Workflow Manager 2018
Release Notes
31 October 2018
Introduction
Workflow Manager helps enterprises efficiently manage the Application Readiness and Software License Optimization processes to streamline the procurement, preparation, deployment, and ongoing management of applications. Workflow Manager maximizes productivity of the IT team by automating change management, asset management, and other ITIL processes as part of the enterprise application lifecycle.
When IT-wide processes such as preparing application for deployment, migrations, and license optimization are managed poorly, expensive errors can occur, resulting in costly delays, lost productivity, and overspending. Workflow Manager standardizes, coordinates, and streamlines the management of applications through the entire enterprise lifecycle, reducing costs and maximizing productivity.
Workflow Manager supports both AdminStudio Suite and FlexNet Manager Suite for Enterprises. IT teams of every size use Workflow Manager to coordinate software asset management—from application packaging and deployment, though software licensing and optimization after deployment. Workflow Manager can manage desktop management processes, such as preparing for Windows migrations and application virtualization, as well as procurement, auditing, and retirement of software assets.
New Features
In Workflow Manager 2018, customer issues were addressed. For more information, see Resolved Issues.
| • | New Option to Track Workflow Phases for SLA Status |
| • | Click-Through Reporting on Dashboard |
| • | Validation on Contact Email and Contact Phone Number Data Elements |
| • | Official Support for Microsoft Edge Browser |
Note • In addition to these new features, several customer issues were addressed. For more information, see Resolved Issues.
New Option to Track Workflow Phases for SLA Status
In previous releases, you were able to track the SLA (Service Level Agreement) status of workflow requests and individual workflow steps, so that you know which ones are proceeding on schedule (as per their service level agreement), and which ones are late or at risk of being late.
In Workflow Manager 2018, you can now also track the SLA status of individual workflow phases. To enable this feature, select the new Track for workflow phase SLA option on the Workflow Phase Details view of the Template Details page.
New “Track for Workflow Phase SLA” Option on Workflow Phase Details View
Workflow Manager 2018 also offers reporting on workflow phase SLA status, including a new Workflow Phase SLA Report available on the Reports > Standard Reports menu.
Note • This feature was tracked in issue IOJ-1744385.
Click-Through Reporting on Dashboard
On the Workflow Manager dashboard, extensive click-through reporting is now available. For example, in previous releases the tiles listing the number of open, late, at risk, and on time requests listed a number, but there was no easy way to access a list of the items in that category.
Workflow Manager Dashboard Tiles
In Workflow Manager 2018, you can click on these tiles to display a report on each individual category. For example, when you click on Open Requests, you will see a report that lists all open requests.
Open Requests Report
Other areas of the dashboard are also linked to these new click-through reports.
Note • This feature was tracked in issue IOJ-1763363.
Validation on Contact Email and Contact Phone Number Data Elements
In Workflow Manager 2018, you can now specify that the contact email and phone number data elements be validated upon submission.
If the e-mail address or phone number is invalid (meaning that it does not meet the specified validation rules), a message will be displayed stating that the entry is invalid, and prompting the user to correct the entry.
Note • These features were tracked in issues IOJ-1857008 and IOJ-1857011.
Official Support for Microsoft Edge Browser
Workflow Manager 2018 now officially supports the Microsoft Edge browser.
Note • This feature was tracked in issue IOJ-1869662.
Ability to Specify Different Authentication Types when Connecting to a Directory Service Using SSL
In Workflow Manager 2018, you can specify different authentication types when establishing a connection to a Directory service using SSL.
To specify authentication types, use the following new option in the web.config file:
<add key="AuthenticationTypes" value=""/>
In the value field, use commas to specify multiple values such as:
value="FastBind,ReadonlyServer"
Possible values for the value field are:
| • | Anonymous |
| • | Delegation |
| • | Encryption |
| • | FastBind |
| • | None |
| • | ReadonlyServer |
| • | Sealing |
| • | Secure |
| • | SecureSocketsLayer |
| • | ServerBind |
| • | Signing |
If no value or an invalid value is specified, defaults will be used to establish the connection:
| • | Defaults for SSL—SecureSocketsLayer, ReadonlyServer, d3FastBind |
| • | Defaults for non-SSL—ServerBind, ReadonlyServer, FastBind |
For more details, see the AuthenticationTypes Enum topic in the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.7.2 documentation.
Note • This feature was tracked in issue IOJ-1888169.
Resolved Issues
This section lists the customer issues that were resolved in Workflow Manager 2018:
|
Issue |
Description |
|
IOJ-1866507 |
The Active Directory search on the Work Assignment view does not return all users in the group. |
|
IOJ-1866831 |
Active directory authentication fails when the display name attribute for a user in Active Directory is not populated. |
System Requirements
This section lists the system requirements for Workflow Manager.
| • | Workflow Manager Web Server |
| • | Workflow Manager / AdminStudio Database Server |
| • | File Share Server |
| • | Workflow Manager End User Computers |
| • | Portal Web Server for Intranet Clients |
| • | Portal Web Server for Internet Clients |
| • | Workflow Manager System Account Requirements |
Workflow Manager Web Server
The following table lists the system requirements for the Web server that hosts the Workflow Manager Data Web service and the actual Workflow Manager Web site.
|
Item |
Description |
|
Processor |
32-bit or 64-bit processor at 2 GHz or greater. Note • Workflow Manager runs in 32-bit mode on a 64-bit OS. |
|
RAM |
4 GB or greater (8 GB preferred) |
|
Hard Disk Space |
100 GB or greater |
|
Operating System |
Windows Server 2008 R2 or later / English base language (Windows Server 2012 preferred) |
|
IIS |
IIS 7.0 or later |
|
.NET Framework |
.NET Framework 4.6.1 or later |
|
ASP.NET |
ASP.NET 4.0.30319 or later |
|
MSXML |
MSXML 6.0 Note • MSXML is installed by the Workflow Manager installer. |
Workflow Manager / AdminStudio Database Server
This following table lists the recommended system configuration for a Workflow Manager/AdminStudio Application Catalog database server:
Note • While minimum requirements are listed below, the recommended system configuration for a database server is dependent upon the number of users and the number of packages that will be imported into the Application Catalog database
|
Item |
Description |
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|
Processor |
32-bit or 64-bit processor at 2 GHz or greater |
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|
RAM |
4 GB or greater (8 GB preferred) |
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|
Hard Disk Space |
80 GB or greater |
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|
Operating System |
Windows Server 2008 R2 or later (Windows Server 2012 preferred) |
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|
Database Software |
SQL Server 2008 R2 or later databases, including SQL Server 2012 and SQL Server 2014 (latest version preferred)
Latin1-General, case-insensitive, accent-sensitive, kanatype-insensitive, width-insensitive for Unicode Data, SQL Server Sort Order 52 on Code Page 1252 for non-Unicode data
Note • Before attempting to connect to an existing Microsoft SQL Server, open SQL Server Configuration Manager and make sure that the following three protocols are enabled:
|
File Share Server
This following table lists the system requirements for the machine that stores Workflow Manager’s uploaded source files and the repackaged output files:
|
Item |
Description |
|
Processor |
2 GHz or greater |
|
RAM |
2 GB or greater |
|
Hard Disk Space |
1 TB or greater |
|
Operating System |
Windows Server 2008 R2 or later |
Workflow Manager End User Computers
This following table lists the recommended system configuration for a Workflow Manager 2018 end user machine:
|
Item |
Description |
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|
Browser |
|
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|
Monitor Resolution |
1024 x 768 pixels or higher |
Portal Web Server for Intranet Clients
A portal is not required to support Windows NT authentication. You can enable Windows NT authentication directly on the web site.
Single sign-on is only supported when the user that logs into IIS has been imported into the Workflow Manager database using Active Directory. The administrator can either import the complete group or only one user. If a complete group is imported, then all the members of the group can be logged into Workflow Manager using single sign-on.
The system requirements for this machine are the same as for the Workflow Manager Web Server.
Portal Web Server for Internet Clients
For better security and to manage access to the Workflow Manager Web Server, it is recommend to also set up a portal Web server for Internet clients.
If Workflow Manager needs to be accessed over the Internet, it is recommended to set up a portal Web server, residing in a demilitarized zone (DMZ). This Web server:
| • | accepts the requests from the Internet clients, |
| • | forwards them to the Workflow Manager, |
| • | gets responses from the Workflow Manager, and |
| • | forwards them to the clients |
You can configure the Workflow Manager to entertain the request only if it is coming from the Portal Web server, and otherwise reject the request. The Portal Web server manages access to Workflow Manager and ensures that clients are not able to access any data or documents without logging in.
The system requirements for this machine are the same as for Workflow Manager Web Server.
Workflow Manager System Account Requirements
The AMS_SYSTEM account on the Workflow Manager server requires the following privileges:
| • | IIS_WPG group member—Must be a member of the local IIS_WPG group (or IIS_USRS) on the web server. |
| • | Modify permissions on file share—Must have “modify” permissions on the Workflow Manager file share. |
| • | Email permissions—Must have permission to send e-mail through the SMTP server. |
| • | Active Directory query permission—Must have permission to query Active Directory. |
Legal Information
Copyright Notice
Copyright © 2018 Flexera. All Rights Reserved.
This publication contains proprietary and confidential information and creative works owned by Flexera and its licensors, if any. Any use, copying, publication, distribution, display, modification, or transmission of such publication in whole or in part in any form or by any means without the prior express written permission of Flexera is strictly prohibited. Except where expressly provided by Flexera in writing, possession of this publication shall not be construed to confer any license or rights under any Flexera intellectual property rights, whether by estoppel, implication, or otherwise.
All copies of the technology and related information, if allowed by Flexera, must display this notice of copyright and ownership in full.
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For a list of trademarks and patents that are owned by Flexera, see http://www.flexerasoftware.com/intellectual-property. All other brand and product names mentioned in Flexera products, product documentation, and marketing materials are the trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Restricted Rights Legend
The Software is commercial computer software. If the user or licensee of the Software is an agency, department, or other entity of the United States Government, the use, duplication, reproduction, release, modification, disclosure, or transfer of the Software, or any related documentation of any kind, including technical data and manuals, is restricted by a license agreement or by the terms of this Agreement in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 12.212 for civilian purposes and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement 227.7202 for military purposes. The Software was developed fully at private expense. All other use is prohibited.