Customized agent schedules for standard Pega Platform agents must be updated after Pega 7.2.2 to Pega Platform 7.3 upgrade
Valid from Pega Version 7.3
If you used node classification in Pega® 7.2.2, when you upgrade to Pega 7.3, node type names are automatically changed to a new name when you start a node with a node type. Agent schedules for standard Pega Platform agents are deleted and re-created with the new node type name, but any customization that you made in Pega 7.2.2 is not saved. You must manually update the agent schedules for standard Pega Platform agents in Pega 7.3.
For more information, see Node types renamed after upgrade from Pega 7.2.2 to Pega Platform 7.3 and the appropriate Deployment Guide.
External keystore support in Pega Platform
Valid from Pega Version 7.3
Pega® Platform now provides the ability to source certificates and encryption keys from external keystores. You use the Keystore rule to specify alternatives to the platform's database to source certificates and keys. You can choose to use a data page, a URL, or an external file in one of the following standard formats: JKS, JWK, PKCS12, KEYTAB, or KEY. Keystore information is stored in cache memory only. It is not stored on the clipboard nor is it directly accessible to the application logic.
For more information, see Creating a Keystore data instance.
Send event notifications in Pega Platform
Valid from Pega Version 7.3
You can configure applications to notify users of case changes or other significant events that occur in an application. Use notifications to engage application users by providing key updates that might be of interest to them.
You can deliver notifications over the default web gadget and email channels or use a custom channel that you created. You can configure multiple web gadgets to display different kinds of notifications. The email channel supports notification frequency of instant, daily, or weekly.
Application users can set their own notification preferences in the run-time portals or override the set preferences for a specific case type instance.
For more information, see Sending event notifications and Management of user notification preferences.
Cassandra 3.11.3 support for Pega Platform
Valid from Pega Version 8.3
Increase your system's reliability and reduce its memory footprint by upgrading the internal Cassandra database to version 3.11.3.
For on-premises Pega Platform™ users, after you upgrade to Pega 8.3, it is recommended that you manually upgrade to Cassandra 3.11.3. You can upgrade to Cassandra 3.11.3 on all operating systems except IBM AIX. If you do not want to upgrade to Cassandra 3.11.3, you can continue to use Cassandra 2.1.20, which is still supported.
For Pega Cloud Services 2.13 and later versions, Cassandra automatically upgrades to version 3.11.3 after your environment is upgraded to Pega Platform 8.3.
For information on how to manually upgrade to Cassandra 3.11.3, see the Pega Platform 8.3 Upgrade Guide for your server and database at Deploy Pega Platform.
Upgrade impact
After an on-premises Pega Platform upgrade, you still have the older version of Cassandra and must manually upgrade.
What steps are required to update the application to be compatible with this change?
To upgrade Cassandra, you must create a prconfig setting or a dynamic system setting with the new Cassandra version and then do a rolling restart of all the Decision Data Store nodes to upgrade them to the latest version of Cassandra.
Node types renamed after upgrade from Pega 7.2.2 to Pega Platform 7.3
Valid from Pega Version 7.3
If you used node classification in Pega® 7.2.2, when you upgrade to Pega 7.3, node type names are automatically changed to a new name when you start a node with a node type.
- UniversalNode becomes Universal
- WebUserNode becomes WebUser
- BackgroundProcessingNode becomes BackgroundProcessing
- BIXNode becomes BIX
- SearchNode becomes Search
If you created agents in Pega 7.2.2, agent schedules are also automatically updated with a new name during the upgrade. For more information, see Customized agent schedules for standard Pega Platform agents must be updated after Pega 7.2.2 to Pega Platform 7.3 upgrade and the appropriate Deployment Guide.
Support for OAuth 2.0 authorization in Pega Platform REST services
Valid from Pega Version 7.3
Pega® Platform REST services now support OAuth 2.0 authorization that uses federated authentication with SAML 2.0-compliant identity providers (IDPs). The OAuth 2.0-based authorization can be configured to use the SAML2-bearer grant type with a SAML token profile. This configuration is used when a resource requestor is authenticated by using a SAML2.0-compliant IDP.
For more information, see Security rules and data.
BIX ruleset is now included with Pega Platform
Valid from Pega Version 8.3
The Pega Business Intelligence Exchange™ (BIX) ruleset is now included with Pega Platform™, which eliminates the need for additional provisioning for Pega Cloud customers and for a separate BIX installation for on-premises customers. To add BIX to your application, add the Pega-BIX:<version> ruleset to your application rulesets.
For more information, see Data extraction.
Upgrade impact
After a successful upgrade, the BIX ruleset is available within Pega Platform. You should synchronize the BIX ruleset and Pega rules to avoid extraction errors.
What steps are required to update the application to be compatible with this change?
After the upgrade is complete, change the ruleset version for Pega Platform and BIX to use the same, latest version.
Deploy revisions directly in target environments
Valid from Pega Version 7.3
As a revision manager, you can now directly deploy or migrate completed revisions to multiple Pega 7 Platform environments that were configured as targets by the system architect. The revision management process is faster because you do not need to package a revision as a JAR file, and then manually import that file to the Pega 7 Platform. Additionally, this solution gives business users more control over application rulesets and enables them to act more independently.
For more information, see Direct deployment of revisions.
Platform truststore for validating certificates
Valid from Pega Version 8.3
Pega Platform™ now includes a platform truststore, to which you can import X.509 certificates that are common across platform applications. When a certificate needs to be validated, Pega Platform looks for the certificate at the connector level, then in the platform truststore, and finally in the application server (JVM) truststore. You can add, update, and delete certificates in the platform truststore without having to restart the server, which is useful when TLS certificates are changed for reasons such as key rotation.
For more information, see Importing an X.509 certificate.
Tab groups are deprecated
Valid from Pega Version 7.3
Beginning with Pega 7.3, tab groups have been replaced with layout groups, which offer better performance and flexibility. Tab groups are based on the Yahoo User Interface (YUI) library, which is no longer supported on the Pega 7 Platform.
User interface rule forms now use layout groups instead of tab groups to place layouts in forms.
For more information, see Adding a Layout Group.