NetIQ Aegis Version 3.2 Release Notes

Date Published: June 2014

NetIQ Aegis 3.2 includes new features, improves usability, and resolves several previous issues. Many of these improvements were made in direct response to suggestions from our customers. We thank you for your time and valuable input. We hope you continue to help us ensure our products meet all your needs. You can post feedback in the Aegis forum on Qmunity, our community Web site that also includes product notifications, blogs, and product user groups.

For more information about this release and for the latest release notes, see the Aegis Documentation Web site. To download this product, see the Aegis Product Upgrade Web site.

1.0 What’s New?

The following outline the key features and functions provided by this version, as well as issues resolved in this release:

1.1 Features and Enhancements

This version of Aegis includes the following features and enhancements.

Support for Sending Signed Email

Aegis 3.2 supports sending signed emails in the course of a workflow. Process Authors can use the Send Email activity in either of the following activity libraries:

  • Email and User Interaction

  • Microsoft Exchange

Support for Integrated Windows Authentication

Aegis 3.2 supports Integrated Windows Authentication. When Integrated Windows Authentication is enabled in your Aegis environment, users can access the Operations Console, User Input Forms, and the Configuration Console without having to provide their login credentials.

If your Aegis environment connects to an adapter that does not support Integrated Windows Authentication, you can create an alias and an impersonation, which will allow the adapter to work in your environment.

To configure your environment to support Integrated Windows Authentication, complete the following steps after you install Aegis 3.2:

  1. Log on to the Web Server computer with a local administrator account.

  2. Ensure the Windows authentication module in Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) uses the NTLM provider.

  3. For each browser that will access the Operations Console, add the fully qualified domain name of the Web Server computer to the list of local intranet sites. For example:

    https://aegis001.domain01.us

  4. (Conditional) For Internet Explorer, ensure Compatibility Mode is disabled.

New Performance Counters

Aegis 3.2 allows you to track metrics for Microsoft Message Queuing with the following performance counters:

  • Last Collection Time

  • Maximum Message Queue Processing Delay

  • Maximum Message Queue Processing Rate

  • Message Queue Processing Delay

  • Message Queue Processing Rate

To add one or more of these counters, use a system monitoring product, such as NetIQ AppManager or the Microsoft Reliability and Performance Monitor (commonly referred to as "perfmon"). The counters are available under the NetIQ Aegis folder.

New Web Console

Aegis 3.2 includes a new web console. The web console URL supports two new parameters:

  • lang sets the locale for the new web console, including the console date, time, and calendar formats and the localized console text. For example,

    http:// hostname:port /Aegis/?lang=ja

    Sets the console text and date, time, and calendar formats for the Japanese local.

    NOTE:Aegis 3.2 supports localized text only for US English and Japanese. But the time, date and calendar formats will respond to any locale.

  • theme sets the user interface theme for the web console. Aegis 3.2 supports the themes neptune, the default; gray; and access, a high contrast theme. For example, the following command opens the Aegis Web Console using the high contrast theme:

    http:// hostname:port /Aegis/?theme=access

New Supporting Analysis Activities

Aegis 3.2 provides new activities for supporting analysis:

  • The Create Supporting Analysis Chart activity creates a chart for supporting analysis.

  • The Create Supporting Analysis Text Output activity allows you to create a text-based output for supporting analysis.

1.2 Software Fixes

This version of Aegis includes software fixes that resolve several previous issues.

Restarting the Aegis Engine Resets Scheduled Delays

This version resolves an issue where a restart of the NetIQ Aegis Engine service resets any delay a Process Author scheduled with the following activities, resulting in longer delays than expected:

  • Pause for Specified Time

  • Wait for Event

  • Collect Input from User

(ENG331318)

User Input Form Causes Activity Broker Service to Fail

This version resolves an issue where submitting a value in the User Input Form causes the NetIQ Aegis Activity Broker service to fail. (ENG331652)

Restarting Aegis Engine Resets Scheduled Delays

This version resolves an issue where a restart of the NetIQ Aegis Engine service resets any delay a Process Author scheduled with the Pause for Specified Time activity, resulting in longer delays than expected. (ENG331384)

Optional Fields Incorrectly Require Input

This version resolves an issue where, if a user opens the User Input Form in Internet Explorer 10, optional fields incorrectly require input. (ENG331649)

‘Invalid Request Data’ Error

In previous versions of Aegis, an update to Microsoft ASP.NET affected the number of query parameters the User Input Form in the Operations Console could accept. For example, if a user submitted a table with more than 1000 cells, ASP.NET rejected all data beyond the 1000 parameter limit. The result was an Invalid Request Data: Missing {Parameter} error.

This version of Aegis has a new Operations Console with a redesigned User Input Form. There is no limit to the amount of data the new User Input Form can accept. (DOC333650)

Standalone User Input Form Automatically Scrolls to the Top

In previous versions of Aegis, a known issue in Ext JS version 4.1.1 caused the scrollbar in a standalone user input form to automatically scroll to the top when a user specifies input values at the bottom of the input form.

This version of Aegis has a new Operations Console with a redesigned User Input Form. This error no longer occurs. (ENG326193)

User Input Forms Do Not Support Dates Outside the UNIX Time Range

The user input forms in the new Operations Console support dates and times outside the 32-bit UNIX time range. (ENG326282)

Times Possibly Out of Sync When DST Changes

In previous versions of Aegis, if daylight saving time changed while the Operations Console was open, times might have appeared out of sync.

This version of Aegis has a new Operations Console. This error no longer occurs. (ENG256104)

Times Possibly Out of Sync When Time Zone Changes

In previous versions of Aegis, if you changed the time zone of the local computer while the Operations Console was open, times might have appeared out of sync.

This version of Aegis has a new Operations Console. This error no longer occurs. (DOC284652)

2.0 Known Issues

NetIQ Corporation strives to ensure our products provide quality solutions for your enterprise software needs. The following issues are currently being researched. If you need further assistance with any issue, please contact Technical Support.

2.1 Installation Process

Installation Process Ends Prematurely

If you specify a SQL instance with Case Sensitive collation during the installation process, and then specify Windows authentication for the database connection, the installation process ends prematurely. (ENG319290)

Installation Process Fails if Service Accounts Contain Special Characters

During the installation process, the setup program requires the credentials for the Aegis service account and the Resource Management account. These accounts support alphanumeric characters and the following special characters in the account name:

  • Period (.)

  • Underscore (_)

  • Dash (-)

If either account name contains any other special characters, the installation process fails. (ENG290790)

Installation Process Fails if Specified Database Path Does Not Exist

By default, the setup program checks the location of your existing Microsoft SQL Server installation and installs the Aegis database in the \Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\DATA\ folder. For example, C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\DATA\. If you specify a path that does not exist, the database setup fails and the Aegis services cannot start. If you want to install the Aegis database in a different location, ensure the path exists prior to installation. (ENG247233)

Setup Program Cannot Create New SQL Server User Account if Credentials Contain Special Characters

During the installation process, the setup program requires the credentials for the Aegis database runtime account and the Resource Management database runtime account. If you specify an account that does not exist, the setup program attempts to create it.

The user names for these accounts cannot contain the following special characters:

\ / " [ ] : | < > + = ; , ? * @

The password for the Aegis database runtime account cannot contain the following special characters:

; "

The password for the Resource Management database runtime account cannot contain the following special characters:

; " [ \

If the credentials for either account contains any of the specified characters, the installation process fails. (ENG305990, ENG306164, ENG306693, ENG306821)

Setup Program Does Not Automatically Select Resource Management Database During Upgrade

If you are upgrading from Aegis 2.2 to the current version, and your Resource Management database is clustered, if you run the setup program on a different node than the one you used when you installed version 2.2, the setup program does not automatically select the Resource Management database on the Select Components window. Select the Resource Management database in the components list, and proceed with the installation. If you run the setup program on the same node you used to install Aegis 2.2, the setup program selects the Resource Management database automatically. (ENG311470)

Setup Program Does Not Validate Location of Resource Management Namespace Provider

If you are upgrading from Aegis 2.2, when you upgrade the Aegis Server computer, the setup program pre-populates the Server Name field on the Resource Management Namespace Provider windows with the computer where it detects the Resource Management Namespace Provider is running. If you specify a different computer, the setup program does not validate the specified computer. If you specify an incorrect computer, the installation process ends prematurely. (ENG311509)

Setup Program Does Not Validate Database Server When Installing Reporting Feature

When you select the Reporting component on the Select Components window of the Aegis setup program, the setup program asks you to specify the Aegis Database Server computer. The setup program does not validate the specified computer. If you specify an incorrect computer, the installation process completes successfully, and NetIQ Reporting Center cannot run Aegis reports at run time. You can specify the correct value on the Database Connection Properties window in Reporting Center. (ENG314751)

Error when Upgrading Three-Tier Configuration

If you are upgrading a three-tier configuration to Aegis 3.2, a Files in Use error occurs when you upgrade the Web Server computer from Aegis 2.2, 2.3, or 3.0.

Click Ignore, and the upgrade process completes successfully. (ENG311813)

Installer Failed to Encrypt Password Data Error

If you receive the following error:

The installer failed to encrypt password data, this could cause problems in the install process

See NETIQKB73188 or contact Support for a workaround.

Uninstall Required for Previous Version of Aegis Configuration Console

If you are upgrading from Aegis 2.2, and you used ClickOnce to install the previous version of the Aegis Configuration Console, enhancements to this version require you to use Add/Remove Programs to uninstall the previous version before you install this version. The enhancements allow the console to better support domain changes to the Web Server computer. (DOC304850)

Error when Installing .NET Framework 4.0

To install the Configuration Console on a local computer, you can click either of the following links in the Operations Console:

  • Install Prerequisites on the NetIQ Aegis Configuration Console Prerequisites page

  • Launch Configuration Console

Both links launch the setup program. If .NET Framework 4.0 is not installed on the local computer, the setup program installs .NET Framework 4.0, and then installs the Configuration Console. The installation is successful, but a problem with Microsoft ClickOnce causes the setup program to display an error before it launches the Configuration Console. After you close the error message, click either of the links to launch the Configuration Console. (ENG313980)

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2.2 Workflow Designer and Activities

Workflow Designer Requires Active Scripting in Internet Explorer

To properly display the help files associated with some activities, you must enable active scripting in Internet Explorer on the computer where you run the Aegis Workflow Designer.

To enable active scripting in Internet Explorer 7, 8, 9, or 10:

  1. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.

  2. On the Internet Options window, click the Security tab, and then click Custom level.

  3. Under Settings, select Scripting > Active scripting > Enable.

Trusted Sites in Internet Explorer

To ensure correct operation of the Operations Console and the Workflow Designer, you must add the following to your Trusted Sites list in Internet Explorer:

  • about:security_NetIQ Aegis Configuration Console.exe

  • about:blank

Extract Files From Archive Activity Incorrectly Completes Successfully

The Extract Files From Archive activity incorrectly completes successfully instead of failing with an error in the following scenarios:

  • The activity attempts to extract files from a corrupt archive. (ENG316955)

  • The specified list of files to extract from the archive does not exist. (ENG318503)

Send Mail Activity Incorrectly Completes Successfully

If you configure the Send Email activity to send an email with multiple attachments, and the total size is larger than the specified limit on your mail server, the activity completes successfully but does not send the email. The email server sends a message stating the message could not be delivered because the size of the attachments exceeds the limit.

Wait for Event Activity Data Type Mismatch

If you configure an event filter on the Wait for Event activity with a Boolean data type, and compare it to a value from the Input Builder that has a different data type, the activity does not match incoming events that meet the specified criteria. To ensure the event filter matches the correct events, use a simple comparison value instead of the Input Builder. (ENG316489)

Activities Require Period (.) for Decimal Symbol

If you change the console locale to one that does not use '.' as the decimal symbol, activities that use the decimal symbol fail. (DOC255946)

Status of Incomplete Work Item = Succeeded

If a workflow cannot continue, the status of the work item is the status of the last completed activity. For example, if all outgoing connectors on any activity are conditional, and the workflow does not meet any of the conditions, the workflow stops. The Join activity is the last activity to complete successfully, so the work item status is Succeeded.

When a workflow has multiple flows that meet at a Join activity, you can prevent an error from stopping the flow by adding error handling and a No Operation activity. For example, if Activity A (in Flow A) and Activity B (in Flow B) connect to a Join activity, insert a No Operation activity between each activity and the Join activity, and then add a Capture Workflow Errors activity to each flow. Connect the Capture Workflow Error activities to the No Operation activities as follows:

Activity A -->

No Operation A -->

Capture Workflow Errors A -->

Join

Activity B -->

No Operation B -->

Capture Workflow Errors B -->

If there is an error in Activity A, the workflow jumps to Capture Workflow Errors A, which connects to the No Operation A activity. Instead of stopping as a result of the error, Flow A reaches the Join activity and completes successfully. If you want to respond to the error instead of simply bypassing it, you can configure any number of other activities between Capture Workflow Error A and No Operation A. (ENG316432)

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Certificate Not Recognized in IQMail and IQExchange Send Mail Activities

The signed certificate option for the IQMail and IQExchange SendMail activities fails and aborts when:

  • The user account under which the activity runs is the same as the Aegis service account, and

  • The certificate used by the activity was generated on the Aegis server computer.

(DOC332430)

2.3 Adapters

Aegis Does Not Process All Events Received During Down Time

By default, if Aegis is down for more than 15 minutes, only the events that arrive during the 15 minutes immediately before Aegis restarts will be processed. For example, if Aegis is down for a total of 25 minutes, the events that arrive in the first 10 minutes will not be processed.

To decrease the 15-minute threshold, and reduce the number of unprocessed events, use Registry Editor to create a DWORD value called ignoreEventForTriggerIfOlderThan under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\NetIQ\ProcessGovernance. After you create the DWORD value, specify the time in seconds.

WARNING:NetIQ recommends not increasing the threshold above the default 15-minute setting. Setting the threshold too high for your environment might cause a backlog of unprocessed events that Aegis cannot handle. For example, your environment might be able to support a 30-minute threshold but unable to supports a 60-minute threshold.

Service Account for AppManager Adapter Must be a Local Administrator

If you install the NetIQ AppManager Integration Adapter (AppManager adapter) on a computer other than the Aegis Server computer, ensure the NetIQ AppManager Integration Adapter Namespace Provider service account is a local administrator on the Aegis Server computer.

Installing Aegis Adapters After Installing Aegis 3.2

If you upgrade to Aegis 3.2 from Aegis 2.2, 2.3, 3.0, or 3.1, the adapters in your environment continue to work without interruption.

If you want to install adapters after you install Aegis 3.2, you must install the current versions of the adapters. For a complete list of current adapters, see the NetIQ Aegis Current Adapters Web site.

Uninstalling Previous Versions of Aegis Adapters After Upgrading to Aegis 3.2

Aegis adapters released prior to May 2011 have an Aegis version dependency that causes them to fail to uninstall after you upgrade to Aegis 3.2. Once you upgrade an Aegis adapter to the latest version, you can uninstall it normally. Installing the latest version of an Aegis adapter does not require you to uninstall the previous version. For example, you can install version 1.1 of the NetIQ Aegis Adapter for NetIQ Directory and Resource Administrator without uninstalling version 1.0. If you have already upgraded to Aegis 3.2 and need to uninstall a previous version of an Aegis adapter, see NetIQ Knowledge Base article NETIQKB7772850.

Aegis Adapters Do Not Work After Uninstalling and Reinstalling Aegis

If you uninstall Aegis and then reinstall it, the adapters in your environment cannot communicate with Aegis. If you need to uninstall and reinstall Aegis, you must uninstall all adapters before you uninstall Aegis. After you reinstall Aegis, reinstall the adapters. (ENG255745)

Installing vCenter Adapter Causes the Correlation Engine to Stop

The Aegis setup program creates the C:\Program Files\NetIQ\Aegis\IQConnect73\data\PG\sb\ssql\Production folder on the Aegis Server computer. If you install version 1.1.2 of the NetIQ Aegis Adapter for VMware vCenter Server product (vCenter adapter), the adapter setup program deletes the \Production folder, causing the Aegis Correlation Engine service to stop. To prevent the Aegis Correlation Engine service from stopping, you can manually recreate the \Production folder. (ENG314620)

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2.4 Miscellaneous

Operations Console Does Not Start After Upgrading to Aegis 3.2

If you upgraded to Aegis 3.2, and specified a .pfx file during the installation process, Internet Explorer displays an error when you start the Operations Console. The error is caused by a problem with the SSL certificate, described in the Microsoft KB article 981506.

To work around this issue, complete the following steps:

  1. On the Web Server computer, open IIS Manager.

  2. Open Server Certificates.

  3. Select the certificate, and then click Remove.

  4. Click Import, and select the .pfx file you want to use.

  5. In the left pane, select Default Web Site.

  6. In the right pane, click Bindings.

  7. On the Site Bindings window, click Add.

  8. On the Add Site Binding window, ensure Type is https and Port is 443.

  9. Under SSL certificate, select the certificate you imported.

  10. Close and restart any open instances of the Operations Console.

Aegis Does Not Generate New Work Items After Restarting Services

In Aegis environments that process a large number of events, an issue with Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) might prevent Aegis from generating new work items after a required restart of the Aegis services. To work around this issue, increase the size of MSMQ in your environment.

Running the Configuration Console and the Business Services Layer in Different Domains

Users can run the Configuration Console on computers that are not in the same domain as the Business Services Layer (BSL) computer. For security reasons, if the time difference between the two computers exceeds 15 minutes, the Configuration Console does not run.

Running Aegis Reports with a Custom Date Range Greater Than a Day May Not Return Data

When running reports, you can define a custom date range and specify the interval. Aegis data is available when you specify the Hour interval or Day interval. Data might not be available for intervals greater than a day, so these reports might appear empty. Specify an appropriate interval and run the report again. (ENG229341)

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Supporting Analysis Charts getSeries Method Does Not Work with String Data

When one of the Supporting Analysis chart axis uses string data, calling the getSeries method fails to return string data and terminates the Aegis agent with a segmentation fault. (DOC333818)

3.0 Contact Information

Our goal is to provide documentation that meets your needs. If you have suggestions for improvements, please email Documentation-Feedback@netiq.com. We value your input and look forward to hearing from you.

For detailed contact information, see the Support Contact Information Web site.

For general corporate and product information, see the NetIQ Corporate Web site.

For interactive conversations with your peers and NetIQ experts, become an active member of Qmunity, our community Web site that offers product forums, product notifications, blogs, and product user groups.

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