Published Release Notes

Tomcat log files moved to work directory

For Tomcat application server users, the default path for PRPC logs has been changed to the "work" directory for Catalina. For example:

<tomcat>\work\Catalina\localhost\prweb

This directory can be cleaned up during administration. To avoid loss of files, you can redirect logging to a different directory after installation:

1. Navigate to the <tomcat-home>\webapps\prweb\WEB-INF\classes directory.
2. Open the prlogging.xml file.
3. Locate the "appender" definitions section that contains the "@{web.tmpdir}" string
4. Update the FileNamePattern values to point to the new directory.

For more details, refer to the “Change the default path to PRPC logs” section in the Tomcat installation guide for your database.

Slow WebSphere performance on Mac platforms

Use the following JVM setting to improve WebSphere performance on Mac platforms:

-Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true

Split schema systems require additional privileges

On Oracle split schema systems, add the following database privileges:

• Grant DROP ANY INDEX to the Admin User.
• Grant UNLIMITED TABLESPACE to the Rules User.

Use the Oracle Enterprise Manager to add these privileges or refer to the 7.1.3 Upgrade and Installation guides for Oracle.

Performance improvement to BLOB support in Postgres databases

New tables that contain BLOB columns now use external storage instead of expanded storage for Postgres databases. This improvement applies to tables that are created during installation, upgrade, or during DDL and schema generation. Using external storage improves database performance.

For more information, see BLOB storage in Postgres databases.

Automatically manage nodes in a System Management Application cluster

Instead of manually adding and deleting nodes in a cluster by using the System Management Application (SMA), you can now automatically manage nodes. You can enable Auto Node Discovery and configure it to get information about all the nodes in a cluster, add new nodes, and update the node list.

For more information, see Managing nodes automatically in a System Management Application cluster.

Run advanced agents on only one node in a cluster

You can now configure an advanced agent to run on only one node in a cluster at a specified time. In addition, you can specify the time interval within which an advanced agent runs on only one node in the cluster, which avoids having two advanced agents starting to run on the same node at the same time.

For more information, see Improved control for running advanced agents and Agents rules – Completing the Schedule tab.

Ability to test SELECT statements

When developing and debugging applications, you can test SELECT statements from the Query Runner landing page. You can run queries against non-BLOB columns in your database and view the results on the landing page or export the results to an Excel spreadsheet or PDF file. This functionality is available for Pega Cloud customers who use a Postgres database or for customers using an Oracle database on-premises or on the cloud.

To use this landing page, you must have the PegaRULES:DatabaseAdministrator role or the pxDBSelectQuery privilege in Data- and Rule- in your access group. You access the landing page by clicking Designer Studio > System > Database > Query runner.

For more information, see Query Runner landing page for testing SELECT statements.

Elasticsearch 2.4.0 upgrade

The Pega 7 Platform has been updated to use Elasticsearch 2.4.0. You do not have to reindex immediately. You can reindex at your convenience by using the FullTextindexer utility, which provides a smoother transition to the next Elasticsearch library upgrade.

Rolling upgrades are not supported. Instead, after the upgrade has been completed, shut down all the nodes in the cluster, and then restart them beginning with the indexing nodes. For more information, see the Pega 7 Platform Upgrade Guide on the Deployment Guides landing page.

Performance enhancements to StringBuilderFactory pooling

StringBuilderFactory has been enhanced to eliminate most scenarios where errors in calling application logic can accidentally cause StringBuilder data contamination within and across JVM thread boundaries. StringBuilderFactory pooling is now thread-specific, which prevents errors in one thread’s use of StringBuilder from contaminating StringBuilder objects in other threads. Debug messages were also added to help diagnose potential problems.

Roll back system changes by using restore points

Restore points save the state of your system, including all rule and data instances. You can roll back to this restore point later if there is a problem. The Pega 7 Platform automatically creates restore points before any archive import. You can also use the prpcServiceUtils command-line tool to create and manage restore points and to roll back changes to your application. For more information, see Restore points.