What's new

This release of HCL™ Accelerate 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.

3.0.8

Release date: 28 April 2022

Deployment plan
  • Improved performance in deployment plan page.

Security
  • Fixed minor security vulnerabilities.
Bug fixes
Fixed version mismatch for Jenkins application in deployment plan page.

3.0.7

Release date: 12 April 2022

Deployment plan
  • Improved performance in deployment plan page.
  • Fixed deployment plan page loading time.

UrbanCode Deploy plugin
Improved deployment plan performance to enhance UrbanCode Deploy plugin performance.
Known issue
HCL SoFy
HCL SoFy migrated to Emissary platform of Google cloud computing. This migration breaks all HCL™ Accelerate installations. Perform the re-installation of HCL™ Accelerate to fix the issue.
Bug fixes
Fixed HCL™ Accelerate installation issues in an Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service.

3.0.6

Release date: 28 March 2022

MongoDB
MongoDB is no longer shipped with the offline installation files. It is recommended to pull the MongoDB images from the MongoDB source. For sample directions, see this page.
Security
  • RabbitMQ - Fixed security vulnerabilities.
  • Added authentication to multiple queries.
  • Fixed multiple unprotected queries.

3.0.5

Release date: 11 March 2022

LDAP
On the Settings page, when you click Authentication > LDAP and then click the Import users button, you can check for valid and invalid LDAP configurations. For more information, see this page.
Bug fixes
On the Value streams page, when you click the Import JSON button and then attempt to save the JSON file, resolved an issue displaying a spinning wheel and requiring the user to navigate back to the editing application.

On the Pipeline page with HCL™ Launch applications added to the pipeline, when you change the name in HCL™ Launch, the name change is accurately reflected on the Pipeline and the Dashboards pages in HCL™ Accelerate.

For deployment plans run on the Releases page, resolved issues of parallel tasks being processed sequentially for improved performance.

On the Settings page, when you perform the following:
  • Click Authentication > LDAP.
  • Click the Import users button.
  • In the Username or Pattern field of the Import Users window, when you enter a username or pattern and then click the Save button, resolved a query size limit exceeded error during the attempted import process.

3.0.4

Release date: 25 February 2022

Insights
On the Insights page, when you perform the following:
  • Click the Reports tab.
  • Click the AppScan Enterprise scan report.
  • Click the Run report button.
  • Fill in the remaining required fields.
  • Click the Confirm button.
  • Click the Results link.
  • You can view Scans by Application by clicking the Application drop-down and selecting the required app. An example scan report is shown below.AppScan Enterprise scan report

LDAP
On the Settings page, when you click Authentication > LDAP, the required fields are obvious and indicated with red asterisks for admins for readily editing and configuring LDAP.
Plugins safer installs
Based on the your installed version of HCL™ Accelerate, plugins not compatible with that version are prevented from installing in the product. If the installed version of HCL™ Accelerate is equal or greater than the product version that the plugin supports, the installation of the plugin is possible. For detailed information, see this page.
Plugins initial sync date support
For scheduled events plugins, you can specify an initial sync date. For further information, see this page.
Kubernetes
Based on the responsiveness of a given Kubernetes environment, you are able to configure liveness and readiness probes and specify dynamic timeouts to prevent persistent removal of pods. To learn more, see this page.
Bug fixes
On the Value streams page, when you click Search with DQL and enter a query, resolved issue of long query retrieval times for a larger number dots and issues attempted in search. Optimized code to ensure efficient data retrieval times.
On the Value streams and Insights pages, corrected a common query occasionally returning a internal server error correcting the following issues:
  • Insights page not loading.
  • VSM not loading.
  • Plugin containers not being removed after execution.

On the Insights page, when you perform the following:
  • Click on the Reports tab.
  • Click on the required report.
  • Click on the Results link of a previously run report or click the Run report button to generate a new report with a Results link.
  • When you share the report link, the server port is used versus using the assumed port number 443.

On the Insights page, when you perform the following:
  • Click on the Reports tab.
  • Click on the Deployment audit report.
  • In the Deployment audit window, click in the Timezone drop-down field and select the Coordinated universal time (UTC) required for the report.
  • In the Deployment audit window, fill in the remaining required fields.
  • Click the Confirm button to run the report.
  • Click the Results link to display the Deployment audit report in the selected time zone.

When performing upgrades of HCL™ Accelerate, fixed issue of deleted groups not migrating correctly.

Resolved LDAP login issue.

3.0.3

Releases
On the Releases page, when you perform the following:
  • Click a release activity.
  • Click a deployment plan.
  • Click the Create task button.
  • Click the Type drop-down and select Email.
  • In the Create task window, fill in the required fields.
  • Click the Save button.
  • For the Email task, click the Start task icon.
  • Receive the email and either click the Approve or Reject button. The default function is no security enforcement via login before task is accepted or rejected.

To enable the feature flag for this functionality, perform the following:
  • In a browser window, enter HTTPS://hostname:port/featureflags
  • In the Enter a feature name to enable it text field, enter authorized-approval
  • Click the Enable button.

Ingress controller
Installation issues for Kubernetes version 1.22 and later are resolved and upgrading from previous versions is recommended. Starting with Kubernetes version 1.19, the new resource type IngressClass is available. If your Ingress controller utilizes the IngressClass functionality, the default setting of ingress.className="nginx" works with the IngressClass functionality out of the box. If your Ingress controller does not utilizes the IngressClass functionality, specify --set ingress.className="" for it to properly function.
Note: For Kubernetes version 1.19, the networking.k8s.io/v1 API was added for the Ingress resource and is utilized for the HCL™ Accelerate Ingress installation. For Kubernetes version 1.22, the previous networking.k8s.io/v1beta1 API is deprecated and removed. For details on the differences between the networking.k8s.io/v1 API and networking.k8s.io/v1beta1 API, see this page.
OpenShift template to Helm migration
The OpenShift template to Helm migration is planned for HCL™ Accelerate version 3.0.4 when the OpenShift template installation is no longer available. At your earliest opportunity, make the required preparations for the migration to Helm. If you require additional assistance, contact support.
Security
Fixed security vulnerability.
Bug fixes
On the Insights page, when you perform the following:
  • Click the All dashboards or My favorites tab.
  • Click the required dashboard.
  • Click the Add charts icon.
  • For the required chart, click the +Add button.
  • For the added chart, when you click the filters icon, all of the available filters for the chart are properly displayed and functioning.

For deployment plans run on either the Pipeline or Releases pages, resolved issues where tasks were restarting due to parallelization of prior tasks.

On the Insights page, when you perform the following:
  • Click the Reports tab.
  • Click the Release readiness report.
  • Click the Click the Run report button.
  • In the Release Name (optional) drop-down field, when you manually type a partial release name, the field populates with the related query names.

On the Releases page, when you perform the following:
  • Click a release activity.
  • Click a deployment plan.
  • Click the Create task button.
  • Click the Type drop-down and select Wait for approval.
  • In the Create task window, fill in the required fields.
  • Click the Save button.
  • For the Wait for approval task, click the Start task icon.
  • Receive the email and click the Approve button.
  • If the email address of the approver matches the user logged into HCL™ Accelerate, the message You have approved this request. is displayed.
  • If the email address of the approver does not match the user logged into HCL™ Accelerate, the message Your action could not be completed. Please contact support if the problem persists. is displayed.

On the Releases page, when you perform the following:
  • Click the overflow menu for a required release activity and then click Archive.
  • The release activity is archived after it is clicked once.

On the Releases page, click the following:
  • Release activity
  • Deployment plan
  • Edit icon and the Automatically approve the deployment checkbox does not appear in the Edit plan window.

In SoFy, you can successfully add an application to a pipeline.

Open Distro is updated to fix Apache Log4j vulnerability.

Fixed security vulnerability.

3.0.2

Pipelines
On the Pipeline page, when you click the overflow menu on any environment except Input, you can select Override Inventory to manually modify and update a pipeline.
Releases
On the Releases page, an overall performance improvement is achieved for page loading. Functionally, the dialog box below the calendar now lists only events versus releases and events.
Roles
General performance improvements across the entire product.
Passwords
Regardless of the global permissions assigned to a user, you can modify your own password for the following conditions:
  • Your User type is Local.
  • Click Settings > Authorization > Users and then click the overflow menu and select Change password.

Security
Fixed various security vulnerabilites prior to HCL™ Accelerate version 3.0.2.
Bug fixes
On the Value streams page, if there is a back end query running for 60 seconds that does not return to the front end no longer monitoring for a response, the VSM page does not crash and display the There was a problem loading this workflow. The system is experiencing a problem right now. Try again later. message.
On the Pipeline page, when you perform the following:
  • With exception to the Input environment, click the required release link under an environment in the pipeline.
  • The deployment plan detail page opens.
  • Resolved issues where Jenkins tasks were restarting due to parallelization of prior tasks.

On the Pipeline page, improved performance for initial loading of pipeline page.

On the Pipeline page, when you perform the following:
  • Click Add application and add a Jenkins integration with a long Application name.
  • On the Jenkins app for the Input environment, click the overflow menu and select Create version.
  • In the Create version window, resolved UI positioning errors of the application and job selection screens on the pipeline.

On the Pipeline page, on any environment except Input, when you click the overflow menu and select Override Inventory, this function is operating properly without the page crashing.

When you click Settings > Authorization > Teams and perform the following:
  • Select a team containing more than 25 members.
  • In the Items per page drop-down, select 100.
  • Click the overflow menu and select Assign roles.
  • In the Edit member window select a Role and click Save. After saving, the page size correctly reverts to 100 items per page as previously selected.

On the Releases page, when you perform the following:
  • In the Release activities table, click on a release.
  • For the required deployment plan, click the overflow menu and select Edit this plan.
  • In the Edit deployment plan window, when you click the Team drop-down, the field is populated correctly with the associated teams.

On the Releases page, when you perform the following:
  • In the Release activities table, click on a release.
  • Click the Create deployment plan button and create and save a deployment.
  • Click the deployment plan created in the previous step.
  • Click the Create task button and create several Jenkins tasks.
  • Schedule deployment in five minutes.
  • For the created deployment plan containing the Jenkins tasks, click the Complete task, Fail task, and Skip task icons to confirm the aforementioned states. When the START TIME occurs, it is ignored because the deployment plan is in progress.

When you click Settings > Calendar, the Calendar page works correctly.

Fixed various console errors including property types, missing typename, and treatment of English as a non-default language.

3.0.1

Insights
On the Insights page, when you click the Reports tab:
  • Available reports include the following:
    • HCL Launch deployment audit
    • Pipeline snapshot
    • Deployment audit
    • Deployment duration (Beta)
    • Release readiness
    • Security audit
  • The Security audit report issues are resolved.

Security
Fixed security vulnerabilities.

Bug fixes
On the Value streams page:
  • When you have the appropriate permissions, you can click the overflow menu and select either Edit or Delete value streams.
  • When you click Enable drag, you can drag stages.

On the Releases page:
  • When you run a Jenkins task, you instantaneously know if it does or does not run without dependency on heartbeat performance.
  • When a user navigates to a deployment plan with dynamic roles enabled and insufficient permissions prevent viewing the deployment plan, a notification is displayed that indicates you do not have permissions to view the plan.
  • When you click Archived, in the Name field, an actual name is displayed for each archived release.
  • For Wait for approval tasks, when you select an LDAP group, the NAME field displays an actual name.
  • When viewing a release with new permissions implemented and the user has permissions to a release, the You do not have sufficient permissions to view this page Contact your administrator for necessary permissions. dialog is not displayed.
  • Regardless of team assignments, users are able to view deployment templates. In future versions, viewing deployment templates are secured with the appropriate permissions.
  • While editing a deployment plan, release, or template, when you click on the Team drop-down, you can select any team in the list.

On the Settings page:
  • When you click Authorization > Roles, team roles are displayed correctly.
  • The Email server and LDAP and SSO Authentication pages are working properly and updating associated permissions. If you migrated to HCL™ Accelerate version 3.0.0 and are experiencing permission assignment issues, contact support.

For customer scenarios using the following workflows:
  • Using Git branching strategy for writing, merging, and delivering code.
  • When squashing commits are not performed prior to merging.

Overlinking between work items, commits, and PRs creating performance issues are resolved. If this performance bug was encountered, HCL™ Accelerate version 3.0.1 should resolve the aforementioned issue. If you are impacted by this issue, contact support for resolution assistance.

3.0.0

Value stream updates
On the Value Streams page:
  • VSM JSON Editor: Use the online code and tree editors to directly edit Value stream map (VSM) JSON files in HCL™ Accelerate. Starting with HCL™ Accelerate version 3.0, you no longer need to download the JSON and edit a local copy. Now you can edit VSM JSON files directly within the product web interface. On the Value streams page, use the VSM JSON code and tree editors to edit and save the value stream workflow file. In code and tree views, the editors allows you to perform the following tasks:
    • Create new versions.
    • Edit versions.
    • Review and revert past versions.
    • View version creators and dates created.
    • Import and download versions.
    • View JSON file contents including creator, version number, and date created
    • You can format, compact, repair JSON data, and save with overwrite protection for simultaneous user editing scenarios.

    In tree view, you can perform the following tasks:
    • Change Type, Insert, or Append the Auto, Array, Object, or String field types.
    • Extract objects and arrays.
    • Remove fields.

  • Application lifecycle management (ALM) plugins feature support conforming to the Scaled agile framework (Safe) requirements model: A feature is a collection of stories and equivalent to an Epic in Jira. You can query the features found in value streams using a field filter to further refine your results. Feature updates include the following:
    • When you click Search with DQL, the feature query is used to locate the fields in the following table:
      Query Field
      feature created, creator, id, name, status, url
      Note: In order to use the feature query, a resync of the plugin is required. If you need additional ALM plugins support, contact HCL at this site for required updates.
    • When you click the Swimlane tab, in the dynamic row selector on the left side of the display, Epic is replaced with Feature.

Insights
On the Insights page, when you click the Reports tab:
  • The Release readiness report allows you to view release readiness criteria based on internal standards and compliance requirements. Additional information is found on this page.
  • Available reports include the following:
    • HCL Launch deployment audit
    • Pipeline snapshot
    • Deployment audit
    • Deployment duration (Beta)
    • Release readiness
    • Security audit
      Note: The Security audit report issues are resolved in version 3.0.1.

Pipeline updates
On the Pipeline tab:
  • Expanded smart gating: On any environment except Input, you can add automated gates for time on metrics in the environment. Key capabilities of automated gates include the following:
    • Occurrence period allows you to gate on time for the selected Metric type based on a set of required criteria specified for the gate that occurs in one of the following past periods:
      • None
      • Minutes
      • Hours
      • Days
      • Weeks
      • Months

        Note: Specifying an Occurrence period is an example where results are not directly tied to a build or version and provide a wider range of gating flexibility.
      Duration is the value of the period for the gate.
    • Data set includes subsets of data specific to the selected Metric type that allows you to limit the information scope for the metric
    • Field includes field values available that are a subset of the selected Data set.
    • You can gate on application specific custom metrics specified in Insights that are listed in the Metric type drop-down.
    • HCL AppScan On Cloud policy support: Incorporate HCL AppScan on Cloud policies into your pipeline and achieve automated security governance with HCL™ Accelerate version 3.0. In combination with our HCL AppScan on Cloud v3.0.1 plugin, Application security on cloud (ASoC) policies are now pulled into our database. With this information in hand, you can apply policy criteria to the applications on your continuous delivery pipeline and control deployments based on the latest set of security results while eliminating the need for manual security approvals.

  • HCL™ Launch build version linking capabilities: A build URL is assigned to a HCL™ Launch component version. The build URL is used for linking builds to associated deployable artifacts for the following purposes:
    • Observing progression of dots through the value stream.
    • Using automated gates in the pipeline.
    • Accessing HCL™ Launch gating mechanisms in HCL™ Accelerate.
    Note: The Jenkins Pipeline plugin attaches the build URL by default. If you are integrating from another Continuous integration (CI) tool source, you need to follow the same build URL linking methodology to ensure connectivity of the tool.

Release deployment plans
Optimized deployment rendering for improved performance including memory, CPU, and utilization of user sessions.
HCL Software Factory (SoFy)
HCL™ Accelerate 3.0 will be available on HCL SoFy 3.0 in mid-November 2021 and you can find additional information here.
Accelerate Data Generator plugin
If you have the required permissions, an Install demo data button on the Getting Started page is displayed that enables you to install the Accelerate Data Generator plugin. If the demo data plugin is installed, it will populate HCL™ Accelerate with demo data allowing you to view value streams, pipelines, and other areas of the product with sample data. On the Settings page, you can delete the sample data at any time by disabling the Accelerate Data Generator integration.
Installations and upgrades
For installations and upgrades of OpenShift and Kubernetes, at the Choose the platform prompt, you are presented with Kubernetes or OpenShift (Using Helm) as the platform. You can currently install HCL™ Accelerate using service templates and the process should yield successful results without encountering any issues.
Note: Starting with future versions, installations of HCL™ Accelerate as an OpenShift application using service templates will be deprecated and you should prepare migration to using Helm charts. If you are planning to migrate to using Helm charts, create a support ticket here and we will help you with the transition process. Otherwise, check this page for more details when more information is available.

Prior to HCL Accelerate 3.0, online installer hosted images were stored on Docker Hub. Currently, images are hosted by HCL Accelerate on the https://hclcr.io site.

Azure Kubernetes service (AKS) is now supported for HCL Accelerate version 3.0 on-premises installations.

Customizable roles and global scope
When you click Settings > Authorization > Roles, roles and permissions capabilities are expanded by providing flexibility for customization requirements including the following features:
  • Create, modify, and delete customized roles.
  • Expanded number of roles on the Value streams, Insights, and Settings pages.
  • Added global scoped permissions that allow you to access product areas regardless of team association.
  • Static roles are immutable and may support customization in a future version.

Help
When you click the question mark help icon, you can select either of the following items:
  • Documentation to visit the HCL Accelerate product documentation website.
  • Getting started
    • Redesigned the Getting started page. Additional information for the expanded Getting started section is found here.
    • Upon initial login, all users including admin are directed to the Getting started page.
  • Support portal: Visit the HCL Software customer support portal.
  • Ideas portal: Suggest software improvements at the HCL Accelerate Product Ideas Portal.
  • Plugins: Enhance software tools with HCL plugins at this website.
  • About: The version of HCL™ Accelerate installed on your machine.

Changed the help icon icon to the question mark help icon icon.

Settings
The settings icon settings icon is displayed as yellow settings icon for either or both of the following conditions:
  • User authentication is not configured.
  • Integrations are not installed.

Bug fixes
  • Value streams
    • If a work item status contains a leading number and a DQL query references that number, stage change event calculations yield correct results.
    • If deployment data from plugins is not having data properly converted when creating history, value streams properly load when using either HCL™ Launch or Microsoft Azure.
    • On the Value Streams page displayed in the Chinese language and when you click on any of the filter drop-downs, the page filters properly according to your selection.
  • Pipelines
    • For either HCL™ Launch or Microsoft Azure apps with passed automated gates, passed versions remain green with introduction of any number of new versions. On any environment except Input, when you click Add gate, modal UI text is updated for clarity.
    • Gates failure no longer alternates between the same two jobs in any environment.
    • If API-driven pipelines and auto promotion are set up simultaneously, both operate properly without issues.
    • On the Pipelines page, resolved an issue with duplicate pipeline deployments occurring when both autopromotion and gates were configured on the same environment.
  • Fixed security vulnerabilities.
  • When you click question mark help icon and then select Getting started, the drop-down closes properly.

2.4.5

Bug fixes

On the Pipelines page, automated gates with passed version displaying green for HCL™ Launch and Azure with the introduction of new versions at the Input stage.

On the Releases page:
  • When you click the overflow icon and select Lock, the lock icon is displayed before the release name.
  • When you:
    • Select a release.
    • Select a deployment plan with Jenkins.
    • Click the Create task button.
    • Create and save a Run a Shell Script task.
    • The shell task is added to the deployment plan successfully.

When you click Settings > Integrations > Plugins, the latest version is listed for each plugin.

2.4.4

Value stream updates
On the Value Streams page:
  • Query recalculations are minimized and performed only when required.
  • When you click enable and disable drag icons, all phases are displayed in expanded form and the show phase icon and hide phase icon icons are not displayed. When you exit edit mode, the show phase icon and hide phase icon icons are available and displayed according to the previous state.

Settings
On the Settings page:
  • When you click either the Integrations or Plugins tabs, you can Search for integrations or Search for plugins by entering the integrations or plugin names in the respective fields to list matches in either of the Name fields.
  • When you click either the Integrations or Plugins tabs, you can perform the following functions:
    • On the Integrations tab, you can sort the Name, Status, Type, and Last sync fields in ascending or descending order by clicking on the required table header field.
    • On the Plugins tab, you can sort the Name and Status fields in ascending or descending order by clicking on the required table header field.
  • When you click Email server:
    • In the Mail server sender name field , you can enter the name.
    • In the Mail server address field, you can enter a customizable alternate email address for messages sent from HCL™ Accelerate.
  • The integration statuses polling function is removed and does not display a warning on the settings icon icon.

Bug fixes
On the Value Streams page, random lines non-pertinent to any value stream no longer display.

On the Pipeline page, failing tests are enumerated for errors occurring in manual and automated gates.

On the Releases page:
  • Updated the UI for an enhanced user experience.
  • Long release names are truncated with ellipsis.

2.4.3

Value stream update
Added pr.approvals.count to query the number of approvals on a pull request to the DQL.
Pipeline update
On the Pipeline page, the manual deployment functionality is available in the auto-promotion environment. Further details are found here.
Release update
On the Releases page, when you click a NAME, click a Plan, click the Create task button, in the Type drop-down select Delayed, in the Delay type drop-down select Delay by selecting a number of minutes, and in the Minutes field, you can enter the number of minutes between tasks. Additional information is found on this page.
HCL™ Accelerate login
On the HCL™ Accelerate login page after an unsuccessful login attempt with error message displayed, the next attempt clears the message with a loading spinner and displays again if unsuccessful.
User Access Key Management table timestamps
When you click Settings > User Authorization > User Access Keys and hover either the Created or Last Used fields, a tooltip with a precise timestamp is displayed. The timestamp will not display when you hover over Not used. An example timestamp is shown in the following figure.
Bug fixes
When you click Value Streams > Add a new value stream, create and then edit the value stream Name, the Name updates on the Pipeline page.

When you click Insights > All Dashboards, select a Name, click the Applications drop-down, and applications imported from HCL™ Launch are listed on the Dashboards page.

On the Pipeline page, corrected lead-time, cycle-time, and average stage time below each stage.

When you click Releases > Tasks, action buttons are working via a corrected GraphQL error.

On the Releases page in card view, corrected erratic spacing.

When you click Settings > User Authorization > Groups > Create group and Settings > User Authorization > Teams > Create team and add the new group to the new team, page reload is not required for the group to display in the team.

When you click Settings > User Authorization > Teams, Groups, or User Access Keys and there are no users or members assigned, a table body message is displayed that the Team, Group, or User Access Key Management has no members and is empty.

2.4.2

Reports
When you click Insights > Reports, updated the UI for an enhanced user experience. Additional details are found here.
Pipeline update
On the Pipeline page, updated styles to improve color contrasting for versions and added buttons for alphabetical sorting of applications in ascending and descending order.
Settings
When you click settings and either Integrations > Plugins or Email Server, improved styles and wording for improved readability.
Security
When HCL™ Accelerate has not been previously installed, a self-signed SSL certificate will be automatically generated for you with a duration of two years. Details are found here.

Fixed security issues.

Bug fixes
On the Swimlane page when you click on a cell or stage header, the particle panel remains open without any error message displayed.

On the Pipeline page, when you click Add application, the Add app - Choose the app modal window loads properly.

On the Releases page, when you click settings, the tags show and hide correctly.

When you click Settings > User authorization > User Access Keys, the Last Used field values are updating correctly.

2.4.1

MongoDB replica sets
MongoDB replica sets are supported if configured by the customer. Additional details are found here.
Security
For Docker Compose upgrades of HCL™ Accelerate with a default certificate replaced with a custom certificate, the installer tracks the latter certificate and reads the associated files from the directory location. See the Upgrading Docker Compose page for details.

Fixed security issues.

Bug fixes
On the Value Streams page, Jira items rolling over from a previous sprint to a new sprint are displayed correctly in the VSM.

The shell task is added to the deployment plan successfully.

2.4.0

Value stream updates
On the Value Streams page, visual multi-branching allows you to view stages in parallel by separating your tasks based on a given query. An edit mode button enables drag and drop functionality, zooming in and out, panning, scrolling, and reset controls with the capability of switching to a non-edit view mode. Additional details are found here.

On the Value Streams page, Git multi-branching allows you to monitor different branches coupled with coordinated dot linking based on a given query. View Git multi-branching information here.

Added the IN operator to the DevOps query language.

Pipeline updates
On the Pipeline page, open pipeline deployment allows you to directly deploy and launch applications in Azure DevOps and can be viewed here.

API-driven pipeline applications enable you to effectively populate the pipeline and move dots through the system solely through build and deployment uploads. You can use either the Create new application or Use existing application options to perform the aforementioned functions with details found here.

On the Pipeline page, improved UI layout features for the join release modal windows.

Auto-generated user access keys
Integrations support the capability to auto-generate the required user access keys that is implemented on a plugin by plugin basis. Refer to the plugin documentation page for the latest updates. See additional details here.
Security
Set administrator password at install. Existing installations via upgrades are not affected.
Bug fix
On the Value Streams page when you click on a commit dot, corrected Invalid date in the Age in stage field.

Older versions

2.3.6
Bug fix
On the Value Stream page in the Search with DQL field and for VSM stage queries in the JSON using issue.type, corrected dot coloring and filtering issues.
2.3.5
Value stream update
On the Value Stream page in the Search with DQL field and for VSM stage queries in the JSON, you can retrieve counts for fields including: issue, pr, count, and so forth. For more information, refer to the DevOps query language page.
Security
Fixed security issues.
Known issue
When a user successfully logs into HCL™ Accelerate, it is possible to navigate to web pages visited prior to the initial login page via the browser back button.
Bug fixes
  • Value streams
    • When you hover over a dot existing in multiple stages, a unique ID attribute will display based on the stage where the action is performed.
    • Removed faulty display component appearing behind header.
    • On the dot details panel, the title is fully displayed.
    • When the window size changes, dots display inside the respective stages.
  • Swim lanes
    • Dots display correctly without overlap.
    • When you collapse an expanded phase, click on a field containing multiple dots, click an arrow for one of the dots, only one dot detail panel is displayed.
  • For API-driven pipelines, future deployments executed in a stage environment no longer override the previous deployments.
2.3.4
Value stream updates
On the Value Streams page for VSMs exceeding the browser window width that require horizontal scrolling, the search and filter fields remain accessible along the entire horizontal width of the VSM.

When you click Value Streams > My Favorites and then click the tabular list view icon for value streams in a narrow window with more than three metrics added, corrected both column overlapping page layout issues and non-display of overflow menu for user added metrics in the tabular list view header.

On the Value Streams page, when you click a value stream and click the Sprint filter, one of the sprints in the drop-down list is identified as Current.

On the Value Streams page, Swimlane, and Pipeline pages, corrected header spacing differences.

Pipeline update
On the Pipeline page, improved page layout features including: page margins, overflow menu visibility, smoother scrolling, spacing, text ellipses functionality, and UI wording related updates.
Bug fixes
  • Value streams
    • On the Swimlane page, when you click either the phases, stages, or any items in the dynamic row selector and hover over the time in stage, null is not displayed.
    • When you click Value Streams > Add new value stream, enter and save information in the required fields of the Create a Value Stream window, delete the aforementioned value stream, and either: refresh the page, click All Value Streams, click My Favorites, a blank page is not displayed.
    • On the Swimlane page, when you click on a dot, the panel points to the column where the dot is located.
  • For the example DQL filters in the following table:
    Filter DQL query
    1 issue.status='In Progress' AND pr.source!=GitHub
    2 pr.status=open AND pr.labels!='Any Label'
    3 pr.status=open AND pr.reviews.count=0
    4 pr.status=open AND pr.reviews.count>0
    When Filters 3 and 4 are combined with Filter 1 with the OR operator, Filter 1 dots are displayed. When Filters 1 and 2 are combined, the data is filtered properly.
2.3.3
Value stream updates
When you click Value Streams > My Favorites and then click the tabular list view icon for value streams in a narrow window with more than three metrics added, corrected both column overlapping page layout issues and non-display of overflow menu for user added metrics in the tabular list view header.

On the Value Streams page, when you click a value stream and view it in a narrow window, the value stream legend at the bottom of the page is not truncated on the right side and the page can be scrolled either to the right or left side.

Pipeline update
On the Pipeline page that contains parameterized Jenkins applications in DEV, QA, PROD , or any environment in the pipeline, when you click on the overflow menu and select Edit Jenkins job to display the Edit Jenkins parameters modal and close then reopen the modal, the latter modal correctly displays the parameters.
Bug fixes
  • Value streams
    • When you click Value Streams > All Value Streams and then click the tabular list icon for value streams in a narrow window, the table heading metric fields truncate and you can hover over the fields to display a pop-up detailing the metric names with definitions.
    • On the Value Streams page, when you click a value stream and click either Expand or Collapse, the up and down arrows are pointing in the correct direction.
    • On the Value Streams page, when you click a value stream and click the Release or Sprint filters and select a release or sprint that is not in one of the five most recent, a blank page is not displayed.
    • On the Value Streams page, when you click a value stream and click the Commit or Pull request filters and select a pull request or commit, the pull request and commit filters remain selected after the page reloads.
  • For pipelines with HCL™ Launch and Azure DevOps integrations, when you click the add button for DEV, QA, PROD , or any environment in the pipeline, you can select only one process and save it to the deployment plan.
  • When you click Insights > All Dashboards and then click a dashboard, the Build Counts display the correct Requestor information from Jenkins when you click Group By and select Requestor. Also, the Deployment Counts display the correct User information from Jenkins when you click Group By and select User.
  • On the Value Streams, Pipeline, Insights, Dashboards, Releases, and Settings pages, resolved various page layout issues.
  • When a user logs out of HCL™ Accelerate, a login page is displayed for all web browser types and tabs associated with that session.
2.3.2
Value stream update
When you click Value Streams > My Favorites and then click tabular list view to display the tabular list of value streams, an overflow menu overflow menu is available for each value stream in the table so you can Remove or Unfavorite items from your list.
Pipeline updates
You can edit HCL™ Launch application components already created on the pipeline by clicking overflow menu on the right side of the application and select Manage components to add and remove components of the application, Edit description to modify the description that only affects the application in the selected pipeline, or Delete application.
On the Value Streams page, the Value Stream, Swim Lanes, and Pipeline tabs have moved to the right side of the page.
Bug fixes
  • On dot details panel, wrap long dot names on three lines.
  • On dot details panel, Jira Reporter is not displayed as Assignee if the dot is unassigned.
  • Extra spaces in pipeline environment names are not displayed on the Pipeline page.
    Note: DQL queries with the displayed truncated environment name may not work if there are trailing spaces in the name. Inspect the environment name in the configuration modal or API attributes JSON file to confirm that extra spaces are the issue.
  • On the deployment plans page, corrected Plan not found error that prevents the user from accessing the plan.
2.3.1
HCL™ Accelerate plugin index file
For HCL™ Accelerate installation, provide the plugin index file at the following URL:

https://hclcr.io/files/devops/accelerate/accelerate-plugin-index/

Note: If you are not able to expose the plugins index file due to a firewall issue, change the PLUGINS_INDEX_URL environment variable on the reporting-consumer microservice to point to an index location you can access while ensuring there is a process of taking the index from the public location to an internal location that HCL™ Accelerate can access.

In addition to the plugin index file, HCL™ Accelerate polls images from an HCL Docker registry hosted at the Harbor URL:

https://hclcr.io/accelerate

Bug fix
On the Pipeline page, the application's snapshot rows display correct alternating component coloring starting with white, gray, white, and so forth.
2.3.0
Dynamic swim lanes
Use dynamic swim lanes to quickly display vital project information across various organizational roles enabling informed workflow decisions. Dynamic swim lanes are adaptable and provide tailored data sets according to the different roles and requirements detailed in the following table.
Role Dynamic swim lanes view
Developers, scrum masters, daily stand-up View work items per person, show and hide selected stages, and choose sprint view for displaying pointed data sets.
Development managers, director Check overall sprint status, view stage position of work items, display remaining work from past sprints for possible future sprint allocation, and click SPRINT for a consolidated work item view displaying the current status.
Scrum masters, development managers For tracking targeted Epics, use the pinning feature to keep the prioritized items at the top of the list.
All roles Dynamic swim lanes display current state of releases, contents of both upcoming and past releases, determine when work items are released, view work items per stage, and click RELEASE for a detailed release contents list and click SPRINT for the same result.
API-driven pipeline
API-driven pipeline applications enable you to effectively populate the pipeline and move dots through the system solely through build and deployment uploads.
Content snapshots visibility on the pipeline
Components and associated component versions are visible on the pipeline for HCL™ Launch.
HCL Software Factory (SoFy)
HCL SoFy 2.3.0 is releasing on HCL Software Factory (SoFy) in upcoming weeks. For more information, visit the HCLSoFy website.
Plugins added
HCL™ Accelerate plugins added in this version are listed in the following table:
Name Description
HCL Compass Issue tracking and imports work items into VSMs.
HCL Launch Continuous deployment and continuous integration plugin.
HCL OneTest Automated testing and imports test results as metrics into Insights.
HCL OneTest Server Automated testing and imports test results as metrics into Insights.
WhiteSource Security scan, view security and license compliance data.
Visit the new HCL plugins site for documentation, support, and additional details.
Performance updates
Notable performance improvements yielding load reduction of CPU usage.
Security
Updated third party containers to fix vulnerabilities in Nginx, RabbitMQ, and MongoDB related to the WhiteSource plugin. Refer to MongoDB version 3.6 End of life (EOL) details listed below under version 2.2.5 for Docker Compose upgrades and new installation of various HCL™ Accelerate versions.
Bug fixes
  • On the Pipeline page with Jenkins jobs, when you click the overflow menu and select Configure parameters, the issue of a blank modal window display is resolved.
  • On the Value stream page, when you click Configure value stream map and select Replace value stream map, in the case of an error after uploading a JSON file, a specific error message is displayed instead of the following generic error message: error uploading json not authorized
  • When creating an UrbanCode Deploy Status task, saving the Status type resolves previous issues with the deployment plan remaining in an unopened state.
2.2.5
MongoDB version 3.6 End of life (EOL) and compatibility flags
To anticipate the MongoDB 4.0 upgrade plan for HCL™ Accelerate version 2.3.0, various scenarios require your consideration for successful implementation. For Docker Compose upgrades and new installation of various HCL™ Accelerate versions, the preparation for the upcoming MongoDB 4.0 version requires attention to the associated setFeatureCompatibilityVersion MongoDB flag addressed in the following table:
Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 3
HCL™ Accelerate version 1.4.4 or earlier Upgraded from 1.4.4 or earlier to a version between 1.4.5 to 2.2.4 New installation of 1.4.5 or higher
MongoDB version 3.4 3.6 3.6
MongoDB compatibility flag version 3.4 3.4 3.6
Solution A Upgrade to version 2.2.5, then to 2.3.0 Upgrade to version 2.2.5, then to 2.3.0 Upgrade directly to version 2.3.0
Solution B N/A Run MongoDB command db.adminCommand( { setFeatureCompatibilityVersion: 3.6 } ) to set compatibility flag to version 3.6, then upgrade to version 2.3.0 N/A
Solution C Contact support. Contact support. N/A
Note: Refer to the MongoDB site for details on the setFeatureCompatibilityVersion flag.
2.2.4
Performance enhancements
Properties and Versions tabs load properly on the deployment plan pages.
Bug fixes
  • On the State of Sprint Report, clicking View issues in sprint expands and displays issues in tabular format.
  • Altair GraphQL Client is accessible.
2.2.3
Performance enhancements
General performance fixes on the deployment plan pages.
Bug fix
Custom metrics support average and mean.
2.2.2
Bug fixes
  • Fixed dots not moving to next stage if newer and older versions are in the same stage. Dots move when the API is invoked.
  • Selecting versions for a deployment template only displays its own values versus those of a previously selected version.
  • GraphQL Playground works in offline scenarios.
2.2.1
Metric definitions updates (Insights only)
Clarified metric definitions for the following: lead time, cycle time, load, throughput, and distribution.
3rd party image updates
Updated bitnami/rabbitmq to version 3.8.9
Updated bitnami/nginx to version 1.19
Bug fixes
  • On the Templates page accessed via Releases > Templates, from the overflow icon when you select Copy this plan for a template, the template is copied and the Template duplicated successfully modal window is displayed.
  • On the Integrations page accessed via Settings > Integrations, from the overflow icon when you select Delete for an integration, the Are you sure you want to delete this integration? delete confirmation modal window is displayed as shown below.

    Integration delete confirmation modal window

  • Improved the install experience on OpenShift version 4.4 and greater. OpenShift templates will no longer need to be manually modified prior to install.
    Note: Red Hat dropped support for OpenShift version 4.3 in December 2020 and therefore, we can no longer support it from a product perspective.
  • Delete application option in release pipeline deletes all other applications known issue in version 2.2 is fixed.
  • Improved the robustness of continuous-release-poller connection with MongoDB.
  • Improved load time of Home page.
  • Selecting versions for a deployment template only displays its own values versus those of a previously selected version.
  • LDAP connections timing out corrected with added reconnect setting to the client.
2.2.0
Pipeline automatic promotion improvement

Auto promote now applies to the Input environment for UrbanCode Deploy and Jenkins applications which enables the automatic deployment to other environments.

User interface enhancements
Dashboards can be marked as a favorite and they are displayed on the new My Favorites tab.

New dashboard table view provides for filtering dashboards. You can filter the table to see only the dashboards you own.

Enhancement added to lead and cycle time metrics
Detailed tabular information can be attained from lead time and cycle time metrics.
Additional value stream view data by and quick filters features
You can now both view dots and limit data by priority, type, release, and sprint.
HCL Software Factory (SoFy)
HCL SoFy 2.2 is now available on HCL Software Factory (SoFy). For more information, visit the HCLSoFy website.
Known issue
Delete application option in release pipeline deletes all other applications. If you experience this issue, restore your deployment plan from its Change History tab. This issue is corrected in version 2.2.1.Change history tab
Plugin updates
For new installations of HCL Accelerate, you may have to install the plugin and then integrate it in HCL™ Accelerate. On the Integrations page, an Install button is displayed for this plugin type.
Bug fixes
  • The release-events-api service now starts last to ensure a safer start-up order.
  • The pipeline's Schedule deployment and Join release functionality should now work as expected when deploying with a Jenkins application that has not yet run.
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 enhancements
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 update
The Jenkins UrbanCode Velocity plugin 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 plugin is required. For more information about the plugin, see the Jenkins website.
Bug fix
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 IBM® UrbanCode™ Release 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 plugin code has been updated to fix a problem with the NPM wrapper when there are no plugin 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.
Plugin updates
Parser type plugin code has been updated to fix a problem with the NPM wrapper when there are no plugin 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. Plugin 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.
Plugin SDK
Using the plugin SDK you can create your own plugins and upload them to HCL™ Accelerate. To access to the plugin 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.
Plugin SDK
Using the plugin SDK you can create your own plugins and upload them to HCL™ Accelerate. To access to the plugin 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.