Published Release Notes

Data schema error on z/OS split schema upgrades from versions before Pega 7.1.8

When upgrading to a split schema on Pega 7.x with IBM DB2 for z/OS, you see an error during the data schema upgrade when the system tries to drop the PRPC_Updatescache procedure. Because triggers on rules tables use PRPC_Updatescache, you must use the ZOSDisableTriggerScripts to disable these triggers before you update the data schema.

1. Follow the instructions in the Pega 7 Platform Upgrade Guide to upgrade the rules schema, but stop immediately before you upgrade the data schema with the upgrade.bat or upgrade.sh script. The Pega 7 Platform Upgrade Guide is on the Support > Deployment Guides page.
2. Copy the contents of the <distribution>\ResourceKit\ZOSDisableTriggerScripts directory into the <distribution>\scripts\ directory.
3. Run fixZosTriggers.bat or fixZosTriggers.sh with the following arguments:
   --action preupgrade
--dataschema <data schema name>
   --oldrulesschema <old rules schema name. If you are upgrading from a single-schema system, this is the data schema name.>
   --newrulesschema <new rules schema name>
   --automaticddl <Optional. Set to true to automatically apply the disable trigger SQL scripts.>

   For example:
   fixZosTriggers --action preupgrade --dataschema pegadata --oldrulesschema pegarules --newrulesschema newrules --automaticddl false

4. If you did not set --automaticddl to true in the previous step, run the <distribution>\schema/disable.sql script to manually disable the trigger SQL scripts.
5. Run the data schema upgrade as described in the Pega 7 Platform Upgrade Guide.

Upgrade changes system name

As of Pega 7.1.7, the following renaming behavior no longer occurs.

The upgrade process renames your system to “PRPC” and modifies any custom requestor rules in your application to use this name. After the upgrade completes, you must apply these changes to revert your system:

1. Identify all custom requestor rules (browser, batch, app, portal) with access groups that point to prior versions of PRPC.
2. Open the relevant access groups (for example, PRPC:Unauthenticated and PRPC:Agents) and update the name and version fields to point to the current PegaRULES application.
3. Reset your system name to its original value. You can set the Dynamic System Setting prconfig/identification/systemName/default or use the Designer Studio > System > Settings > System Name landing page.
4. Restart the system.

Required DB2 settings

For customers using the DB2 Version 4 drivers (“db2jcc4.jar”), it is necessary to set the custom connection property useJDBC4ColumnNameAndLabelSemantics to “false”.   

For customers using DB2 with WebSphere, the useJDBC4ColumnNameAndLabelSemantics property in the DB2 data source needs to be changed from a Boolean to an Integer and set to "2". 

EAR support for JBoss EAP 6

PRPC deployment in JBoss EAP 6 as an EAR archive is now supported. 

If you need to deploy the JBoss EAR file, go to My Support Portal and submit a Support Request. GCS can assist you with the procedure.

Access Manager portal

Changes to the Access Manager simplify the process of modifying the access rights of features for an application. The changes, including creation of an Access Manager portal, make it easier for non-technical users, such as business architects, to set access rights even if they may not have a deep understanding of Pega 7's security model and class inheritance structure.​

Small distribution kit

A new “small” release distribution format for Maintenance Levels (ML) is now available, designed to significantly increase adoption via: 

• Minimal package size and faster download time
• Minimal install time via tactical changes to the upgrade implementation and process

This kit contains streamlined installers (both UI and command-line installers) and specialized error handling for ML updates (for example, a “small” kit will only work if an existing version of the same release is already installed). 

The kit assembly has also been automated, which includes the construction of a PRPC_Rules.jar archive containing cumulative rules since the GA release. 

A “small” kit will work for any prior ML release within a major release (for example, the “small” ML5 distribution kit will update any customer on 7.1 ML1 through 7.1 ML4).

Improved data page performance

Improvements have been made with queueing and processing of asynchronously-loaded data pages to reduce the number of calls to the database and avoid generating performance problems because of unneeded asynchronous requests.

DCO and PMF integration is unavailable

DCO and PMF integration functionality is not available in this release. Related project management controls have been removed from the following:

• System Settings landing page (Designer Studio > System > Settings > Project Management)
• Application Profile landing page (Designer Studio > Application > Profile > Specifications)
• Add/Edit Specification dialog

Restricted SMA access

System Management Application (SMA) remote connections are not supported on JBoss EAP 6.x. This means SMA users may only monitor locally connected systems. Ensure that the "Local JVM Connection..." option is selected when configuring PRPC nodes:

Attachment support for requirements

Requirements now support attachments. You can add attachments from the Designer Studio > Application > Profile > Requirements landing page, the Add/Edit Requirement modal, or the requirement rule form.