Technical bulletin — Impact of Adobe Flash end of life on BMC ProactiveNet and replacement options

Update: December 9, 2020

BMC has tested Flash-based capabilities with the HARMAN Packaged Browser application—Electron/Chromium version. For updates regarding Limited Support, see "Alternatives for customers who want to continue to use the Flash-based BMC products."

Adobe announced the end of development and distribution of Adobe Flash Player by the end of the year 2020. Flash-based capabilities will no longer work after December 31, 2020. BMC has taken proactive steps over the recent releases to manage the deprecation of Flash-based capabilities. BMC has also been providing alternative capabilities for the majority of areas where Flash was used in the past.

Refer to this topic for the answers to the commonly-asked questions.

How can I find out if I am impacted by the end of life of Adobe Flash?

The following consoles in BMC ProactiveNet version 9.6.xx will no longer be accessible after the end of life of the Flash Player:

  • BMC ProactiveNet Operations Console
  • BMC Service Level Operations (SLO) Console
  • BMC ProactiveNet Central Monitoring Administration


When does the limited support for BMC ProactiveNet version 9.6.xx end and what is the solution that BMC offers?

The limited support for BMC ProactiveNet version 9.6.xx ends on December 31, 2021. Replacements for Flash-based interfaces are available in BMC Helix Operations Management 20.08 or TrueSight Operations Management 11.3.04. For details about the enhancements, see BMC Helix Operations Management enhancements or 11.3.04 enhancements.


What is BMC Software’s recommendation for upgrade?

We recommend that BMC ProactiveNet customers migrate to BMC Helix Operations Management, which is BMC’s leading solution for monitoring, event management and AIOps.  For details about your migration path, please contact your BMC Account Manager.

Until you migrate, as an interim solution, you might implement one of the  “Alternatives for customers who want to continue to use the Flash-based BMC products.”

Alternatives for customers who want to continue to use the Flash-based BMC products

HARMAN International Packaged Browser solution

HARMAN International has an exclusive agreement with Adobe to provide extended licensing and support agreements for the enterprise Adobe Flash Player until the end of 2023. For details, go to https://services.harman.com/partners/adobe.

BMC Software provides Limited Support for Adobe Flash-based capabilities in BMC products when used in combination with the HARMAN Packaged Browser application—Electron/Chromium version. Limited Support is provided temporarily until Dec 31, 2021, to cover the time period until customers upgrade to the latest BMC product version that has replaced the Flash-based capabilities.

Adobe Enterprise Enablement for legacy browser versions

Important

The ability to run Adobe Flash Player depends upon the browser vendor's support. Running BMC Software products with outdated browser versions requires you to turn off automatic updates. This approach should be carefully considered and should be in alignment with your company's security group recommendations.

With Adobe Flash Player 32.0 Enterprise Enablement, companies can allow Flash Player content to be loaded from a set of trusted URLs by performing these actions:

  1. To allow Flash to run for a BMC product, in a mms.cfg file, enable the AllowListURLPattern option and add the list of trusted URLs as follows:

    EnableAllowList=1

    AllowListUrlPattern=http://<TSIM-Server-FQDN>
    AllowListUrlPattern=https://<TSIM-Server-FQDN>
    AllowListUrlPattern=http://<MidtierServer>:<port>
    AllowListUrlPattern=https://<MidtierServer>:<port>
    For details about the AllowListUrlPattern options, the location of the mms.cfg file for different platforms, and other recommendations from Adobe, see the Adobe Flash Player 32.0 Administration Guide.

  2. Push the mms.cfg file to all browsers that need to continue to use Flash.

  3. Prevent automatic updates of newer browser versions that will not allow Flash Player to load.
    For information about Flash Player automatic updates, go to https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/flash-player-background-updates.html.

BMC Software has validated the Flash Player will continue to run with Flash Player Enterprise Enablement on these browser versions:

Tested browser version

Vendor support

Microsoft Internet Explorer 11

Mozilla Firefox 83

Google Chrome 86

Additional settings for ProactiveNet Central Monitoring Administration

To allow Flash to run for the ProactiveNet Central Monitoring Administration console, in a mms.cfg file, enable these additional AllowListURLPattern options and add the URLs as follows:

  • AllowListUrlPattern=http://localhost:80
  • AllowListUrlPattern=https://localhost:443

Related topics

Impact of Flash Removal FAQs on BMC Communities.

Remedy and TrueSight Flash Deprecation on BMC Communities.

 

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