What's new

This release of HCL™ Accelerate is a maintenance release and includes various bug fixes and enhancements. This release is recommended for all customers. This topic provides a summary of enhancements and bug fixes.

If you are upgrading from a previous version, the following updates are included in this release.

2.1.3

Enhancement

On the Insights All Dashboards page, you can view dashboards in either card or list view. In the list view, you can sort fields in ascending or descending order by clicking on the following field names:
  • Name
  • Description
  • Creator
  • Last Modified
  • Modified By

2.1.2

Enhancement
For the UrbanCode Deploy applications in a pipeline, you can auto-promote from the input to stage environments. Click the Three horizontal dots icon next to Input and then select Auto promote.
Bug fix
Corrected VSM load error GraphQL Error: Expected Iterable, but did not find one for field ParticleViewMode.sprints when ParticleViewMode.sprints is stored as null.
Configuring release-events-api memory limits
For the release-events-api performance issues in Kubernetes or OpenShift installations with explicit overrides of limits and requests memory allocations in the deployment, the following workaround provides guidelines to address loss of system stability associated with how the non-default settings were set up in the configuration. This issue is typically not encountered if the aforementioned explicit overrides are not implemented in the configuration. If more than 2 GBs of memory are required, perform the following procedure:
  1. Determine the memory requirement.
  2. Under spec > template > spec > containers in your yaml file, locate the line image: urbancode/velocity-se-release-events-api:x.x.x.xx.
  3. Add the command override as a sibling entry to image: in the form of the following:
    
     image: urbancode/velocity-se-release-events-api:x.x.x.xx
     command:
       - node
       - --max-old-space-size=xxxx
       - /release-events-api/release-events-api.min.js
  4. On the command line - --max-old-space-size=xxxx, enter the maximum memory requirement in the appropriate units.

2.1.1

Enhancements
  • Value stream names wrap in table on All Value Streams tab when displayed in View list layout.
  • On Value stream tab under Legend, sprints are ordered with current sprint followed by the previous four consecutive sprints.
  • Link rules only require defining one or more integrations. Previously, vsm.json files required defining at least two integrations if uploading a link rule.
  • The DQL validator detects and prevents the query with double equal signs ==.
Bug fixes
  • Fixed inaccurate display of Dashboards bar chart representations for single run or multiple runs in one day.
  • Corrected issue of pipeline page not loading when navigating to the Value stream tab and then quickly switching to the Pipeline tab while the value stream is still loading.
  • For a Jenkins version that has been successfully deployed to an environment, eliminated repeat deployments when numerous applications are in the pipeline. None is displayed for the selected version instead of the same version available for a repeat deployment.
  • Problem of Pull request (PR) history loss for an issue in the VSM is remedied to link and access any PR historical data attached to the item.

2.1.0

Forward proxy support
Forward proxy communication with HCL™ Launch is now supported. While a reverse proxy is not fully supported a fallback mechanism is in place. The fallback mechanism eliminates the need for callbacks from HCL™ Launch. This allows for a more robust communications with HCL™ Launch.
Support added for issue.sprints.active as a stage query to the DevOps query language.
Integrated with HCL Software Factory (SoFy)
HCL™ Accelerate is now available on HCL Software Factory (SoFy). SoFy is a catalog of Kubernetes enabled products as docker images and helm charts, hosted in a cloud-native registry. For more information, see the HCLSoFy website.
Gate enhancement
Rules can be created for gates that can be used to automate the gate process.
Metrics type rules can be defined and a gate set based upon the rule.
Metrics updates
Added distribution metric to Insights, metrics bar, and VSM table.
Metrics type rules can be defined and a gate set based upon the rule.
Required software updates
The Jenkins UrbanCode Velocity plug-in is now prerequisite and must be installed. The allows for running Jenkins jobs as a part of a deployment plan in HCL™ Accelerate. Version 2.1.0 of the plug-in is required. For more information about the plugin, see the Jenkins website.
Bug fixes
Fix to correctly display Group by: Week data in a chart.

2.0.5

Jenkins processing updates
Jenkins tasks are automatically failed if the integration with the Jenkins server is not available.
Deployment plan updates
Release participants can now see list of assigned users and groups on deployment plan tasks.
Bug fixes
  • Fixed problem when the dot history sometimes does not display.
  • Fixed issue with applicable tasks not displaying unless the Applicable button is toggled.

2.0.4

This release includes an announcement about advanced capabilities using HCL™ Accelerate and IBM® UrbanCode™ Release. See the HCL™ Accelerate 2.0.4 includes IBM UrbanCode Release and delivers advanced capabilities for your organization’s DevOps processes document for details.

Value stream updates
A list of favorite value streams can be create by marking a value stream as a favorite. The list can be prioritize to quickly locate a value stream.
License sharing
Starting with IBM® UrbanCode™ Release version 6.2.4.1 and HCL™ Accelerate 2.0.4 a single pool of floating and authorized licenses can be shared by users of the two products. For example, an user assigned a authorized user license type can use the same license for accessing both HCL™ Accelerate and HCL™ Accelerate.
HCL™ Accelerate users can now be assigned an authorize license key by selecting Reserve License on the Users page.
Value stream updates
Parser type plug-in code has been updated to fix a problem with the NPM wrapper when there are no plug-in properties.
Support added for issue.sprints.active as a stage query to the DevOps query language.
New Pipeline Designer role

The new Pipeline Designer role allows a user to edit a pipeline but not able to run it.

Gate enhancements

The rules and reason for failure is displayed when a gate fails.

Performance updates
The time it takes to load a list of Jenkins jobs when mapping a list to environment has been improved.
Improved load time of previous environment versions in pipelines.
Bug fixes
  • Fixed overflow of application list when working with Jenkins jobs in pipelines.
  • Integration containers are now automatically terminated if not needed. It used to be possible for integration containers to become orphaned and use system resources eventually causing MongoDB to crash.
  • Fixed issue with VSM link rule integration names not updating if the integration name is changed separately.

2.0.3

Performance updates
Changes to code for paginating user tables has been changed to increase performance when loading user lists.
The time it takes to load a list of Jenkins jobs when mapping a list to environment has been improved.
Improvements made to processing of manual tasks to improve processing time and eliminate an error exception logged when an imported task did not have the groupsAndUsers property defined.
Plug-in updates
Parser type plug-in code has been updated to fix a problem with the NPM wrapper when there are no plug-in properties.
Bug fixes
  • Integration with HCL™ Launch version 7.1.0.1 fails with HTTP status code 500.
  • Bottleneck detection errors are not handled well for value streams with data creation errors. Algorithm updated and more verbose reporting when bottleneck detected.
  • Edit icon does not display when hovering over chart.

2.0.2

Deployment plans can add task dependencies from the user interface. Plug-in image versions are now displayed on Plugin page. Improved reserved participants to include LDAP and SSO users and check reservation availability. Added LDAP and SSO users alongside local users in a single users list. Bottleneck detection is now based on Lead Time definition.

2.0.1

Scalability of services
The main HCL™ Accelerate services can now scale to handle larger installations and greater amounts of data.
Locking of releases
The release manger can change a release status to lock. No changes can be made to the release after it is locked. Request for changes must be This gives the release manager control over last minute changes and ensures no changes are made after a final review. The lock is set on the Release Overflow page.
Environment gating
Users can now manually approve versions and gate environments based on approvals. The gate fails if approval requirements are not met. If a version does not pass all approvals the release manager can override the deployment. This feature provides for governance and compliance of open source tools and fragmented tools. This feature is located on the Environment Overflow page.
Built in reports
A new State of Sprint report allows for gathering statics of the value stream in relationship to a sprint. This report is helpful to a scrum master or manager in reducing risk of the current sprint and look at older sprints. You can access the report on the Reports page.
Plug-in SDK
Using the plug-in SDK you can create your own plug-ins and upload them to HCL™ Accelerate. To access to the plug-in SDK, click Settings > Integrations > Download Plugin SDK.
Bottleneck detection
Using machine learning, the model looks at current and previous state of a value stream to determine which stage the user should focus on first. This algorithm is always updating with new information to locate the next largest bottleneck. Types of bottlenecks include: Long Wait Time – the average time of stage is longer than any other by a substantial amount Batching – items pile up then are released at the same time In-Flow and out-flow mismatch See the Value Stream page Metrics Bar or Metrics Table fields.
Contributor and Load Metrics
Two new metrics are now available: Contributor Count and Load Count
  • Contributor count shows how many users are working on items in the Value Stream. The metric is based off the stages in Lead Time (work select -> customer) and counts how many unique individual owned items in those stages. Allows the tool to compare other metrics to rationalize about other metrics.
  • Load is also based off Lead Time and is a count of all the items in the stages at any given time. This allows you to see if there is a correlation of how much work is truly in progress vs how much is getting done. Usually there is a sweet spot to not give too much work and get the right amount out. With both our metrics are in a state where we can start rationalizing about different strategies without customers and how to use them correctly. See the Value Stream page Metrics Bar or Metrics Table fields.

2.0.0

Scalability of services
The main HCL™ Accelerate services can now scale to handle larger installations and greater amounts of data.
Locking of releases
The release manger can change a release status to lock. No changes can be made to the release after it is locked. This gives the release manager control over last minute changes and ensures no changes are made after a final review. The lock is set on the Release Overflow page.
Environment gating
Users can now manually approve versions and gate environments based on approvals. The gate fails if approval requirements are not met. If a version does not pass all approvals the release manager can override the deployment. This feature provides for for governance and compliance of open source tools and fragmented tools. This feature is located on the Environment Overflow page.
Built in reports
A new State of Sprint report allows for gathering statics of the value stream in relationship to a sprint. This report is helpful to a scrum master or manager in reducing risk of the current sprint and look at older sprints. You can access the report on the Reports page.
Plug-in SDK
Using the plug-in SDK you can create your own plug-ins and upload them to HCL™ Accelerate. To access to the plug-in SDK, click Settings -> Integrations > Download Plugin SDK.
Bottleneck detection
Using machine learning, the model looks at current and previous state of a value stream to determine which stage the user should focus on first. This algorithm is always updating with new information to locate the next largest bottleneck. Types of bottlenecks include:
  • Long Wait Time - the average time of stage is longer than any other by a substantial amount
  • Batching - items pile up then are released at the same time
  • In-Flow and out-flow mismatch
See the Value Stream page Metrics Bar or Metrics Table fields.
Contributor and Load Metrics
Contributor metrics shows how many users are working on items in the Value Stream. This metric is based off the stages in Lead Time and includes the number of unique individual owned items in those stages.
The Load metrics is also based off Lead Time and includes a count of all the items in the stages at any given time. You can use this metric to see the amount of work that is in progress versus the amount of work being completed.
Access these metrics from the Value Stream page using the Metrics Bar or Metrics Table fields.