EAR support for JBoss EAP 6
Valid from Pega Version 7.1.5
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.
Small distribution kit
Valid from Pega Version 7.1.5
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
Valid from Pega Version 7.1.5
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.
Restricted SMA access
Valid from Pega Version 7.1.5
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:
DB2-LUW database logfile size increase
Valid from Pega Version 7.1.5
To avoid running out of logfile space due to large transaction sets during the rule base load of a Pega 7.1.x install, upgrade, or maintenance level update, systems supported by a DB2-LUW database platform should increase the LOGFILSIZ parameter to at least 4096 pages from the default size of 1000 pages.
After the size has been increased, restart the database to ensure that the new setting is loaded into the database correctly.
Need to run script before updating Multitenant systems
Valid from Pega Version 7.1.5
When updating or upgrading a Multitenant system from Pega 7.1.5 or 7.1.6 to Pega 7.1.7, if that system uses either an Oracle or a PostgreSQL database, you may encounter the error:
“Table must be empty to add column.”
The Multitenant architecture requires an additional column on a number of the PRPC database tables (“pzTenantID”). In Pega 7.1.7, two additional PRPC tables were tenant-qualified: pc_schedule_task and pr_index_schedule_task. The Multitenant column is added to these tables by the update/upgrade process. However, Oracle and PostgreSQL do not allow the addition of a non-null column to an existing table unless the table is empty, so updating or upgrading systems on those databases displays the error detailed above.
To avoid this error, before beginning the update or upgrade, it is necessary to run a script:
- Oracle —
OracleMTupgrade.sql
- PostgreSQL —
PostgresMTupgrade.sql
For updates, these scripts are located in the /scripts/ddl
directory.
For upgrades, these scripts are located in the /Resourcekit/AdditionalUpgradeScripts
directory.
Upgraded selected third-party JAR files to support Pega Platform functionalities
Valid from Pega Version 8.6
Pega Platform™ 8.6 now provides upgraded versions of the JAR files that support various functionalities within the Platform, such as generating documents or PPTX files.
Upgrade impact
If you have custom implementations and use any classes from the upgraded JAR files directly in your code or through JAR APIs, after your upgrade to Pega Platform 8.6, your application might experience unexpected run-time behavior if the upgraded JAR version lacks any elements from the previous version. For example, custom implementations can typically include activities, functions, or non-autogenerated sections. Unexpected run-time behavior might also occur when you use a third-party library that has dependencies on the upgraded JAR files. If you use only default Pega Platform functionalities without any customizations, the JAR files continue to work correctly without any additional actions.
What steps are required to update the application to be compatible with this change?
If you have any JAR customizations, ensure that you test the upgraded JAR files for compatibility and upgrade impact. The following table lists the upgraded JAR files that might impact your application:
JAR file name | Upgraded version |
---|---|
apache-mime4j-core | 0.8.3 |
apache-mime4j-dom | 0.8.3 |
commons-codec | 1.15 |
commons-collectionons4 | 4.4 |
commons:commons-math3 | 3.6.1 |
commons-compress | 1.20 |
commons-lang3 | 3.9 |
fontbox | 2.0.19 |
httpclient | 4.5.12 |
httpcore | 4.4.13 |
httpmime | 4.5.12 |
istack-commons-runtime | 3.0.8 |
jackson-annotations | 2.10.3 |
jackson-core | 2.10.3 |
jackson-databind | 2.10.3 |
jaxb-runtime | 2.3.2 |
java-libpst | 0.9.3 |
jcommaner | 1.78 |
junrar | 4.0.0 |
metadata-extractor | 2.13 |
openjson | 1.0.11 |
parso | 2.0.11 |
pdfbox | 2.0.19 |
poi | 4.1.2 |
poi-ooxml | 4.1.2 |
poi-ooxml-schemas | 4.1.2 |
poi-scratchpad | 4.1.2 |
slf4j-api | 1.7.28 |
xmlbeans | 3.1.0 |
xmpcore | 6.1.10 |
For more information, refer to the documentation of your JAR provider.
Improved security after hiding SQL values
Valid from Pega Version 8.6
In Pega Platform™ version 8.6, the default value of the showSQLInList dynamic system setting changes to FALSE, which suppresses the visibility of the SQL values in the Clipboard tool. With this setting disabled, when you run a report definition the clipboard does not display sensitive values in the pxSQLStatementPre and pxSQLStatementPost properties, which makes your system less vulnerable. If you want to display the values, in the .prconfig file, set the prconfig/security/showSQLInListPage/default to TRUE.
Additional connection pool parameters for JDBC URL external databases
Valid from Pega Version 8.6
For improved external JDBC URL database connection performance, Pega Platform™ now supports multiple Hikari connection pool parameters directly in the Data-Admin-DB-Name rule. Previously, Pega Platform supported a limited number of connection pool parameters to optimize your database connection using dynamic system settings (DSS). Now you can optimize your JDBC URL connection pool sizing to meet your traffic requirements through additional parameters without switching rules. Additional parameters include client-request parameters to maximize the connectivity to your external databases.
For more information, see Creating and updating external database instances with JDBC URLs.
Upgrade impact
During an upgrade to Pega Infinity™ release 8.6 and later, clients who previously specified their JDBC URL connection parameters through dynamic system settings (DSS) or prconfig
file must delete the corresponding DSS or prconfig
elements immediately after upgrade. The old parameters that you previously specified through DSS or the prconfig
file override the equivalent parameters that you specified in the JDBC URL rule after your upgrade.
For more information about deleting your previous DSS or prconfig
elements, see Deleting dynamic system setting connection parameters and Deleting connection parameters in the prconfig file.
Enhanced PEGA0104 alert
Valid from Pega Version 8.6
The PEGA0104 alert now includes the thread pool size, a list of activities that are waiting in the queue for a thread to become available, and details on how long it took to capture the thread dump. By default, the alert also includes the thread dump. You can disable the inclusion of the thread dump by changing the related configuration option.
For more information, see PEGA0104 alert: Background tasks have exceeded a threshold time when attempting to acquire a thread from pool or executor.