Release notes for Rational Integration Tester, Rational Test Virtualization Server, and Rational Performance Test Server, Version 9.0.1.1

Read about new features, system requirements, installation, known issues, and support for IBM® Rational® Integration Tester, IBM Rational Test Virtualization Server, IBM Rational Performance Test Server, version 9.0.1.

Contents

Description

IBM Rational Test Workbench delivers end-to-end functional, regression, load, and integration testing to address the quality challenges of highly complex and integrated applications. This offering includes the following installable components:
  • Rational Integration Tester, a scripting-free environment for developing tests for SOA messaging and business process integration projects. Tests can be built by recording existing system behaviors or from requirements, by entering the data to send and the data that is expected in return. You can also create virtual services to remove test dependencies and enable earlier testing. Virtual services can be deployed by Rational Test Virtualization Server to provide on-demand virtualized test environments that can support all phases of the test development lifecycle.
  • Rational Test Control Panel, a server-based web application that provides a central repository for virtualized services. With Rational Test Control Panel, you can use virtual services that are published by Rational Integration Tester to create, share, and deploy virtualized test environments in Rational Test Virtualization Server. It also contains technology-specific components that are used by Rational Integration Tester for recording SOA message conversations, HTTP(S) and JDBC traffic, and for monitoring middleware systems under test with minimal reconfiguration of client applications.

New features and enhancements

What's new in Version 9.0.1 Fix Pack 1 (9.0.1.1)
  • The Add Numbers Client example application has improved HTTPS security. You can now enable or disable the verification of the server's host name against its HTTPS certificate. For details, see Securing the Add Numbers service.
  • Expanded Byte array fields can now be previewed and opening a message preview is more accessible by promoting the feature to an expanded fields right-click context menu. For details, see Messages.
  • Library manager now supports SoftwareAG Integration Server client libraries versions 9.8 and later.
  • HTTP transports can now have Kerberos authentication, which can be configured in the physical component of the transport.
  • In previous versions of the HTTP/TCP Proxy, where multiple routing rules were applicable to a request, the choice of rule and, therefore, which stub is addressed was not consistent. The rule selection is now updated such that when multiple rules match the request, the number and type of clauses in the rule are taken into consideration. Rules with more clauses now take precedence, followed by rules with more Header clauses.
  • The MQ transport now supports reconnection behavior for stubs and for tests that include a subscribe step. This reconnection behavior is configurable on the MQ physical transport's Advanced tab. When connection resilience is enabled on the transport, a stub or a test will attempt to reconnect to a queue manager when it detects that the connection has been lost. If a connection is established within the configured time period, the stub or test will continue to operate as before, otherwise it will stop.
  • The following capabilities are deprecated. IBM will no longer invest in enhancing these capabilities, and could at some point remove them from future program releases. If you have any concerns, contact either an IBM representative or your IBM Client Support team for this program:
    • Features that are related to native BPM interaction - BPM Domain, Process, My webMethods Server, TIBCO iProcess Server, BPM Test Actions (Start/Retrieve/Close Case, Retrieve/Modify Task, Trigger Event)
    • Features that are related to native Network Virtualization integrations - Network Virtualization Environment Task, Shunra Network Virtualization
    You can continue to test BPM platforms and use Network Virtualization solutions by using appropriate open standards where available, for example, RESTful interfaces.
What's new in Version 9.0.1
  • Rational Integration Tester can now publish stubs that can be built into a Docker image. Therefore, you can now run stubs in any Docker environment, either in the cloud or on-premises. To use Docker with Rational Integration Tester, you must install Docker on the same computer where Rational Integration Tester is installed. After you set up Docker, you can build a Docker image that contains stubs and run that image in a Docker container. For details, see Testing with Docker.
  • When running stubs in Docker containers, you must use simultaneous session licensing by setting the environment variable as follows: RATIONAL_LICENSE_FILE=@licenseserverhostname. Other licensing approaches such as PVU do not work for containers. For details, see Publishing stubs to Docker: Running in a Docker container.
  • Running stubs now log usage metrics to Rational Test Control Panel to indicate how much work they have done. This information can then be viewed as a chart from the Rational Test Control Panel dashboard for given periods of time. For details, see Viewing usage statistics in Rational Test Control Panel.
  • Mainframe hosted programs that are available as REST services through z/OS Connect Enterprise Edition can now be synchronized with Rational Integration Tester. A new resource type is available to specify the connection details, and can be used when synchronizing against Swagger definitions so that the underlying programs can be tested and virtualized. For details, see Working with IBM z/OS Connect Enterprise Edition.
  • The RunTests command line tool has a new option, -environmentTags env. With this option, all system environment variables can be used as environment tags, with the same name, in tests, test suites or stubs that are being run. If the project already has an environment tag with the same name, that value is overridden by the system environment variable value. Tags with the same name that are defined at a test scope are not overridden. For details, see Run tests by using the command line.
  • The behavior when using RunTests to run more than one resource has been updated: if all resources to be run are stubs, they will run in parallel. All other combinations of resources will run serially. To correctly manage the order in which tests are run in conjunction with stubs, you must create and run a test suite that explicitly defines the behavior.
  • For custom reports, there is a new report called Raw XML in Report Segments. This report contains the raw XML of the execution results of a test suite, and can be used with any Result Publisher type. For details, see Results publishers.
  • In a Solaris environment, Rational Integration Tester and the corresponding runtime agent will run as 32-bit applications in a 64-bit operating environment (64-Tolerate). Rational Test Control Panel runs natively as a 64-bit application in a 64-bit operating environment (64-Exploit).
  • To improve ease of use, the Run Button Mode option is no longer available.
  • When attempting to establish an SSL session, Rational Integration Tester will now start the negotiation with TLS v1.2 by default and will downgrade up to TLS v1.0. In previous releases, the default was TLS v1.0. You can override the protocol used in the SSL configuration of individual transports. The HTTP/TCP proxy has also been updated to behave in a similar manner. You can override the protocol to be used by editing the registration.xml file. For details of protocols supported by the IBM JRE, see http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21688165.
  • You can now record and stub DPL requests that use channels and containers as well as COMMAREA structures. The following limitations apply for channel and container names: the channel name cannot be RITCHANNEL, and the container name cannot be HRVUSEDCONTAINER. For details, see Recording and virtualizing DPL calls in CICS Transaction Server.
  • UDP transport can now be configured with socket binding address and port. For details, see UDP transports.
  • Project portability is improved. When you import XML, WSDL, Copybook, and JSON schemas from sources outside the project, Rational Integration Tester will cache those schema sources and dependencies.
  • You can now copy operations in the Logical View of Rational Integration Tester.
  • The Java virtualization agent has been enhanced. You can now inject HTTP proxy settings to a Java application through a proxy selector. Depending on the URI being called, the agent can include or exclude the HTTP proxy-setting injection. For details, see Java virtualization agent.
  • In previous versions of Rational Integration Tester, if an HTTP transport based stub was sent a request directly, without the request being routed through the Rational Integration Tester HTTP/TCP proxy, the request could not be successfully passed through to the real service. In Rational Integration Tester 9.0.1, such pass-through will correctly occur in most cases. The exception is that if the operation stub settings define that paths, methods, or headers are filtered, those paths, methods, and headers in the request must match the filter. If they do not match, the stub will not be called, an error response will be returned to the client, and pass-through will not occur.
  • The following capabilities are deprecated. IBM will not enhance these capabilities and might remove them from the future versions. If you have any concerns, contact either an IBM representative or your IBM Client Support team for the program:
    • Features that are related to native BPM interaction: BPM Domain, Process, My webMethods Server, TIBCO iProcess Server, BPM Test Actions (Start/Retrieve/Close Case, Retrieve/Modify Task, Trigger Event)
    • Features that are related to native Network Virtualization integrations: Network Virtualization Environment Task, Shunra Network Virtualization.
    You can continue to test the BPM platforms and use the Network Virtualization solutions by using appropriate open standards where available, for example, through RESTful interfaces.

System requirements

For system requirements specific to this release of Rational Test Workbench, see the system requirements document at System Requirements for Rational Test Workbench.

Installing Rational Integration Tester and Rational Test Control Panel 9.0.1

For information about the upgrade requirements, see: For instructions on installing, see:

Installing Rational Performance Test Server 9.0.1

For information about installation, see Installing Rational Performance Test Server.

Installing Rational Test Virtualization Server 9.0.1

For information about installation, see Installing Rational Performance Test Server.

Known problems

Known problems are documented in the download document for each product and in the form of individual technotes in the Support Knowledge Base:

Table 1. Download documents and technotes
Product Download document Knowledge Base
Rational Integration Tester http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg24043083 http://www.ibm.com/support/entry/portal/all_troubleshooting_links/rational/rational_test_workbench?productContext=-1242920191
Rational Test Virtualization Server http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg24043092 http://www.ibm.com/support/entry/portal/all_troubleshooting_links/rational/rational_test_virtualization_server?productContext=-1234805781
Rational Performance Test Server http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg24043091 http://www.ibm.com/support/entry/portal/product/rational/rational_performance_test_server?productContext=-1563869467

The knowledge base is continually updated as problems are discovered and resolved. By searching the knowledge base, you can quickly find workarounds or solutions to problems.

Contacting IBM Rational Software Support

IBM Rational Software Support provides you with technical assistance.

For contact information and guidelines or reference materials that you will need when you require support, read the IBM Software Support Handbook.

For personalized support, including notifications of significant upgrades, register at http://www.ibm.com/support/mysupport/.

For Rational software product news, events, and other information, visit the IBM Rational Software Web site.

Before you contact IBM Rational Software Support, gather the background information that you will need to describe your problem. When describing a problem to an IBM software support specialist, be as specific as possible and include all relevant background information so that the specialist can help you solve the problem efficiently. To save time, know the answers to these questions:
  • What software versions were you running when the problem occurred?
  • Do you have logs, traces, or messages that are related to the problem?
  • Can you reproduce the problem? If so, what steps do you take to reproduce it?
  • Is there a workaround for the problem? If so, be prepared to describe the workaround.

Notices and trademarks

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2001, 2016.

U.S. Government Users Restricted Rights - Use, duplication or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule Contract with IBM Corp.

This information was developed for products and services offered in the U.S.A.

IBM may not offer the products, services, or features discussed in this documentation in other countries. Consult your local IBM representative for information on the products and services currently available in your area. Any reference to an IBM product, program, or service is not intended to state or imply that only that IBM product, program, or service may be used. Any functionally equivalent product, program, or service that does not infringe any IBM intellectual property right may be used instead. However, it is the user's responsibility to evaluate and verify the operation of any non-IBM product, program, or service.

IBM may have patents or pending patent applications covering subject matter described in this document. The furnishing of this document does not grant you any license to these patents. You can send license inquiries, in writing, to:

IBM Director of Licensing
IBM Corporation
North Castle Drive
Armonk, NY 10504-1785
U.S.A.

For license inquiries regarding double-byte character set (DBCS) information, contact the IBM Intellectual Property Department in your country or send inquiries, in writing, to:

Intellectual Property Licensing
Legal and Intellectual Property Law
IBM Japan, Ltd.
19-21, Nihonbashi-Hakozakicho, Chuo-ku
Tokyo 103-8510, Japan

The following paragraph does not apply to the United Kingdom or any other country where such provisions are inconsistent with local law: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION PROVIDES THIS PUBLICATION "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Some states do not allow disclaimer of express or implied warranties in certain transactions, therefore, this statement may not apply to you.

This information could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically made to the information herein; these changes will be incorporated in new editions of the publication. IBM may make improvements and/or changes in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this publication at any time without notice.

Any references in this information to non-IBM Web sites are provided for convenience only and do not in any manner serve as an endorsement of those Web sites. The materials at those Web sites are not part of the materials for this IBM product and use of those Web sites is at your own risk.

IBM may use or distribute any of the information you supply in any way it believes appropriate without incurring any obligation to you.

Licensees of this program who wish to have information about it for the purpose of enabling: (i) the exchange of information between independently created programs and other programs (including this one) and (ii) the mutual use of the information which has been exchanged, should contact:

IBM United Kingdom Limited
Intellectual Property Law
Hursley Park
Winchester
SO21 2JN
Hampshire
United Kingdom

Such information may be available, subject to appropriate terms and conditions, including in some cases, payment of a fee.

The licensed program described in this document and all licensed material available for it are provided by IBM under terms of the IBM Customer Agreement, IBM International Program License Agreement or any equivalent agreement between us.

Any performance data contained herein was determined in a controlled environment. Therefore, the results obtained in other operating environments may vary significantly. Some measurements may have been made on development-level systems and there is no guarantee that these measurements will be the same on generally available systems. Furthermore, some measurements may have been estimated through extrapolation. Actual results may vary. Users of this document should verify the applicable data for their specific environment.

Information concerning non-IBM products was obtained from the suppliers of those products, their published announcements or other publicly available sources. IBM has not tested those products and cannot confirm the accuracy of performance, compatibility or any other claims related to non-IBM products. Questions on the capabilities of non-IBM products should be addressed to the suppliers of those products.

All statements regarding IBM's future direction or intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice, and represent goals and objectives only.

This information contains examples of data and reports used in daily business operations. To illustrate them as completely as possible, the examples may include the names of individuals, companies, brands, and products. All of these names are fictitious and any similarity to the names and addresses used by an actual business enterprise is entirely coincidental.

Copyright license

This information contains sample application programs in source language, which illustrate programming techniques on various operating platforms. You may copy, modify, and distribute these sample programs in any form without payment to IBM, for the purposes of developing, using, marketing or distributing application programs conforming to the application programming interface for the operating platform for which the sample programs are written. These examples have not been thoroughly tested under all conditions. IBM, therefore, cannot guarantee or imply reliability, serviceability, or function of these programs. The sample programs are provided "AS IS", without warranty of any kind. IBM shall not be liable for any damages arising out of your use of the sample programs.

Each copy or any portion of these sample programs or any derivative work, must include a copyright notice as follows:

© (your company name) (year). Portions of this code are derived from IBM Corp. Sample Programs. © Copyright IBM Corp. 2001, 2016.

Trademarks and service marks

IBM, the IBM logo, and ibm.com® are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Other product and service names might be trademarks of IBM or other companies. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the Web at “Copyright and trademark information” at http://www.ibm.com/software/rational/howtobuy/licensing/. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other countries, or both. Microsoft, Windows, and the Windows logo are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the United States and other countries. Java™ and all Java-based trademarks and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Other company, product or service names, may be trademarks or service marks of others.

Feedback