Assure 8.4 Release Notes

Assure 8.4 enhancements include:

Proxy Server Settings for Network I/O Sources

Access to data using networked character/byte stream I/O, such as http or sftp URLs, can now be defined to use a forwarding proxy server. This allows customers to access data that is otherwise inaccessible to the server where Infogix Assure is running.

HTML Layouts

Users can now build layouts that define access to data with HTML pages. The user defines the locations of fields, groups, and sublayouts within the HTML page using XPath expressions.

This capability allows users to apply controls to data found on HTML pages within their environments (e.g. websites).

Control Point Execution Profiles

In previous releases, multiple capture and scan control points allocated resources for execution on the assumption of processing large volumes of data. These resources include the number of threads for various stages of processing, which also impacts the number of database connections made. When a large number of concurrent control points were executed, the system might over allocate resources when most of the control points are not processing large volumes of work.

In this release, multiple capture and scan control points can be declared to have one of five execution profiles: Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large, or Default. The system will allocate resources according to the execution profile chosen. The execution profile for the “Default” choice can be configured per installation.

This new capability allows better use of resources when processing a large number of control points at the same time, improving system stability and scalability.

Infogix ER Secure Fields Output

The actual values of control fields that are secure text are passed to Infogix ER output item fields or reconciliation entity instance fields when the Infogix ER field is also secure. This ensures that sensitive values remain secure when they are transferred to Infogix ER.

Hash Function

Any text value, including secure text values, can be hashed with a new function that returns an MD5 text hash value. The hash value can be used where the secure text field cannot be used, such as in matching rules, or as ID control fields. The hashed value of the sensitive field can safely be referenced when creating control rules without providing exposure to sensitive fields.

Secure Input Fields

Fields within layouts can also be defined as “Secure Text” fields. The actual value of a secure text input field can only be captured by a secure text control field. This allows the controls developer to ensure that actual sensitive values are not captured into insecure fields.

Secure Control Fields

Control fields in a control entity may be defined as “Secure Text”, along with a display format. The display format defines the masked presentation, and may be one of the following: Show Last Four, Show First Six, Show First Six and Last Four, Mask All, or user defined. Secure text values are stored in the database as encrypted values, and are initially displayed as masked values such as ****5678 when viewed. Only users granted a new “View Secure Values” permission can request to view the actual values of secure text fields. Reports, results, or exports that include secure field values only contain the masked value.

Platform Thread Resource Usage Optimization

Fewer thread resources are used with Caching, Process Management, and Cluster Commands. Additionally, the platform specific thread names are prefixed with the product name and category. This is particularly helpful to:

• Identify problems when multiple applications run on the same JVM™.
• Analyze Thread Dumps and Heap Dumps.

Configuration Independent Product .ear File

This enhancement simplifies console-based WebSphere® deployments across multiple environments. In the prior releases, the .ear file generated by the dist.bat (or dist.sh), contained certain environment specific information that prevented the use of the same .ear file across different environments.

The enhancement provides the ability to re-use the same .ear file across multiple environments, when Infogix products are deployed manually from the WebSphere administrative console. Additionally, the product patching process is simplified as there is only one .ear file that must be patched.

Enforcing Strong Password Usage in Embedded Directory Deployments

The enhancement provides the ability to enforce the use of strong passwords in Embedded Directory deployments.

Enable the EMBEDDED_DIR_STRONG_PASSWORD_SECURITY property to impose strong passwords. You can configure region specific password policy settings, and also define the password complexity. For more information, see the Infogix Properties Guide.

Infogix Administrative Console: Health Checker Improvements

Health Checker feature is now available in Infogix ER, Infogix Insight and Infogix Perceive. You can run health checks to detect general problems at the platform-level such as runtime problems with clustering, database, file systems, and configuration.

Process and Memory Viewer is now Supported on Unix®/Linux®

The Process and Memory Viewer that is accessible from the Infogix Assure administrative console, is now supported for product deployments on the Unix®/Linux® environments.