a single run Criteria to skip a task on Every, Wednesday and Friday, of January and June.

B-13923

Specify Date adjustments on the Complex and Holiday options of a Task Run Criteria

This enhancement allows for improved Run Criteria specification, for example such as 3rd Business Day of Month Less 1 Day.

B-13977

Increase Variable Value Length

The maximum variable value length has been increased to 25,000 characters.

B-13296

Recurring Task- Block Target tasks from delete while Parent Recurring Task is Active

Prevent Target Task from being deleted while Recurring Task Instance is active.

Data Supply Chain

Backlog

Title

Description

B-14228

File Transfer Task Increase Local and Remote Filename Field Lengths

The field lengths for the Local and Remote Filenames in File Transfer tasks have been increased to 8,000 characters.

Lifecycle Management

Backlog

Title

Description

B-13179

Add initiating user as cc in failure notification for scheduled promote.

Promotion failure notifications now include the user who initiated to promotion.

B-09493

Ability to disable the “Promote By Business Service Membership”

A new System Property Promote By Business Service Membership (Default = True) has been introduced to allow the Promote by Business Service Feature to be Disabled.

If Promote Members of Business Services or Visible To field has non-empty value for any bundle record. This property cannot change to false.

B-14020

Default Promotion Target to unspecified/blank instead of defaulting to first option

Previously if no default promotion target was specified in a bundle, or for bundle-less promotion the first promotion target in the definition list was automatically selected. In these cases the field will now remain blank.

Security

Backlog

Title

Description

B-12444

Session Fixation Protection

When the login page of UC is loaded, a session ID is written to a cookie with the key “JSESSIONID”.

An attacker with physical access can write down or take a picture of the session ID (easily accessible via F12 function key), or set the session identifier to something he knows, and wait until the victim logs in. Once the victim is logged in the attacker can do anything in the name of this user, since the session id has not been changed during the login process.

B-13240

New resolvable credential token field for passing larger tokens/keys

A new field “Token” has been added to the Resolvable Credential definition to store a token with a length of up to 8000 characters. A new Credential Function _credentialToken will resolve to the Token field value.

B-14142

Web Service Task : Option to ignore verifying the SSL certificate

A new System Property Web Service Task Insecure Permitted (HTTP) has been introduced to allow Web Service Tasks to ignore SSL certificate validation. Once the new property is set to True a new checkbox labeled Insecure will be available and if checked will cause the SSL certificate validation to be bypassed.

B-14095

UAC UI ability to hide IP of the agent

A new System Property Agent Address Info Restricted (Default = True) has been introduced to remove the IP address from the Agent detail displays for non-administrator users.

Triggers

Backlog

Title

Description

B-12465

List Trigger History

New “Instances” tab on the trigger definition with a time restriction (user preference controlled, “Trigger Task Instances Time Constraint”) that shows tasks that were triggered by this trigger.

B-14011

Add "Run Command on Filtered" support for Triggers

Triggers now support the Run Command on Filtered Feature. The following Commands are supported.

B-06955

Copy a trigger of another type to a temporary or manual trigger

When you copy any of the following Trigger Types you now have the option to create a Temporary or Manual Trigger.

  • Cron Trigger

  • Time Trigger

  • Task Monitor Trigger

  • Variable Monitor Trigger

  • Email Monitor Trigger

  • Application Monitor Trigger

  • Composite Trigger

Manual Triggers can now be copied to a Temporary Trigger and Temporary Triggers can now be copied to a Manual Trigger.

B-13238

New monitor Expiration Action Implementation for Task Monitors

Task monitors can now ignore dependency if not found within the time scope defined. Previously Task Monitors would Fail when the Time Scope conditions caused the Task Monitor to timeout.

A new Expiration Action option has been added for Task Monitors to allow specifying a specific action during the Task Monitor timeout.

The following Expiration Actions can be allowed to select during the task monitor creation:

  • Failed (Default)

  • Finished

  • Failed If Potential Match Found Else Finished

  • Finished If Potential Match Found Else Failed

B-14075

New monitor Expiration Action Implementation for Email, Variable and Universal Monitor Types

For Monitor types (other than Task Monitors) that support a Time Scope, a new Expiration Action option has been added for Task Monitors to allow specifying a specific action during the Monitor timeout.

The following Expiration Actions can be allowed to select during the monitor creation:

  • Failed (Default)

  • Finished

B-14001

Add User Defined Fields to Triggers

Triggers now support their own User Defined Fields. This option is configured via the System Properties menu.

Universal Integration Platform

Backlog

Title

Description

B-14026

Universal Extension - Double (Forced) Cancel

New feature that allows the controller to forcibly execute the Cancel command while already in Cancel Pending, immediately terminating the extension process and any custom cancel logic being executed.

This feature only applies to extension-based Universal Task Instances.

B-14027

UIP: Universal Extension - Dynamic Commands - Execution Option (Out Of Process, In Process)

Two new options were added to the dynamic command.

Execution Option
Specification for whether the command runs out-of-process execution or in-process execution.

Values:

Out Of Process (Default)
In Process

Asynchronous
If Execution Option is In Process; Specification for whether the command runs synchronously or asynchronously.

B-14264

Universal Template - Field Default Value Enhancements

Improved validation with proper messaging and prevention of SQL exception.

In addition, the following enhancements have been made.

  • Any Large Text Field will support a Default Value up to a maximum 4000 characters.
  • Any Large Text Field will display the Default Value as a multi-line, autofit field.
  • Any JSON or YAML Text field will display the Default Value as multi-line, autofit field.

B-13801

Web Service API - Upload/Download/Delete Extension Archive

Functionality to Upload, Download, and Delete the Universal Extension Archive are now available via a Web Service API.

B-10292

Web Service API - Universal Template - Icon Set/Restore 

A new Web Service API is available to Set the Icon for a Universal Template

B-13802

Web Service API - Import/Export Template

A new Web Service API is available to Import / Export Universal Templates

User Experience

Backlog

Title

Description

B-13933

Make base instance or definition "buttons" available from all tabs

The buttons available in the “base” Instance and “base” Definition form tabs are now available in all tabs.

B-13936

Increase All description field lengths to 255

Description filed lengths for all definitions have been increased to 255 characters.

B-12508

Change default maximum hover hint width

The default maximum hover hint width has been increased from 200 to 300.

B-13842

Customized Form tab ordering

“Form” Tabs can now be ordered based on a user’s preference by simply dragging tabs to the desired position.

B-14037

Make deletion message more specific

Definition deletion confirmation dialogs will now contain the definition name.

B-12330

Global Filters

From the Administration / Filters menu you can now create filters that apply to all definition lists and can specify any of the fields that are common to all datatypes; that is:

  • Name, Description, Member of Business Services, Created, and Updated fields.

Once created the Global Filter will appear in all of the Definition Lists and can be selected to filter these records without the need to create the filter for each datatype individually.

B-13916

Action URL to Open Workflow Monitor / Editor Directly

The workflow Monitor and Editor can now be accessed directly via an Action URL.

B-13197

Add Variable Description field to "Launch Task With Variables..." and "Trigger Now..." command dialogs

The description defined for Tasks and Triggers is now displayed in the Launch with Variables and Trigger Now Dialogs.

B-14017

Allow specifying a fixed list of self-service variable value options for Launch Task / Trigger with Variables.

When defining Task and Trigger level Variables you can now specify “Choices” to be selected from by the user who is Launching the Task via the Launch with Variables option, or Triggering the Trigger via the Trigger Now option. You can now provide a list of choices and specify if an Empty or Unlisted option is allowed.


B-13975

Configurable picker window limits

New System Property Picker Fetch Limit is introduced to configure the fetch limit for all picker windows ( e.g. adding Virtual Resources to a Task).

B-13883

Allow Launch Task command to use unsaved modifications on the form without saving

A modified Task can now optionally be launched with changes without needing to first Update the Task Definition. Upon Launch if unsaved modifications are detected the user is presented with an Option to use the modified version of the Task Definition.

B-12459

Include new fields "Suspended On" and "Resumed On" in GUI, for Agent Clusters.

 Include new fields "Suspended On" and "Resumed On" in GUI, for Agent Clusters.

B-14205User Experience: Agent Definition - Add DescriptionAdded a Description field to the Agent definition.

Web Service API

Backlog

Title

Description

B-13937

Web Service API : Monitoring API (Prometheus Metrics)

Universal Controller implement a new “metrics” Web Service API endpoint that can be scraped by Prometheus, an open-source systems monitoring and alerting toolkit.

The metrics being exported through the Web Service API are as follows.

  • Default Exports (provided by Prometheus Java client)

    • Standard Exports (CPU time spent and memory usage)

    • Memory Pool Exports (JVM memory)

    • Memory Allocation Exports (JVM memory)

    • Buffer Pools Exports (JVM buffers)

    • Garbage Collector Exports (JVM garbage collectors)

    • Thread Exports (JVM threads)

    • JVM Class Loading (JVM class loading)

    • Version Info Exports (JVM version information)

  • UC Build Info Exports (Universal Controller build and release information)

  • UC Database Connection Pool Exports (Universal Controller database connection pool)

B-12365

Web Service API : New Trigger List APIs Option to Return Full Definition

A new List Web Service API for Triggers returns the Full Trigger Definition.

B-12364

Web Service API : New Task Definition List API Option to Return Full Definition

A new List Web Service API for Tasks returns the Full Task Definition.

B-12388

Web Service API : New Agent List API Option to Return Full Definition

A new List Web Service API for Agents returns the Full Agent Definition.

B-12389

Web Service API : New Virtual Resource List API to Return Full Definition

A new List Web Service API for Virtual Resources returns the Full Virtual Resource Definition.

B-12371

Web Service API : New Variable List API Option to Return Full Definition

A new List Web Service API for Variables returns the Full Variable Definition.

B-12483

Web Service API : Server Operation Pause and Resume Cluster Node

You can now pause and resume Cluster Nodes via the Web Service API.

B-13174

Web Service API : Task Read - Add All Read Only fields

Read only fields are now returned by the Task Definition Read Web Service API.