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Release of Guardium Data Protection Windows S-TAP 12.2.2.259

Release Notes


Abstract

This technical note provides guidance for installing IBM Guardium Data Protection Windows Agents 12.2.2.259, including any new features or enhancements, resolved or known issues, or notices associated with the patch.

Content

Patch information
Product:IBM Guardium
Release version:Guardium 12.2 Windows Software TAP (S-TAP)
Completion date:31 March 2026
 
 
Fix IDs
Guardium_12.2.2.259_S-TAP_Windows
 
 
Finding the patch
  1. Select the following options to download this patch on the IBM Fix Central website and click Continue.
    • Product selector: IBM Security Guardium
    • Installed Version: 12.2
    • Platform: Windows
  2. On the "Identify fixes" page, select Browse for fixes and click Continue.
  3. On the "Select fixes" page, select Database Agent (STAP, GIM and CAS). Then, enter the patch information in the Filter fix details field to locate the patch.
 
Notes
  • A fresh install of Guardium 12.2 does not require a reboot.
  • When you upgrade between versions, you must reboot the database server to update the NmpProxy driver. If there are no issues with your current NmpProxy functionality, you can delay the reboot until the next maintenance cycle. No fixes will be applied to the NmpProxy driver until a server reboot is completed.
  • IBM strongly recommends that you do not use the following builds as they contain instabilities that can lead to system failure. Uninstall these builds and reboot before you install S-TAP 12.2. For all other builds, you can upgrade as usual.
    • 11.4.0.168 through 11.4.0.204
    • 11.3.0.257 through 11.3.0.287
 
Attention
 

Single-stream agent releases 
Starting with Guardium Data Protection 12.2.1.0, most of the Linux-UNIX and Windows agents for Guardium Data Protection versions 12.0 and later are now released in a "single stream". Previously, each Guardium 12.x release (12.0, 12.1, and 12.2) had its own separate agent installers and patch packages. With the move to single-stream packaging, the agent binaries are unified into one continuous release line, so the same installation and upgrade package applies across multiple Guardium 12.x versions. This simplifies maintenance, reduces version divergence, and ensures consistent feature and fix availability across all supported 12.x environments. 

File names starting with 12.x are now applicable to all current Guardium 12.x versions (12.0, 12.1, and 12.2), and future releases within the Guardium 12.x family. The single-stream packaging currently applies to the following agents: 

  • Guardium Configuration Auditing System (CAS)
  • Guardium File Activity Monitor (FAM) for Windows
  • Guardium Installation Manager (GIM)
  • Guardium Software TAP (S-TAP)


With this change, customers no longer need to locate version-specific agent packages for each 12.x release. Installing the latest 12.x agent package will be supported across all 12.x collector and aggregator versions that meet the documented compatibility requirements.  

Note: The single-stream packaging does not currently apply to External S-TAP agents. 

For more information, see Single-stream agent releases.
 
 
New features and enhancements
 
Edge Gateway
Modernize your data collection with a new Kubernetes-based monitoring pipeline. The Edge Gateway is built for high performance and scalability, making it easy to monitor both on-premises and cloud environments while reducing appliance management. With seamless integration into existing Guardium aggregators, Guardium Data Security Center (GDSC) SaaS, and the new long-term retention feature, the Edge Gateway offers a modern alternative to Guardium collectors. Windows S-TAP 12.2.2.259 agents are capable of streaming to the Edge Gateway.  
 
 
New database and platform support
 
Databases
  • Neo4j 2025.11.2
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2025
 
 
Resolved issues
Patch
Issue keySummaryKnown issue (APAR)
12.2.1.205 
See release notes for Windows S-TAP 12.2.1.205
 
12.2.2.259GRD-117204Fixed an S-TAP instability following an upgrade with protocol 7 by clearing leftover registry entries.DT460464
 GRD-117571Improved S-TAP robustness to avoid S-TAP instability even when memory resources are critically low.DT465036
 GRD-118214If there are any missing NETWORKS parameters for inspection engines in guard_tap.ini, restarting the Windows S-TAP service will update the file with default NETWORKS parameters (1.1.1.1/0.0.0.0,::1/0).DT463953
 GRD-120066Fixed an issue where security verdicts from the collector were not always applied in the correct order, potentially allowing blocked database queries to execute. S-TAP now processes all verdicts in the exact order received, ensuring security policies are properly enforced.DT464028
 GRD-120832Increased maximum value for LOAD_BALANCER_NUM_MUS to 300 and the buffer size to 64 KB.DT465008
 
 
Known issues and workarounds
Issue keyDescription

GRD-120061 

If an Oracle table is built with NVARCHAR2 columns, running a predefined REDACT rule action (fast scrub) does not mask credit card details. 

Workaround: Use a regular expression (regex) to set up a scrub action. For guidance, see REDACT - Working with regex on Windows DB servers.  

GRD-122049 When Windows S-TAP is configured with UPLOAD_FEATURE=1 and a debug snapshot is triggered from a managed unit, the diagnostic zip file is uploaded only to the collector and not to the central manager.
GRD-122143In Edge environments, when Windows S-TAP is configured with an invalid parameter value in guard_tap.ini and the service is restarted, the SYNCH_FLAG value becomes inconsistent between guard_tap.ini and the central manager. A fix will be available in future releases.
 

 

Installers with MD5Sums
MD5SumFile Name
8f3695c16a799b2e925ad1dc6741d40cWindows-STAP-V12.2.2.259.zip
37da4fccea63b616fa76db613a38b077conf.reload.WINSTAP
e342d360764753b4d2a4c733407ed665guard-WINSTAP-12.2_r120202259_1-x86_x64.gim
1a5e385079d991f3cd139dd37ff3269cguard-WINSTAP-guardium_12.2_r120202259_1-Windows-Server-Windows-x86_x64.exe.signed
 
 
Related Guardium updates
  • Guardium Data Protection 12.2.2 (see release note)
  • Guardium Data Protection Windows CAS 12.2.2.259 (see release note)
  • Guardium Data Protection Windows FamMonitor 12.2.2.259 (see release note)
  • Guardium Data Protection Windows GIM 12.2.2.259 (see release note)
 

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Document Information

Modified date:
31 March 2026

UID

ibm17267964