Immediate drain available for the quiesce process when using high availability
Valid from Pega Version 7.2.1
The quiesce process, which is used to take a server out of service for maintenance in a highly available system, can now be modified to use the immediate drain method. When using the default slow drain method for quiesce, users are placed in a passivation queue. When using the immediate drain method, users can continue to access the node being quiesced until it is removed from the load balancer.
Organizations should determine which quiesce method to use based on the overall needs of their users. However, for applications that have implemented long poll requests, it is recommended to use the slow drain method.
For more information, see the Pega 7.2.1 High Availability Administration Guide.
Access work items directly after login
Valid from Pega Version 7.2.1
You can now directly access work items that you receive as email notifications or URLs. The Pega 7 Platform opens the work item after successful user authentication instead of redirecting you to the portal. For a valid user, the type of authentication or number of failed login attempts does not affect this direct access.
For systems that use basic or secure basic authentication, administrators can disable the redirect URL by setting the authentication/basicschemes/redirectToLoginScreen switch to false.
Support for Hotfix Manager in service-enabled system management
Valid from Pega Version 7.2.1
You can manage hotfixes by using a REST service from Hotfix Manager in the service-enabled system management utility. With service-enabled system management, you can manage hotfixes simultaneously on more than one Pega 7 Platform system. You can manage the following hotfix operations: install, scan, commit, rollback, and GenerateDDL.
For more information, see Managing hotfixes (service-enabled).
Improved Pega 7 Platform upgrade and update time
Valid from Pega Version 7.2.1
The Pega 7 Platform upgrade and update tools have been improved to streamline indexing. Upgrading and updating are faster than with previous releases.
Option to resume failed upgrades and updates
Valid from Pega Version 7.2.1
When you upgrade or update to Pega 7.2.1, you can opt to have the system resume the deployment after a failure to avoid restarting the deployment and to save time. The deployment resumes at the point of failure and does not repeat any successful steps. This functionality is not supported for new installations. For more details, see the Pega 7 Platform Upgrade Guide and the Pega 7 Platform Update Guide.
Open access to quiesced servers when using immediate drain
Valid from Pega Version 7.2.1
When using the immediate drain method to perform quiesce on a node, any operator can now access a quiesced server for root cause analysis or remediation, regardless of their user role or privileges. For quiesced server access when using the slow drain method, you must still include either the PegaRULES:HighAvailabilityAdministrator or PegaRULES:HighAvailabilityQuiesceInvestigator user role in a user's access group. Administrators using the slow drain method without either of these user roles are exiled from the quiesced node and are redirected to an active node.
For more information, see Immediate drain available for quiesce when using high availability.
New passivation and activation activities
Valid from Pega Version 7.2.1
Two new activities have been implemented, pyPrePassivation and pyPostActivation, which are run every time operator passivation occurs, regardless of the node quiesce state. These activities save and restore the requestor state during passivation and activation. In order for the pyPrePassivation or pyPostActivation activity to be run as expected, you must implement the activity by using the correct Applies To class (@baseclass).
The previous activities that were run during the quiesce process, pyPreQuiescePassivation and pyPostQuiesceActivation, have been deprecated.
For more information, see the Pega 7.2.1 High Availability Administration Guide.
Support for reserved keywords in database column names
Valid from Pega Version 7.2.1
Databases use reserved keywords such as Group, Order, Rank, and Date to define and manipulate data. The list of reserved keywords is specific to each database. Column names can now include reserved keywords.
High number of busy waits when using Oracle SecureFiles
Valid from Pega Version 7.2.1
You might experience a high number of buffer busy waits when using Oracle SecureFiles for BLOB storage. An Oracle buffer busy wait occurs when a session cannot access a database block in the buffer cache, because another session is either reading the block into the buffer or changing the buffer. As a best practice, use Oracle 11.2.0.4 or later, because earlier versions have more problems with SecureFiles. In addition, to minimize the number of busy waits, set the hidden Oracle parameter _securefiles_concurrency_estimate to 50, and partition the table by using a composite range hash partition that is based on the pxCreateDateTime and pzInskey columns.
For more information, see Troubleshooting: High number of busy waits when using Oracle SecureFiles.
View and apply schema changes when upgrading or updating
Valid from Pega Version 7.2.1
When you upgrade or update, you can view the schema changes to the default work and history tables and apply the changes to your cloned tables. By applying the changes, you improve performance and can take advantage of the latest reports on those tables.
For information about viewing and applying schema changes as part of the upgrade or update, see the Pega 7 Platform Upgrade Guide or the Pega 7 Platform Update Guide.
For information about using the Designer Studio tool or the command-line tool, see Updating cloned tables after an upgrade or update.