Stratusphere Release Notes v6.6.1-1 (September 20, 2022)

New Features

  • Page File Metrics: Based on a customer request, Liquidware added additional data related to Page Files such as collecting all locations of page files, page file management (automatic, system managed, or custom settings), the initial size and peak size of the page files, along with whether no files or temporary page files were configured.
  • Zee OS: Liquidware added CID Key support for thin clients running the Zee OS by Zee Tim.

Enhancements

Advanced Inspectors

  • Enhanced reliability and visibility of metrics across all platforms by displaying physical disk stats for all machines instead of partition stats thereby showing real data across Windows, Apple, and Linux platforms.
  • Enhanced visibility by displaying a machine’s NIC Link Speed as a metric column and its mac-address as a Lookup within the Advanced > Inspectors > Machines & Users tabs under the Network > Network Details view. This enhancement was requested by a few Liquidware customers.
  • Enhanced visibility related to CPU temperatures by providing guidance to highlight which machines may be running too hot based on their temperatures. If temperatures are too high, it could indicate that environmental problems related to high ambient temperatures, or faulty fans, or whether the machine is unsuited for the workloads it is being assigned, etc. This information is displayed under the Advanced > Inspectors > Machines & Users tab under the Fit Consumption > Processor > Temperature view.
  • Enhanced visibility related to durations associated within each step of the Login Breakdown Process under the Advanced > Inspectors > Logins tab default view.
  • Enhanced visibility related to Services running on machines by adding a series of checks within the Advanced > SpotChecks tab. Checks added include Core usage, CPU MHz, RAM, Total & Write Disk IOPs & KBs, Network IOPs and KBs transferred, and Handles used by Services.
  • Enhanced reliability of continuously accepting data uploaded on the Hub by reducing the quota of the disk space used for exported reports from 512MB to 128MB since this is shared disk space between accepting new data and storing these exported documents.

CID Key

  • Enhanced CID Key’s ability to upload data on non-persistent machines by listening to Windows Logoff Event and asking the operating system to wait until data is processed and uploaded to the Stratusphere Hub & Collectors.
  • Enhanced visibility of Stratusphere UX configuration by including some configuration details of the installation such as CPU, RAM, Disk space allocated etc. in a Call Home capability. To allow customers to opt out, Liquidware has added an option to disable the Stratusphere UX Call Home feature.
  • Enhanced platform support by adding full support for Apple machines using the M1 chipset.
  • Enhanced security posture of the CID Key by switching to using WMI to query for CPU & GPU Temperature. This information was collected using a third-party library called OpenHardwareMonitorLib.sys which did not meet security requirements of some organizations. Liquidware added the ability to use WMI by default to get this information but still allows an opt-in option to use the third-party library in case WMI does not return any temperature reading on some chipsets for CPU and GPUs.
  • Enhanced reliability by ignoring the hardware change checks for thin clients after some thin clients failed to register after they were reimaged.

Web

  • Enhanced visibility by displaying the full version of Stratusphere on the blue ribbon footer including the patch version.

Hub, Database, and Collectors

  • Enhanced Inventory > Machines cleanup by adding a new option to importing machines from VM Directories to delete old machines that have not been heard from or observed for a configurable amount of time. For persistent machines, this option defaults to true whereas it defaults to false for non-persistent machines which can be changed if you see many machines that have not checked in for a significant period.

Reports

  • Added new exception reports that only show machines with unencrypted disks and whose firewalls are turned off. These reports are available under the UX Diagnostics Reports - Machines > Machine Health & Security Disk Encryption Details by Machines and Machine Health & Security Firewall Details by Machines views. Also, added a new report called Machine Health & Security Windows Updates Details by Machines, which lists just operating system updates for Windows and macOS machines.

Bug Fixes

CID Key

  • Fixed an issue with the CID Key crashing while doing a compare by checking the length of the SOAP error prior to comparing.
  • Fixed an issue where the CID Key on the Collector would fill up /tmp partition causing upgrades to fail due to lack of space.
  • Fixed an issue where the CID Key would collect Machine Location information even when the Machine Location feature was disabled within the Web UI.
  • Fixed an issue where the CID Key would not send process exit records and logout records when collecting data when a user was logged in.
  • Fixed an issue related to the inconsistent naming of log files with the .log extension instead of the .txt extension.
  • Fixed an issue with missing or inconsistent Application Process Foreground Duration times that were caused due to the Connector ID Key’s LWLDATASVC service crashing and thus losing duration in the foreground.
  • Fixed an issue where the CID Key was setting the Citrix ICA/HDX Roundtrip Time (RTT) metric to 0ms when it was over 500ms. This metric is now clamped to 500ms when it is higher than 500ms instead of 0ms. It is set to a max of 500ms because anything higher skews the averages of the RTT metric and makes it unusable for that timeframe.
  • Fixed an issue where the CID Key was missing the process owner name of newly launched processes or was incorrectly assigning SYSTEM as the default process owner.
  • Fixed an issue where the Windows CID Key would not gracefully handle Windows Logon ETW Provider being unable to start after a reboot due to the machine’s busy state.

Web UI

  • Fixed an issue where the Inventory > Users tab would show the incorrect count of members for a group by only counting members that were not deleted.
  • Fixed a typographic error on failed logins related to usernames within the Event Log tab.
  • Fixed an issue where the error checking for the Hub Administration > Connector ID Keys > Connector ID Key Properties tab improperly interpreted DNS addresses that started with a numeric instead of alphabetical characters as invalid IP addresses.
  • Fixed an issue where the Download Logs link under the Administration section would not pull logs from all other Stratusphere appliances.
  • Fixed some field labels that were outdated by updating them from Station Group to Collector Group.
  • Fixed an issue with the links under the Configure metrics section of the Hub Administration > Connector ID Keys > Connector ID Key Properties tab that pointed to the Installation Guide with instructions on how to install the Liquidware browser extensions to collect stats within Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge Chromium browsers.

Hub, Database, and Collectors

  • Fixed an issue where the data collected by Network Collectors was not getting updated within the database due to deadlocks on updates.
  • Fixed an issue where an Azure extension for backups was unable to execute due to permissions.
  • Fixed an issue on Stratusphere appliances to specifically use localized NTP servers within each cloud environment.
  • Fixed an issue that caused the console-based Database Join wizard to go into a loop if a wrong username/password was used as credentials during the join process.
  • Fixed an issue that caused upgrades to fail due to lack of disk space on the /var partition. The disk space was consumed by old crash logs in /var/crash location, which are now removed prior to initiating an upgrade.
  • Fixed an issue related to a VMware Instant Clone’s machine short name flipping from cp-parent-xxx to the actual short name.
  • Fixed an issue related to some machine or username related information not being anonymized when the option was enabled within the Hub console.
  • Fixed an issue where the Pending Reports counts for machines were not being updated within the Inventory > Machines tab when the Enable Machine Inspection option was turned off. Disabling machine inspection should only stop collection and uploads of data; it should still update the number of inspection reports waiting to be uploaded.
  • Fixed an issue with the automatic configuration of the HTTPD daemon on the Hub on Azure and AWS where it was not waiting until the IP address was available, resulting in an invalid configuration.
  • Fixed an issue related to anonymization on the Hub, which resulted in the CID Key not being able to receive updated property settings.
  • Fixed an issue with the Web UI incorrectly displaying an Invalid License error after a migration instead of applying a temporary license that displays a countdown of days left to apply a real updated license for the new Hub appliance.
  • Fixed an issue where the CAC Revocation List and TLS settings were incorrectly being reset after an upgrade.
  • Fixed an issue with the NTP configuration on appliances, which displayed an error “Failed to restart chrony.service."
  • Fixed an issue where the NTP configuration files were not part of the migration.
  • Fixed an issue where Disk IOPs were not being displayed under Diagnostics > Inspectors nor Advanced > Inspectors.
  • Fixed an issue where secure communication certificate material were not part of migration from the older appliance to the new appliance.
  • Fixed an issue where the original MGRCERT.PEM was not part of the migration from the older appliance to the new appliance.
  • Fixed an issue where the CID Key incorrectly got branded with a default IP address of the Stratusphere Hub (10.10.3.254) if the initial Hub Administration > Configuration was not completed and saved. It is now configured to be branded with the current IP address of the Hub.

Reports

  • Fixed an issue with UX Diagnostics Reports - Machines > Machine Health & Security reports which would display no data when machine group filters were applied.
  • Fixed an issue with the Administration > Machine Callback Counts by Date report where the Callback Count was not showing the actual callback counts for the CID Key on that machine for that day.
  • Fixed an issue with the Administration > Machine CID Key Settings report, which addressed changes in how CID Key settings were saved for machines accounting for smart groups and machine groups.
  • Fixed an issue where the Windows Migration > Machine Configuration Summary report was out of date.

Security Updates for Appliances

This upgrade addresses Common Vulnerability and Exposure (CVE) items CVE-2018-25032, CVE-2020-0404, CVE-2020-4788, CVE-2020-13950, CVE-2020-13974, CVE-2020-19131, CVE-2020-27820, CVE-2020-28915, CVE-2020-35452, CVE-2020-35492, CVE-2021-0941, CVE-2021-3612, CVE-2021-3634, CVE-2021-3669, CVE-2021-3672, CVE-2021-3695, CVE-2021-3696, CVE-2021-3697, CVE-2021-3733, CVE-2021-3737, CVE-2021-3743, CVE-2021-3744, CVE-2021-3752, CVE-2021-3759, CVE-2021-3764, CVE-2021-3772, CVE-2021-3773, CVE-2021-4002, CVE-2021-4028, CVE-2021-4037, CVE-2021-4083, CVE-2021-4115, CVE-2021-4157, CVE-2021-4189, CVE-2021-4197, CVE-2021-4203, CVE-2021-20322, CVE-2021-21781, CVE-2021-23177, CVE-2021-25219, CVE-2021-26401, CVE-2021-29154, CVE-2021-31566, CVE-2021-33193, CVE-2021-36160, CVE-2021-37159, CVE-2021-38185, CVE-2021-38593, CVE-2021-40528, CVE-2021-41617, CVE-2021-41864, CVE-2021-42739, CVE-2021-43056, CVE-2021-43389, CVE-2021-43818, CVE-2021-43976, CVE-2021-44224, CVE-2021-44733, CVE-2021-45485, CVE-2021-45486, CVE-2022-0001, CVE-2022-0002, CVE-2022-0261, CVE-2022-0286, CVE-2022-0318, CVE-2022-0322, CVE-2022-0359, CVE-2022-0361, CVE-2022-0391, CVE-2022-0392, CVE-2022-0413, CVE-2022-1011, CVE-2022-1117, CVE-2022-1215, CVE-2022-1271, CVE-2022-1292, CVE-2022-1552, CVE-2022-1621, CVE-2022-1629, CVE-2022-1729, CVE-2022-2068, CVE-2022-2097, CVE-2022-21123, CVE-2022-21125, CVE-2022-21127, CVE-2022-21166, CVE-2022-21426, CVE-2022-21434, CVE-2022-21443, CVE-2022-21476, CVE-2022-21496, CVE-2022-21499, CVE-2022-21540, CVE-2022-21541, CVE-2022-22576, CVE-2022-23308, CVE-2022-24407, CVE-2022-24903, CVE-2022-25313, CVE-2022-25314, CVE-2022-25636, CVE-2022-27666, CVE-2022-27774, CVE-2022-27776, CVE-2022-27782, CVE-2022-28733, CVE-2022-28734, CVE-2022-28735, CVE-2022-28736, CVE-2022-28737, CVE-2022-29824, and CVE-2022-34169.

For additional information, refer to http://cve.mitre.org/index.html.

Known Issues

  • The 5.8.x version of the CID Key does NOT auto-upgrade to the latest version because that EOL version of the CID Key calls back to TCP/5501, which is no longer supported on new Stratusphere appliances and thus will NOT receive upgrade installers for auto-upgrades. Liquidware strongly recommends uninstalling the older versions of the CID Key and installing the latest version of the CID Key by upgrading to the latest version of Stratusphere appliances. This will ensure that you are up-to-date on security patches and have the latest features.
  • According to VMware Support, the VMware Blast Packet Loss % metric under the Advanced > Inspectors > Remote Display tab within the Protocol > Blast Inspector view only displays data for UDP-based BLAST protocol connections. It does NOT populate any packet loss for TCP based connections.
  • In one instance, Dashboard level overrides (for example, using the same widget on different dashboards but using the API override for different machine groups on different dashboards) did not work as expected and caused some widgets to display incorrect information related to machine groups. This issue is still being investigated by Liquidware, and as soon as a resolution has been developed, it will be provided as a patch and will be included in the next version release.
  • There is some slowness while using Advanced > Inspectors on Google Chrome. Chrome has a Blink component that slows down performance when the Stratusphere API is configured to return 100+ rows. The workaround for better performance is to set the Limit to 25 rows so that the table begins to paginate at 25 rows per page.
  • The sort order of the Type column within the Inventory > Machines tab is not sorting alphabetically. A fix will be provided as a patch and/or will be included in the next patch release.
  • On logging in to the Web UI, some pages such as Overview, Dashboards, API Builder, and so on might not load or might take a long time to load. This might be due to expired cookies. Log out of the Web UI using the link at the top right of the page and then try again. Clicking the Logout link clears all the cookies that might have been created in the past and allows you to start with a clean page.
  • Within Advanced > Dashboards, when trying to add a new Datasource, you could use the API Builder to formulate the API String and then import it by clicking on the Use Current APIString button. This button was not working as expected, so it has been removed from the product for now and will be reintroduced in the next version. When specifying the API, Liquidware recommends having the API Builder open in another browser tab so that you can copy and paste the API manually within the API field.
  • Advanced > Inspectors might appear within a very small window after an upgrade. Press the F5 key on your keyboard to restore the regular size.
  • While importing Stratusphere OVFs on some ESX versions, the VMware Virtual Infrastructure Client will show a warning. These warnings can be safely ignored.
  • The Windows CID Key on Amazon WorkSpaces depends on the Teradici PCoIP agent to populate the remote client’s name and IP Address within the registry. If the PCoIP agent does not populate the registry, the CID Key will not be able to collect this information.
  • The development of the Windows Advanced CID Key has been paused and will not be available in newer versions of Stratusphere.
  • The Diagnostics > Inspectors > Desktop Application Summary page times out after 15 minutes and might result in an error. This is due to the Chart on the page waiting for a query to finish. If you use the browser’s Back button, the table data will be updated but the chart might be empty or display existing results.
  • There is an issue where you might see a message "Please use the Console of the Collector appliance to upgrade..." on the Login page. This is a refresh issue and should go away after hard refreshing the Login page by pressing Shift+F5.
  • The API Builder displays an error when the “ilike” filter for case insensitive searches is used with missing quotation marks. Liquidware will address this issue in the next version.
  • The Disk Encryption provider might not be displayed on Advanced > Inspectors. Liquidware is working on this issue and will include it as a fix on the next version release.
  • FIT Reports - Applications > Applications with Known Poor VDI FIT Installed by User and Machine (CSV) fails if no applications are set as Poor VDI FIT under the Assessment > VDI FIT Profile tab.

Announcements

Important: End-of-Life for Stratusphere versions 6.0.0–6.1.1: Liquidware will discontinue all sales and technical support of Stratusphere versions 6.0.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.2, 6.0.3, 6.1.0 and 6.1.1, effective 12/31/2022. We encourage all customers who might still be using these versions to upgrade to a more recent version to take advantage of the numerous technologies and feature enhancements as well as resolved support issues.

Release Available As

  • Software Update: This release is available as a Software Update across all supported platforms only if you are on 6.6.0-x version of Stratusphere. However, if you are on 6.5.x or earlier, we do offer a migration option whereby you can download a new Stratusphere 6.6.0-2 Hub and Database Appliance and use the migrate option in the consoles of these new appliances to migrate network configuration, certificates, and data from the old 5.8.6 or higher appliances to the newer 6.6.x appliances.

  • Note: See the Upgrading section below for instructions.

  • Virtual Appliance Downloads: Full virtual appliances will be made available for VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, and Nutanix AHV. Cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform will also be made available as they are certified. Liquidware has started the onboarding process on these cloud platforms, and they will be available in their respective platform Marketplaces as soon as the onboarding process is complete.

Release Applies To

  • Stratusphere Hub Appliance — Yes
  • Stratusphere Database Appliance — Yes
  • Stratusphere Collector Appliance — Yes
  • Stratusphere Connector ID Key — Yes

Upgrading

If your current installed version of Stratusphere is 6.6.0-2, refer to the Stratusphere Upgrade Guide: 6.6.0-2 to 6.6.1-2 to upgrade to 6.6.1-2.

If your current installed version of Stratusphere is 6.6.0-1, refer to the Stratusphere Upgrade Guide: 6.6.0-1 to 6.6.1-2 to upgrade to 6.6.1-2.

If your current installed version of Stratusphere is 6.5.1-2, refer to the Stratusphere Upgrade Guide: 6.5.1.2 to 6.6.0-2 (PDF format only) to upgrade to 6.6.0-2 first, and then refer to the Stratusphere Upgrade Guide: 6.6.0-2 to 6.6.1-2 to upgrade to 6.6.1-2. If Enhanced Security Mode is enabled on 6.5.1-2 appliances, Liquidware strongly recommends using the console to upgrade to 6.6.0-2. The appliance will ask for a reboot to prepare for accepting the upgrade. After the reboot, you should initiate the upgrade steps again.

If your current installed version of Stratusphere is 6.5.1-1 or earlier, refer to the section below and migrate to the Stratusphere 6.6.0-2 version first, and then refer to the Stratusphere Upgrade Guide: 6.6.0-2 to 6.6.1-2 to upgrade to 6.6.1-2.

On-Premises Versions

If the current on-premises (VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, Citrix Hypervisor, Nutanix AHV) installed version of Stratusphere is at 6.5.x, or 6.1.x, or 6.0.x, or 5.8.6 or higher, refer to the instructions in the Migrating to Stratusphere 6.6.x Appliances Guide to migrate network settings, certificates, and data from 5.8.6 and higher appliances to the 6.6.0 appliances. If the current installed version is earlier than 5.8.6, upgrade to 5.8.6 and then perform a migration using the instructions mentioned above.

Cloud Platform Versions

If the current installation of Stratusphere is on any of our supported Cloud Platforms (AWS, Azure), the 6.6.0-2 versions of the appliances are available within each cloud platform vendor. Use the Migrating to Stratusphere 6.6.x Appliances Guide to migrate data and configuration from older versions of Stratusphere.

Alternatively, contact support@liquidware.com for further assistance.