This document is preliminary and subject to change.
In this document, you will find all of the new features, enhancements and visible changes included to the Jelastic PaaS 5.3 release:For detailed information on using any of Jelastic features, please refer to the users’ documentation.Features
Support of Public IPv6 Addresses
The v6 is the most recent version of Internet Protocol (IP), which is responsible for device identification and defining their location within network, as well as for traffic routing across the Internet. The 6th IP revision is an evolutionary upgrade of IPv4, designed to fulfill the need of more addresses, provide better multicast routing, simplify processing by routers, etc.
Starting with the present 5.3 release, Jelastic Cloud provides out-of-box support of Public IPv6, which can be attached to any container (except for Window-based ones) directly from the topology wizard. Herewith, the availability of this internet protocol version at a particular Platform depends on hosting provider settings. To check this, refer to the Quotas & Pricing frame:- Account Limits provides information on the Public IPv6 addresses availability for your account (note it can be limited during trial period)
Pricing > Options section displays the cost of this feature usage at your Platform
The 6th internet protocol version can be used on a par with IPv4, providing all the same functionality. In case the address type to use is not specifically indicated (e.g. in JPS packages, add-ons or when creating a VPS node), the 4th address revision will be used by default.
In order to support IPv6 usage via API, the following changes were implemented:- the AttachExtIp request was deprecated (still remaining valid for backward compatibility)
- a new SetExtIpCount method was added; operates with two supplementative parameters: type (ipv4 or ipv6) and count (number of IPs to add per container - required for the multiple IPs feature)
the SwapExtIps method was limited to be used with IPv4 only
Multiple Public IP Addresses for a Single Node (Container)
In confines of the Jelastic 5.3 upgrade, a possibility to attach multiple Public IPs (both IPv4 and IPv6) to a container was implemented. For example, this allows to run several websites on a single node by using a number of dedicated SSL certificates, associated with the specific IPs.
Multiple IPs can be added in two ways due to the following UI updates:- the Public IPv4 and IPv6 counters were added to topology wizard, so the required IP number can be set right during environment creation / topology adjustment
- each node within the dashboard environment list can be expanded to view and manage all of the attached IP addresses:
- the total number of Public IPs can be adjusted directly from this list using the Attach/Detach IP(s) button (separately for IPv4 and IPv6)
each particular address can be copied to clipboard or detached from a node with the appropriate buttons
The first Public IP of each type to be added to container will be considered as primary one, i.e. will be used for all the outgoing traffic, while the rest of IPs can only receive it. Also, primary IP can only be removed if it is the last public address attached to node.
Other changes due to this feature integration are listed below:- the SwapExtIps API method was adjusted to allow swap of particular IPv4 addresses (using the sourceIp / targetIp parameters pair), as well as all of them at once (sourceNodeId / targetNodeId)
- upon attaching new IP to the existing node, you receive the appropriate email notification with the list of all its addresses
the list of assigned IP addresses is displayed in the WAN IP column of the SSH menu while connecting to the Platform via terminal
Personal Access Tokens for API Request Authentication
Every Jelastic API call requires a special session parameter to verify whether a user is allowed to execute the appropriate operation. In order to get it, the Users > Authentication > SignIn method should be called. However, the obtained session value has a short-term validity, being frequently generated anew due to security reasons.
In the current 5.3 Jelastic release, an alternative approach of authentication via tokens was implemented. It is aimed to maintain the security of the sessions-based approach (i.e. ensuring no one else can operate with your account), at the same time extending the API usability greatly. For example, tokens can be used within various scripts (e.g. during application lifecycle automatization) or be shared with co-workers to grant temporary access to some particular account/environments actions. There are a number of specifics to ensure the best user experience:- permission management - can be assigned to some specific tasks (each particular token can be allowed to work with a particular API methods only)
- time to live - allows to set an expiration date for token
- multiple tokens - supports up to 100 different tokens per account
- renewal possibility - regenerates lost tokens with the same parameters as original ones
prohibited self duplication - restricts token usage for the Authentication API methods (i.e. can not be used to create new or to manage existing tokens)
- CreateToken - creates token with the required permissions, expiration day and descriptionNote: The exact value (name) of your token will be shown just once and won’t be exposed anywhere afterward, so ensure you’ve saved it before closing method response.
- DeleteTokens - removes token(s) by ID
- EditToken - allows to adjust existing token
- GetTokenApiList - returns a list of all operations, which can be authenticated by token (upon granting the appropriate permissions during creation)
- GetTokens - displays information on a particular (or multiple) account token
RegenerateToken - generates a new name for existing token, while maintaining all other parameters
Improvements
Deployment Manager Improvements
The version control systems (VCS) are extremely popular among developers, as they allow to record and recall changes to your application, as well as manage several different versions of it at once. Thus, to simplify integration of VCS projects into Jelastic, a special enhancements were applied to the Platform deployment manager.
Starting with the current 5.3 release, it has two tabs - Archive and Git/SVN. The first one maintains functionality of packages deployment via uploading them from the local machine or providing a direct link to file, while the Git/SVN tab is a new implementation. Here, you are able to store VCS projects for a simpler future deploys (i.e. no need to specify your repository detail multiple times).
Use the Add Project button on the top of the Git/SVN tab of deployment manager to create a new VCS project. Within the opened Add Git / SVN Project frame, you can specify any custom Name, provide Git or SVN repository details and, if needed, Use authentication. When everything is configured, click the Add or Add + Deploy button. Either way, your project will be stored in manager, but, in the later case, you can immediately deploy it to any environment on your account.
Note: While deploying project to the Java application server, the Maven build node is obligatory required, which, due to this improvement, can be either selected from the list of already existing ones or automatically installed to the deployment target environment.
Apart from that, some changes were applied to the environments list in dashboard. For now, all of the deployed projects are shown under the Deployments section (former Context / Projects), which is displayed as the first element within the application server layer. Hover over Deployments to get a quick access to the File, URL and Git/SVN deployment dialogs through the same-named buttons.
Also, all of the deployment API methods were refactored and gathered under the new Environment > Deployment section:- CreateProject - creates a project based on sources from a VCS repository (both login/password or ssh key authorization can be used)
- EditProject - edits the specified project
- DeleteProject - deletes project from the deployment manager
- DeployArchive - deploys an application package into the given context (ROOT by default)
- DeployProject - deploys application based on the specified project
- GetProjects - returns information about the projects
- RenameContext - renames application by moving it from the old context to a new one
- Undeploy - removes application from the given context
Update - updates project from a VCS repository
Unlocked Environment Management During Reconfiguration
While applying changes to an environment, it becomes fully locked (i.e. prohibits any other actions) and automatically closes all the associated tabs and dialogs in dashboard. Starting with the current Jelastic release, such behaviour was changed, allowing to continue environment management during the ongoing time-consuming operation (e.g. topology adjustment, Docker container redeploy, application deploy, etc). Herewith, the list of allowed actions varies depending on the exact process in progress, but in the most cases you’ll be able to access file manager to adjust configs, as well as to monitor environment via logs and statistics.
Additionally, tabs and dialogs related to the adjusted environment will no longer be closed (with the exception of the Docker container redeploy action). Herewith, when frame operates with container, that is being removed, it will automatically switch to another node.
Back to the list of Improvements
UI/UX Improvements
- Possibility to Download Log Files
- Welcome Tutorial Update
- Redesign of the Default HelloWorld Application Example
Possibility to Download Log Files
Logs analysis is an important part of web hosting monitoring, which helps to understand system behaviour as well as perform troubleshooting in case of necessity. Jelastic provides access to server log files directly from dashboard (with the Log button next to the required node) for a quick online analysis.
In the 5.3 Platform upgrade, the possibility to download the appropriate files from a Cloud to your local machine was implemented. This could be done using a new Download button, which was added to the top pane of the log tab. In such a way, you can explore logs with any preferable analysis tools or perform any application-specific operations with the obtained file.
Back to the list of UI/UX Improvements
Welcome Tutorial Update
Helping new users to get started, the Jelastic welcome tutorial is automatically started upon the very first login to dashboard (although, it can be called manually from the Help > Tutorial menu at any time). This short guide provides a summary of the Platform main benefits and, consequently, leads through the steps required to create environment and to deploy the first application.
Currently, the first part of the welcome tutorial (i.e. Platform overview presentation) was updated to show info on how to build your application topology. Additionally, some minor adjustments were applied to the other slides to provide even better clarity on the Jelastic Cloud pricing advantages.
Back to the list of UI/UX Improvements
Redesign of the Default HelloWorld Application Example
All new users on the Platform are automatically provided with a simple, lightweight HelloWorld application sample. This package can be easily deployed to any Jelastic-managed app server and is used during a welcome tutorial. In the current 5.3 release, it was upgraded according to the latest Jelastic design. Additionally, the HelloWorld package was provided with a number of useful links (Pricing FAQ, SSH Access, etc) and some specific URLs based on the used program language (e.g. for PHP - PHP Settings, PHP Extensions).
Environment Variables Management via API
In the present Jelastic 5.3 release, two new API methods were added to help managing environment variables in Docker containers and dockerized stacks. Both operations were specially designed to work with either single node or a whole layer at once:
- AddContainerEnvVars - adds variables to the target container(s)
RemoveContainerEnvVars - removes variables from the target container(s)
Herewith, variables are provided in the JSON format, which allows to add / remove several of them at a time. If both single container and layer are specified as target for these methods, the nodeId parameter will have a higher priority (i.e. only specified container will be updated). Also, in case the AddContainerEnvVars method is provided with a variable, which already exists, it will be overwritten using a new value.
Removed Deployment Delay Option for Clusterized GlassFish
Upon deploying a project (either from archive or Git/SVN) to environment with multiple application servers, the appropriate Sequential deployment delay field appears at the confirmation frame. It allows to set a time frame (30 seconds by default) between redeployment of current and subsequent containers in one node group (layer). In such a way, the handled application downtime can be avoided.
Starting with the current 5.3 release, the above-described field won’t be shown at the appropriate dialog box, when deploying to the GlassFish application server. Here, all the configurations are performed on a master node only, while slaves get these changes through replication.
Fixes Compatible with Prior Versions
Below, you can find lists of fixes which except of being implemented within Jelastic 5.3 release, have been also integrated to Platforms with preceding Jelastic versions by means of the appropriate patches:
| Jelastic 5.3 | ||
|---|---|---|
| # | Compatible from | Description |
| JE-33862 | 3.3 | The GlassFish 4 application server start page can not be accessed |
| JE-34125 | 3.3 | Incorrect redirect to admin panel in the GlassFish 4 application server |
| JE-33629 | 4.9 | Securing Redis nodes with obligatory authentication by default |
| JE-32086 | 4.10 | Rename the deprecated directives in Apache Balancer configuration files to their latest denominations |
| JE-33022 | 4.10 | Environment topology is not updated in SSH menu after refresh |
| JE-31847 | 5.0.5 | Incorrect redirect for the keys shortcut in a favorites list of the Tomcat 9 software stack |
| JE-32103 | 5.0.5 | Insufficient permissions for the logs files in the HAProxy load balancer stack |
| JE-33133 | 5.0.5 | Improper CSS styles for SQL editor in the phpMyAdmin panel on MySQL or MariaDB nodes |
| JE-33615 | 5.0.5 | Tomcat 9 stack can not be accessed via https after addition of a custom SSL certificate |
| JE-34008 | 5.0.5 | Remove old hosts from Varnish configs after environment cloning |
| JE-31900 | 5.0.6 | The dockerized Varnish stack is not properly initiated on startup |
| JE-33726 | 5.0.7 | The can't read ssl certificate error appears, while installing Let’s Encrypt add-on |
| JE-33524 | 5.1 | Error, while deploying projects using Jelastic Maven plugin |
| JE-33327 | 5.2 | Application can not be connected after being deployed into already existing context on JBoss and WildFly nodes |
Software Stack Versions
The most notable software stack updates in confines of Jelastic 5.3 release is addition of the OpenJDK 7/8 engines, which are compatible with the Tomcat 6/7/8, Maven, TomEE dockerized templates. Below, you can check the list of the most accurate Jelastic software stack versions:
| Stack | Jelastic 5.3 |
|---|---|
| Tomcat 6 | 6.0.53 |
| Tomcat 7 | 7.0.79 |
| Tomcat 8 | 8.5.5 |
| TomEE | 7.0.3 |
| Jetty 6 | 6.1.26 |
| GlassFish 3 | 3.1.2.2 |
| Java 6 | 1.6.0_45 |
| Java 7 | 1.7.0_79 |
| Java 8 | 1.8.0_141 |
| OpenJDK 7 | 1.7.0.141 |
| OpenJDK 8 | 1.8.0.141 |
| MariaDB | 5.5.57 / 10.2.7 |
| MongoDB 2.6 | 2.6.11 |
| MongoDB 3.0 | 3.4 |
| MySQL | 5.6.37 / 5.7.19 |
| PostgreSQL | 9.5.5 |
| CouchDB | 1.6.1 |
| nginx | 1.10.1 |
| Maven | 3.5.0 |
| Centos 7 | 7.2 |
| Memcached | 1.4.24 |
| Apache | 2.4.6-45 |
| NGINX PHP | 1.10.1 |
| NGINX Ruby | 1.12.0 |
| PHP 5.3 | 5.3.29 |
| PHP 5.4 | 5.4.45 |
| PHP 5.5 | 5.5.38 |
| PHP 5.6 | 5.6.31 |
| PHP 7 | 7.0.21 |
| PHP 7.1 | 7.1.7 |
| Ruby 2.2 | 2.2.7 |
| Ruby 2.3 | 2.3.4 |
| Ruby 2.4 | 2.4.1 |
| Python 2.7 | 2.7.12 |
| Python 3.3 | 3.3.6 |
| Python 3.4 | 3.4.5 |
| Python 3.5 | 3.5.2 |
| Node.js | 0.10.46 / 0.12.15 |
| Node.js 4 | 4.26 / 4.3.0 / 4.5.0 |
| Node.js 5 | 5.1.1 / 5.6.0 |
| Node.js 6 | 6.5.0 |
Bug Fixes
In the table below, you can see the list of bug fixes in Jelastic PaaS & CaaS 5.3:
| Jelastic 5.3 | |
|---|---|
| # | Description |
| JE-3856 | Incorrect font size for VPS label in Russian localization |
| JE-8762 | Same ID is assigned to archives, if upload is initiated simultaneously |
| JE-15525 | Add warning message in topology wizard upon removing public IP for node with installed FTP addon |
| JE-18638 | Unhandled error, while trying to edit custom file with insufficient permissions via file manager |
| JE-22150 | Renew icon on the environment remove confirmation frame |
| JE-22505 | Incorrect validation message, while using the ‘_’ symbol in environment name |
| JE-22934 | Some elements of environment settings are displayed incorrectly in a full screen mode |
| JE-23043 | Automatically correct the “root” context to “ROOT” on Apache PHP |
| JE-23044 | Warning notification is not displayed upon deploying archive with a blank context specified and the ROOT context already in use by Git/SVN project |
| JE-23421 | ZDT deployment can be enabled for non ROOT context, while called via API |
| JE-23813 | Unhandled error, while building project with incorrect parameters via API |
| JE-23878 | Sometimes the Activate button is not displayed for trial users on the Quotas & Pricing > Account Limits frame |
| JE-25819 | Tasks for both add and remove horizontal scaling triggers are displayed, even when just one option was selected |
| JE-27178 | Cloned environment can be hibernated earlier if no actions were performed with it |
| JE-27867 | Sometimes regex expressions are ignored by search in file manager |
| JE-27965 | Configuration files can not be edited on the dockerized stack templates |
| JE-28058 | A mount point record is added even in case the data export operation was failed |
| JE-28300 | Incorrect versions sequence in topology wizard for the WildFly stack |
| JE-28354 | The CouchDB and MongoDB software stacks can not be created |
| JE-28377 | Some buttons are displayed with artifacts upon zooming in browser |
| JE-28433 | The Import button should be disabled, when nothing is specified on the Import > JPS frame |
| JE-28635 | Environment dependencies should be checked upon scaling in Storage nodes |
| JE-28638 | Unhandled error appears, when collaborator tries to bind/swap external domain for environment, where owner does not have the appropriate permissions |
| JE-28691 | Sometimes the engine tabs can be duplicated in topology wizard for trial and beta users |
| JE-29007 | Files are not displayed on the second container upon creating same mount point on two nodes |
| JE-29079 | Some directories from the favorites list are absent on the dockerized containers |
| JE-29248 | Docker volumes are duplicated if specified with a “/” character in the end |
| JE-29623 | The input field for the balance less than option in auto-refill section is displayed incorrectly |
| JE-30761 | Public IPs can not be swapped for VPS nodes without internal IP |
| JE-30766 | The wrap lines functionality should work for YAML in the Import > JPS frame |
| JE-30847 | Jelastic welcome tutorial should be interrupted in case of a "No free hardware" error |
| JE-31069 | Highlight environment group in a list, when trying to add one that is already attached |
| JE-31419 | Incorrect favourites list in file manager for the dockerized Varnish template |
| JE-31427 | Incorrect status label for environment during the FTP add-on installation |
| JE-31430 | Incorrect icon in the file manager for files added to / removed from Docker volume |
| JE-31459 | Delay between starting to build a project with Maven node and displaying the building status at dashboard |
| JE-31466 | While connected to it via SSH Gate, container name is displayed incorrectly for dockerized stacks after redeploy |
| JE-31511 | Error, when opening and instantly closing the new project addition frame for the Apache PHP, NGINX PHP or Maven node |
| JE-31816 | MySQL connector is absent on the Tomcat and TomEE dockerized stacks |
| JE-31902 | Error, while configuring target region in on the environment Settings > Migration frame |
| JE-31922 | Unhandled error on dashboard upon creating environment with existing domain name via CLI |
| JE-32185 | Collaborators with a view permissions can not download files from the dashboard config manager |
| JE-32226 | Incorrect validation for the URL field, while adding project from Git/SVN |
| JE-32672 | Engines drop-down list should not be displayed in topology wizard, when just one option is available |
| JE-32746 | Directory name should be validated by length, while adding Docker volumes |
| JE-32911 | The Add to Volumes button should be disabled for the folders with restricted access |
| JE-33079 | If account limits are insufficient for JPS package installation, it should proceed using the maximum of allowed resources |
| JE-33080 | Mount points can not be configured between two shared environments |
| JE-33125 | The zip binaries are absent on the dockerized stack templates |
| JE-33213 | Environment nodes in dashboard should be sorted according to the topology layers order |
| JE-33214 | Not all IP addresses of the SSH Gate are allowed for connection to the 22 port of dockerized stack containers |
| JE-33215 | The core dump files are created, when managing container via file manager |
| JE-33324 | The maximize button should be hidden for the URL tab of the Import frame |
| JE-33330 | Project update hangs on the Python and Ruby nodes, if the corresponding Git/SVN URL was specified incorrectly |
| JE-33334 | The UDP traffic does not pass through environment endpoints |
| JE-33338 | Docker container settings can not be accessed for the password-protected private Docker images |
| JE-33341 | The post parameters are not working properly, while processing application content or JSON file |
| JE-33364 | The CouchDB container can not be created |
| JE-33380 | No response from the Jelastic CLI commands after sign in |
| JE-33381 | The help messages for the Docker Volumes and Links settings in topology wizard are not displayed |
| JE-33384 | Environments with Jelastic certified containers can not be exported from the regions based on Virtuozzo 7 |
| JE-33469 | Unhandled error, while trying to export files from a shared environment by a collaborator with a view permissions |
| JE-33630 | Upon consecutive execution of the restart and redeploy operations, the action log is hidden each time |
| JE-33641 | Balance refills using the WHMCS credit are not accepted |
| JE-33724 | Environments can not be created via Jelastic CLI |
| JE-33882 | The removed environments are displayed in dashboard with the Creating status |