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Serena Release Automation 4.5.1 Readme
This readme file contains information about this release. Last updated on 2013-11-01.

Contents

About this Release

Welcome to Serena Release Automation 4.5.1.

Please note the following important information:

  • Serena Release Automation 4.5.1 supports new installations; you do not need to install a previous version before installing this version.

What's New

The following features have been added in this release.

User Interface Enhancements

Provides an improved user experience with a user interface that is easier to understand and navigate

Version Polling Improvements

  • Modification of Version Polling for certain source types:
    • Specify Polling Period per component
    • Specify Quiet Period per component which prevents duplicate uploads
  • Allows a general polling value to be set (default 15 seconds) but can be over-ridden per component for supported types
  • Increases scalability of solutions (200 components = 200 polls every 15 seconds!)

Standalone Process Import and Export

  • Creates JSON export files
  • Supports movement of processes from one server to another

Extended Plug-in Support

Extended plug-in support includes the following:

  • Expanded Plug-in Guide
  • New Microsoft Azure plug-in
  • Version number support for the existing plug-ins
  • Additional steps for the Windows Service Control Manager plug-in:
    • Check If Service Stopped

    • Check If Service Running

    • Check If Service Stopped

  • Additional steps for the IIS AppCmd plug-in:
    • Check If Site Exists

    • Check If Site is Running

    • Check If Site is Stopped

  • Additional steps for the FileUtils plug-in:
    • Check If Directory Exists

  • Additional step for VMware vSphere ESXi, VMware vCenter, and VMware Workstation plug-ins:
    • Revert VM to Snapshot

Additional Support for PVCS Source Type

Additional options for the PVCS source type include:

  • Improved polling / configurable polling times

  • Quiet period

  • Improved validation of version differences

  • A more atomic-like commit for sources

SBM Composer REST Service Support

  • Support for Design Mode in SBM Composer
  • Supports a number of Get REST service methods
  • Supports return of Serena Release Automation data directly from SBM (RESTfully)

Upgrades

The following sections guide you through an upgrade for this release.

New Installations

If this is a new installation, see "Installation and Configuration" in the Serena Release Automation User's Guide or online Help.

Pre-upgrade Steps

Before you begin the upgrade:

  • Download the Serena Release Automation 4.5.1 server and agent installation files from the Serena support website.

  • Export or save a backup of your existing processes and applications as a precautionary measure.

Upgrading Servers from 4.5 to 4.5.1

To upgrade your 4.5 server installation to 4.5.1:

  • Using the Install Wizard:

    Install the 4.5.1 version of the server; the upgrade will be performed automatically.

  • Using a Silent Upgrade:

    On UNIX systems, the command to execute a silent upgrade is the same as that for a new installation; on Windows systems the command is slightly different. The commands are as follows:

    UNIX:

    SerenaRA-server.bin -silent -options optionsFile.txt

    Where optionsFile.txt is a file containing only the line:

    -V IS_INSTALL_MODE=silent

    Windows:

    cmd /c SerenaRA-Server.exe /s /V"/qn /L*vx "%TEMP%\silent-install.log" "

    Note: No PROPFILE is required.

Upgrading Servers from 4.0.1 to 4.5.1

To upgrade your 4.0.1 server installation to 4.5.1:

  1. Uninstall the 4.0.1 version of the server.
  2. Delete the files from the Serena Common Tomcat work\Catalina\localhost\serena_ra directory. For example: ..\common\tomcat\6.0\work\Catalina\localhost\serena_ra
  3. Install the 4.5.1 version of the server. see "Installation and Configuration" in the Serena Release Automation User's Guide or online Help.
    Important: To quickly get a new server installed while maintaining your existing settings using the Derby database, select or specify Use existing settings. For all other databases, use the Skip Database option.

Upgrading Agents

To upgrade your agents to 4.5.1, go to the Agents tab, select all agents, and click the Upgrade Selected button. All existing agents using Java 6 and greater will be automatically upgraded by the server.

  • Any agents using Java 6 or above can be upgraded and do not have to be uninstalled.
  • You must uninstall any agents using Java 5 before installing 4.5.1 agents. Any 4.0.1 and prior agent using Java 5 cannot be upgraded. Most of the new functionality will not work with these agents because the 4.5 and above agents use Java 6 and above.

Post-upgrade Steps (IMPORTANT!)

After upgrading the server:

  • SSO must be completely reconfigured.
  • All agents must be upgraded.
  • All non-default plugins must be reloaded.
  • The JRE of Common Tools will be updated up to 6.0.430.1 version.

Fixed Issues

For a complete list of issues resolved in this release, refer to the Knowledge Base. You must have a support.serena.com user account to view items in the Knowledge Base. Register for a free account if you do not have already have one.

Known Issues

For a complete and up-to-date list of issues found in this release of Serena Release Automation, refer to the Knowledge Base.

These are the known issues that exist at the time of release:

General Issues

  1. Component version creation fails for TeamForge source type (DEF237868)

    Version creation is not working for components with TeamForge source type.

  2. My Reports cannot be properly deleted (DEF225575)

    Reports in the My reports pane cannot be properly deleted.

  3. My Reports are not shown correctly in Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 and 9 (DEF234343)

    Reports in the My reports pane are not shown in Internet Explorer 8 and 9.

  4. The Rollback Component does not work (DEF239255)

    The rollback component step in the application process does not work.

  5. The command line client does not work with SSO turned on (ENH237892)

    The Serena Release Automation command line client does not work with SSO authentication.

Installation Issues

  1. A server installation using the Skip Database option requires a manual reload of plug-ins

    If you install the Serena Release Automation server using the Skip Database option, you must load all non-default plug-ins again manually. If you do not do this, these plug-ins will still appear on the plug-ins page, but these plug-ins will not really work because they are not in the database.

  2. (Windows only) The agent uninstall doesn't reset registry keys properly (DEF235987)

    In Windows, after uninstalling an agent, the registry keys are not reset properly.

  3. The agent install wizard Browse button is disabled (DEF231840)

    In the agent UI installer wizard, pressing Back to return to the Java Runtime Environment page disables the Browse button. To enable the Browse button, toggle between the Install JRE and Use Existing JRE buttons.

  4. The agent UI uninstall wizard displays an incorrect path (DEF231835)

    During an agent UI uninstall, the last page of the wizard displays the incorrect path to the log. The uninstall log can actually be found in the serena_ra_agent_install folder.

  5. The agent UI install requires an English username (DEF231832)

    When using the agent UI installer, you can enter only an English username. Agent installation into a path containing non-ASCII characters is not supported.

  6. When installing an agent as a service, the displayed service name format for an agent is not correct (DEF230599)

    The service name format should be: serenaRA Agent <specified_name> not <specified_name>.

  7. The agent uninstall wizard displays errors for a successful uninstallation (DEF231837)

    For any agent not installed as a Windows service, the agent uninstall wizard's final panel displays uninstallation errors despite a successful uninstallation.

  8. For Unix and Linux uninstallers, uninstalls that include an uninstall of Common Tools leave the Tomcat service running (DEF239676)

    For Unix and Linux uninstallers, uninstalls that include an uninstall of Common Tools leave the Tomcat service running and don't remove the Common Tools folder. You must manually stop the server and then remove the Common Tools folder.

Documentation Issues

  1. In the section "(Linux/UNIX Platforms) Agent Silent Installation", the executable name for the Linux/UNIX platforms silent installation command is incorrect. It should be SerenaRA-Agent.bin. (DOC239834)

    In the section "(Linux/UNIX Platforms) Agent Silent Installation", step 3 says:

    Issue the command: SerenaRA-Agent.exe -silent -options optionsFile.txt

    It should say:

    Issue the command: SerenaRA-Agent.bin -silent -options optionsFile.txt

  2. In the section "Automation Plug-ins", the first Serena Support website link is incorrect. It should be http://support.serena.com. (DOC240215)

    In the "Automation Plug-ins" section, the second line says:

    You can download a zip file that contains all the plug-ins from http://www.serenasupport.com.

    It should say:

    You can download a zip file that contains all the plug-ins from http://support.serena.com.

  3. In the section "Command Format", the example command has an incomplete URL. It should be http://localhost:8080/serena_ra. (DOC239864)

    In the section "Command Format", the example command is given as follows:

    serenara-client -weburl http://localhost:8080 -username admin -password admin getResources

    It should be:

    serenara-client -weburl http://localhost:8080/serena_ra -username admin -password admin getResources

  4. In the section "Adding an Alias to an Agent", in step 4, the last part of the command to check the result is incorrect. It should be sra.keystore. (DOC240234)

    In the section "Adding an Alias to an Agent", step 4 says:

    To check the result, run the command: keytool -list -keystore agent.keystore

    It should say:

    To check the result, run the command: keytool -list -keystore sra.keystore

  5. In the section "Property Settings for Mutual Authentication", the first table entry for the property agent.mutual_auth should not be included. (DOC240235)

    In the section "Property Settings for Mutual Authentication", in the "Property Settings Required Before Exchanging Keys" table, the third property listed, agent.mutual_auth, should not be included.

  6. The section "Integrating Release Automation with Serena Solutions" includes a misleading statement that implies REST service information can be imported directly from the web services WADL file. (DOC241340)

    The second list item in "Integrating Release Automation with Serena Solutions", Import of Serena Release Automation WADL into SBM REST Grids, should be removed.

    The following procedure should be added to the documentation.

    Configuring the REST Grid Widgets

    In SBM Composer, in a Visual Design layout REST Grid widget, you can get data directly from Serena Release Automation REST services.

    To configure the REST grid widget in SBM Composer:

    1. In the REST grid widget, in the Configure URL dialog, provide the REST service method URL and add the composerMode=true request parameter.

      For example:

      http://srademo:8080/serena_ra/rest/deploy/component/all?composerMode=true

      If the given Serena Release Automation GET REST service method supports Composer Mode, a sample JSON with returned property names will appear in the p tab. These do not include real data, but are the JSON structure.

    2. In the Result tab, pick the corresponding property names to construct your REST grid widget columns.

    3. When you have finished picking the property names to construct your columns, change the REST service method URL composerMode parameter to false.

      For example:

      http://srademo:8080/serena_ra/rest/deploy/component/all?composerMode=false

    4. Turn on SSO authentication.

    5. In the Result tab, select data to be returned in the output.

    6. Deploy the process app.

    7. Verify the information in the SBM process app's user workspace.

  7. Information on changing the database password after installation is missing. (DOC240849)

    The following section should be added to the documentation in the Database Installation section.

    Changing the Database User Password

    If needed after the installation, your database administrator can later change the password for the database schema user that Serena Release Automation uses.

    To change the database user password:

    1. Edit the file %serverInstallDir%/conf/server/installed.properties and change the value of the property hibernate.connection.password to the new password.

    2. Restart the Serena Common Tools where the Serena Release Automation server is installed.

      The value of the property hibernate.connection.password will be encrypted after the server starts if it is not already encrypted.

  8. In the section "Serena Dimensions CM" in "Source Configuration Fields", the field descriptions for Includes and Excludes are missing. (DOC243760)

    In the section "Serena Dimensions CM" in "Source Configuration Fields", the Serena Dimensions Fields table field descriptions for Includes and Excludes are missing. The fields are as follows:

    Field Description
    Includes

    Specify the patterns to match files to include in the upload. You can match exact file paths and file names, or you can specify wildcards.

    You can specify exact file path and file name combinations with one entry per line. For example,

    Maestro/RLM.jobs

    Maestro/RLM.sched

    You can specify wildcards to match directories and files where the wildcard ** indicates every directory and the wildcard * indicates every file.

    For example, the pattern dist/**/* would retrieve the entire file tree beneath the dist directory.

    Excludes

    Specify the patterns to match files to exclude from the upload. You can match exact file paths and file names, or you can specify wildcards. See the examples in the previous table entry.