FlexDeploy 4.5.3 - Patch Release 5-30-2018

• Application Versions
  • WebLogic - 4.5.3.184
  • Tomcat - 4.5.3.154

General/Usability

• Mail configuration (SMTP) variables are now available in Workflow execution context.

Plugin Updates

• WebLogic Plugin
  • Fixes for Grid Link data sources for WebLogic 11g.
• Nexus Plugin
  • Added new operation to upload artifacts.
• OBI Plugin
  • Added support for Windows environment for Web Catalog items (not RPD).
  • Plugin handles special characters like / and : in report name. These characters are not allowed in OBIEE but some example reports contain such characters.

FlexDeploy 4.5.3

FlexDeploy 4.5.2 - Patch Release 4-25-2018

Plugin Updates

• EBS Plugin
  • Fixed issue with the combination of SQL retries and stop on error. The new behavior is that when stop on behavior is in use, no SQL retries are allowed, the execution stops immediately after the first failure.
  • Fixed regression where sql errors in the log don't always fail the file properly. This regression began with the 4.5.2.21 release. Users of 4.5.2.21+ are encouraged to upgrade to the latest version on the support site.

FlexDeploy 4.5.1 - Patch Release 12-12-2017

Plugin Updates

• JDBC plugin (4.5.1.20)
  • Fixed a bug that affects full deloyment only using a sequence file. If a line containing only whitespace was present in the sequence file, it led to an infinite loop condition.

FlexDeploy 4.5.1 - Patch Release 12-11-2017

Plugin Updates

• EBS plugin (4.5.1.26)
  • Fixed a bug where other files had an invalid chmod command if the project property to set default permissions was used.
  • Removed the code to validate the "run" parameter on the source script property case insensitively because it wasn't compatible with AIX. Please specify the parameter as all lower case, "run" if desired.
• Perforce plugin (4.5.1.3)
  • Added feature of labeling only the selected files when using the label project files operation in a partial deploy project.
  • Due to limitations in Perforce the latest changelist id will be used for all the files.

FlexDeploy 4.5.1 - Patch Release 12-05-2017

Plugin Updates

• EBS plugin (4.5.1.24)
  • Fixed a regression from the 4.5.1.10 version retry logic that allowed files that were retried successfully to continue retrying.
  • Enhancements to the Concurrent Manager Operations that allow defining what to do if CM isn't stopped or started in x minutes.
  • Fixes for the Workflow state management operations.
  • Fixes for some Oracle errors not being seen as errors by the plugin, which could lead to executions being marked successful, but really having errors.

FlexDeploy 4.5.1 - Patch Release 11-29-2017

Plugin Updates

• Perforce plugin
  • Fix for a regression in the initial 4.5 release where the plugin incorrectly validated that label and change set id were both given at times.

FlexDeploy 4.5.1 - Patch Release 11-27-2017

Plugin Updates

• WebLogic plugin
  • Fix for a regression in the initial 4.5 release where versioned deployment without side-by-side / hot redeployment was no longer updating the version number in the manifest properly.

FlexDeploy 4.5.1 - Patch Release 11-20-2017

• Application Versions
  • WebLogic - 4.5.1.85
  • Tomcat - 4.5.2.65

General/Usability

• Allow projects and applications that had both scheduled tasks and approval tasks to be approved to go at next window if the window had already passed before the approval is given.
• Fixed a bug where if there is a large number of instances, sometimes it was possible that some be missing in deployment dropdowns.
• Release Notification on Failure enhancements
• Add helpful information to make plugin auto upload easier.
• Fix for copy project having a tighter regex than create project had.

Plugin Updates

• EBS plugin (4.5.1.10)
  • Added support for generate jar operations with an unshared Java top. This is a breaking change. You will likely need to open any workflows that have the operations adcGenerateJar or generateCustomJar in them, check if you want to run on any or all instances, and save them. You also need to associate the resource type of Web Server to the endpoints that will run the 2 operations.
  • Linked more properties to operations.
  • Improved Java and SQL Retry logic.
  • A significant bug was found in this version, and all users should upgrade to the latest version as soon as possible.
• Git plugin
  • Make the plugin easier to implement by making the GIT Path Environment/Instance property easier to use and adding a better description. No change for existing impelementations.
• Maven
  • Add the ability to parse test results into FlexDeploy when running external Maven.

FlexDeploy 4.5.1 - Patch Release 11-15-2017

Plugin Updates

• JDBC plugin
  • Added logging to indicate how many rows are selected, updated, inserted, deleted, etc.

FlexDeploy 4.5.1 - Patch Release 11-14-2017

Plugin Updates

• Oracle Database plugin
  
  • Fix for a reported issue with system-generated primary key constraints and manually-generated primary key constraints with the same columns but different index names. A new snapshot (build) and deploy are needed to resolve the issue.

FlexDeploy 4.5.1

• Application Versions
  • WebLogic - 4.5.1.72
  • Tomcat - 4.5.1.46

SQL Patch

• Performance improvements for Home and Dashboard pages.

General/Usability

• Partial Deploy Project files sort issue
• Performance improvements for Home and Dashboard pages.
• Various fixes and format changes for Environment Discrepancy report.
  
• Additional methods added for Pipeline gate and step Precondition groovy script to determine if any Deploy or Utility executions failed.
• Added screen to view list of applied SQL patches. This will be helpful when performing FlexDeploy upgrades.
  
• Ability to update application Log Level from UI. This would make it easy to debug issues in FlexDeploy when necessary.
  

Bug Fixes

• Show workflow input display name instead of code on workflow execution and request page.
• Email should contain display name for workflow inputs instead of code.
• Sort stream names by name - Keep Main stream on top above, but then branches in alphabetical order.
• Passphrase entry option should be like password to avoid issues with Auto Fill in various browsers.
• Allow view of Group Membership for External Realm Mappings as well.
• Git - first project revision is not 12 characters long.
• Change Ticket added by REST API does not make it to Workflow request when executing through Pipeline.
• Pending approval email contains incorrect Requested By.
• JMeter works with versions 2.0, 3.0, doesn't work with 3.3.
• Plugin purge on endpoint does not work for AIX.
• REST API allows partial build of a project to a release that it isn't associated to with the all files setting / package name setting.
• Notification Step email does not have any context for Release and Snapshot.
• Release snapshot can be created with the package name and not lists of files, as the file list of the package is used, but the REST API to build requires the file list.
• Submit of Test workflow fails for Utility project.
• Partial Build for Git with no sparse checkout folder fails.
• If you run the completeExternalGate with no CMS, it doesn't approve the ticket properly, but still has a 200 status.
• If you try to approve an Internal approval gate with the completeExternalGate REST call it gets stuck in waiting for approval.
• Adding Partial Project in REST defaults to add all files - false, but UI defaults to true.
• REST API createOrUpdateRelease does not change the stream of a project if a project was in the release, and still is, but should have a different stream.
• Release Manager fields aren't validated for REST API.
• Can use REST API to take a release from complete to not started status.
• Post build trigger - only fire if the build wasn't associated to a release.
• Email-able URL to open an application.
• Workflow inputs for Utility step are not shown in Pipeline definition.
• Perforce export should fail if a bad label name is given.
• Test email uses destination email set at login, not the one saved on user page after login.
• If Group mapping is enabled but no mapped groups are found, user is unable to login.

Plugin Updates

• EBS
  
  • Added support for EBS 11.5.10.
  • Default Custom mode of Workflows changed to FORCE. Populate new files or re-evaulate to see the change. There is a new project property to control the default if needed.
• JDBC
  • Added support for partial deploy. This will allow customers to easily track SQL file executions by creating Package. SQL files are sorted based on file extensions, but developers can tweak execution when Package is built as well. This also supports retry count and ability to ignore failures and compile warnings at the file level.
    
  • JDBC plugin now catches Oracle compile warnings.
• File
  • Added support for partial deploy.This will allow customers to move files to various target locations from one source control folder. Files can be updated with Owner, Group and Permissions on Unix targets. Additionally files can be executed as well after move.
    
• WebLogic
  • Enhanced log messages for JMS deployments.
• Informatica
  • Supports movement of informatica artifacts using deployment groups.
• REST
  • Added an option to do REST with Preemptive Basic Auth to support Jira and probably other sites.
• Oracle Database
  • Fix for an error where sometimes only some items populated.
• JDeveloper
  • Added new operation to install JDeveloper extensions.
• OBI
  • Added support for Java 6.

Recommended Changes

• If you are using Tomcat server, append following to logging.properties in conf folder.

  net.schmizz.level=WARNING

FlexDeploy 4.5 - Patch Release 10-11-2017

SQL Patch

• Dashboard related materialized views are changed to regular views. No restart of FlexDeploy is necessary for this patch.

FlexDeploy 4.5 - Patch Release 10-03-2017

Plugin Updates

• Oracle Database
  
  • Better display of the sql being executed or previewed.
• REST
  • Added support for preemptive authentication

FlexDeploy 4.5

Advanced Pipeline and Release Management

Software changes are often delivered by way of releases, where one or more components are bundled together and delivered to the end user as a collection of features or capabilities. Typically these software changes are promoted across a series of environments, before ultimately being delivered to the production environment where they are consumed by the end user. This software delivery life-cycle generally requires approvals, resolution of conflicts within shared environments, and utilizes testing quality metrics when determining when the changes are ready to be promoted into the next environment. The planning, collaboration, and execution of these activities, while required, often slow down delivery rates and add significant cost to IT projects.

Prior to FlexDeploy 4.5, our customers were able to use Application build and deploy features to create bundles for deployment, but that was very limited and obviously very static configuration of bundle. FlexDeploy 4.5 introduces Pipeline & Release Management to allow for easy and dynamic approach to bundling different components and delivering them in automated manner to various environments.

Utility Workflows

FlexDeploy projects are used to perform Build and Deploy operations, which deal  well with specific artifacts like EAR, JAR, Configurations etc. But there are situations when users or pipeline needs to execute operations like Start WebLogic Server, Stop WebLogic Server etc, which don't have any artifacts to build. In order to support execution of custom steps / scripts, FlexDeploy 4.5 introduces concept of Utility Project and Workflows. See Workflows, Creating Utility Project, Configuring Utility Project for more details.

Topology User Interface

Defining topology of various environment, instance and endpoints is very important for FlexDeploy. We have redesigned topology management in FlexDeploy 4.5. The new user interface will provide easier management and navigation capabilities. See Topology for more details. Some of the highlights of this new redesign.

• Visual overview of entire topology with color coded indicators to show configuration progress.
• Quick filter of list data without having to press Search or Enter button.
• Search results are clickable to navigate to details.
• Copy action supported for quickly creating Instance, Endpoint, SCM / Issue Tracking / Testing / Change Management Configurations.
• Save and Apply actions. Save returns to previous page after successful Save. Apply stays on same page.
• Navigation allows easy navigation to related objects.

Extended Platform Support

• Installation of FlexDeploy on Glassfish is no longer supported.
• Customers can deploy FlexDeploy 4.5 to WebLogic 12.1.3 (with ADF Runtime) and Tomcat 8.5.
• OVA image will be available for easier proof of concept. See flexagon.com for details.

API Updates

• New API added to manage Release definition. This allows for the creation and update of Releases. A separate API to add or Remove projects from release is also available.
• New API added to complete or reject external approval gate for Change Management System - ServiceNow.

General/Usability

• Plugin log level can be controlled using System Settings page. By default, EBS plugin is configured such that environment variables will not be printed in logs. 

• Workflow notification emails will contain additional information like FlexFields and Start Time when appropriate.

• Workflow notification emails will contain links to FlexDeploy project and approval request in case of approval email, which will help you navigate to FlexDeploy with context. For example, an approval email will have a link to the request and when a user clicks it they will just see that specific request.

• Password entry is now done in Popup where user must enter password twice to make sure correct value is entered. This also helps avoid issues where certain browsers automatically fill in form data for secure values.

• Environment History and State reports now have links to navigate to specific Workflow Execution. If execution has been archived, navigation will occur to specific project for that execution.

• Workflow referenced by table on workflow design screen displays Projects that utilize that specific workflow, now Project name is a link to allow navigation to specific project.

• Project and Workflow filters will be remembered in user's session, this will help when navigating back to project or workflow screen.

• All search screens now have links to view / edit specific object. Edit button is still present but it is much easier to navigate by single click.

• Approval tasks screen now supports filter by Request Id, this feature is used by Approval Email links as well. When approver clicks on approval request link in email, only that specific request will be shown. User can approve or reject that request easily now. Click Reset button to see all approval requests assigned to your FlexDeploy Group(s).

• Project deployment request form will only display mapped environments when Instance selection is changed. This is useful when Projects are setup to deploy to multiple Instances.

• Application build or deployment request form will display environments that are common to all projects part of that application. This will make it easier for users to select environments and avoid failures.
• Fixed issue where Environment State report was not searchable by Application Name.
• Fixed issue where Approval Group members did not receive emails if their membership was derived from External Realm Group mapping.
• SCM File Author is now visible during Revision lookup on build request form for partial deploy projects.
• Plugin logs are now viewed in paginated manner, which would help load screen consistently even when there is lot of plugin log data. User can still download entire plugin logs using Download Logs button.
• Plugins are now automatically uploaded when placed in plugins folder under application working directory. This does not require server restart. Uploaded plugins are deleted from filesystem automatically after few days to save disk space.
• Abort now works on localhost endpoint as well.
• Project Name can now contain hyphens.
• Read only workflows can be inactivated now. Customers can inactivate out of box workflows that are not being used in their setup.
• Copy Source button added on Workflow Source popup to easily copy source.
• Login process is now optimized and should perform consistently even when user has many roles in external realm.
• Purge process is now implemented in Java. Purge supports deletion of Log data more aggressively now. Plugin logs and workflow steps stage can accumulate quickly and cause database size to grow, hence new configuration of purge for log data should be useful when necessary.
• Plugin Logs and workflow steps data is not archived anymore. You can delete all data from ARC_PLUGIN_EXECUTION_LOG and ARC_WORKFLOW_EXECUTION_DATA tables if you want to free up space in your database.

Plugin Updates

• WebLogic plugin now supports hot deployment mode (side by side deployment).
• EBS plugin will print each file execution with specific start and end markers for easier read/debug.
  
• More than one Oracle Service Bus project deployment can not be executed in parallel, in order to avoid failures during plugin execution locking is implemented such that only one Oracle Service Bus deployment runs on Endpoint.
• Common configurations files can now be used with Oracle Service Bus project deployments.
• EIS entries plugin operation now supports pool-params. See createOrUpdateEISEntries.
• File plugin now has zip and unzip operations to work with EAR and WAR files. This can be utilized to modify such archive files before deployment to application server.
• The Oracle Application Container Cloud (ACC) plugin extended support to include PHP containers.

Incompatible Changes

• If you are upgrading from version before 4.0.3 (Patch Release 4-24-2017) you will need to perform this change on your EBS Deploy workflow. EBS deploy operation has changed to allow deployments across multiple endpoints if necessary. In most cases, default of deploying to just one endpoint should work fine for most customers. But you must open your existing EBS Deployment workflow, make a copy, click on Deploy operation, click OK and Save, Activate the workflow. See below for an example on how deploy operation should look. 
  

Known Issues

• If FlexDeploy is installed on WebLogic, integration with HTTPS systems like email, Jira or ServiceNow may run in to javax.net.ssl.SSLException: Received fatal alert: handshake_failure. Use -DUseSunHttpHandler=true for JVM Arguments as defined on Installation for Weblogic.
  
• When you try to perform a new Build with Selected on Project Files screen for EBS partial deploy project, you may see an Error dialog indicating that "There are unsaved changes, please Save before requesting build". This happens as new attributes are added for various EBS object types. Please click Save once and that error will not occur unless you change something specifically.
• If you are calling object.isAllWhitespace() method in Groovy on String input to check whether it was supplied or not, you may get "Cannot invoke method isAllWhitespace() on null object". Please update groovy script to be something like object == null || object.isAllWhitespace().
• FlexDeploy 4.5 maintains only two copies of Plugin executables on target Endpoint and older versions are deleted. We have noticed that 4.5 GA version incorrectly deletes newer versions of Plugin executables on AIX endpoint and execution fails. In order to avoid issues you can delete all plugin versions under <Endpoint Working Directory>/plugins folder. This is resolved in the 4.5.1 release.