ThingWorx Axeda Compatibility Package Release Notes, v.2.1.0

Release Notes > Release Notes Archive > ThingWorx Axeda Compatibility Package Release Notes, v.2.1.0

These release notes are for the ThingWorx Axeda Compatibility Package, version 2.1.0. Refer to the release notes for previous versions for information about changes made for those releases

The following sections provide important information about the contents of the package as well as security, the versions of the components in the package, additional software requirements, what is new in the release, and known issues. Click the title of a section to display its content. Click the title again to hide the content.

Important Information

The ThingWorx Axeda Compatibility Package v.2.1.0 has been certified to work with ThingWorx Platform v.9.1.x and 9.2.x. If you are using ThingWorx Platform v.9.1.x, you can use the versions of the ThingWorx Utilities Core and ThingWorx Software Content Management (SCM) Extensions that are provided in the package. However, if you are using this package with ThingWorx Platform v.9.2.x, you must download the v.9.2.x versions of these extensions from the PTC Support Portal and install them.

The Axeda-ThingWorx Entity Exporter (ATEE) tool has been removed from the distribution bundle for the Axeda Compatibility Package. Customers who want to migrate from Axeda Platform to ThingWorx Platform should contact the PTC Axeda Transition Team for more information and guidance.

For security reasons, the ThingWorx IDM Connector is no longer available, starting with the 1.2.1 release. of the Axeda Compatibility Package In addition, the IDM Agents (formerly Questra Service Agents) have been deprecated and moved to End of Life in June 2020.

The ThingWorx Axeda Compatibility Package for Axeda eMessage Agents Help Center is updated outside of releases. For information on what has changed in this help center, go to . Also, information for previous releases is available in the Release Notes section of this Help Center and in the Release Notes section of the ThingWorx Axeda Compatibility Package 1 Help Center.

Security

This release of the Axeda Compatibility Package includes security-related updates, as follows:

• Fixed potential security issues, including items proactively identified by vulnerability scanning software or PTC Quality Assurance testing. Please upgrade as soon as possible to take advantage of these important improvements.

• See this technical support article for important recommendations regarding the use and update of third-party software for ThingWorx.

ACP Component Versions for Release 2.1.0

The following table shows the versions of the components included in this release of the Axeda Compatibility Package (ACP).

Component Versions

Component

Version

ThingWorx eMessage Connector

v.2.1.0

ThingWorx Connection Services Extension (CSE)

v.2.2.3

ThingWorx Axeda Compatibility Extension (ACE)

v.4.2.2

ThingWorx Remote Access Extension (RAE)

v.2.2.1

ThingWorx Utilities Core (Thingworx-Utilities-Core-9-1-0.zip)

If you are using ThingWorx Platform v.9.1.x, you can use v.9.1.0 of the ThingWorx Utilities Core Extension. However, if you are using this package with ThingWorx Platform v.9.2.x, you must download the v.9.2 version of this extension from the PTC Support Portal and install it.

v.9.1.x

Always use the version of ThingWorx Utilities Core with the same version of ThingWorx Platform. If you want to use the ACP with ThingWorx Platform v.9.1.0, refer to Importing ThingWorx Utilities Core and the SCM Extension for instructions on downloading and importing the v.9.1.0 of the ThingWorx Utilities Core.

ThingWorx SCM Extension (ThingWorx-Utilities-Software-Content-Management-9-1-0.zip.

If you are using ThingWorx Platform v.9.1.x, you can use v.9.1.0 of the ThingWorx SCM Extension. However, if you are using this package with ThingWorx Platform v.9.2.x, you must download the v.9.2 version of this extension from the PTC Support Portal and install it.

v.9.1.0

Always use the version of ThingWorx Utilities Software Content Management (SCM) with the same version of ThingWorx Platform.

For Remote Access, always download the latest version of the ThingWorx Remote Access Client (RAC). It is available separately from the Axeda Compatibility Package. The latest version is 2.2.1.

Additional Software Requirements

The following table lists the additional, required software for this release of the Axeda Compatibility Package (ACP):

Required Product

Required Version

Java Development Kit (JDK)

Oracle JDK 11 (64-bit)

Amzaon Corretto 11 (Open JDK 11, 64-bit)

Oracle JDK 1.8.0_u251 (64-bit)

The next release of the Axeda Compatibility Package will not support Java 8, so it is strongly recommended that you upgrade as soon as possible to Java 11.

Linux 64-bit operating system

Tested on Linux 64-bit version of Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS

Axeda Platform

v.6.9.0 or later to export users; otherwise, 6.8.0 or later

Axeda Global Access Server

v.6.9.2 or later

ThingWorx Platform

v.9.1.x

ThingWorx Remote Access Client (RAC)

v.2.2.1

Axeda Gateway Agent or Axeda Connector Agent

For security reasons, PTC strongly recommends that these Axeda Agents be at v.6.6.3 or later. In addition, if you require the remote interfaces configuration from Axeda Platform, the Agents must be at version 6.8.2.

For ThingWorx Asset Advisor, the latest version is 9.1.0. It is available on the Software Downloads page. On the Step 1 page, select THINGWORX FOUNDATION. On the Step 2 page, expand the nodes as follows: Release 9.1 > ThingWorx Service Apps Extension > Most Recent Datecode to locate the latest distribution bundles for ThingWorx Apps, ThingWorx Asset Advisor integrations, and for remote sessions, the ThingWorx Asset Remoting extension.

ThingWorx eMessage Connector, v.2.1.0, Release Notes

Starting with this release, the eMessage Connector supports Oracle JDK 11 and Amazon Coretto 11 (Open JDK). It continues to support Java 8. However, Java 8 moved to End-of-Life in December 2020 and will not be supported in the next release of the eMessage Connector (Axeda Compatibility Package v.2.2.0). For security reasons, PTC strongly recommends upgrading to Java 11.

In addition, support for a new ThingWorx Software Content Management (SCM) instruction has been added, Set Property. For details on using this instruction , refer to the section, "Using the eSet Property Instruction", in the topic, Using the ThingWorx Software Content Management (SCM) Extension with eMessage Agents.

Release Notes for the ThingWorx Extensions Included in the ThingWorx Axeda Compatibility Package, v.2.1.0

The following releases of the ThingWorx Extensions provided in the ThingWorx Axeda Compatibility Package have changes for compatibility with Oracle JDK 11 and Amazon Corretto 11 (Open JDK 11):

• Axeda Compatibility Extension (ACE), v.4.2.2

• Connection Services Extension (CSE), v.2.2.3

• Remote Access Extension (RAE), v.2.2.1

• ThingWorx Platform Utilities, v.9.1.0

• ThingWorx Software Content Management Extension, v.9.1.0

For information about the ThingWorx Utilities Core and ThingWorx SCM Extension, refer to the release notes for ThingWorx Utilities.

ThingWorx Remote Access Client (RAC), v.2.2.1

The v.2.2.1 release of the Remote Access Client (RAC) provides fixes for potential security issues, including items proactively identified by vulnerability scanning software or PTC Quality Assurance testing. Please upgrade as soon as possible to take advantage of these important improvements. This version of RAC is compatible with RAE v.2.2.1 and with ThingWorx Platform v.9.1.x.

You can download the RAC from the ThingWorx Remote Access Client Downloads page. Choose the download for your operating system. Each RAC download is an installer that you can run on your system.

Issues Fixed - ThingWorx Remote Access Client (RAC), v.2..1.0

The following issue manifested itself in the Remote Access Client (RAC), and is fixed in the v.2.1.0 and later releases:

ID (SFID)	Description
PSPT-69989 / ACE-161 (15618880)	Non-administrator users were not able to see the Axeda viewer information on the Remote Access Client (RAC) due to a missing permission. For this release, the permission has been added to the eMessageServices.GrantRemoteAccessPermissionsGAS service for non-administrator users and the System User. Now the System user can run the service to retrieve the viewer information to display on the RAC for the non-administrator users to see.

ID (SFID)

Description

PSPT-69989 / ACE-161 (15618880)

Non-administrator users were not able to see the Axeda viewer information on the Remote Access Client (RAC) due to a missing permission.

For this release, the permission has been added to the eMessageServices.GrantRemoteAccessPermissionsGAS service for non-administrator users and the System User. Now the System user can run the service to retrieve the viewer information to display on the RAC for the non-administrator users to see.

Known Issues - eMessage Connector

The following table lists and describes the known issues for the eMessage Connector in this release:

Issue ID	Description
CXS-1131	When running the eMessage Connector on Oracle JDK 11 or Amazon Corretto 11, the following DEBUG messages are written to the Connector logs: 14:20:13.581 [metrics-logger-reporter-1-thread-1] DEBUG c.t.shepard.metrics.CpuGaugeSet - Unable to invoke getProcessCpuLoad: {} java.lang.reflect.InaccessibleObjectException: Unable to make public long com.sun.management.internal.OperatingSystemImpl.getProcessCpuTime() accessible: module jdk.management does not "opens com.sun.management.internal" to unnamed module @4b952a2d at java.base/java.lang.reflect.AccessibleObject.checkCanSetAccessible(AccessibleObject.java:340) at java.base/java.lang.reflect.AccessibleObject.checkCanSetAccessible(AccessibleObject.java:280) at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.checkCanSetAccessible(Method.java:198) at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.setAccessible(Method.java:192) at com.thingworx.shepard.metrics.CpuGaugeSet$3.getValue(CpuGaugeSet.java:56) at com.thingworx.shepard.metrics.CpuGaugeSet$3.getValue(CpuGaugeSet.java:50) at com.codahale.metrics.Slf4jReporter.logGauge(Slf4jReporter.java:307) at com.codahale.metrics.Slf4jReporter.report(Slf4jReporter.java:221) at com.codahale.metrics.ScheduledReporter.report(ScheduledReporter.java:237) at com.codahale.metrics.ScheduledReporter.lambda$start$0(ScheduledReporter.java:177) at java.base/java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call(Executors.java:515) at java.base/java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.runAndReset(FutureTask.java:305) at java.base/java.util.concurrent.ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor$ScheduledFutureTask.run(ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor.java:305) at java.base/java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1128) at java.base/java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:628) at java.base/java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:829) 14:20:13.581 [metrics-logger-reporter-1-thread-1] DEBUG c.t.shepard.metrics.CpuGaugeSet - Unable to invoke getProcessCpuLoad: {} java.lang.reflect.InaccessibleObjectException: Unable to make public double com.sun.management.internal.OperatingSystemImpl.getProcessCpuLoad() accessible: module jdk.management does not "opens com.sun.management.internal" to unnamed module @4b952a2d at java.base/java.lang.reflect.AccessibleObject.checkCanSetAccessible(AccessibleObject.java:340) at java.base/java.lang.reflect.AccessibleObject.checkCanSetAccessible(AccessibleObject.java:280) at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.checkCanSetAccessible(Method.java:198) at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.setAccessible(Method.java:192) at com.thingworx.shepard.metrics.CpuGaugeSet$2.getValue(CpuGaugeSet.java:38) at com.thingworx.shepard.metrics.CpuGaugeSet$2.getValue(CpuGaugeSet.java:32) at com.codahale.metrics.Slf4jReporter.logGauge(Slf4jReporter.java:307) at com.codahale.metrics.Slf4jReporter.report(Slf4jReporter.java:221) at com.codahale.metrics.ScheduledReporter.report(ScheduledReporter.java:237) at com.codahale.metrics.ScheduledReporter.lambda$start$0(ScheduledReporter.java:177) at java.base/java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call(Executors.java:515) at java.base/java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.runAndReset(FutureTask.java:305) at java.base/java.util.concurrent.ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor$ScheduledFutureTask.run(ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor.java:305) at java.base/java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1128) at java.base/java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:628) at java.base/java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:829) These DEBUG messages can be safely ignored. They do not impact the operability of the system.
EMX-607	In the unlikely event of a setDataItem service call failing, the ThingWorx Platform does not receive a notification event. It would be better if the eMessage Connector could notify ThingWorx Platform of this event. There are no plans to implement a change for this issue.
EMX-1749	File transfers to the ThingWorx Platform instances that are running on the Windows OS are subject to the file naming restrictions of Windows, including the use of special characters such as question mark, colon, and so on. Refer to https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa365247(v=vs.85).aspx There are no plans to implement a change for this issue.
EMX-1892	eMessage XML is incomplete and does not send specific information back to the agent in the status message. This did not appear to cause issues with the Axeda agents that were tested; it is just a difference between the Axeda Platform and the eMessage Connector. There are no plans to implement a change for this issue.
EMX-1893	Invalid Axeda alarms result in a blank value being written to the alarm field. Axeda Platform would reject these bad values. This is a difference between Axeda and the eMessage Connector. There are no plans to implement a change for this issue.
EMX-2178	In eMessage Connector, if a configuration value is not provided, the helper method that is used to obtain it (except getIntegerValue() and getLongValue()) throws a ConfigException There are no plans to implement a change for this issue.
EMX-2193	Axeda Gateway agents receive too much xml when registering. Currently, a redundant SetPingServlet is returned to Gateway agents. This has no known effects on the agents. There are no plans to implement a change for this issue.
EMX-2198	Currently, selecting the time zone, Asia/Riyadh87, causes an error in the eMessage Connector, saying that the time zone was not valid, even though it is one of the time zones in the TimezoneMapper class. Asia/Riyadh87 is no longer a valid time zone. There are no plans to implement a change for this issue.
EMX-2232	When a download request is issued from the ThingWorx Platform with targetPath:<empty>, the job eventually transitions to a state of CANCELLED, and a null pointer exception is observed in the Connector log. There are no plans to implement a change for this issue.
EMX-2319	After starting the eMessage Connector, the logs directory is in a subdirectory from the current working directory and not where one would expect, at $EMESSAGE_CONNECTOR_HOME/logs. The creation of a logs subdirectory from the current working directory is how the default logback works. It is expected that customers will create their own logback file when they deploy to place the logs in their desired location.
EMX-2412	NotifyPropertyUpdates invocations to the eMessage Connector are not handled, resulting in a WARN message being logged. The operation of the Connector is not affected. There are no plans to implement a change for this issue.
EMX-2482	When performing a download that is relative to the agent's home directory, use only the forward slash ("/") to specify the root directory and not "./". Using "./" results in the ThingWorx Platform sending an empty value to the Connector, which triggers an error being logged in the eMessage Connector. In addition, the file transfer will not complete successfully. There are no plans to implement a change for this issue.
EMX-2486	Certain scenarios can create a flood of Thing look-ups to the ThingWorx Platform. The most likely cause for this situation is if an eMessage Connector fails unexpectedly and is restored while experiencing many requests per second for different agents (~10+ new agent communications per second). During this scenario the eMessage Connector can cause strain on ThingWorx Platform.

Known Issues - ThingWorx Software Content Management (SCM) Extension

The following table lists and briefly describes known issues for the ThingWorx Software Content Management Extension and ThingWorx Platform:

ID (SFID)	Description
UTL-5611	After importing the SCM extension bundle, a warning message about the extension trying to overwrite existing entities may appear. This message is expected and does not cause an issue. You can ignore it. In addition, refer to Importing ThingWorx Utilities Core and the SCM Extension.
UTL-5462	Delivery target times out of the Instructions Received state when its installation date is set too far in the future. Currently, the Instructions Received timeout does not take the installation date into account. For now, be sure that installation dates and the Instructions Received timeout are configured in such a way that package installation will being on the targeted devices before the Instructions Received timeout is exceeded.
EDGA-1853	The Axeda Connector Agent ignores the deviceRelativePath setting for SCM deployments. The deployment of a package with the following Download instruction succeeds when it should fail: • Destination: / • SourceFiles: ["C:\\qsaconfig.xml"] • RepositoryName: TW.RSM.Thing.FileRepository This same deployment to an Axeda Gateway device or a device managed by an Axeda Gateway Agent fails as expected.

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