12.9 enhancements

Ability to record remote control sessions

You can record a remote control session. You can store the recording as an audit of the session, or as a learning or coaching aid. For more information, refer to Configuring-remote-control-recording  and Recording-a-remote-control-session.

To ensure that the recordings associated with your device are held securely, access to the recordings is restricted. You need specific rights to view a recording and to perform any action on it. For more information, refer to Permissions for accessing the remote control recordings.

Enhancements to the web console

BMC Client Management 12.9 adds the following capabilities to the web console:

• Search for a device and view its properties and inventory details. For more information, refer to Accessing-and-navigating-the-BMC-Client-Management-web-console.
• Transfer files between your local device and a remote device. For more information, refer to Transferring-files.
• Launch an audit of the selected device to generate and upload the latest device information and its inventory details. For more information, refer to Auditing-a-device.
• Perform direct actions such as ping, reboot, wake up, and shut down on the remote device. For more information, refer to Managing-direct-access-to-a-remote-device.
• Launch the web console and access the device properties pages using device ID, device GUID, and device name. For more information, refer to Launching-the-web-console-for-device-access.

Enhancements to the Java console

BMC Client Management 12.9 Java console includes the following enhancements:

• You can restart the agent service of the remote device by using the direct access tools. For more information, refer to Restarting-the-agent.
• A new Mail Proxy variable defines the device to be used for sending emails. The default mail proxy is master. For a SaaS master, the mail proxy is not defined.
• The Java console now gives a warning message if SQL errors occur while upgrading the master.

Enhancements to Patch Management

Patch management in 12.9 includes the following enhancements:

• You can import and export patches from a patch group. For more information, refer to Managing-patches-included-in-a-patch-group.
• A new message is added to the patch group and patch job log file to indicate that patch installation is blocked.
• Patches and service packs with a digital signature are now checked after downloading to avoid the transfer of corrupted files over the network.
• EOL support dates are added for products. These dates are available in the console display and for queries and reports.
• Patch Management now supports the Ukrainian, Slovak, Slovenian, Romanian, Estonian, and Lithuanian languages.
• The information displayed in the Active Patches and Assigned Devices tabs of a patch job has been updated. For more information, see The-Active-Patches-tab-of-a-patch-job and The-Assigned-Devices-tab-of-a-patch-job.
• If you install a patch without rebooting the device, the patch management module is suspended for that device. You cannot perform any actions such as scanning and patching on the device, until it has been rebooted. The master is aware of devices suspend status and updates to the status. This information is available on the Status tab of the Inventory node to query and resolve. 

Enhancements to operational rules

Operational rule execution is improved by reducing the time needed to assign an operational rule to a device. This improvement is possible with the following changes:

• The operational rule steps are now loaded when the agent is installed. The operational rule scripts are copied to each device when executing an operational rule for the first time, so file transfer is not necessary during agent installation. The .chl files for the operational rule steps are present in data/Operational Rules/scripts at the agent installation directory. At agent startup, a xx.chl directory is created for each operational rule step. This directory includes a directory which has the checksum of the XML file as a name and it contains the .chl file. A script is transferred after it is modified.
• The operational rule threads on master and clients are signaled more accurately to avoid latency between the assignment and the execution. The thread is signaled when assigning a device or a device group to an operational rule.

Enhancements to the security settings

• Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS)
  CORS defines a way in which a browser and server can interact to determine whether or not it is safe to allow the cross-origin request. It enables restricted resources to be requested from a domain outside the parent domain (from which the web page was served). You can configure CORS in the AccessControlAllowOrigin parameter from HttpProtocolHandler.ini using the dedicated HttpProtocolHandler module configuration operational rule. It is also configured in Console.ini using the console. For more information, see Setting-the-HTTP-Protocol-Handler-module-parameters.

  • The CORS parameter can have one of the following values:
  • The * value enables CORS and authorizes any cross-origin request.
  • The empty (0 or NULL) value disables CORS and prevents the cross-origin requests.
  • The comma separated list enables the specified CORS authorized domains. For example, http://approved.customer-server.com,https://approved.customer-server.com,https://approved-v2.customer-server.com:8080

  By default, BCM version 12.8 and earlier have enabled CORS while the BCM version 12.9 has disabled CORS.

• REST Web API
  The REST API uses the JSON encoding. The API has no knowledge of the purpose it is going to be used for. It ensures only JSON encoding and returns data verbatim. As the data can be used for different purposes, we recommend that you encode the data either before sending it to the API or after collecting it from the API.

Product name change

The BMC Client Management OnDemand product is now renamed to BMC Helix Client Management . However, all the components of  BMC Helix Client Management  retain their names. The product name  BMC Client Management OnDemand  will be replaced with  BMC Helix Client Management  on all marketing and support pages.  If you have bookmarked these pages, you should update them with the new links.