Data Center Expert 7.8.0 release notes

[EcoStruxureIT]

The v7.8.0 release contains updates to comply with California law for the security of connected devices.

You must contact your local Technical Support and verify you have a valid software support contract to receive the StruxureWare Data Center Expert v.7.8.0 update file. 
NOTE: The StruxureWare Data Center Expert v7.8.0 update file is not available for download on this site.

Part Numbers Affected

AP9465

AP9470

AP9475

AP94VMTRL

Minimum System Requirements

The DCE console is a stand-alone Java application that runs on systems that meet the following requirements:

• A PC with a 1-GHz or better AMD/Intel processor running a 64-bit operating system: Microsoft® Windows® Server 2012, or 2016, Windows 10; Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® version 6.0; CentOS 6 

• At least 1 GB of RAM

• Screen resolution should be set to at least 1024 x 768.

• Supported browsers: Microsoft Internet Explorer® 11; Edge; Mozilla® Firefox®; Google Chrome™ See Known issues for details about support for Internet Explorer and Edge.

New features in v7.8.0

California state legislature security updates for network-connected devices
Data Center Expert was updated to comply with California law for the security of connected devices.

New versions of the APC Network Management Card (NMC) firmware have the SNMP protocol disabled by default. You cannot discover devices with this new NMC firmware in Data Center Expert until you enable SNMP on the device. More information

Note: The SNMP settings on previously discovered devices are not affected by a firmware update to a version that contains these security updates.      

Software vulnerabilities fixed in v7.8.0

CVE-2019-11810 – Kernel: NULL pointer can lead to DoS

CVE-2018-9568 – Kernel: Possible escalation of privileges

CVE-2019-11135 – TSX transactions

See the Data Center Expert Security for more information.

Server operating system

Server OS: Proprietary CentOS 6 - CentOS 6.10 (kernel revision 2.6.32-754.24.3.el6.x86_64)

Java Version: 1.8.0_201-b09    

Issues Fixed

• The Sensor History graph now displays as expected when you click the graph image in a dashboard gadget.

• The data point limit for saved graphs was increased in the web client to improve performance.

Known Issues

• Alarms do not load when you access the web client from Internet Explorer 11 or Edge versions lower than 80.0. Alarms load as expected in Firefox and Chrome.
  Note: To update Edge to the latest version, go to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge
• The Windows client does not restart after server change. After you change the server in the File > Change Server in the installed client, the client closes and does not restart. This only occurs in the Windows client. Linux client installs are not affected.

Software update procedure

The following steps are necessary to update DCE v7.7.1 to DCE v7.8.0.

You must have a valid software support contract to receive the DCE v.7.8.0 update.  If you do not, then you will need to purchase one to receive the update.

DCE must be at a minimum of v7.7.1 to update to DCE v7.8.0.  If you are downloading DCE v7.8.0, you will need access to the Internet. 

IMPORTANT: Do not reboot the server during the update.

The DCE 7.8.0 update performs a data migration that takes under an hour for most systems. The data migration can take longer if the system has thousands of devices and years of history, and varies based on several factors:

• Number of devices
• Number of sensors connected to those devices
• Polling interval
• Frequency at which sensor values change. For example, input voltage to UPSs can fluctuate throughout the day vs. temperature sensors in a strictly controlled environment that almost always report the same value.

You can see the status of the update on the Data Center Expert web client Home page.

NOTICE: Before beginning an update, remember to run a full backup on your DCE by going to System > Server Administration Settings > Server Backup/Restore, create a backup entry and then click Start.

1. Download the upgrade.zip file, or contact Technical Support for assistance.
   Note: The restore.iso file may be needed for later use if a re-installation is required. See Restoring using ISO Format for instructions for restoring your data from a restore.iso file from the ISO format.
2. Extract/expand the upgrade zip file into a separate directory on the hard drive of the system that will be running the DCE Console.
3. Login to your DCE v7.7.1 server with full server access. Now select Updates from the menu bar then Apply Server Update.
4. Click Import and look into the subdirectory where extracted files are placed. The structure of the extracted fields should contain two folders, "BW" and "NBCCore", and an index file, "nbcpkg.lst"
5. Select the "nbcpkg.lst" file and click "Open".
6. The Upgrade/New Packages table will update indicating there is an update available for the DCE server. Check the "Install/Upgrade" option for the package(s) you want to upgrade. Click the Install Selected button to start the upgrade for the selected package(s). You will be prompted to confirm you want to proceed with the update. Click Install Update to start the update process. Do not reboot the server during the update process.
7. When the file transfer completes, DCE will restart and disconnect your console connection. You can point a web browser to the DCE server for status.
8. When the update is complete, point a web browser to the DCE server, and select Install DCE Client.

Restoring Data Center Expert using ISO Format

Warning: Only perform the steps in this section if directed to do so by a Technical Support technician.

Before You Restore:  A system restore will erase all data and restore the DCE hardware server to its factory default settings. Please make sure you have a copy of all installed license keys and network settings prior to restore.

1. Download the restore.iso file to create a bootableUSBkey, or contact Technical Support for assistance.
   1. For a USBKey, follow the instructions provided in Creating a bootableUSBKey (Windows or Linux machine).
2. Place the USB key in the USB port of your DCE appliance.
3. Reboot DCE.
4. When the appliance restarts the system restore process begins automatically. This process takes approximately 10 minutes for the 1U DCE Basic, 15 minutes for 1U DCE Standard or 25 minutes for 2U DCE Enterprise. When the restore is complete, you will be prompted to remove the USB key and hit enter to reboot the server.
5. Once DCE has restarted, you may configure the DCE network settings per instructions in the DCE Installation Guide.

Migrating a Data Center Expert hardware server to a virtual appliance

Before You Migrate: To migrate a DCE hardware server to a virtual appliance, you must purchase and apply an activation key.  Additionally, you must contact APC Support for new node license keys and application license keys for the virtual appliance.

1. Perform a back up of the DCE hardware server, using the Server Backup/Restore option, accessed from the Server Administration Settings option in the System menu.
2. Deploy the demo version OVA, and configure it using the hardware equivalents for the DCE Basic, Standard, or Enterprise server from which you are migrating. The available disk space for the virtual appliance must be greater than the disk space used by the hardware server. You cannot restore to a virtual appliance with fewer CPU, fewer network adapters, less RAM, or less available disk space than the hardware server. See help for Deploying and configuring a DCE virtual appliance, and DCE virtual appliance equivalent configurations.
3. Perform a restore on the virtual appliance, using the Server Backup/Restore option, accessed from the Server Administration Settings option in the System menu. You cannot restore to a virtual machine other than the DCE virtual appliance.
4. Apply the activation key to the virtual appliance.
5. Login to the DCE client. In the "License Keys" display, accessed from the Server Administration Settings option in the System menu, apply the new node license keys and application license keys you received from APC Support.

Creating a bootable USB Key (Windows or Linux machine)

Instructions for a Windows machine:

1. InsertUSBkey (no larger than 4GB) into your system.
2. Extract the following file to a temporary directory:
   DCExpertUsbFlashRestore_Win_7.8.0.zip
3. Open a command prompt to the temporary directory and run mkDCExpertRestoreUsbKey.bat <iso image filename>. For example: mkDCExpertRestoreUsbKey.bat c:\tmp\restore.iso
4. Answer the prompts as appropriate.

Instructions for a Linux machine:

1. Insert a 2GB (or larger) USB key into your system.
2. Extract the following file to a temporary directory: 
   DCExpertUsbFlashRestore_Linux_7.8.0.tar.gz
3. Open a command prompt to the temporary directory and run mkDCExpertRestoreUsbKey.sh <iso image filename>. For example: mkDCExpertRestoreUsbKey.sh /tmp/restore.iso
4. Answer the prompts as appropriate.

Third-party USB key scripts:

The scripts used to create USB keys use the following software:

Syslinux	http://syslinux.zytor.com/	X	X
7-zip	http://www.7-zip.org	X
GNU sed	http://unxutils.sourceforge.net	X

You can now choose to compress a backup. The compressed backup is a single tar.gz file with a .dce file extension for easier filename filtering. More..