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.

Flow rules not supported in IE8

In versions prior to 7.1.2, flow rules do not open in Internet Explorer 8 (IE8). Upgrade your system to the latest version of PRPC or access flows from another supported browser.

Supported JDBC drivers

Pega 7.1.1 supports Java 6 and Java 7 SDKs only. Ensure that the JDBC driver you are using supports those versions of Java. See your database installation or upgrade documentation for additional information.

* JDBC drivers are only available from the DB2 for z/OS product. Additionally, you need db2jcc_license_cisuz.jar in the same directory as db2jcc4.jar.

** The db2jcc.jar has been deprecated and may not be supported in future releases.

*** This .jar file is required for PostgreSQL version 9.1.x.

Turn off saved connections in WebLogic

PRPC caches connections in thread-local storage. When using a WebLogic application server, set database/savedconnections to FALSE to avoid incorrectly saved, container-managed transactions. You can make this update through JNDI settings or by adding an entry to the prconfig.xml, for example:

<env name="database/savedconnections" value="false" />

Remove JVM settings from prior installations

JVM memory settings ​defined in the setupDatabase.properties file to support a prior installation need to be removed. 

Memory settings are now handled by the installation program. Duplicating these settings may cause installation or upgrade failures. 

Automated Unit Testing is unavailable

Automated Unit Testing (AUT) is unavailable in 7.1.1 - 7.1.5.

Starting in 7.1.6, users can access AUT features from supported browser versions of IE.

Privilege required for Recent Explorer

Users with custom roles defined must add the pxUpdateRecents privilege to see work in the Recent Items Explorer. 

Deprecated end user portals

The following portals are no longer be supported:

• SysAdmDD
• WorkUserDD
• WorkManagerDD

As a best practice, customize standard, supported portals rather than update your existing portals to include new features.

IE8 hangs on large imports

IE8 users may experience a hung process when running the Designer Studio > Application > Distribution > Import wizard. This issue is related to low-capacity networks and large (300+ MB) archive files.

Although the processing symbol prevents you from proceeding to the next step in the wizard, the file is still imported to the server. As a workaround, you can:

1. Wait approximately eight minutes for the file to import.
2. Close and restart the wizard.
3. Click Next to skip the upload step.
4. Select the name of your file from the list of import files.
5. Complete the remaining steps in the wizard.