What's new in 25.0.1

Learn what's new in 25.0.1, general availability (GA) in December 2025.

For more information about features that are deprecated or removed in 25.0.1, see Deprecated and removed features.

Note: Starter deployments are not supported for 25.0.1 GA. Starter deployments are likely to be supported in an upcoming interim fix and the next version that is not a Limited Support Release, see Support lifecycle policy.

The following sections help you to see where the changes are made and where the new features are added.

Supported operating environments

The following SOE changes are introduced in 25.0.1.

Software Product Compatibility Report (SPCR)

The system requirements information is available through the SPCR website.

You can generate specific reports for each release that include the supported operating system, server virtualization environments, and software prerequisites. New information Learn more External link opens a new window or tab.

Tip: All external links, which are links to content that is hosted outside of IBM® Docs, open in a new window. External links are flagged in the What's new with an external link icon (External link opens a new window or tab). You do not have to right-click an external link to open the page in a new tab or window.
  • To find information on the supported versions of Red Hat® OpenShift® Container Platform, open the rendered report for 25.0.1 and go to the Containers tab.
  • To find information on the supported databases, open the rendered report for 25.0.1 and go to the Supported Software tab, and then click Databases.

For more information about the system requirements of the Cloud Pak foundational services, see hardware requirements External link opens a new window or tab.

Changes to dependent software

The following table highlights the major changes that Cloud Pak for Business Automation 25.0.1 brings compared to the version you can upgrade from.

Table 1. Differences between dependent software in 25.0.1 and 25.0.0.
Dependent operator catalogs 25.0.1 GA 25.0.0 GA
Cloud Pak foundational services 4.15 4.12
Platform UI (Zen Service) 6.2.2 6.1.3

Install (Day-0 operations)

The Cloud Pak for Business Automation download document External link opens a new window or tab provides pointers on how to install the new version and the command to download the 25.0.1 cert-kubernetes repository. The following changes to installation are introduced in 25.0.1.

EDB Postgres is no longer a supported database

In 25.0.1 GA, you must use an external PostgreSQL database for the Git services in Automation Decision Services and Document Processing, and for the metastore DB in Platform UI (Zen) and Identity Management (IM) services. As a consequence, Document Processing supports only an external PostgreSQL as the database type and does not support Db2®. New information Learn more...

Tip: A cloud native replacement for EDB Postgres is likely to be supported in an upcoming interim fix.
Restriction: Fusion backup and restore are not supported for CP4BA 25.0.1 GA. Existing scripts are used to backup and restore EDB Postgres.

When a replacement for EDB Postgres is introduced in an upcoming interim fix, you can then use the updated recipes to backup and restore your deployments from the IBM Storage Fusion user interface.

Checks are now made to resolve an IM Admin username conflict

If the default IM Admin user (cpadmin) exists in your LDAP, then the deployment script now proposes that you choose a different IM admin username. The custom IM admin username must not exist in your LDAP. If you choose the default username and the user exists in your LDAP, the script automatically changes the IM Admin user to cp4ba-admin. New information Learn more...

Removed the cluster-scoped RBAC functions from all the CP4BA operators

Role-based access control (RBAC) is used to regulate access to resources based on the roles of users within your organization. The ClusterRole is used to give an application access to cluster-wide resources, whereas a Role always sets permissions within a particular namespace. An improper designation of a ClusterRole can lead to over-provisioned roles or role creep, where employees or applications have unnecessary permissions.

To simplify the management of your roles, CP4BA operators restrict permissions to the CP4BA deployment namespace. The operators adhere to the principle of least privilege to reduce the risk of unauthorized access and data breaches. New information Learn more...

Configuration change of the Red Hat OpenShift authentication for CP4BA deployments

By default, Red Hat OpenShift authentication is now disabled in CP4BA production deployments. The change prevents SCIM user searches returning duplicate versions of the same LDAP user and subsequent Workflow-related authorization errors. You can enable Red Hat OpenShift authentication for the deployment by setting the new CR parameter (shared_configuration.sc_osauth_enabled) to true. New information Learn more...

Add or remove capabilities in CP4BA production deployments by using the scripts

You can now add or remove capabilities, or optional components, to an existing CP4BA production deployment by using the scripts. Using the scripts reduces the risk of causing problems to the cluster. New information Learn more...

Assess storage and performance requirements before you install CP4BA

You can now run storage and performance tests before you go live and bring in your workloads. Use the test results to validate the readiness of your storage setup and check the baseline performance in your target environment. New information Learn more...

 Technology preview  Support of external secret management for Content services

You can now integrate Content services with an external secret provider like HashiCorp Vault to implement a centralized solution so that all sensitive credentials are securely managed and protected from unauthorized access. The integration with external secret providers uses the Secrets Store CSI (SSCSI) driver, which is introduced in Red Hat OpenShift 4.18+. The support provides a consistent way to handle secrets across hybrid environments. New information Learn more...

Upgrade (Day-1 operations)

You cannot upgrade your Cloud Pak for Business Automation deployments from 24.0.0, 24.0.1, and 25.0.0 to 25.0.1. It is expected that the next release in 2026 supports the upgrade from 25.0.0 and an upgrade from 25.0.1.

If you install a CP4BA 25.0.1 production deployment, then you can normally upgrade to the next interim fix. For more information and access to all the interim fix readme files, see the Cloud Pak for Business Automation download document External link opens a new window or tab.

Security and compliance (Day-2 operations)

The following changes to improve security and compliance are introduced in 25.0.1.

All the CP4BA routes are unified

By default in a namespace-scoped CP4BA deployment, traffic is directed through the Platform UI (Zen Service) route for all the Cloud Pak for Business Automation components. Now, you need only a single certificate for the cpd route instead of different certificates for Zen and the IM created route cp-console. New information Learn more...

Integration of IBM Instana® Observability to provide end-to-end monitoring and diagnostics

You can now use IBM Instana Observability to monitor your CP4BA deployments. The Instana® integration can be optionally enabled with your CP4BA production deployments. To use Instana with CP4BA, you must install the Instana host agent on the same cluster where CP4BA is deployed. New information Learn more...

Cloud Pak for Business Automation capabilities now support rolling updates

A change to environment variables, ports, config, or any change to the custom resource triggers an update to a capability. Instead of replacing all the pods at the same time, a rolling update gradually replaces individual pods, which makes sure that users can continue to access the application without interruption.

When you configure a RollingUpdate strategy, OpenShift Container Platform gradually adds new pods without downtime. New pods are added and old pods are removed while always respecting the maxSurge and maxUnavailable settings. New information Learn more...

Restriction: The optional components (Content Collector for SAP Applications and Enterprise Records) of FileNet® Content Manager do not support rolling updates.
Optimize compute resource usage and reduce costs
The cp4a-scale-resources.sh script is a new resource management tool that is designed to conserve compute resources and minimize the operational costs of Cloud Pak for Business Automation deployments. New information Learn more...

Support for AI Agents with MCP servers

Business automation capabilities now support integration with AI agents, such as IBM watsonx™ Orchestrate®, through the Model Context Protocol (MCP). MCP is an open protocol that standardizes how AI agents interact with tools and data sources. It provides a consistent way for agents to access tools through MCP servers, enabling seamless integration with business automation capabilities. New information Learn more...

By using MCP servers, you can:
  • Build and orchestrate multiple agent interactions.
  • Leverage advanced reasoning and chain-of-thought execution across distributed resources.
  • Improve automation efficiency and enable AI-driven decision-making.

Workflow automation new features and enhancements

The following Workflow automation enhancements are introduced in 25.0.1.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in workflow automations and case solutions
  •  Technology preview  Streamline workflow creation by using the new AI-powered Authoring Assistant embedded in Business Automation Studio. The assistant guides you through planning and automatically generates processes and business objects, helping you build workflows faster and with less complexity. New information Learn more...
  • Boost productivity, streamline operations, and accelerate decision-making across teams with the new AI-powered Workplace Assistant. The assistant understands natural language commands, summarizes workflows and cases, and performs multi-step actions, such as bulk task reassignment and advanced task handling. New information Learn more....
  • Enhance your workflows with agentic AI by invoking natural language watsonx Orchestrate agents. This capability enables autonomous task execution, automating manual steps to increase task completion, improve efficiency, and deliver better business outcomes. New information Learn more...
Build workflow automations and case solutions more easily in Workflow Designer
  • You can now publish MQ-based automation services directly from Business Automation Studio. These services are easy to discover and invoke from other workflow automations, enabling asynchronous interactions between loosely coupled components. This enhancement increases integration flexibility and supports dynamic, event-driven automation scenarios. It also allows you to chain transactional service flows across multiple workflows, enabling end-to-end processing without tight coupling or synchronous dependencies. New information Learn more...
  • Quickly build UIs in client-side human services with enhanced scripting support, including a code completion picker to easily reference other views, validation for code that references other views, and automatic refactoring when control IDs are changed, ensuring that all references are updated. New information Learn more...
  • Build cases more easily with an improved user interface. Enhancements include a complete set of case APIs available for custom solutions, direct links to JavaScript API documentation from each case view, and the ability to expose case and activity properties as business data directly from the property definition panel.
Work efficiently with tasks, workflows, and cases

Save and reuse custom case searches with preferred filters, sort order, and display settings. You can also view additional case details by expanding rows in the case list view. New information Learn more...

For the new features in IBM Business Automation Workflow 25.0.1.0, see What's new in IBM Business Automation Workflow 25.0.1.0 External link opens a new window or tab.

Decision management new features and enhancements

The following Decision management enhancements are introduced in 25.0.1.

Operational Decision Manager
  • You can now dedicate cluster resources to run specific rulesets. You select a specific version of a ruleset, and then allocate the resources and number of replicas that you want to assign to the runtime pods. You can isolate, scale, and optimize the runtime for specified rulesets in a controlled, fine-grained manner. New information Learn more...
  • Gain greater control and flexibility with customizable configuration for Decision Server components. By using simple configuration maps (configmaps), you can set the behavior of Decision Server Runtime and Decision Server Console. New information Learn more...

    You can also customize how Decision Server runs a ruleset based on its context. For example, you can enable asynchronous parsing for the ruleset and configure certain checks on the JSON payload. Use new custom resource parameters to list the properties that you want to use. New information Learn more...

  • New Horizontal Pod Autoscaling (HPA) parameters are available to scale up (add more pods) when demand increases and scale down (remove pods) when demand decreases based on CPU and memory metrics. In response to increased workload, HPA adds pods to optimize resource usage. When the added pods are no longer needed, they are removed automatically. New information Learn more...
  • New decision engine version 1.90. New information Learn more...

For the new features in IBM Operational Decision Manager 9.5.0, see What's new External link opens a new window or tab.

Content services new features and enhancements

The following Content services enhancements are introduced in 25.0.1.

Content Assistant is now available as part of CP4BA

IBM Content Assistant Client Managed is now a licensed capability of Cloud Pak for Business Automation. You can install, configure, and run Content Assistant Client Managed locally as an add-on extension to your Content repositories without purchasing a separate license.

Content Assistant provides generative AI capabilities to simplify and optimize the way that you interact and manage the content in your FileNet® Content Manager and Workflow automation environments. New information Learn more External link opens a new window or tab

Updates to Horizontal Pod Autoscaling (HPA)

New HPA-related parameters are available to scale up (add more pods) when demand increases and scale down (remove pods) when demand decreases based on CPU and memory metrics. In response to increased workload, HPA adds pods to optimize resource usage. When the added pods are no longer needed, they are removed automatically. New information Learn more...

Document Processing new features and enhancements

The following Document Processing enhancements are introduced in 25.0.1.

Updates to Horizontal Pod Autoscaling (HPA)

New HPA-related parameters are available to scale up (add more pods) when demand increases and scale down (remove pods) when demand decreases based on CPU and memory metrics. In response to increased workload, HPA adds pods to optimize resource usage. When the added pods are no longer needed, they are removed automatically. New information Learn more...

New version of IBM Watson Document Understanding (WDU)

The new 2.x version of WDU includes security updates and enhancements that you can take advantage of in your WDU Runtime service to process your documents.

Business insights new features and enhancements

The following Business Automation Insights enhancements are introduced in 25.0.1.

Business Performance Center
  • Business Performance Center now supports a new aggregation type, named Latest. The Latest aggregation returns the current calculated number of a data field. A current number is especially useful, for example, when you need to know the Latest price of a product or the Latest status of a business activity. Only the most up-to-date value is important, and no other value is relevant. New information Learn more...
  • You can now edit existing filters directly at the dashboard level, and you no longer need to delete and re-create them. Updating your dashboards is now quicker and more efficient than in previous versions. New information Learn more...