Essentials

Novell exteNd Application Server
WHAT'S NEW

This page summarizes the new features of the Novell® exteNdTM Application Server and includes links to more detailed information in help.

     To get the latest information on software/hardware requirements and supported databases, see the Release Notes.


Top of page

What's new in Version 5.2

Feature Description
Quality and performance This version includes various improvements to the quality and performance of the Novell exteNd Application Server.


Top of page

What's new in Version 5.1

Feature Description
Installation The process of installing the Novell exteNd Application Server is now:

  • Simplified and improved

  • Consistent across platforms

  • Part of the integrated Novell exteNd install

     For more information, see Installing Novell exteNd.

Database support With this version, there are some changes regarding the databases supported by the Novell exteNd Application Server. Here are the highlights:

  • MySQL   The DBMS provided with the application server is now MySQL:

    • On Windows and Linux, MySQL 4.1 is installed with appropriate configurations of Novell exteNd.

    • On NetWare®, MySQL 4.0 is installed when you install the Novell exteNd Application Server.

  • Sybase ASA   The Sybase ASA (Adaptive Server Anywhere) DBMS is no longer provided with the application server install. However, the application server still supports accessing ASA databases.

    If you want to continue using ASA, you can keep running the ASA version that was installed with your old application server. Or you can obtain the latest ASA version from Sybase.

  • IBM Cloudscape   The IBM Cloudscape DBMS is no longer provided with the application server install. However, the application server still supports accessing Cloudscape databases.

    If you want to continue using Cloudscape, obtain the Cloudscape software from IBM.

     For more information, see the Database Configuration Guide.

SilverJ2EEClient installation The SilverJ2EEClient installers are no longer included on the product CD. To obtain these installers and set them up on your application server (so that end users can access them), you must:

  1. Download them from developer.novell.com/ndk/j2eeclient.htm.

  2. Copy them to the Novell exteNd AppServer\Resources\SilverJ2EEClientInstall directory on your application server host machine.

     For more information, see the SilverJ2EEClient chapter in the Facilities Guide.

WSI availability The WSI (Web server integration) modules are no longer included on the product CD. To obtain the WSI modules, you must download them from developer.novell.com/ndk/wsi.htm.

Note that the NetWare install still provides the Apache WSI automatically when it installs the application server.

     For more information, see the Web server integration chapter in the Administrator's Guide.

Startup options The application server no longer performs database consistency checks automatically at startup. For this reason, the -nodbcheck startup option is no longer supported. To force the application server to perform a database consistency check at startup, use the new startup option -dbcheck.

Also, the following application server startup options are no longer supported:

  • -noserverlisteners

  • -nostartagents

     For more information, see the chapter on running the server in the Administrator's Guide.

SilverCmd The new SilverCmd command DeleteURL enables you to delete the directory at a specified URL on the server. This is useful when you need to clear existing resources that would otherwise prevent deployment.

     For more information, see the SilverCmd reference chapter in the Facilities Guide.

SMC The user interface of the SMC (Server Management Console) has been updated to support the feature changes in this version.

Also, you can now use the SMC to enable/disable SSL 3.0 and TLS 1.0. For more information, see the chapter on setting up security in the Administrator's Guide.

Portlet performance You can now use the SMC to specify the servlet background thread pool size available to the portlet runtime for rendering portlets in parallel. Rendering portlets in parallel should improve performance for exteNd Director applications.

     For more information, see the chapter on tuning the server in the Administrator's Guide.

Licensing This version removes the need to install and manage application server user licenses. You may now install the application server as needed, according to the terms of your contract with Novell.
FIPS compliance You can now run your application server in FIPS-compliant mode. (FIPS stands for Federal Information Processing Standards.)

     For more information, see the chapter on setting up security in the Administrator's Guide.

Messaging Platform The jBrokerTM ORB, JMS server, and JTS server are now known as the Novell exteNd Messaging Platform.

The JMS server now uses port 53506 (instead of port 3506).

The JTS transaction log now defaults to a new location, the Novell exteNd AppServer\txlog directory.

     For more information, see the Messaging Platform help.

Other changes
  • Startup scripts for the application server on UNIX and Linux are now documented in Installing Novell exteNd.

  • The agrootca.jar file of CA certificates has been moved from the application server's lib directory to the Novell exteNd Common\lib directory.

  • You can now specify the location of the application server's file cache directory using the com.sssw.srv.filecache.dir property. For more information, see the chapter on the httpd.props file in the Administrator's Guide.


Top of page

What's new in Version 5.0

Feature Description
Rebranding to Novell As of Version 5.0, this product is branded Novell exteNd Application Server. Earlier versions were branded SilverStream® eXtend Application Server.

If you are upgrading from one of those earlier versions, note that rebranding-related changes have been made carefully to ensure backward compatibility for your existing J2EE applications. See the Release Notes for details on these changes and how they may affect you.

NetWare support The Novell exteNd Application Server now runs on Novell NetWare 6.5 (in addition to various Windows, UNIX, and Linux platforms).

     For more information on NetWare support, see the Release Notes and Installing Novell exteNd.

MySQL support The Novell exteNd Application Server now works with MySQL databases (in addition to various other popular database brands). You can use a MySQL database as the server's SilverMaster, as the target for J2EE deployments, or as the data source for J2EE applications.

MySQL is supported by the Novell exteNd Application Server on the following platforms:

  • On NetWare, the supported version is MySQL 4.0.11 (provided with NetWare)

  • On Linux, the supported version is MySQL 3.23.55-1

     For more information on MySQL support, see the Release Notes and the chapter on configuring MySQL databases in the Database Configuration Guide.

Cloudscape support On Windows, the version of the IBM Cloudscape DBMS included with the Developer Edition of the Novell exteNd Application Server has been upgraded to Version 4.014.

     For more information on Cloudscape support, see the Release Notes and the chapter on configuring Cloudscape databases in the Database Configuration Guide.

JRE 1.4.1 support The Novell exteNd Application Server now runs on Version 1.4.1 of the Java 2 JRE (Java Runtime Environment).

     For more information on JRE support, see the Release Notes.

Migration assistance Novell provides resources to help you migrate existing applications to the latest supported standards:

  • Migrating from J2EE 1.2 to 1.3   Novell exteNd Director includes a facility for migrating J2EE 1.2 projects to J2EE 1.3. In addition, the exteNd Director help provides details on server support for J2EE versions and what those versions include.

         See "How to Handle J2EE Versions" in the Utility Tools book of the exteNd Director help.

  • Handling server upgrade issues   When you upgrade to the latest version of the Novell exteNd Application Server, take note of the server changes that have been introduced. Some may affect certain aspects of your applications or system configuration.

         See the upgrade notes section of the Release Notes.

SilverJ2EEClient installation SilverJ2EEClient, the J2EE application client container for the Novell exteNd Application Server, now has its own installers.

     For details, see the Release Notes.

SilverJ2EEClient startup options The following startup options have been added for SilverJ2EEClient to provide client certificate and ORB support:
   -as_clientcertprompt

   -as_pkcs12file=file
   -as_pkcs12password=password

   -as_x509file=file1
   -as_pkcs8file=file2
   -as_pkcs8password=password

   -as_use_ssl

     For more on these options, see the SilverJ2EEClient chapter in the Facilities Guide.

Removal of earlier EJB container The old EJB 1.1-only container, considered obsolete, has been removed from the Novell exteNd Application Server. As a result, you'll use the EJB 2.0 container for all EJB deployments, including 1.1 and 2.0 EJBs.

     For details on moving to the EJB 2.0 container, see the Release Notes.

Deployment plans As of Version 5.0, the Novell exteNd Application Server no longer supports J2EE 1.2 deployment plans for any archives (EARs, WARs, EJBs, and so on). You must use J2EE 1.3 deployment plans, even if deploying J2EE 1.2 archives (which have J2EE 1.2 deployment descriptors). Note that Novell exteNd Director includes facilities to help you upgrade deployment plans from 1.2 to 1.3 (see "How to Handle J2EE Versions" in the Utility Tools book of the exteNd Director help).

The EJB and EAR deployment plans for the 5.0 application server have been enhanced with some optional elements for tuning EJB performance. These include:

   readOnly
      readOnlyTimeOut
      cacheSize
   exclusiveAccess
   serializableField
      serializableFieldMap
         publicFieldName

Another change for the EAR deployment plan is the addition of the optional deployedObject element (which lets you override the default name for the deployed EAR on the server).

     For details on deployment plan elements, see the chapter on deployment plan DTDs in the Facilities Guide.

SilverCmd The SilverCmd command AddCP (add connection pool) has a new -z option. This option improves efficiency of connection handling when used with XA drivers or resource adapters that permit graceful delistment and re-enlistment of transaction resources.

The DeployEAR command:

  • Has a new -d option. This option specifies development-mode deployment, in which DeployEAR determines if any modules in the EAR have changed (or been added) since the last deployment. It then redeploys only the changed (or added) modules.

  • No longer supports the -l option. If you want to override the default name for the deployed EAR on the server, use the new deployedObject element of the EAR deployment plan.

The new command LdapProvider has been included to add or delete LDAP security providers on a specified server. When using this command to add a provider, you supply an XML input file containing all of the configuration information.

     See the SilverCmd reference chapter in the Facilities Guide.

SMC The user interface of the SMC (Server Management Console) has been updated to reflect product rebranding and other minor feature changes.

     For information on using the SMC, see the Administrator's Guide.

License installation You can now install the license installer locally and run it right from your application server machine (that way, you won't need the installation CD each time).

  • On Windows, the license installer is available via a full or custom install of the application server. Once it's on your machine, you can use it by running Setup.exe in the application server's License directory.

  • On UNIX and Linux, the license installer is copied to your machine automatically when you install the application server. You can use it by running upldlic.sh in the application server's license directory.

Dynamic connection allocation You can now set a property (DYNMAXCLIENTCONNS) that lets the server dynamically allocate client connections during peak load times.

     For details, see the chapter on tuning the server in the Administrator's Guide.

Connection pools You can now control how the Novell exteNd Application Server reclaims connections for stateless components (servlets and stateless session beans). You'll use the following new property in the httpd.props file:
   http-server.com.sssw.srv.invctx.releaseRes

     For details, see the chapter on data source configuration in the Administrator's Guide.

Port types In this version of the Novell exteNd Application Server, you can configure two separate port types for handling the server's operations: administration and runtime. The design port type (supported in earlier versions) has been consolidated into the administration port type.

     For more information on configuring port types, see the chapter on running the server in the Administrator's Guide.

Cipher suites The Novell exteNd Application Server now supports additional cipher suites for secure communications (HTTPS). Several TLS (Transport Layer Security) cipher suites have been added, including some AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) cipher suites. These include:
   TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA 0x0035
   TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA 0x0039
   TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA 0x0038
   TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA 0x002F
   TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA 0x0033
   TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA 0x0032

   TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_RC4_128_SHA 0x0066
   TLS_RSA_EXPORT1024_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA 0x0062
   TLS_RSA_EXPORT1024_WITH_RC4_56_SHA 0x0064
   TLS_DHE_DSS_EXPORT1024_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA 0x0063
   TLS_DHE_DSS_EXPORT1024_WITH_RC4_56_SHA 0x0065

   SSL_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_RC2_CBC_40_MD5 0x0006

   TLS_DH_anon_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA 0x003A
   TLS_DH_anon_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA 0x0034

     For more information on supported cipher suites, see the chapter on setting up security in the Administrator's Guide.

Apache support The Novell exteNd Application Server now provides WSI (Web server integration) support for Apache HTTP Server (Version 2.0 or higher). This enables you to integrate a Novell exteNd Application Server into your existing Apache server framework.

     For details, see the Web server integration chapter in the Administrator's Guide.

Server Administration API Reference documentation (including javadoc) for the Server Administration API is no longer included in the Novell exteNd Application Server help. Instead, this documentation is available on request from Novell.

     For more information on the status of the Server Administration API, see the Release Notes.

CORBA ORB The Novell exteNd Application Server now includes Version 4.1 of jBroker ORB. As of this version, jBroker is part of jBroker ORB.
JMS implementation The Novell exteNd Application Server now includes Version 2.1 of jBroker MQ for Java Message Service support.
UDDI support You can now add UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration) capabilities to the application server by using UDDI Services. This facility is a lightweight edition of the Novell Nsure UDDI Server that comes with its own lightweight LDAP Server. It supports Web Service development by providing a UDDI 2.0 test registry where you can publish and find components (using Novell exteNd Director or Composer) before production (when you can publish to the Novell Nsure UDDI Server).

UDDI Services is implemented as a J2EE Web application that you deploy to the application server. Everything you need to deploy UDDI Services is provided in the application server's UDDI subdirectory, along with deployment instructions and other UDDI Services documentation. The UDDI subdirectory and its files are copied to your file system during the Novell exteNd Application Server install.

Localization In this version of the Novell exteNd Application Server, runtime language support is provided for the following:

  • Simplified Chinese

  • Traditional Chinese

  • English

  • French

  • German

  • Italian

  • Japanese

  • Korean

  • Portuguese

  • Russian

  • Spanish

     For more about localization, see the chapter on server implementation notes in the Facilities Guide.

Performance A variety of performance improvements have been made in this version of the Novell exteNd Application Server.


Copyright © 2004 Novell, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright © 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 SilverStream Software, LLC. All rights reserved.  more ...