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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.

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.

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