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West Connectivity Release Notes

v1.6

Summary:

Breaking Changes:

  • Content service api added no-tag filtering function leveraging existing parameter: (Task 1730218)
    • V1.5: tag = {} returns all data.
    • V1.6: tag = {} returns data without tag(s).
  • Upload file name constraint update: (User Story 1319838)
    • V1.5: [ 0-9 a-z A-Z - _ . ! * ( ) ].
    • V1.6: [ 0-9 a-z A-Z - _ . ].
  • Deprecated USM service has been removed from the default deployment: (User Story 1723498)
  • Solution template zip import feature: (Task 1705188)
    • V1.5: For Admin API(Bizapi), user should provide the templateFileName parameter when create a solution template or create a solution
    • V1.6: For Admin API(Bizapi), The templateFileName parameter is deprecated. Users should provide the templateID instead.

Limitations:

  • Scripting execution rate limit configuration:
    • For solutions created in V1.5, default rate limit value display a wrong value (100 instead of 10). Applying the configuration will align the values.
    • For solutions created in V1.6, no action is needed.
  • In V1.5, manually delete the west_ca_fingerprint from the solution template for Connector device2 service YAML of exported files, as it cannot be used across clusters with different CA fingerprint setups.
  • Content upload via Connectivity HTTP API:
    • V1.5: After setting the Content service whitelist to a wildcard, the service accepts requests without a header content type or URL filename extension.
    • V1.6: Needs content type and filename extension.
  • If device-defined resources (config_io, data_in) are enabled after setting up the OPCUA service, reapply the settings to receive config_io data.
  • Service Log UI will pause after 15 minutes (need to refresh browser page to continue receiving new logs).
  • Connectors with the same name will fail to pair with same application.
  • Solution name must be within 62 characters.
  • The solution template supports only one type of import method: either Azure devops/Git link or ZIP. It does not support both import methods within a single template.
  • For solution creation using an imported template ZIP file via the Admin API, a solution ID is required. The mock ID, generated during file validation, can be used for solution creation.

Key Updates:

  • Content and Device Management Enhancements: Implemented flexible storage architecture, tag-based filtering, improved device state filtering, and multi-connector synchronization, along with UI features to manage data retention and streamline content files synchronization and restoration.
  • UI and Solution Template Optimization: Enhanced the user interface for endpoints, integrated commit ID displays to easily identify template versions, and refined storage processes.
  • Security and System Improvements: Extended comprehensive West Certificate Authority support across all services to enhance security compliance.

Detailed Updates by Component:

Content Management

  • Content File Naming Standards: Enforced file naming limitations [a-z A-Z 0-9 _ - .] to minimize query and filter errors.
  • Flexible Storage Design: Implemented a new storage architecture, allowing each platform to define up to two storage locations, primary and secondary storage, prior to deployment.
  • Retention Policy Management: Added configuration services for managing data retention and tiering policies efficiently.
  • Edge Content File Synchronization: Enabled the display of edge content files in the cloud platform upon connector synchronization.
  • Tag-Based Filtering: Introduced a filter for files lacking tag(s) and the ability to count content files by their tag(s).

Device Connectivity

  • Enhanced State Filtering: Updated device state filtering options to align with the database definitions for improved data management.
  • Multi-Connector Sync: Introduced a UI feature enabling seamless synchronization of multiple edge connectors to the cloud.
  • Data Restoration and Import: Added the ability to restore and import archived signal and resource data directly from the UI.
  • (1.6.1) Data Query Enhancement: Enhances query logic to handle data retrieval across midnight boundaries.

Solution Template

  • Commit ID Display: Added the display of commit IDs to identify the current template version easily.
  • Optimized Storage Process: Refined template storage processes to utilize solution and element IDs instead of relying on zip file names.
Note

Uploads performed via zip in version 1.5 need to be re-uploaded to reflect these enhancements.

(1.6.1) AIML Servive

  • Cache Overwrite Behavior : When a user uploads a newer model with the same name to content_service, it takes up to 10 minutes for the new model to be cached. During this period, the AIML service will continue using the previously cached model until the new version becomes available.
Suggestion

To avoid potential cache confusion, it's recommended to upload the new version of the model using a different file name.

  • Remote Synced Content Access: The AIML service can now access content—including ONNX models, image files, and PKL files during inference—not only from its own connector but also from synced source connectors.

Endpoint Management

  • UI Enhancements for Endpoints: Launched a refined UI structure and styling to help users identify and differentiate various types of endpoints with ease.

System Enhancement

  • Comprehensive West CA Support: Extended West Certificate Authority (CA) support across all services to enhance security compliance.

v1.5

Summary:

Key Updates:

  • Content service now supports local storage and automated copy to secondary storage (Enables files in both local and cloud file storage).
  • Solution custom APIs powered by the Webservice endpoints now support native authentication with “API key” token.
  • Distributed System IoT data communication now enables downstream commands to the source IoT Connector.
  • Device search is enhanced with advanced query supporting multiple tags and comparison operators (=, !=, <, >).
  • New flexible and intuitive log page.

Detailed Updates by Component:

Connectivity

  • Support added for configuration of multiple PKI verification CA certificate.
  • Enhanced DOS protection with limits for concurrent active connections.
  • Added new m2 HTTP API capability to align signal/resource functions:
    • Query signal historical data.
    • Query signal last value.
  • Support pagination when list content with m2 HTTP API.
  • Apply URL encoding on all signal names (signal names will be stored as encoded name, there will be no decoding).
  • Expands certificate validation to accept if certificate does not have “.m2” in CNAME & support SAN domain match when client connect with certificate.
  • Support restore of archived IoT Signals data with fixed retention period.
  • Support import of archived IoT Signals data with user defined retention period.

Remote data Synchronization

  • Support downstream commands to “source” IoT Connector (allows user to send requests from cloud and executed in edge).
  • Dynamic source integration enables adding new sources without need of central system configuration & restart.
  • Important notes about backward compatibility for the remote synchronization feature:
    • Downstream commands are not fully supported to older source system versions (e.g. v1.4).
    • addIdentities, addIdentityTag, removeIdentityTag, listTagNames, setIdentityState, publishData.
  • If a new Source environment is upgraded to v1.5 (or later), the central system must be restarted.

OPCUA

  • Data read access for multiple signals.

Timer

  • New operation exposes history of triggered timeout events.

Content

  • On-premises deployments can now natively configure a local storage system instead of relying on cloud storage.
  • Support of a secondary remote storage configuration. Uploaded files will always be stored in primary storage and if secondary storage is configured, files will be automatically synchronized.

Email

  • Allows setup of global smtp/smtps definitions in environment variable.
  • Includes West CA for West internal email server support.

Webservice

  • Provides native authentication with “API key” token to enable secure custom APIs.

Solution Configuration

  • Solution template
    • Provides commit_id of the latest solution template version.
    • Allows import and export of Git & Zip files.

v1.4

Summary:

Key Updates:

  • The Content Service UI page of IoT solution has been refactored.
  • The Setting UI page of IoT solution has been refactored.
  • The structure of the Documentation feature page has been updated with a new functional map

Detailed Updates by Component:

Connectivity

  • The new HTTP API supports “publish as” feature
  • The new HTTP API supports data publication with timestamps
  • The response format for device2 APIs has been uniformed
  • Resource subscription is now supported
  • The "state" parameter has been removed from the response of the listIdentities API

AIML

  • New service for image inference based on customized Onnx model.
  • Support multi-stage model inference.

Timer

  • The new API allows for timers update in accordance with changes in resource settings.

Content

  • Several APIs have been added to facilitate the new UI interaction.

Webservice

  • The new "mobileApp" authentication scheme is now supported.

Script

  • The Lua crypto module now supports the cert validation.

v1.3

Summary:

Key Updates:

  • [UI] Login and register pages shows a completely new interface.
  • [UI] Marketplace has a new look and services/published elements are easier to pair.
  • [UI] Signals page now shows the subscribers of a specific signal.
  • [UI] Resource and Solution creation are simpler and easy to understand.
  • [UI] Create and publish solutions from Git repository.
  • [UI] New top bar contains better access to documentation, tutorial and support.
  • [Documentation] The documentation has been updated with a fresh, clear, and bright design.
  • Allow encryption and decryption of service configurations and environmental variables
  • Default disable device provisioning

Detailed Updates by Component:

Connectivity

  • Support multiple resources and timestamps for setting device data.
  • Enable setting an order parameter while querying data.
  • The performance of time-series database CRUD operations has been improved by over 3 times.
  • Support device metrics query to show device connection status and metrics
  • Support both HTTP/MQTT protocols simultaneously.
  • Subscription to a signal will return last value as 1st value before sending real-time data.
  • Signal/resource event allows users to know when event data is duplicated.
  • Archives data daily in CSV format and isolated by solution

OPCUA

  • In the service configuration, a new field of data type has been added.

BIZAPI

  • Solution template now allows direct link to git repo.
  • Limit only West Employees can invite users to IoT Platform

Script

  • Allow query last value for both signal and resource from Lua.
  • Allow users to set solution environment variables.

Timer

  • Allow users to set timer that triggers once or by schedule
  • Allow users to reset timer
  • Allow users to receive/disable of timer timeout event

Dispatcher

  • Allow dynamic service integration to have cross namespace connection

Content

  • Allow users to upload file directly with pre-signed url
  • Expose max size environment and increase the value to be < 512MB

v1.2

Summary:

West Connectivity v1.2 is released on iot.westpharma.com, with following new key features：

  1. Dynamic Service - Plug-&-Play and secure custom micro-service integration to the West Connectivity Marketplace
  2. Remote Data Sync - Synchronize plant data to cloud the cloud West Connectivity
  3. OPC-UA Integration - Ingest data from OPC-UA server, e.g. Kepware, directly into the West Connectivity
  4. Script QoS1 - Guaranteed data transformation and processing execution