What's New in CMS 10.30

The Automated Service Modeling (ASM) feature has the following improvement:

You can model a business service starting from a Running Software CI. That is to say, you can now discover services that do not have a URL, hence, non-web apps or services. For more information, see Model a Business Service Starting from a Specific Entry Point in the Universal CMDB Browser User Guide.

As part of the CMS system, Universal CMDB enables large enterprises and service providers to manage the configuration of their IT resources in a comprehensive and secure way while delivering value to end users and integrated applications.

Accessibility improvements

• Providing secure access by making HTTPS protocol default

  Starting with version 10.30, by default the HTTPS protocol is enabled for UCMDB server, with the HTTP protocol being disabled.

  If necessary, you can enable HTTP communication for UCMDB Server. For instructions, see How to Enable HTTP Communication for UCMDB Server in the Universal CMDB Administration Guide.

• Securing access to the JMX console to localhost only

  Also, starting with version 10.30, the JMX console is secured by restricting access to it to server localhost only.

  Administrators attempting to access the JMX console from a remote machine may encounter all remote access attempts being redirected with no error. If necessary, you can still enable remote access to JMX console. For instructions, see How to Enable Remote Access to the JMX Console in the Universal CMDB Administration Guide or KM02568276.

• Accessing UCMDB UI from Chrome 43+, Firefox 48+, IE 12+, Microsoft Edge, or Safari 10+ using JNLP

  Version 10.30 introduced the JNLP feature and a new JMX setting mam.web.is.jnlp.enabled, this enables users to launch UCMDB UI application from Chrome 43+, Firefox 48+, or other web browsers without support for NPAPI plugins. For more details, see How to Launch UCMDB UI from Chrome 43+, Firefox 48+, Microsoft Edge, or Safari 10+ in the Universal CMDB Administration Guide.

• Easy troubleshooting of integrations by viewing integration point log from UCMDB UI

  You can now open and view the integration point log from the UCMDB UI directly using the newly introduced View Integration Point Log button. For more information, see How to View the Integration Point Log in the Universal CMDB Data Flow Management Guide.

Data Push Related Improvements

• Data push architecture enhancement and possibility for increasing the number of threads for push jobs

  Data push architecture is enhanced to separate the internal resources used by different integrations, localizing at integration point level, resources otherwise shared between the integration points, which, when run in parallel with large amount of data may prove slow. By reducing such shared resources, big improvements can be observed in a concurrent running scenario. Now the engine parallelism can be better exploited through the number of threads allocated. A new JMX setting was introduced to offer the possibility for increasing the number of threads for push jobs from the OOTB value 3 to any desired value. For detailed instructions, see How to Increase the Number of Threads for Data Push Jobs in the Universal CMDB Data Flow Management Guide.

• Real time data synchronization to integrated products

  Real time data synchronization to integrated products is possible with live data push jobs, which can automatically run a delta synchronization and send the changes to the consumer (the external integrated system) when the result of jobs' active TQL queries changes. Live data push jobs no longer rely on the schedule setting. For more information, see Live Data Push Jobs in the Universal CMDB Data Flow Management Guide

• Protect CIs from being deleted on target CMDBs during data push

  For data push integrations of multiple CMDBs using Cmdb10xAdapter, this enhancement enables you to protect CIs of specified CI Types from being deleted on the target CMDBs during data push. For detailed instructions, see How to Protect CIs from Being Deleted on Target CMDBs during Data Push in the Universal CMDB Data Flow Management Guide.

Data-In Related Improvements

• Prioritize Data-In operations

  Now UCMDB can prioritize Data-In operations based on the defined list of callers. You can define high priority callers by configuring the datain.high.priority.callers setting through the setSettingValue method in the JMX console. For detailed instructions, see How to Specify High Priority Callers for the Data-In Operations in the Universal CMDB Data Flow Management Guide.

• Multi-threaded Data-In operations

  The Data-In service can process multiple CI buckets concurrently if they do not intersect based on their identification. By default, the Data-In service processes a maximum of four CI buckets concurrently. The maximum number is customizable. For more information, see Data-In Service - Populating UCMDB and How to Modify the Maximum Number of Threads for the Data-In Service in the Universal CMDB Data Flow Management Guide

LDAP Related Improvements

• Support for multiple LDAP servers

  UCMDB Server 10.30 supports multiple LDAP servers for authentication. For more information, see How to Define LDAP Servers and Enable LDAP Authentication Method in the Universal CMDB Hardening Guide.

• Capability for searching LDAP users

  You can search LDAP users by using the getLDAPGroupUsersChunk() JMX method. For more information, see Search LDAP Users in the Universal CMDB Administration Guide.

UCMDB Administration Improvements

• External JAR Configuration File

  You can override the default configurations of a JAR file by saving the customized service-config.xml file from the JAR file to the following directory:

  <UCMDB_Server_Home>\conf\service-config\<the_same_path_as_in_the_JAR>\

  For more information, see How to Use the External JAR Configuration File in the Universal CMDB Administration Guide.

• KPI Dashboard

  In UCMDB Server 10.30, you can use the key performance indicator (KPI) dashboard in the JMX console to view database connection summary, discovery processing statistics, and operations information. For more information, see How to View the KPI Dashboard in the Universal CMDB Administration Guide.

• Standalone Solr Process

  Starting from UCMDB version 10.30, Solr runs by default in a different process than UCMDB. For more information, see How to Run Solr in a Different Process than UCMDB in the Universal CMDB Administration Guide.

• Easy tracking and management of hotfixes conflicts

  Invoking the newly introduced JMX method showAllBinariesApplied displays detailed information about hotfixes deployed, including hotfix type (applet, ui server, backend), readme file, if any overlapping files, and if any wrongly placed files. For more information, see How to Deploy Hotfixes and Track Hotfixes Applied on UCMDB Server in the Universal CMDB Administration Guide and How to Deploy Hotfixes and Track Hotfixes Applied on Data Flow Probe in the Universal CMDB Data Flow Management Guide.

Perform topology modification and topology query related operations using UCMDB REST API

The UCMDB REST API is available in version 10.30. You can use the UCMDB REST API to perform topology modification and topology query related operations. For more information, see Universal CMDB REST API in the Universal CMDB Developer Reference Guide.

Other Improvements

• The UCMDB Server now supports the Always On Availability Groups feature of Microsoft SQL Server.
• UCMDB now supports mapping an external user to multiple groups. The external user can then inherit roles from these groups.
• UCMDB now supports reporting license usage information to the Usage Hub. For more information, see How to Enable License Usage Tracking in the Universal CMDB Administration Guide.
• Added a new modifyCompositeIndexes JMX method, which allows you to add or remove the CMDB_ID column as a key column in the indexes for the specified class. For more information, see How to Modify Composite Indexes in the Universal CMDB JMX Reference Guide.

Extended Support Matrix Coverage

• Databases:

  • Added support for Microsoft SQL Server 2012 SP3 and 2014 SP1 on UCMDB server side

  • Added support for Microsoft SQL Server 2014 high availability mode (AlwaysOn)

  • Upgraded the embedded PostgreSQL to version 9.4.8 for both UCMDB Server and Data Flow Probe

• Operating Systems:

  • Added support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 7.2 on UCMDB server side, and versions 7.0, 7.1, and 7.2 on probe side
  • Added support for Oracle Enterprise Linux with Red Hat Compatible Kernel v7.2 on UCMDB server side, and versions 7.0, 7.1, and 7.2 on probe side
  • Added support for Oracle Enterprise Linux with Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel v7.2 on UCMDB server side, and versions 7.0, 7.1, and 7.2 on probe side
  • Added support for CentOS version 7.0 and 7.1 on both of the UCMDB server and probe sides

• Web Browsers:

  • Added support for Firefox 38 ESR

  • Added support for accessing UCMDB UI using JNLP from web browsers without support for NPAPI plugins, including Chrome 43+, Firefox 48+, Internet Explorer 12+, and Safari 10+

• Plug-ins:

  • Added support for Adobe Flash Player versions up to v19

• Removed Support for the following:

  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008

    • Enterprise SP2, R2, and R2 SP1, 64-bit
    • Standard R2 and R2 SP1, 64-bit

  • Microsoft SQL Server 2008

    • 32-bit or 64-bit, SP3
    • 64-bit, R2 SP1, R2 SP2

  • Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Failover Cluster, Enterprise, 64-bit, SP2, SP3, R2 SP1, R2 SP2

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 6.2 and 6.3

  • Oracle Enterprise Linux with Red Hat Compatible Kernel v6.3
  • Oracle Enterprise Linux with Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel v6.3
  • VMware ESX 4.0 and 4.1

Enhancements and Improvements to Widgets

• Get Related Widget

  Improved the way of exploring the environment data, by adding the Get Related widget, which replaces the Get Related menu. The Get Related Widget enables you to view the CIs that are related to a selected CI in either textual or graphical mode, and if desired, to view additional information for the CIs displayed in the map. For more details, see Get Related Widget in the Universal CMDB Browser User Guide.

• Impact Simulation Widget Improvements

  Starting with UCMDB Browser 4.10, users can:

  • Filter the impact results by Class model (Business Model, Analysis) or by CI Type in the Graphical Mode.

  • View additional information for the CIs displayed in the map.

• Embedded Widgets Improvements

  For the Impact Simulation Widget, users can:

  • Specify the severity level and the bundles.

  • Add multiple CI IDs

  For the Get Related Widget, users can specify a TQL previously defined in the UCMDB, and use it to explore related CIs.

  For more details, see Load Embeddable Widgets in the Universal CMDB Browser User Guide.

Double cache

UCMDB Browser now uses two settings (Time for which information in the Browser cache is valid and Time for which UCMDB Settings in the Browser cache is valid) to cache the information about the CIs, the widgets, and all the settings that are read from UCMDB Server. For more details, see Best Practices for Working with the UCMDB Browser in the Universal CMDB Browser Installation and Configuration Guide.

Improved modeling capabilities

Previously created models in the UCMDB UI and UCMDB Browser can be now opened from Service Modeling. This includes Instance Based Models, Pattern Based Models, models created in the Service Discovery module in UCMDB UI, and models created through Assisted Modeling. For a demo video of this capability, access Videos from the UCMDB 10.30 Help Center homepage.

More UCMDB Browser information viewable via Java Metrics

The new Java Metrics option enables you to view the following information of the UCMDB Browser: database connection summary, discovery processing statistics, and operations information. UCMDB Browser automatically captures performance metrics and saves the data statistically in .csv files. For more details, see How to View the Java Metrics in the Universal CMDB Browser Installation and Configuration Guide.

Easier discovery troubleshooting by viewing discovery log from the Discovery Progress widget

The new discovery log viewer accessible from the new context menu option View Discovery Log enables discovery administrators to perform discovery troubleshooting more easily, simply by viewing processed and formatted discovery log data from the Discovery Progress widget. For more details, see Discovery Progress Widget in the Universal CMDB Browser User Guide.

For more details, see the UCMDB Browser 4.10 documentation.

Universal Discovery (UD) software provides visibility into IT environments by automatically discovering and mapping IT applications and infrastructure elements. This is an overview of the main new features and enhancements in Universal Discovery 10.30.

• Install a second Data Flow Probe (of union mode) on the Windows machine

  The enhanced Data Flow Probe installer available with version 10.30 allows you to install a second Data Flow Probe on a Windows machine, and the second Probe must report to a different UCMDB server. That means the supported combination is as follows:

  An existing Probe (of any version, separate or union mode) on Windows + a second Probe (of version 10.30, union mode), reporting to two different UCMDB Servers.

  For detailed notes and installation instructions, see How to Install a Second Data Flow Probe on a Windows Machine in the Universal CMDB Data Flow Management Guide and the section about installing Data Flow Probes in the Universal CMDB Deployment Guide.

• Management zone related improvements

  • Export and Import Management Zones

    With an enhancement implemented to the existing JMX methods getManagementZone and addManagementZone, it is now possible for you to export and import management zones easily from one UCMDB instance to another by using the JMX console, and you can replicate the configurations performed on one system to other new instances. For detailed instructions, see the updated How to Migrate Management Zones section in the Universal CMDB Data Flow Management Guide.

  • More scheduler options for zone-based discovery activities

    Now you can schedule a zone-based discovery activity to run once, daily, weekly, or monthly, or run at the Cron expression you entered, like you schedule a discovery job. This enhancement offers the flexibility for you to configure more complicated schedule conveniently. For description of the scheduler user interface elements, see the Schedule Discovery page for the discovery activity of your interest in the UCMDB Discovery and Integrations Content Guide - Discovery Activities.

  • Rename existing management zones and activities

    Now you can rename existing management zones and activities by using the new Rename option in the management zone/activity context menu. For details, see How to Rename Management Zones and How to Rename Activities in the Universal CMDB Data Flow Management Guide.

  • Decouple IP Range configuration from Data Flow Probes/probe clusters level for management zones and allow coupling of excluded IPs from one IP range to a different IP range at domain level

    By decoupling IP Range configuration from Data Flow Probe/probe clusters level for management zones, removing IP range type setting for management zones, and allowing binding of excluded IPs from one IP range to a different IP range at domain level, this enhancement allows you to perform the following:

    • Configure independent IP ranges at domain level for management zones
    • Bind IPs excluded from one IP range to a different IP range as sub-range for management zones, without the limitation of types of IP addresses

    This enables discovery administrators to define management zones with more flexibility to reflect business discovery strategy.

    For more details, see Configure IP Ranges for Management Zones at Domain Level in the Universal CMDB Data Flow Management Guide.

• Added possibility for viewing status of Service Manager and Asset Manager integration jobs

  You can now view the status of Service Manager and Asset Manager integration jobs by using several newly added JMX methods. For more information, see How to View the Status of AM and SM Integration Jobs in the Universal CMDB Data Flow Management Guide.

• Added possibility for changing port number for the agent Call Home functionality

  By introducing a new parameter appilog.agent.callhome.port into the DataFlowProbe.properties file, this enhancement enables you to change the default port number used by the Universal Discovery Agent Call Home functionality to any other available one. This is especially helpful if the default call home port number 80 is blocked internally for security reasons in your organization. For detailed instructions, see How to Enable Changing the Default Port Number for Call Home in the Universal CMDB Data Flow Management Guide.

• CyberArk integration enhancement

  The enhanced CyberArk integration in version 10.30 allows you to configure selected CyberArk properties as a query string for UCMDB/UD to retrieve passwords from the CyberArk Enterprise Password Vault. The out-of-the-box list of CyberArk properties displayed in the Configure dialog box is editable, you can set selected CyberArk properties as the default list to display by using the new parameter cyberark.parameter.list of the setGlobalSettingVaule JMX method. For detailed instructions, see How to Set a Default List of CyberArk Properties Using JMX in the Universal CMDB Data Flow Management Guide.

Micro Focus releases frequent Content Packs that extend the breadth and depth of discovery and integration content, and enhancements to existing content. Content Pack 21.00 delivers a wide range of content in the areas of support matrix, new discoveries, new and enhanced jobs, and integrations.

Discovered Operating Systems

Added support for discovery and inventory (including agent support) for the following operating system:

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.2

Discovered Applications

Added support for discovering the following applications:

• Citrix XenServer 7.0
• Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 10

New Discoveries

Added support for the following discoveries:

• Event based discoveries

  • Docker Swarm Event Discovery
  • OpenStack Event Discovery
  • VMware vCloud Event Discovery

  Event based discoveries are based on events that are sent out from Cloud providers in real time. The event based discoveries use a framework called Event Hub to capture such events and report them into UCMDB. Thus, the topology in UCMDB can reflect the actual environment as much as possible.

• IBM SAN Volume Controller (SVC) discovery

  Added support for the new namespace IBM root/ibm under the SMI-S discovery jobs.

• Microsoft SQL Server Always On Failover Cluster instances discovery
• NetApp cluster discovery in the NetApp Filer Discovery
• Microsoft SQL Server Always On Failover Cluster instances discovery in the MS-SQL Discovery

Integrations

• Added support for integrating the following applications:

  • Network Automation (NA) 10.20
  • NNMi 10.20
  • OneView 2.x
• Added UI support for 3 more protocols for the CyberArk integration: SAP JMX protocol, SAP protocol, and VMware VIM protocol

• Added NetApp OnCommand Insight (OCI) Integration. This integration is to populate data from NetApp OCI to UCMDB.

• Added UCMDB-ServiceNow integration using the enhanced generic adapter. This integration supports Data Push into ServiceNow and Population from ServiceNow.

Others

• Added a new parameter fs_discovery_method to the globalSettings.xml file. This parameter indicates the file system discovery method. Valid values are perl and lsawk.

• Added a new parameter reportNonGlobalZoneWarning to the Solaris Zones by TTY job. This parameter determines whether to report the warning if the destination is not a global zone. Default: true.

• Added a new protocol: AMQP Protocol.

• Added support for the AWS GovCloud discovery in the Amazon Web Services Discovery.

  Added the following three parameters to allow you to configure AWS endpoints in the AWS Protocol: EC2Endpoint, IAMEndpoint, and RDSEndpoint.

• Added support for the discovery of SWIDTAG files in the ISO/IEC 2009 and 2015 standards to the Inventory Discovery by Scanner job.
• Added a new section Event Based Discovery in the HPE UCMDB Discovery and Integrations Content Guide - General Reference.
• Added two new topics Layer2 Discovery Flow and Layer2 Discovery Troubleshooting in the HPE UCMDB Discovery and Integrations Content Guide - Discovery Modules.

• Added two parameters (f5CommandTimeOut and useServicesFile) to the F5 BIG-IP LTM by Shell job.

• Enhanced the Host Resources by SNMP job to support the discovery of the details of the Dell server via its iDRAC management card, including CPUs, disks, and interfaces.

• Now the Universal Discovery agent installation will choose systemd first to manage UD agent service only if the Linux operating system supports it.

• Oracle Standby Databases can be discovered without using SYSDBA.

  Enhanced the Host Applications by Shell plug-in to report Oracle Service Name CI.

  Added Oracle Service Name CI to the reconciliation rule of Oracle CI.

• Scanner version: 10.30.000.122
• Universal Discovery Agent version: 10.30.000.122

For more information, see the Content Pack 21.00 documentation.