CA Automic Workload Automation 12.2 Release Highlights

Release Notes

Visit https://downloads.automic.com/ to get lists of new features, fixed bugs, and known issues.

Checking Application, Platform and Database Compatibility

Visit Automic Compatibility Matrix and select the Product, Component, Sub-Component, and Version to check which applications, platforms, and databases are compatible.

Release Policy

It is recommendable to install always the latest Service Pack or Hotfix. Both contain valuable corrections and bug fixes between Major and Minor Releases, where new features and enhancements are introduced.

The software version information consists of the following identifiers, as shown in this example:

12.2.1 HF 1

• Major Release: 12

  This is the main version of a software release. It is identified by the first segment of the entire version number.

• Minor Release: 2

  This includes new features, modifications, and corrections that may contain major changes such as database modifications. It is identified by the second segment of the entire version number.

Major and Minor releases for Automation Engine are feature releases supplied at 9-month intervals.

• Service Pack: 1

  This is a patch for a release and contains corrections for errors. New features or modifications are not included. Service packs are identified by the third segment of the entire version number.

• Hotfix: HF1

  This is a minor sub-release to remove malfunctions and defects. Hotfixes are indicated by an HF number after the version number.

Service Packs and Hotfixes are maintenance releases supplied at 4-month intervals.

Important!

• The Automation Engine and the Automic Web Interface components must have the same service pack/hotfix version number.

• When a hotfix is issued for the AWI or the AE component, there is either a confirmation that there are no incompatibility issues, or an equivalent hotfix for both components is released at the same time.

• If a hotfix has been released for both components, you should upgrade both components to ensure compatibility.

• In case of any doubt, components bundled together in a download offering are tested for compatibility. An offering always contains the same service pack/hotfix version of the AE and AWI components.

  For more information, see Automic Compatibility Matrix.

License Key Checks

The requirement for a License Key based on customer contracted entitlement was removed from the products in V12.2.2.

This was for a number of reasons:

• Multiple Customer requests
• Customer survey feedback
• Removal of a License Generation process which does not add any meaningful value for the customer or Broadcom
• Removal of any risk of a customer outage due to a missing/expired license key

Telemetry

The Telemetry capability was added into the solution in V12.2.2. This enables information about product usage to be sent to CA Technologies, a Broadcom Company (CA).

Telemetry does not collect Personal Identifiable Information (PII) that could identify components (Servers, Network addresses etc) .

The information is restricted to the following:

Automic Workload Automation

• Number of Automation Engine / HA instances
• Number of Active nodes (Technology nodes, Application nodes and Midrange nodes)
• Number of job executions

Continuous Delivery Automation

• Number of Automation Engine / HA instances
• Number of Deployment Targets

Automic Service Orchestration

• Number of Automation Engine / HA instances
• Number of Orchestration Targets

For more information, see Telemetry.

Automation Engine

• Using a remote repository and Version Control allows you to back up and properly store different versions of your Client, which you can restore at any point in time. It also allows you to work on your own and collaboratively within a team in a setup with multiple environments.

  Customers can use a remote repository to exchange data between clients and engines. By adhering to widely accepted industry standards, this enables:

  • Collaborative work on Automation applications across multiple clients
  • Transfer of objects between different environments with ease
  • Setting up templates for rapid deployment across multiple Automation Engine environments
  • Access via REST API

Learn more about it in Version Control

• PostgreSQL is now supported as a main database for the Automation Platform.

• It enables the Automation Engine to be deployed on the most advanced open source database
• PostgreSQL is reliable, stable, well performing and easy to maintain
• Supported PostgreSQL versions >= 10.0
• The One Installer offers a complete installation including PostgreSQL for all offerings
• ILM support for PostgreSQL will be provided with one of the future versions

For details, see Recommendations for PostgreSQL

• Service Manager Security Enhancement

  The ServiceManager allows you to start, stop and access components such as the Automation Engine processes or agents from a central point.

• TLS 1.2 communication encryption between Service Manager and its clients, the ServiceManager Dialog Program, the ServiceManager Command Line and the Automation Engine itself.
• Authentication via certificate validation is optional, depending on certificate deployment
• The ServiceManager Dialog Program, the ServiceManager Command Line and the Automation Engine are backwards compatible with legacy Service Managers.
• The new UC_SMGR_LOGINS VARA object is available in system client 0000 for password-protected Service Managers. For security reasons, it must be defined so that the agents and/or server processes can start.

Prerequisite: CAPKI must be installed on all involved computers. For more information, see CAPKI - Securing the ServiceManager.

Learn more about it here: ServiceManager

• External password vault integration for Login objects
  

  You can now store passwords and agent credentials that are defined in the Login objects also in an external password storage. The supported integration with this AE version is the solution from CyberArk.

  See Password Vaults for further details.

Inbound REST API

• Extension of the Automation Engine REST API

The AE REST API is an easy consumable and standardized API for developers. It provides an interface for third party applications to interact with the Automation Engine and allows the user to target it not only from Java, but from many programming languages. The AE REST API has a dedicated Java-based Communication Process (JCP) to process REST requests.

The following capabilities have been added in this release:

• Start executions "recurring" or "once" (optional with alias)
• Restart executions considering restart parameters optionally
• Monitor executions considering alias, archive keys, title, and estimated runtime
• Monitor executions including object variables and reports
• Read and set execution comments
• Read top-level inputs/prompt set variables of objects to be executed
• Check health of REST WS and/or AE system (fail-over/clustering, load balancing)
• Check in/out AE objects to/from an external version control system
• Import and export AE objects

See the REST API Reference for further details.

Automic Web Interface

• The performance of the Workflow monitor and of the Workflow editor have been greatly improved.

  Opening very large Workflows is now much quicker and your browser remains responsive while the tasks are being loaded. The new loading indicator clearly signalizes the loading progress.

• The Workflow monitor has undergone a significant redesign:

  • The name of the Agent on which the task runs is now displayed in the task box. File Transfer tasks show the two Agents involved in the transfer.
  • The information visible in the task boxes is now organized in clear, dedicated areas: Name, title, alias, Agent at the top, status on the bottom left area and the information about time monitoring on the bottom right area. In the middle, an animated progress bar indicates that active tasks are being executed.
  • The color gradients that indicate the status of tasks have been removed. This gives the Workflow monitor a clearer, tidier look.
  • The information that is visible in the tasks boxes when you decrease the level of detail has been reduced. By hovering your mouse over the task, the tooltip displays all the information you need.

  Learn more about it here: Monitoring Workflows.

• In the Workflow editor tasks boxes displayed with a reduced level of detail also display less information now.

• The mini map in the Workflow monitor and in the Workflow editor has also been redesigned.

  The task boxes within the mini map are resized automatically to always display the entire Workflow structure, no matter how many tasks it contains.

  The connections between tasks are no longer visible. In case of very large Workflows (that is, precisely when the mini map is most necessary) it was impossible to recognize them and their rendering caused performance issues. For the same reason, the task boxes in the mini map do no longer show the details about the execution of the task.

  Take a look at Workflow Mini Map.

• Also in the Process Monitoring perspective, the task filter is now much more manageable. Instead of presenting all filter possibilities, many of which you may not want to use, it allows you to create your own filter. By adding the filter criteria that are relevant to you, you can now decide what you want to see in the Filter pane.

  Read more about it here: Filtering Tasks.

• More bulk operations are now available for tasks in the Process Monitoring perspective. You can now select multiple tasks and right-click to ignore sync conditions, ignore queues or to delete, for example.

• New combo boxes provide now much more functionality.

  You can see at a glance if a combo box allows bulk selection or if you can select just one entry in the list. Combo boxes that allow bulk selection display All in the input field. When you select multiple entries, the total number is displayed. In addition, a tooltip shows the complete list of the selected entries.

  Combo boxes that select objects provide even more functions, for example:

  • Fields that allow the input of variables or VARA objects are now easy to identify because the combo box contains the Select Variable option. You can either type the name of the variable or VARA object or you can open the variable picker from the combo box and select one.
  • You can now create a new object directly from within the combo box. The object is available for selection immediately after creation.
  • Objects that are stored in Client 0 but that are relevant for other Clients are available in the list and can be selected.
  • You can add placeholders to the list in the combo box. Placeholders are replaced by the final object once it has been created.
  • Combo boxes to select Calendar Events allow you to filter events using the Calendars in which they are defined.
  • You can perform the same operations on the objects as in the Explorer in the Process Assembly perspective.

  See Combo Boxes for details about all the new features.

• Calendar Events provide now many new features.

  • Finding Calendar Events is now fast and easy. New criteria have been implemented in the advanced search that help you find Calendar Events using many parameters:

    • Calendar Event name
    • Calendar Event type
    • Calendar Event maintenance date or period
    • Already expired or soon-to-expire Calendar Events
    • Dates and periods that are affected by the Calendar Event
  • The Search for Use function allows you to quickly find the objects in which a particular Calendar Event is being used.
  • When you select a Calendar Event to apply calendar conditions to an object, a new combo box is available that lets you search for the Calendar Event in all the Calendars that you have access to.
  • You can now Rename and Copy Calendar Events from within the Calendars in which the are defined.

  Read the following documentation topics to learn more about these new features:

  • Calendar Events
  • Searching for Calendar Events

• More keyboard shortcuts have been implemented that make your daily work more comfortable. For example, pressing [Enter] or [Esc] on your keyboard. See Keyboard Shortcuts.

• The warning, error and notification dialogs have been redesigned to display the information in a user-friendlier way and to provide more content.

• When you refresh your browser by pressing F5, Ctrl+R or Cmd+R, the content of the Automic Web Interface is now also refreshed.

• To help you avoid inadvertently executing or unblocking a task or deleting an object, a dialog is displayed on screen prompting you to confirm your action.

• The context-menus have been als redesigned. They options are now organized in groups of actions that belong together.

License Reporting Tool

• PostgreSQL is now supported as a new database.

Analytics and Reporting on External Data

• Analytics & Reporting on AWA/ARA Data introduced with version 12 as part of platform.

  • Analytics now provides a VARA to Grid widget. The widget helps you to reveal a visual picture of trends across your organization. The VARA to Grid widget replaces the deprecated Cockpit (CPIT) object. Read: Creating VARA to Grid Charts
  • Analytics & Reporting is able to include data from external sources. Read about it at: Creating Dynamic Charts using EXEC VARA
  • Reuse existing platform capabilities for data integration (VARA.SQL, VARA.SQLI, VARA.EXECUTE,…) Read about it at: Creating dynamic charts using SQLi VARA Objects
  • Visualize metrics from automated systems or from business processes.
  • Can be used in package solutions like: Temenos /Disaster recovery / ...

Event Engine

• Enables the Automation Engine to respond to more sophisticated event triggers.
  • Webhook Event objects let you to integrate your system webhooks with the Event Engine. Learn more here: WEBHOOK Events and Integrating Webhook Events from External Systems
  • Reduces overhead of manually scripting and system overhead of processing IF-THEN-LOGIC. Learn more here: Simple Rule
  • Allows you to process rules against any Automic object. Not limited to tasks and Workflows.
  • Exposes as much event processing as required vs full complex event processing. Learn more here:Getting Started with the Event Engine
  • Supports up to 50,000 events per second.
  • Enables use of intelligent automation.
  • Capture event flow from multiple services and devices to correlate source of failure and start automated recovery. Learn more here: State Change Rule
  • Proactively engage retail and service provider customers in real-time by automatically detecting and responding to their behavior.

DCS (Data Service Collection)

• Data Collection Service (DCS) is a feature where One Automation collects data on its internal mechanisms and its IT environment. The data can be automatically sent to Automic. You can also access the data and use it for internal purposes. Learn more here: Data Collection Services (DCS)
• By sharing data with Automic, you help Automic build knowledge from customer environments and work on enhancements on products and services. The data sharing mechanism is secure and auditable. Learn more here: Performance Check
• Internally, data can be exported from One Automation and sent to a third-party reporting application for example. Learn more here: How to use collected data internally