What's New in 21.0.6

This section provides information about the new features and enhancements that have been implemented in Automic Automation 21.0.6.

This page includes the following:

Automic Automation

This release of Automic Automation introduces the features and functions listed below.

Sending Secure Emails via the Automation Engine

You can use the Automation Engine to send emails by using SMTP, and as of this version also by using SMTPS. You can now decide whether you use one SMTP server, several ones (UC_SMTP_MYSERVER), or any combination of both.

SMTPS allows you to use TLS to secure the SMTP connection. New SMTP parameters are available in the UC_CLIENT_SETTINGS, or if you use several SMTP servers, in the UC_SMTP_MYSERVER Vara object for each individual server.

UC_CLIENT_SETTINGS

When you use the Automation Engine to send emails, you can choose to send emails through an SMTP server, which can be secured using TLS or not. To do so, the following keys are now available for the UC_CLIENT_SETTINGS and the UC_SMTP_MYSERVER variables:
- SMTP_PORT
  
  The port used to connect to the mail server
- SMTP_ PROTOCOL
  
  The protocol that you want to use for authentication. You can use PLAIN to send emails through an unencrypted connection, STARTTLS for an opportunistic TLS connection, or TLS for a forced TLS connection through a port that supports TLS only.
  
  Important! The STARTTLS and TLS protocols require you to define the name of the certificate used for authentication in the SMTPS_CERT key.
- SMTPS_ CERT
  
  The name of the certificate to be used for the STARTTLS and TLS protocols. The certificate must be stored in the UC_TRUSTEDCERTS Storage object which is delivered in Client 0. For more information, see SMTP Parameters.

UC_SMTP_MYSERVER - SMTP Variable

Define all your SMTP parameters in this static variable if you use several SMTP servers. You can then use the new secure email function with the MYSERVER parameter of the SEND_MAIL script function. For details, see UC_SMTP_MYSERVER - SMTP Variable
SEND_MAIL Script Function

To support SMTPS (SMTP + TLS), the new optional MYSERVER parameter has been added to the SEND_MAIL script function. This parameter allows you to define a server name to which you want to send an email. To be able to use this parameter, you must specify the UC_SMTP_MYSERVER static variable for each SMTP server where you replace the MYSERVER part with the server name you define in SEND_MAIL (UC_SMTP_LOCALHOST, for example).

For more information, see SEND_MAIL.

FORCE_VARA_KEY_CI System Setting

A new system-wide variable has been implemented that allows you to force context-insensitive search in the keys of VARA objects.

This setting is particularly useful when you migrate from one database to another and you run into issues due to uppercase/lowercase characters.

For more information, see FORCE_VARA_KEY_CI.

UC_EX_JOB_MD_IP_ADDR and UC_EX_JOB_MD_IP_PORT - New Virtual Agent Variables

Two new virtual agent variables, UC_EX_JOB_MD_IP_ADDR and UC_EX_JOB_MD_IP_PORT, are available and can be defined in the [VARIABLES] section of the agent INI file. They refer to the IP address and the port the Job Messenger uses to contact the listen port of the agent.

UC_EX_JOB_MD_IP_ADDR is necessary when the UC_EX_IP_ADDR variable should be used by other agents for File Transfers, but the Job Messenger should use a different value such as the local host. This setting overwrites UC_EX_IP_ADDR for the Job Messenger.
UC_EX_JOB_MD_IP_PORT is automatically used by the agent when the UC_EX_JOB_MD_IP_ADDR variable is set with the value of PORT. This setting overwrites UC_EX_IP_PORT for the Job Messenger.

For more information, see List of Agent Variables.