What's new in 23.0.2

Learn what's new in 23.0.2.

For more information about features that are deprecated or removed in 23.0.2, see Deprecated and removed features. For more information about interim fixes, see Upgrading 23.0.2 to a newer interim fix. An interim fix needs you to either install a new deployment from scratch or upgrade an existing 23.0.2 deployment.

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

What changed in interim fix 3 - March 2024

Deprecated the oc image mirror option
The option to mirror images to a private registry in an airgap environment by using oc image mirror is deprecated. The oc image mirror option mirrors all the images of all the capabilities from the catalog and results in a greater usage of storage space. For more information, see Deprecated and removed features.

Supported operating environments

Software Product Compatibility Report (SPCR)

The system requirements information is available through the SPCR website. You can generate operating system, prerequisite, server virtualization environment, and detailed system requirements reports for each release. To find information on the supported versions of Red Hat® OpenShift® Container Platform for example, open the rendered report for 23.0.2 and go to the Containers tab. New information Learn more...

For more information about the system requirements of the Cloud Pak foundational services, see hardware requirements.

Lift and shift

Move IBM Case Manager to the cloud

New scripts are provided to enhance the existing prerequisite scripts and help you move Case Manager installed on a host (on-premises) to a Cloud Pak for Business Automation deployment. The scripts simplify the migration experience by replacing the manual steps for creating secrets, editing CR files, generating property files, and validating the configuration. The scripts also support multiple target object store migration of Case Manager on-premises to Cloud Pak for Business Automation. New information Learn more...

Upgrade

Harden your deployment security

When the new sc_restricted_internet_access parameter in 23.0.2 is not present in the shared configuration section of a CP4BA custom resource (CR), then it is assumed that the deployment used the 23.0.1 operator. If the parameter is not added to the CR during an upgrade, then the value in the 23.0.2 operator is set to false to be compatible with the existing environment. You can explicitly set the value to true during the upgrade to restrict access to the internet. Then create dedicated network policies to enable traffic to valid known targets outside of the cluster. New information Learn more...

Install

Entitlement to IBM Storage Fusion Essentials

The license for Cloud Pak for Business Automation 23.0.2 provides entitlement to IBM Storage Fusion Essentials without purchasing an additional storage license. New information Learn more...

Stand-alone installation of Business Automation Insights

Instead of including Business Automation Insights in a CP4BA multi-pattern deployment with other capabilities, you can now install a deployment that includes only Business Automation Insights. You can then use this Business Automation Insights deployment as a compliment to existing IBM Business Automation products that you installed under traditional or other stand-alone licenses. New information Learn more...

Installation scripts can now be run on Power® and IBM Z architectures

All the scripts that are provided in the cert-kubernetes archive of the Cloud Pak for Business Automation CASE package now support Linux® on Power (ppc64le) and Linux on IBM Z (s390x) based VM/machines (CentOS Stream/RHEL/MacOS). The Advanced Micro Devices (amd64/x86) architecture is still supported. New information Learn more...

Improvements to the mirroring process for air gapped (offline) deployments

You can now better control which images you mirror when you set up your air-gapped cluster. You can continue to use the --filter argument in the new oc mirror command to identify the image groups that are needed for your chosen capabilities. The ibm-pak plug-in uses a new File-Based Catalog (FBC) to mirror all the operator packages that are needed to install your chosen capabilities. New information Learn more...

Global to namespace-scoped (private) catalog sources

In previous versions of Cloud Pak for Business Automation, the catalog sources always used the global catalog namespace (GCN) openshift-marketplace. The GCN is a special namespace that contains operators that can be subscribed to from any namespace in the cluster.

A cluster administrator, or a user that is granted an administrator ClusterRole, can now install the catalog sources in a single namespace for users who want to discover and install the Cloud Pak for Business Automation operators privately. New information Learn more....

Simplified deployment topology and smaller footprint for Business Automation Workflow Runtime and Workstream Services
For simplification and reduction of deployment size, the release includes the following changes:
  • Java Message Service (JMS) is embedded in the Workflow server that is used for Workflow Runtime and Workstream Services.
  • Process Federation Server and Application Engine are removed from the Workflow Runtime default topology.
  • Process Federation Server, Application Engine, GraphQL, and Business Automation Navigator are removed from the Workstream Services default topology.
  • Workplace is embedded in the Workflow runtime server.
  • The full-text search feature is embedded in Business Automation Workflow and is disabled by default. You can choose to enable full-text search in the custom resource (CR) file. New information Learn more...

You can still choose to enable Process Federation Server and use Workplace running on Application Engine by configuring the desktop in Business Automation Navigator. New information Learn more...

Business Automation Workflow supports more than one TOS

You can now configure more than one target object store (TOS) for case management in Business Automation Workflow. New information Learn more...

Security and compliance

Cloud Pak for Business Automation FIPS 140-2 compliance

Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 is the US and Canadian federal standard, which includes compelling security and interoperability standards. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) defines FIPS. NIST set the status of the FIPS 140-2 module to Historical. For more information about the term Historical. Learn more...

Federal Agencies are advised not to include Historical modules in new procurements. Agencies must assess the risk of where and how the modules on the validation list are used before they decide to continue to use them. New information Learn more...

Restricted internet access for a CP4BA deployment

A new Cloud Pak for Business Automation custom resource parameter (sc_restricted_internet_access) is set to true by default to restrict all outbound traffic. When set to true, you must create network policies to allow pods access to intended destinations. If you want a CP4BA pod to connect to the internet for example, create a policy that allows outbound traffic to that specific IP address. New information Learn more...

Workflow

Work efficiently with tasks and workflows
  • Work more efficiently in Workplace.
    • Visually track the progress of a process through the process diagram that provides an overview of the process.
    • Easily access and work with cases in Workplace from a separate Cases list in a federated environment. You can also quickly access your recent work through the Recent cases and Favorite cases lists. New information Learn more...
    • Mexican Spanish (es_MX) is now available as a locale option with the appropriate format of dates, times, and currency data.
  • Process Admin Console
    • Efficiently manage and monitor workflow automations in an improved Process Admin Console. You can now use the Swagger UI to view and manage the health of your system by using the health management REST APIs.
Build workflow automations
  • Publish, discover, and trigger workflow automation services that use Kafka message events.
    • Publish Kafka-based workflow automation services.
    • Discover and trigger workflow automation services that are exposed as Kafka services. The automation services are triggered through Kafka message events with an asynchronous, loosely coupled interaction style.
  • Run service flows in single transactions.
    • In the designer, define a service flow that runs in a single global transaction. At run time, the service flow activities are executed in a single transaction in an “all or nothing” manner. For example, SQL integrations participate in this transaction. Learn more...
  • Enable Kafka services from scripts or UI.
    • Choose to enable Kafka services from scripts in cert-kubernetes or Form UI for Business Automation Workflow and Workflow Process Service Authoring.
  • Use the Zen API key for exposed REST automation services.
    • When you build your external client, you can authenticate with a Zen API key, which is provided as a new authentication option, in addition to the basic authentication.
  • Model processes efficiently in the designer.
    • Efficiently search for and work with variables in client-side human services with the new Variables filter.
    • Enable rich text activity description in your client-side human services to format and stylize user task descriptions. New information Learn more...
    • Efficiently define the input and output data mapping of your application flows by using an intuitive graphical data handling without having to use JavaScript.
    • Enable the ability to clear the selection in the list in the enhanced Single select view of the UI toolkit for better interactions and an improved page validation. New information  Learn more...
    • Push a descriptor file of your workflow project to a configured GitHub repository to trigger the continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline. New information Learn more...
  • Model case solutions efficiently in Case Builder.
    • Enable users to easily build a list of related cases that share common criteria or a similar pattern. New information  Learn more...
    • Use the default process-backed actions and client-side human service views and pages when you work with new case solutions created in Business Automation Studio. A new option is available to show or hide the classic case features, if needed.
    • Select which case solutions you can access and modify from your Navigator desktop. New information  Learn more...
    • Enable users to start more flexible case activities that follow the business process logic that was in place when the case instance was created, rather than the logic of the latest case snapshot. New information  Learn more...
    • Use the newly added SetActivityPropertyValues and getActivityPropertyValues JavaScript APIs and the improved documentation for parentCase Activity properties when you work with case JavaScript APIs in your processes and service flows. New information  Learn more...
    • Use improved case REST APIs that facilitate the continuous integration and deployment of case projects and legacy case solutions to different environments. New REST APIs have also been added for importing and applying security and audit manifests.
For more information about the latest Business Automation Workflow release, see the What's new in the Business Automation Workflow documentation.

Decisions

Automation Decision Services
  • You can now configure the decision runtime to emit events that contain technical and business data to an external Kafka instance. You can use this event emission for various purposes, such as real time monitoring and data analytics. New information  Learn more...
  • The execution Java API must now be used with an environment with Java 17. New information Learn more...
  • Connect to the newly available embedded machine learning provider and import any type of Predictive Model Markup Language (PMML) file to implement your predictions. New information  Learn more...
Operational Decision Manager

For more information about the latest Operational Decision Manager release, see the What's new in the Operational Decision Manager documentation.

The version number in IBM Documentation is still 8.12.0, but the new release is 8.12.0.1. The What's new provides information about the changes that are made in the fix pack.

Content

Expanded support for credentials managers for Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) storage devices

Support for using credentials managers with Amazon S3 storage devices now includes an out of the box credentials manager for containerized deployments that uses a web identity provider to get the new credentials. You can also implement an interface to create your own custom credentials manager. New information Learn more...

Maintain the integrity of your storage areas by using sweeps and search functions

You can use Content Consistency job sweeps to check and ensure the integrity of your storage areas. There are also new search functions that you can use to view and update advanced storage area statistics. New information Learn more...

IBM Security Verify Directory replaces IBM Security Directory Server

With the recent end of support for IBM Security Directory Server, IBM Security Verify Directory is now included with FileNet® Content Manager. You can use IBM Security Verify Directory as your directory service provider exactly as you would for IBM Security Directory Server.

Instances of "IBM Tivoli Directory Server" or "IBM Security Directory Server" that remain in the user interface can be considered to be IBM Security Verify Directory. New information Learn more...

Specification of a schema name to use with the GCD tables
You can specify a schema name for the GCD with the custom resource parameter gcd_schema:
ecm_configuration:
  cpe:
    cpe_production_setting:
      gcd_schema:
Specifying an alternate schema name for the GCD tables may be necessary if the default schema name, the database connection user name, contains characters that need to be delimited when used in the context of an SQL query.

Document Processing

Table accuracy of the Extraction model
You can check the table accuracy of the Extraction model in various ways:
  • You can check the overall average table accuracy card at the Extraction model > Review training results page. The ratio is calculated from the table fields across all of the document types.
  • In the Results ready section, from the Average table accuracy column, you can check the ratio for each document type.
  • When you open a document type, from the Table accuracy column, you can check the ratio for each sample document of the document type.
Note: Only one page table is supported.
Feedback loop for document classification training

You can now use the feedback documents to include in the feedback loop in classification training. New information Learn more...

Business Insights

Drill-down charts

You can create a multi-layer chart that allows you to explore a data set, by navigating up and down into nested layers, each being defined by a data field. For example, you might define a drill-down showing global sales, and then drill-down by country, and then by product, and then drill again by salesperson. Layers can have different graph types (pie, bar, table, and so on) and legends to provide the best readability at each level. New information  Learn more...

Send alerts to Kafka

Business Performance Center can be configured to send alerts to a predefined Kafka topic whenever a new alert is detected, in addition to existing notifications in the browser. The Kafka topic can be consumed, for example to process or forward the alerts. New samples are available for forwarding to Slack or to email. New information  Learn more...

Display of durations

A new UI is available to set the time display format for durations, for example to display the time in seconds, minutes, hours, or days. New information  Learn more...