Server

Supported languages for 2019.1

Release 2019.1 supports these languages:

  • French
  • German
  • Japanese
  • Spanish

Translated software is available at release time. We will notify customers when translated documentation is available.

Java support changes

As of release 2019.1, Pitney Bowes will no longer bundle Java with Spectrum™ Technology Platform and Spectrum Spatial Analyst.

Note: There are no changes required for AIX customers. This change effects all other supported platforms for Spectrum™ Technology Platform and Spectrum Spatial Analyst.

Oracle Corporation has announced an end to free public updates for corporate clients of Java 8, starting February 1, 2019. You can review the Oracle Corporation policy and Java support roadmap online.

In previous releases, Pitney Bowes redistributed Java 8 with Spectrum and Spectrum Spatial Analyst. Because of the change in policy from Oracle, Pitney Bowes will no longer bundle Java with Spectrum and its modules. We will remain on Java 8 for this release.

As a result of Oracle's support changes:

  • Customers must provide the Java JDK for all future releases.
  • For now, Pitney Bowes will continue to develop and test with Java 8 for upcoming releases.
  • The installation process has changed. You must verify that you have installed a Java JDK (64-bit) to proceed with product installation. You can review the Install the JDK and Set the JAVA_Home Environment Variable requirements.

Supported Java distributions

The following table shows current (tested and verified) Pitney Bowes Java distributions.

Operating System Vendor-supplied Azul Oracle
AIX Yes
CentOS Yes Yes
HP-UX Yes
Oracle Linux Yes Yes
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Yes Yes
Solaris Yes Yes
SUSE Enterprise Linux Server Yes Yes
Ubuntu Yes Yes
Windows Server Yes Yes
Note: To change the Java installation on a system that is running the Spectrum™ Technology Platform, you must stop Spectrum before performing changes to the Java installation and restart Spectrum after you complete the changes.

Path structure and log name changes

As of release 2019.1, we have flattened the folder structure at the platform level. We have also changed the path to and names of some log files.

Path structure

We have removed the server/app and server/app/repository folders. Ensure that you make the necessary changes to configure the Spectrum™ Technology Platform server. The new folder hierarchy is:
..|index                   ** index location
   |-- logs                ** log files for technical support
..|repository              ** repository location
   |-- logs                ** log files for technical support
..|server                  ** primary server folder
   |-- archive             ** archive files: resource bundles, reports 
       |-- audit           ** archive files: audit log data
       |-- bundles         ** storage: resource bundles
       |–- dataflows       ** archive: imported dataflows
       |–- reports         ** default location for reports on disk/by name
   |-- bin                 ** startup scripts, wrapper
   |-- conf                ** configuration files
   |–- deploy              ** car and war files; consoles 
   |-- doc                 ** read me file(s)
   |–- drivers             ** jdbc drivers
   |–- exports             ** exported: Enterprise Designer, others
   |–- import              ** imported: license keys, flows, reports, SPDs
       |–- error           ** import item error storage 
          |–- dataflows    ** dataflow import errors
          |–- license-keys ** backup of imported license keys
   |–- lib                 ** platform jar files
   |–- logs                ** log files
   |–- modules             ** product modules 
   |–- ref-data            ** reference data file archive    
   |–- tmp                 ** temporary folder
   |–- types               ** types jar files        

Log file location

Spectrum™ Technology Platform now directs all log files to SpectrumDirectory/server/logs.

wrapper.log file name change

The wrapper.log file is now the spectrum-server.log file.

Changed property file name

As of release 2019.1, we have consolidated our properties groupings. As a result, the spectrum-advanced.properties file is deprecated, and the properties that were in that file are now in the spectrum.properties file.

Security enhancements

Multiple domain support

We have added the ability to specify multiple domains in the spectrum.ldap.dn.format property of the SpectrumDirectory/server/conf/spring/security/spectrum-config-ldap.properties file. To set multiple domains in spectrum.ldap.dn.format, use commas to separate each full domain name and provide the domain value in single quotes.
spectrum.ldap.dn.format='CN=%s,CN=Users,dc=spectest,dc=pvt', 
'CN=%s,ou=Services,dc=spectest,dc=pvt','CN=%s,ou=managers,dc=spectest,dc=pvt' 

Record logout events in the Audit Log

You will now see the date and time when a user logs out of the Spectrum™ Technology Platform in the system Audit Log.

Export security setting overrides through Administration Utility

You can now export security overrides associated with a role or user, to JSON format, using the Administration Utility Command Line Interface (CLI). To export overrides for a user named "Sally," use this syntax:
entity override export --e User --p Sally
To export overrides for "Sally," who has the role "designer," use this syntax:
entity override export --e Designer --p Sally
In the above examples:
  • --e is the value (userName/RoleName) of the role or user for which the overrides are exported. This attribute is required.
  • --p Role/User Constant Value specifies the literal name of the "Role" or "User". This attribute is required.

Encrypt passwords or mask encryption strings

This enhancement, delivered as part of the 2018.2.S15 product update, directs Spectrum™ Technology Platform to encrypt all resource passwords and to either remove or mask passwords in log files. This is an optional feature: use it only if you wish to encrypt your passwords.

Update the following property files, replacing p*********s with your encryption string.
SpectrumDirectory\Program Files\Pitney Bowes\Spectrum\server\conf\spectrum-container.properties
spectrum.cluster.password=p*********s
spectrum.encryption.node.keystorePassword=p*********s
spectrum.encryption.node.truststorePassword=p*********s
spectrum.encryption.client.keystorePassword=p*********s
spectrum.encryption.client.truststorePassword=p*********s
#spectrum.https.encryption.keystorePassword=p*********s
#spectrum.https.encryption.truststorePassword=p*********s
#spectrum.cache.encryption.keystorePassword=p*********s
#spectrum.cache.encryption.truststorePassword=p*********s
spectrum.index.password=p*********s
#spectrum.index.encryption.node.keystorePassword=p*********s
#spectrum.index.encryption.node.truststorePassword=p*********s
#spectrum.index.encryption.client.keystorePassword=p*********s
#spectrum.index.encryption.client.truststorePassword=p*********s

SpectrumDirectory\Program Files\Pitney Bowes\Spectrum\server\bin\enableadmin.properties
spectrum.encryption.keystorePassword=p*********s
spectrum.encryption.truststorePassword=p*********s

/jobexecutor.properties (available on client side where CLI utilities are downloaded)
spectrum.encryption.keystorePassword=p*********s
spectrum.encryption.truststorePassword=p*********s

/pflowexecutor.properties (available on client side where CLI utilities are downloaded)
spectrum.encryption.keystorePassword=p*********s
spectrum.encryption.truststorePassword=p*********s

/cli.properties (available on client side where CLI utilities are downloaded)
spectrum.encryption.keystorePassword=p*********s
spectrum.encryption.truststorePassword=p*********s

Generating encryption strings

There are two methods for generating encryption strings.

Method one: use the *.jar file utility to generate the encryption string for the Spectrum default password.

Generate an encrypted string for the default password, p****s.

Specify the command:

java -jar password-utility.jar -p password -a algorithm

...where:

  • password is your site's password
  • algorithm is the encryption method: AES or PBEWithMD5ANdDeS


Sample output:


###########################################################
############ Encrypted String for the password ############
###########################################################
            9yOYoZ9W2aAF2Baapa5wIxCMNQ/9TZFP

Method two: You can also generate encryption strings from the JMX console through the encryptString property. This request takes the format MBean operation: invoke method encryptString on MBean servername:manager=EncryptTextManager.

Lightweight HTTP endpoint for server status

Use the URL-based server status check to quickly view overall status, such as memory use and CPU availability.

This URL-based check provides a low-overhead and non-password protected way to check that your server is running and accessible. In a web browser, specify one of these URLs: https//server:port/dcg/status or http//server:port/dcg/status.

Learn more about URL-based status checking in the Spectrum™ Technology Platform Administration Guide, under Viewing server status.

Remote server support is deprecated

Our research shows very few clients use remote server functionality. So, we are removing remote server support and functionality and are adding external REST Web services. We sent out a communication to our customers in June 2019 to announce this change.

When is this functional software change happening?

This change takes place in the fourth quarter, 2019, as part of release 2019.1.

Do you use remote server functionality?

You can determine by checking to see if any remote servers are defined:

  1. Start Management Console
  2. Select Resources > Remote Servers to display the remote servers page

We suggest that you work closely with your administrator to ensure that you have located all remote server resources. If you currently do not use this feature, this change does not affect your current jobs, services, or workflows.

If you do currently use this functionality, follow these steps:

  • You must replace the remote dataflow stages by configuring an external REST Web service that points to the other Spectrum instance.
  • This external Web service will then appear in the Enterprise Designer palette to select and use in your dataflows.
  • You must update your dataflows which use remote dataflow stages and replace all remote dataflow stages with external Web service stages. You can adjust the runtime instances for that stage to optimize performance for your requirements.

If you need help

Review our product Administration Guide for more information on setting up and configuring external REST web services.

Starting a Cluster

These instructions assume that the server is stopped.

If all the nodes in a cluster are stopped, you must follow this procedure to start the cluster safely and avoid data loss.

On the last node that was stopped last, start the server. Do this for each node in the cluster.
Warning: The first node that you start must be the last node that was stopped to preserve the most recent data. Starting another node first may result in loss of data such as job history and configuration settings. If you do not know which node was stopped last, look in each node's log for the time stamp of the shutdown message. You can find the log in: SpectrumDirectory\server\logs\spectrum-server.log.
  1. Start the server.
  2. Start all nodes consecutively, after upgrading. Make sure that you start node 2 within only a few seconds after starting node 1, and repeat this for each remaining node.
    You can tell when the Spectrum™ Technology Platform server has completely started by looking in the log file: SpectrumDirectory\server\logs\spectrum-server.log. This message is displayed when the server is completely started:
    Pitney Bowes Spectrum(TM) Technology Platform (Version Version Number) Started.

    The log will show the IP address for one of the nodes bound to the Spectrum Technology Platform service.