FlexDeploy 7.0.0.0 (09-18-2023)

Terminology Changes

General

• Change history report is now extended to show changes done for Release, Pipelines, etc.

• FLEXDEPLOY-6484 - Work Items can be subscribed to manually to receive new comment notifications.

• FLEXDEPLOY-6759 - Purge has been added for change history records. This is configurable on Purge Settings page, default value for Change History Purge Days is 730.

Next Generation UI/UX

• Modern look and feel with new branding is now extended to Release & Pipelines, Incoming & Outgoing Webhook screens.

• Folder can now contain folders as well as projects, this was previously not allowed. Additionally, Releases are also now organized in Folders.

• Project execution details can now be viewed in table format in addition to existing list view.

Release and Pipeline Management

Release Definition

• Releases are now stored in folders. For Customers upgrading from previous version, all Releases will be placed in FlexDeploy folder.

• Release security is now inherited from parent folder, which allows for easier management of security permissions for release. Release can override or inherit security from parent folder(s), which is similar to folder and project security. There is no impact to Customers upgrading from previous versions of FlexDeploy.

• Release Settings are now available. These settings as release permissions can be defined at the folder or release level. Release settings include various options like Snapshot name syntax, Auto complete package & release after deployment to production, options to automatically add content based on work items etc. See Release Settings for more details.

  • FLEXDEPLOY-4174 - Snapshot code committers are not allowed to approve gate. This is configured by release setting.

  • FLEXDEPLOY-6347 - Snapshot name can be customized now using Snapshot Name setting which is defined as Groovy script.

• Release content (project/packages) can be managed much more easily now. UX is similar to how package files are managed. This process also allows for searching packages of specific project easily (FLEXDEPLOY-2515).

• FLEXDEPLOY-4299 - removal of project/package from release content now presents confirmation dialog.

Pipeline Definition

• Pipeline definition edit and version activation is simplified in comparison to previous FlexDeploy version.

• Pipeline Groovy now has access to many new functions: LOG, EMAIL, SLACK, MICROSOFTTEAMS, REST.

• FLEXDEPLOY-4467 - Pipeline property definition now allows for various types like Text Field, Text Area, Number, Checkbox, Decimal, Duration, Date, Date Time, and FlexDeploy selections for Environment, Project, Release, User, Group etc.

• Use of Pipeline Roles on various gate and step including error notification can now be scripted. In addition, user can provide just FlexDeploy groups instead of Role(s). (FLEXDEPLOY-5923)

Release Execution and Dashboard

• The release execution engine was revamped in 7.0, and should help reduce CPU and memory usage when there are many releases and snapshots in progress. Improvement on execution speed will be noticeable also.

• Release execution now allows for skip of specific stages. This is supported via two options. Programmatic option allows users to define Precondition script on stage, script can be implemented as necessary. Another option is via built-in input for Skip Stages, when creating snapshot user can provide zero or more stages to be skipped. (FLEXDEPLOY-5918)

• A new gate type, Scan Gate allows a pipeline to ensure that snapshot versions meet defined security vulnerability criteria before promotion.

• A new step type, Promote to Release allows a pipeline to send content at this point into a new snapshot in another release.

• Snapshot Inputs are a new way to get data into snapshots that can be different for a snapshot, but consistent across release stages.

• The Notification Step is now able to send notifications using custom templates. This allows an Apache Velocity template to be filled in with variables unique to the pipeline. (FLEXDEPLOY-7542)

• The Wait Step now has a role associated that can skip the wait if needed.

• Approval, External Approval, Schedule Gates provide a view in to what will be deployed to help approver make decision on whether to approve or reject.

• The release dashboard has a new focused mode as well as a classic mode that looks very similar to the old screen layout. Dashboard allows concise view for a snapshot and easy way to navigate to other snapshots.

• Release dashboard actions are now displayed bit differently than before. Only Stage related actions are shown on Stage, and gate/step actions are on specific gate/step.

• Actions like abort, approve, reject, override, skip etc. will present confirmation popup to avoid accidental clicks.

• Snapshots can be compared with other snapshots as well as environments. Comparison with other snapshots allow for finding newer builds, whereas comparison with environment helps us understand what may deploy if snapshot was promoted to specific environment.

• FLEXDEPLOY-3856 - Snapshot content is displayed in deployment order based on configured priority on release definition.

• FLEXDEPLOY-4475 - Manual step can now be rejected as well and in addition it allows user to provide notes along with approve/reject action.

• FLEXDEPLOY-5790 - Release dashboard now allows view of stage execution information for completed releases as well.

• FLEXDEPLOY-7468 - Folder paths are now shown next to the Project names in the Stage Execution Info popup on the Release Dashboard.

Release Insights

• Release Insights tab is now available similar to Project Insights. Release Insights shows commits and work items in a snapshot range, which helps user analyze development progress.

Comments and Attachments

• Comments can now be added on Release as well. Comments added on Pipeline Definition are called Instructions, which are still supported and are also clearly visible on release dashboard.

• Comments can be added to future gate and step as well, previously only currently executing gate and step allowed comments.

• Attachments are embedded in to comment text and allows for easy upload and download. This is now consistent with other parts of FlexDeploy that supports comments and attachments.

• Comments allow for mentions as well. Mentions will generate email to mentioned users.

• Release comments including execution (snapshot) comments are visible and searchable in comments tab of release.

Webhooks

• Incoming and Outgoing webhook screens are now available in modern look and fell. Also, main screen now shows execution details with links to configuration management.

• FLEXDEPLOY-4074 - Added User Created event for Outgoing Webhooks.

• FLEXDEPLOY-6346 - Added Task Approved and Task Rejected events for Outgoing Webhook.

• FLEXDEPLOY-6488 - Added Work Item Created and Work Item Updated events for Outgoing Webhook.

• FLEXDEPLOY-6786 - Webhook groovy script can now use REST function.

• FLEXDEPLOY-3416 - Groovy reserved words and FlexDeploy function names are now not allowed as Webhook Property Names.

DevSecOps

• FLEXDEPLOY-6455 - Prevent XXE injection in FlexDeploy and several plugins.

• FLEXDEPLOY-2512 - FlexDeploy now supports mapping FlexDeploy groups to SSO groups and roles. This is similar to what is already supported for LDAP integration. This will allows Customers to seamlessly manage FlexDeploy permissions for users. Note that permissions are controlled by FlexDeploy groups and this allows assigning specific FlexDeploy groups to users based on SSO provider configurations. See SSO Realm Group Mapping for more details.

• FLEXDEPLOY-7395 - FlexDeploy now supports two factor authentication (2FA) with external authenticator i.e. Google Authenticator, Authy, Microsoft Authenticator etc. Configure 2FA in your user profile, i.e this is enabled individually by user.

• Single Sign-On configurations are now done using Realms UI. Customers using file based SSO configurations will be automatically migrated.

• Built-in Local credential store now allows update of encryption key. Customers that may want to update this periodically can do so from Credential Store integrations page.

Replacements Support

Project Replacements offers a simple configuration to adjust and substitute strings in artifact files with environment-specific values prior to deployment. Configured replacements will be executed on all the artifacts before the deployment execution. See Replacements for more details.

Plugin Updates

• FlexDeploy 7.0 plugins will not work with previous versions of FlexDeploy. In general, first two letters of application (e.g. 7.0) and plugin version should match for compatibility.

• The Apigee, Maven, and XPath plugins now require Java 8, this decision was made to resolve security vulnerabilities. Flexagon understands that many customers are forced into using older Java versions by their legacy software, and will attempt to maintain Java 7 compatibility for the near future, as well as Java 6 compatibility for the EBS plugin. We also understand that other customers need to run on newer Java versions. Continue to watch the Plugin Java requirements page for updates. We welcome support tickets for concerns with Java version support.

• FLEXDEPLOY-7760 - Resolved Vulnerabilities CVE-2017-18640, CVE-2022-25857, CVE-2022-38749, CVE-2022-38751, CVE-2022-38752, CVE-2022-41854, CVE-2022-38750 for Kubernetes and Helm plugin.

• FLEXDEPLOY-7759 - Resolved Vulnerability CVE-2022-4065 for TestNG plugin.

• FLEXDEPLOY-7757 - Resolved Vulnerability CVE-2022-31159 for AWS and Docker Plugin.

• FLEXDEPLOY-7757 - Resolved Vulnerabilities CVE-2018-1270, CVE-2022-22965, CVE-2014-0225, CVE-2016-9878, CVE-2018-11040, CVE-2013-4152, CVE-2013-6429, CVE-2013-7315, CVE-2014-0054, CVE-2018-1257, CVE-2020-5421, CVE-2022-22950, CVE-2018-11039, CVE-2013-6430, CVE-2022-22968, CVE-2022-22970, CVE-2014-3625, CVE-2014-1904 for AWS and EC2 Plugin.

• FLEXDEPLOY-7756 - Resolved Vulnerabilities CVE-2022-36033, CVE-2021-37714, CVE-2022-29599, CVE-2021-26291, CVE-2014-3577, CVE-2020-13956, CVE-2015-5262, CVE-2021-29425, CVE-2017-1000487 for Apigee, Maven and MuleSoft plugin.

• FLEXDEPLOY-7761 - Resolved Vulnerabilities CVE-2019-20444, CVE-2019-20445, CVE-2019-16869, CVE-2020-11612, CVE-2021-37136, CVE-2021-37137, CVE-2022-41881, CVE-2021-43797, CVE-2022-41915, CVE-2021-21295, CVE-2021-21409, CVE-2021-21290, CVE-2022-24823 for Oracle SaaS FSM Plugin.

• FLEXDEPLOY-7762 - Resolved Vulnerability CVE-2021-42550 for Docker Plugin.

• FLEXDEPLOY-7764 - Resolved Vulnerability CVE-2016-5725 for Git Plugin.

• FLEXDEPLOY-7773 - Resolved Vulnerability CVE-2018-10237 for Docker, Siebel, Jenkins Plugin.

• FLEXDEPLOY-7783 - Resolved Vulnerabilities CVE-2021-36374, CVE-2021-36373, CVE-2020-1945 for Ant Plugin.

• FLEXDEPLOY-7788 - Resolved Vulnerabilities CVE-2020-10683 and CVE-2018-1000632 for Jenkins Plugin.

• FLEXDEPLOY-7792 - Resolved Vulnerabilities CVE-2020-26939, CVE-2020-0187, CVE-2020-26939, CVE-2016-1000338, CVE-2016-1000342, CVE-2016-1000343, CVE-2016-1000344, CVE-2016-1000352, CVE-2016-1000341, CVE-2016-1000345, CVE-2017-13098, CVE-2020-0187, CVE-2016-1000339, CVE-2020-15522, CVE-2015-7940, CVE-2018-5382, CVE-2013-1624, CVE-2016-1000346 for PeopleSoft, OpenShift, Artifactory XRay, Oracle CPQ, PMD, Siebel, CheckMarx, OWASP Dependency Check, Acunetix, Jenkins Plugin.

• FLEXDEPLOY-7793 - Resolved Vulnerabilities CVE-2014-0114, CVE-2019-10086 for various Plugin.

• FLEXDEPLOY-7795 - Resolved Vulnerabilities CVE-2018-7489, CVE-2017-7525, CVE-2020-10650, CVE-2020-35490, CVE-2020-35491, CVE-2020-36518, CVE-2022-42003, CVE-2022-42004, CVE-2018-1000873, CVE-2019-14379, CVE-2019-14540, CVE-2019-14892, CVE-2019-14893, CVE-2019-16335, CVE-2019-16942, CVE-2019-16943, CVE-2019-17267, CVE-2019-17531, CVE-2019-20330, CVE-2020-8840, CVE-2020-9546, CVE-2020-9547, CVE-2020-9548, CVE-2020-10672, CVE-2020-10673, CVE-2020-10968, CVE-2020-10969, CVE-2020-11111, CVE-2020-11112, CVE-2020-11113, CVE-2020-11619, CVE-2020-11620, CVE-2020-14060, CVE-2020-14061, CVE-2020-14062, CVE-2020-14195, CVE-2020-24616, CVE-2020-24750, CVE-2020-35728, CVE-2020-36179, CVE-2020-36180, CVE-2020-36181, CVE-2020-36182, CVE-2020-36183, CVE-2020-36184, CVE-2020-36185, CVE-2020-36186, CVE-2020-36187, CVE-2020-36188, CVE-2020-36189, CVE-2021-20190, CVE-2019-12086, CVE-2019-14439, CVE-2020-25649 , CVE-2019-12384, and CVE-2019-12814 for EC2, AWS, Docker, Jenkins Plugin.

• FLEXDEPLOY-7798 - Resolved Vulnerability CVE-2020-28491 in AWS Plugin.

• FLEXDEPLOY-7801 - Resolved Vulnerabilities CVE-2021-27568 and CVE-2021-31684 for ServiceNow and XPath Plugin.

• FLEXDEPLOY-7802 - Resolved Vulnerability CVE-2020-15250 for Docker, TestNG, Cucumber, JUnit Plugin.

Resolved Issues

• FLEXDEPLOY-6828 - Resolved issue where workflow input does not default to initial value when workflow is invoked from pipeline. Previously users needed to save stage execution information as workaround.

• FLEXDEPLOY-7429 - Resolved issue where attachments added when initially creating the work item would result in an error.

Deprecated Features

Groovy Functions

• The method FLEXDEPLOY.createIncidentForWorklowRequest was deprecated and replaced with FLEXDEPLOY.createIncidentForWorkflowRequest. The misspelled method will no longer show up as an option in the editor, but will continue to work.

• Previously deprecated method FLEXDEPLOY.populateFiles(Long pProjectId, Long pBranchId) is now hidden from the code editor. It will continue to work, but switching to FLEXDEPLOY.discoverFiles is recommended.

• The following FLEXDEPLOY.Stream methods are now deprecated.

Long findStreamId(Long pProjectId, String pStreamName);
Long createStream(Long pProjectId, ProjectStreamPojo pStream);
Long createStream(Long pProjectId, String pStreamName);
Long createStream(Long pProjectId, String pStreamName, String pVersionSyntax);
void activateStream(Long pProjectId, String pStreamName);
void inactivateStream(Long pProjectId, String pStreamName);
void patchStream(Long pProjectId, Long pStreamId, ProjectStreamDataObject pStream);
void updateStream(Long pProjectId, Long pStreamId, ProjectStreamPojo pStream);

FLEXDEPLOY.Branch methods replace them.

Long findBranchId(Long pProjectId, String pBranchName);
Long createBranch(Long pProjectId, String pBranchName, String pVersionSyntax);
Long createBranch(Long pProjectId, ProjectStreamPojo pBranch);
Long createBranch(Long pProjectId, String pBranchName);
void activateBranch(Long pProjectId, String pBranchName);
void inactivateBranch(Long pProjectId, String pBranchName);
void patchBranch(Long pProjectId, Long pBranchId, ProjectStreamDataObject pBranch);
void updateBranch(Long pProjectId, Long pBranchId, ProjectStreamPojo pBranch);

Plugins

Following plugins are deprecated and will be removed in next major FlexDeploy release.

• Oracle Database Cloud

• Oracle IaaS Classic

• Oracle Java Cloud

• Oracle SOA Cloud

REST API

• All V1 REST APIs have been deprecated since FlexDeploy 6.0. These APIs are still available but some may be removed in the next major FlexDeploy release. The exact APIs scheduled for removal in next major release will be declared in upcoming monthly releases.

  • Application API (/flexdeploy/rest/v1/application) was previously removed from V1. Application concept was removed in FlexDeploy 6.0

Incompatible Changes

Release and Pipeline Management

• Releases no longer have the state NOTSTARTED so if you were using this state in a REST call, use SUSPENDED or STARTED instead. The validation of the release to be ready to run is no longer required for STARTED. Instead, creating snapshots contains that validation.

• The CSV format for Uploading and Download Pipeline Stage Execution Info has changed. Any CSV files in the old format should be discarded. A new CSV file with the correct format can be downloaded from the Stage Execution Info popup in the Release Dashboard.

• Background thread names used by execution engine is changed from gateworker, stepworker to releaseeventprocessor.

• FLEXDEPLOY-9981 - ReleaseProjectDataObject - Removed the GroupName attribute, which contained group names (String), and replaced with ProjectGroups attribute, which contains group ids. This affects v2 REST APIs for release and some FLEXDEPLOY methods.

Plugins

• The Apigee, Maven, and XPath plugins now require Java 8.

Groovy Scripts

• Several groovy functions available from the FLEXDEPLOY object throw different exceptions, which could require a change to a try catch block in your groovy functions. For instance, the release methods that once threw FlexNotFoundException now throw FlexDeployRowNotFoundException, consistent with other APIs made more recently.

• The column “Stream” in the csv file created by FLEXDEPLOY.getSnapshotCommitDetailInputStreams and FLEXDEPLOY.downloadSnapshotCommitDetails is renamed to "Branch"

URL Changes

Application URLs are updated as shown below. If you are referencing these URLs then adjust appropriately. In some cases, internal redirect is setup and previous URLs will continue to work for now.