Contents

Enhancements and New Features

The following enhancements and new features are included in this release.

• New Deployment Packages

  With deployment packages you can execute multiple application and component processes. Using a deployment package you can:

  • Orchestrate groups of deployments for multiple applications and organizations
  • View the inventory for all environments targeted by the deployment package
  • View cross-application history of deployments
  • View deployment package executions in an interactive graphical display
• New Built-in External Source Configuration Types
  Several of the source configuration types are now available that use the external source configuration type architecture. For these source configuration types, the artifacts can optionally be directly obtained from the integrating tools' repository when running a process. Metadata is stored in the Deployment Automation for the artifacts associated with component versions so that the history is retained. These include the following:

  • TFS vNext: A new TFS source configuration type for TFS 2015 and 2017
  • Dimensions CM
  • File System (Basic)
  • File System (Versioned)
  • Git
  • Subversion
• Enhanced Approvals

  To make viewing approval requests and approving many processes easier, approvals have been enhanced as follows:

  • Approval requests shown in the dashboard are grouped by request and you can expand or contract to view more or less information.
  • You can approve or reject all tasks once at the request level rather than approving or rejecting individual tasks.
  • Approvals apply to all processes and tasks in a request.
  • Approvals for all user roles are shown, with any the current user doesn't have permission to approve in read-only mode. This gives visibility into who needs to approve if a process is still waiting for approval.
  • You no longer need to re-approve any permission that was already granted. For example, any duplicate tasks in the same process request and entity need to be approved only once.
• Enhanced Process Designer

  The process designer has been redesigned to be more efficient and less cluttered.

  • The tools and properties panes are now separate and are both shown on the page as you are designing.
  • You no longer need to click the edit icon for a step to see its properties; these are shown automatically when you select a step. The edit icon has been removed.
  • The interactions are now more contextual. For example, by default, the connection options appear only when the connection is selected. You can select Show Connection Options if you want them to appear for all connections.
  • You can now exit the designer by navigating away from it. You are prompted if any changes have been left unsaved.
• Enhanced Jenkins HPI Plugin

  Jenkins pipeline support is now available for the Jenkins HPI (Hudson Plug-in Interface) for Deployment Automation. See the Community website for details.

• Other Enhancements
  • Component Version Names No Longer Case Sensitive

    Component version name is now handled consistently throughout as case insensitive for all database types. This means that if a version name differs only by case, it will not trigger a new version to be imported.

  • Copy to CodeStation Option Deselection Limited to External Source Configuration Types

    Copy to CodeStation can no longer be deselected for non-external source configuration types.

  • Enhanced Architecture for Custom Source Configuration Types

    The architecture provided for creating custom external source configuration types has been enhanced as follows:

    • With the componentInfo interface you can now:
      • Retain versions in external tools, storing metadata in Deployment Automation to track the version information (when Copy to CodeStation is deselected)
      • Get component version by name (getVersionByName method)

        The prior release had only getAllVersions, and using this new method improves performance when searching for a particular version within repositories with large numbers of versions.

      • Get version content (getVersionContent method)

        This is required for File System (Basic) and File System (Versioned) source configuration types, for example, where it is necessary to compare files to see if they are equal.

    • Getter and Setter methods are no longer required.

    To download a sample project see Knowledgebase item S142533.

For details on the new features and installation and configuration, see the Deployment Automation User's Guide or User's Help on Documentation Center.

Defect Fixes

In addition to the enhancements, a number of defects were addressed.

Visit the Knowledge Base to see the defects fixed in this release.

Backing Up Deployment Automation

Before upgrading the server, you should back up your current server as follows:

1. Stop Common Tomcat.
2. Run the following backups in any order.
   Note:

   • These backups should be done in a single session while Common Tomcat is stopped so that the data stays in sync.
   • The default profile and installation locations are different in version 6.1.4 and later than in earlier versions of Deployment Automation.
   1. Back up your database. If Derby is used this step can be omitted.
   2. Back up your Deployment Automation profile folder and its subfolders.

      The default location of the profile for Deployment Automation version 6.1.4 and later is:

      Windows: C:\Users\username\.microfocus\da

      UNIX/Linux: /opt/MicroFocus/da/username/.microfocus/da

      where username is the name of the system user under which the server was installed

      The default location of the profile for Deployment Automation versions earlier than 6.1.4 is:

      Windows: C:\Users\username\.serena\ra

      UNIX/Linux: /opt/serena/sra/username/.serena/ra

      Tip:

      To find the location of your profile for earlier versions of Deployment Automation, view the installed.properties file under the da or serena_ra web application and look at the installLocation property. You can find the installed properties in the Common Tomcat web application conf folder.

      The default location for the installed.properties file for Deployment Automation version 6.1.5 and later is:

      Windows: C:\Program Files\Micro Focus\common\tomcat\8.5\webapps\da\conf

      UNIX/Linux: /opt/MicroFocus/da/common/tomcat/8.5/webapps/da/conf

      The default location for the installed.properties file for Deployment Automation version 6.1.4 is:

      Windows: C:\Program Files\Micro Focus\common\tomcat\8.0\webapps\da\conf

      UNIX/Linux: /opt/MicroFocus/da/common/tomcat/8.0/webapps/da/conf

      The default location for the installed.properties file for Deployment Automation versions 6.0 to 6.1.3 is:

      Windows: C:\Program Files\Serena\common\tomcat\8.0\webapps\serena_ra\conf

      UNIX/Linux: /opt/serena/sra/common/tomcat/8.0/webapps/serena_ra/conf

   3. If you have any subfolders in your profile that are virtual links pointing to external storage such as relocated CodeStation directories, you should back up those external storage locations as well.
   4. Back up your da or serena_ra web application. It is recommended that you back up the entire webapps folder, but at minimum back up the web application folder and its subfolders.

      The default location for Deployment Automation version 6.1.5 and later is:

      Windows: C:\Program Files\Micro Focus\common\tomcat\8.5\webapps\da

      UNIX/Linux: /opt/MicroFocus/da/common/tomcat/8.5/webapps/da

      The default location for Deployment Automation version 6.1.4 is:

      Windows: C:\Program Files\Micro Focus\common\tomcat\8.0\webapps\da

      UNIX/Linux: /opt/MicroFocus/da/common/tomcat/8.0/webapps/da

      The default location for versions 6.0 to 6.1.3 is:

      Windows: C:\Program Files\Serena\common\tomcat\8.0\webapps\serena_ra

      UNIX/Linux: /opt/serena/sra/common/tomcat/8.0/webapps/serena_ra

3. Continue with your upgrade.

Upgrading Servers

You can upgrade to this release from the following on Common Tomcat servers only:

• Deployment Automation versions 5.1.2 to 6.1.5
• Serena Release Automation versions 5.1 and 5.1.1

If you are upgrading from a version earlier than 6.1.5 to 6.2, we recommend upgrading as follows to ensure a smooth upgrade of the Common Tools, Tomcat and JRE. This is especially important for servers on UNIX/Linux.

• For versions 6.1 to 6.1.3, upgrade to 6.1.4, then to 6.1.5, and then to 6.2.
• For version 6.0, you can upgrade directly to 6.2.
• For versions 5.1 to 5.1.6, upgrade to 6.0, then to 6.2.
• For versions earlier than version 5.1, first upgrade from that version to version 5.1 as documented in the version 5.1 Deployment Automation User's Guide, and then upgrade to version 6.2 as indicated in the previous list item.

For any other upgrade scenarios, please contact Support for assistance.

To upgrade a Deployment Automation server:

1. Before beginning the upgrade, complete all pending approvals if possible and then back up your current server as detailed in Backing Up Deployment Automation.
   Important: If you don't complete pending approvals before upgrading, the associated requests are revoked and must be rerun or rescheduled.
2. Download and run the version 6.2 server installer.

3. UNIX/Linux Only: As part of the upgrade installation process for a Deployment Automation UNIX/Linux server system, you must specify the owner of the Deployment Automation installation.

   You must ensure that the user specified is also the owner of the Common Tomcat instance, especially when Common Tomcat hosts other applications in addition to Deployment Automation. The owner is the user name used to run the Common Tomcat process. During the upgrade, folders inside the Common Tomcat instance are configured as owned by the specified owner, and if the user name and owner do not match, the Common Tomcat process may not be able to read them or write to them.

   The ownership of the entire Common Tomcat installation is set to the specified user name.

4. Access the web interface using the new URL format:

   http(s)://<serverName>:<port>/da

   where serverName is the server where the Common Tomcat resides that hosts Deployment Automation and port is the Common Tomcat port.

   Use http for non-SSL and https for SSL installations.

   For example: http://myhost:8080/da

5. Continue with Server Configuration Upgrades as needed.

Server Configuration Upgrades

Common Tomcat is version 8.5 in Deployment Automation version 6.1.5 and later. Some changes you should be aware of if you are upgrading from a version earlier than 6.1.5 are as follows:

• The default directory structure is as follows:
  • Windows: C:\Program Files\Micro Focus\common\tomcat\8.5
  • UNIX/Linux: /opt/MicroFocus/da/common/tomcat/8.5
• All connectors, such as port number, customization, and SSL configuration are automatically identified and updated in the new Common Tomcat directories during the server upgrade.
• You must manually copy any additional applications running under Common Tomcat, such as Dimensions CM and ZMF Connector, to the new directory structure.
• If you are using SSO, you must configure SSO again, including setting the parameters in the gatekeeper-core-config.xml file.

  You must set these parameters by copying the corresponding strings from the earlier version of the gatekeeper-core-config.xml file. Copying and replacing the entire file from the earlier Common Tomcat installation does not work.

About Notification Schemes

The new notification schemes are added to existing schemes during the server upgrade. To keep backward compatibility, if changes for a scheme are detected, the upgrade does not affect that scheme; otherwise, the scheme is upgraded to the latest version.

About JRE Versions

The Deployment Automation 6.2 server and agent are installed with JRE 8.0 on all platforms.

• Servers support only Java version 8.0 (Java JRE or JDK 1.8.0.25 or later)
• Agents support Java 7.0 and 8.0 (Java JRE or JDK 1.7.0.25 or later and 1.8.0.25 or later)
• Agent relays support only Java 8.0 (Java JRE or JDK 1.8.0.25 or later)
• For server upgrades, if you are using user certificates (cacerts) and the installer detects a cacerts file in the JRE installation location, the file is renamed. By default the directories are jre/8.0/lib/security/cacerts before the rename and jre/8.0/lib/security/cacerts.pre1.8.1.0 after. You must restore the cacerts file after you complete the upgrade.
• The server upgrade creates backup directories for earlier versions or update levels of Java. The directories contain backups of earlier versions of the directories. The backed up versions of the directories are as follows:
  • alfssogatekeeper.pre.1.8.1.0
  • lib.pre.1.8.1.0

About JDBC Files

The required JDBC driver files that are used by Deployment Automation versions 6.0 and later to connect to the Deployment Automation database are provided by the installer. This means you do not have to download the drivers before you perform a new Deployment Automation install. If you are upgrading from an earlier version and you modified the standard JDBC drivers, the upgrade process preserves your existing JDBC files and connection information, and automatically copies the files to the appropriate directory location for you.

About Agent and Agent Relay Upgrades

For details on upgrading Deployment Automation agents and agent relays, see the Deployment Automation User's Guide or online Help.

About Plugin Upgrades

For details on upgrading Deployment Automation plugins, see the Deployment Automation User's Guide or User's Help.

About Custom and External Source Configuration Type Upgrades

When upgrading from earlier releases using source configuration types that are now implemented as external, the upgrade is done automatically. There should be no noticeable difference when using components with these source configuration types. After the upgrade, the external source configuration types are listed in Administration > Automation > Source Config Types.

Any upgrades you make to your custom source configuration types are done in the corresponding Java code. As a best practice you should load your updated Jar file into a test Deployment Automation system and test the upgraded functionality before loading it into your product system, since it is an extension of the product.

If you load a source configuration type Jar file with a different set of source configuration types than those used when it was originally loaded, some of the source configuration types may be deleted from Deployment Automation. You will receive a warning, and if you confirm the deletion, you will need to reconfigure any components that use the deleted source configuration types.

For details on creating and loading Deployment Automation custom source configuration types, see the Deployment Automation Integration Guide or online Help.

Trademarks

Serena, Dimensions, ChangeMan, Comparex, and StarTool are registered trademarks of Serena Software, Inc. The Serena logo, PVCS, TeamTrack, License Manager and Composer are trademarks of Serena Software, Inc. All other products or company names are used for identification purposes only, and may be trademarks of their respective owners.