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.

Upgrading to the secure threading mechanism for email bots

In Pega Platform™ version 8.6, Pega Email Bot™ includes a more secure threading mechanism to help track emails from customers and other stakeholders in separate threads for an email triage case.

Upgrade impact

If you upgrade from Pega Platform version 8.5 or earlier, in which you configured an Email channel, perform the following steps to ensure that your system uses the new secure threading mechanism:

• Update the service email rule that the system uses to send an email reply as the initial acknowledgment.
• Update the email reply template in the data transform rule that the system uses when a customer service representative (CSR) sends the reply.

For more information about creating an initial acknowledgment email and email reply template, see Creating outbound email templates. For more information about the secure threading mechanism, see Use a secure threading mechanism in emails.

What steps are required to update the application to be compatible with this change?

For the initial acknowledgment email used by your email bot, update the service method for your email listener rule. On the Response tab for this service email rule, expand the Message contents section. In the Message data section, you specify the rule that defines the structure of the content of the email body. In Pega Platform version 8.6, you use for this purpose the pyEmailAcknowledgement correspondence rule that takes into account the selected built-in template. This template includes the security code tag that the system uses for the secure threading mechanism. If your application uses a different rule in the Message data section, update this definition to match one of the built-in correspondence template rules, for example, EmailAckTemplate_Clear.

The pySetEmailBotReplyTemplate data transform rule sets the name of the email correspondence rule that the system uses as the email reply template. If you do not want to use the default approach using the Classic, Cobalt, or Clear outbound email template themes, override this data transform rule to set the email correspondence rule name for the Param.ReplyTemplate target in the Source column field.

For more information about how to update the service email rule and the data transform rule to ensure that your system uses the secure threading mechanism, see Upgrading to the threading mechanism available in the 8.6 version.

Change logic does not work in Report Editor

The Report Editor​ change logic button does not work. As a workaround, use the rule form to change the logic.

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.

Node description cannot match application server node name

A node's Short Description should not be the same value as the application server node name. If the node's Short Description is changed to be the same value as the application server node name, then the node description is automatically changed back to the original value after a system restart.

View status of custom search indexes

Custom search indexes are special purpose indexes that are created and managed outside of Pega Platform™. You can view the status of custom search indexes on the Search landing page to see whether they are complete. This information is useful for troubleshooting and can help you determine whether to rebuild the index.

For more information, see Checking search index status.

Job Scheduler and Queue Processor rules replace agents

The Job Scheduler rule and the Queue Processor rule replace agents and improve background processing. The Job Scheduler rule is used for recurring or scheduled tasks, such as sending summary emails on weekdays. This rule can be run on all nodes or on specific node types according to your customized pattern. The Queue Processor rule is used for tasks with no recurrence-based pattern. It provides scalability and capability for immediate or delayed message processing, such as submitting status changes to an external system. You can use a standard queue processor or a dedicated queue processor, depending on your processing needs.

Pega Platform™ provides a set of default queue processors and job schedulers. Corresponding agents are no longer available.

For more information about Job Scheduler and Queue Processor rules, see Job Scheduler, Replacing an agent with a Job Scheduler rule, Queue Processor, Replacing an agent with a Queue Processor rule.

Improve application test coverage by running multiple sessions

You can improve the test coverage of your application by using a new test coverage method - Application Coverage. Multiple users can perform coverage sessions which are aggregated into a single report. By using report metrics that show the number of rules that are covered and are not covered by tests, developers can identify which areas of the application need more test coverage.

For more information, see the Test Coverage landing page.