Published Release Notes

MBeans deprecated in favor of Pega API

The use of MBeans for cluster management has been deprecated, although MBeans will continue to function for legacy deployments. The recommended best practice for automating system management is to use the Pega API. For more information, see Pega API.

Support for multiple custom mobile apps for a Pega Platform application

To enhance the user experience and provide support for native mobile components, you can create multiple custom mobile apps for a Pega Platform™ application. For each custom mobile app, you must create a different mobile channel interface. In addition, you can configure each custom mobile app to run only in a specific portal for an application. The custom mobile app uses this portal regardless of which default portal is defined for the access group.

For more information, see Selecting a portal for a custom mobile app.

Search indexes require rebuilding after upgrading from Pega Platform 7.1.7 through 7.2.1

Pega Platform™ now supports Elasticsearch 5.6.9. If you are upgrading from Pega 7.1.7 through 7.2.1, discard your existing indexes and build new indexes in a new empty index directory. Create the search indexes by using the Search landing page or the full text indexer. If you are upgrading from Pega Platform 7.2.2 or later, no action is required. You can continue to use your existing search indexes.

For more information, see Rebuilding search indexes and Batch creation and updating of Elasticsearch index files from the command line.

Encrypt sensitive case data by using a secure default Pega Platform cipher and AWS KMS keys

You can encrypt sensitive data within your application without having to write custom cipher classes. You can configure encryption on the Data Encryption landing page by using your own keys managed in your private Amazon Web Services Key Management Service (AWS KMS) instance. Pega^® Platform encryption uses keys that are stored in AWS KMS to support both time-based and on-demand key rotation. Technical issues can arise in some cases, for example, if a key is deleted from AWS KMS.

For more information, see Potential problems with keystores when using AWS KMS, Configuring a Platform cipher, Types of ciphers.

Simplified deployment of stand-alone Apache Ignite servers

You can now install or upgrade Pega^® Platform in client-server mode, which uses Apache Ignite in a simplified way. The new installation process for stand-alone Apache Ignite servers does not require that you provide database credentials in a text file to communicate with Pega Platform nodes (clients). You provide this information by using JNDI support instead.

For more information, see Apache Ignite client-server clustering topology and the appropriate Deployment Guide.

Support for an external Elasticsearch cluster for on-premises deployments

On-premises customers can configure an Elasticsearch cluster that is external to the Pega Platform™ by using client-server mode. Using an external search configuration makes Elasticsearch more highly available and scalable. 

You can view the status of your external Elasticsearch service on the Search landing page. For more information, see link to Viewing the status of an external search service.

Locatable pages are deprecated

Locatable pages are deprecated. Use a data page instead. Data pages provide improved performance. When you save a rule that has a Locate Page Activity or when you create an activity of type Locate page, a guardrail warning is displayed indicating that this feature has been deprecated.

For information about data pages, see Data pages.

Rules Assembly cache is deprecated

Rules Assembly (RA) cache and custom settings for its corresponding fua/assemblyCacheModeprconfig.xml file setting are deprecated because they are obsolete. A warning is logged at startup if a custom (non-default) value is specified for fua/assemblyCacheMode in the prconfig.xml file. The functional behavior of the system is not affected.

Integrated Application Security Checklist helps you deploy a secure application

Pega^® Platform now provides an Application Security Checklist that you can refer to when you prepare your application for deployment. By completing the recommended tasks in this checklist, you can track your progress, access instructional information for tasks, and verify that your configurations are secure.

For more information, see Preparing your application for secure deployment, Compliance Score tab, Designer Studio — Home page.

Use of the @java function in expressions is deprecated

Use of the @java function in expressions is deprecated. Use a utility function or other product feature instead.

For more information about expressions, see Building expressions with the Expression Builder.