This month we are rolling out Confluence 7.17.1 with new automated cleanup capability for space and page history, improvements to usability, performance and SSO and much more.
Workaround for Chromium v96 Editor Woes
When used with Confluence, the spell check feature will now automatically be disabled for browsers based on Chromium v96.
Previously this was the cause of serious performance degradation, especially on large pages. Users should update their browser to a more recent version to not run into this problem, but if they can not, this workaround will at least provide some remedy.
Livesearch sidebar macro fixed
In Confluence it is possible to add a search macro to the space sidebar which allows searching for content within that space. To do it, you would put this macro in space sidebar settings (either globally in the whole Confluence or for a single space): {livesearch:spaceKey=@self|size=medium|placeholder=Search this space}
Ever since Confluence version 7.12.0, the live search macro has had a bug that caused the text alignment to be off, making the thing wholly confusing. This has finally been fixed.
Epic links in Confluence Jira macro
Previously Epic Links in Confluence were treated as regular Jira linked issues and the Jira issue macro only showed the issue key for the epic without the additional information like the epic name.
In Jira, this works differently. If you added an “Epic Link” column to the Jira issue search table view, it would hyperlink the epic and show its name. Confluence will work the same way going forward.
More details on this fix can be found on the related issue CONFSERVER-43561 at jira.atlassian.com.
Confluence permission performance improvements for larger instances
Confluence permission schemes can be quite complex with all the page and space restrictions, groups with permissions, and so on. This causes some Confluence permission validations (does a user have access to view page/space) to be slow, which is negatively reflected on the user experience when browsing content. The problem is most apparent in larger Confluence instances with lots of users.
With this release, Atlassian has introduced a new “faster permissions service” which changes how Confluence stores permission-related information so it is faster to fetch. This should provide a faster Confluence experience in large instances but will most likely not have a visible effect on smaller ones.
You can expect us to suggest enabling this feature if we think your instance might be susceptible to permission management-related performance degradation.
Copy-paste image files to Confluence
Confluence has had problems with dataUrl base64 encoded images when those are pasted to the Confluence editor from elsewhere. Copying and pasting a long text from another site, where the copied data contained an image file, resulted in a broken image in Confluence and lots of errors in the server-side logs.
This release of Confluence will ship with a fix that should now make images attached to the page correctly. More details on this fix can be found on the related issue CONFSERVER-65792 on jira.atlassian.com.
Multiple identity providers for native SSO
Data Center only
It is now possible to configure multiple identity providers (authentication sources) for Confluence SSO. While it was possible to do so previously as well, it required the use of a third party plugin (such as the re:solution SAML SSO). Not anymore! Confluence 7.16 adds the support for multiple IdPs for the built-in SSO implementation. Nice.
In addition to this, if Confluence has been configured to use SSO, we will now be able to completely block basic authentication (username and password based) for the UI login, the API or both. However it is worth noting that if you have some integrations with Confluence, those should be changed to use personal account tokens before username-password authentication is disabled.
Configurable Retention Period for Previous Versions
Data Center only
In Confluence every page edit or attachment upload creates a version that users can roll back to, view old versions and compare the content of different versions of the same page.
While this is quite convenient, there is a downside to it. Especially in older instances and spaces, there might be years worth of versions that may never be needed, which can lead to space and page history getting unnecessarily bloated thus hampering with usability of it all.
Starting with this release of Confluence, it will now be possible to define a retention period for the historical data – how much of history we want to keep and when to discard it automatically. The retention period for the automatic cleanup can be configured to be based on time (number of months) or on the number of versions to keep.
The retention rules for history cleanup need to be enabled globally by a Confluence administrator. When enabled, the rules apply to all spaces by default.
However, it is possible to exclude spaces from this retention period setting, if and when there are cases where removing the history is undesirable. We can also allow space administrators to override the global rules on the space level, allowing them to adjust the retention setting to their specific needs.
We can also allow space administrators to either use the globally defined retention settings or set up their own for their space (via space administration).
Check out the documentation for set retention rules to delete unwanted data at atlassian.com for more on this feature.
What’s noteworthy in the Confluence plugins ecosystem?
Draw.io
- Adds option for admin to configure a regex to apply to diagram links. The format is: linkAdjustments=[{"re":"RegExp", "r":"replacement", "m": "modifier"}, ...]
This is useful when there are hardcoded base or context paths in links in shapes that are wrong after migrating spaces or instances. - Use mathematical typesetting in diagrams
- Enter your math equation using LaTeX or AsciiMath in a text shape.
- AsciiMath between `, for example: `a^2+b^2 = c^2`
- LaTeX between $$, for example: $$\sqrt{3×-1}+(1+x)^2$$
- Inline LaTeX between \( and \), for example: \(\sqrt{3×-1}+(1+x)^2\)
You can mix inline LaTeX and AsciiMath in the same text, for example:
LaTeX \(\sqrt{3×-1}+(1+x)^2\\) and AsciiMath `a^b + b^2 = c^2`
This months’ Jira release 8.22.2 provides improvements to security of 3rd party integrations, enhancements to Data Pipeline, Advanced Roadmap, Service Desk and much more!
Incoming OAuth 2.0 integrations to Jira
Lately, we have seen many service providers and application developers focusing on the security of their applications. One way to improve the security is by adding more secure and reliable authentication methods and that’s exactly what Atlassian has done with Jira.
In addition to basic auth (username + password based authentication) you will now be able to integrate other applications to Jira using OAuth 2.0 and query Jira data through that connection. Atlassian is not deprecating basic authentication.
As part of this, all OAuth 2.0 management in Jira will now be done via application links menu (instead of a separate OAuth menu).
Capability to send mail notifications to users without Jira license
In Jira version 8.19.0 Atlassian introduced a block on sending notifications to users without application access (Jira license). This was done primarily as a security feature – to prevent revealing potentially sensitive information to disabled users through these notifications. However, there are some organizations that might still need to continue sending them, regardless of the possible security implications.
Starting with Jira version 8.22 we can revert back to the previous behavior and allow mail to be sent to users without application access by enabling the new dark feature. More on this particular subject can be found on issue JRASERVER-73165 at jira.atlassian.com.
Exclude projects from data pipeline exports
Data Center only
Some versions ago Atlassian introduced a new feature in Jira called the Data Pipeline, which allows taking a snapshot of Jira changes in CSV format based on the configured interval. This dataset could then be easily fed into a business intelligence tool for further analysis.
Previously if we wanted to exclude some confidential projects from the Data Pipeline export, we had to, for example, use project categories and clean up the data after export. Now we are able to easily configure an “opt-out” exclusion list in Jira to filter out unwanted data right at the source.
Improved language selection for advanced roadmaps
Data Center only
Overall the localization support in Jira is quite good, with fields and UI elements translating nicely to your preferred language.
With this release of Jira Data Center, language support of the planning and collaboration extension Advanced Roadmaps has been brought up to the same level as Jira itself. Advanced Roadmaps will support the same languages Jira does, including Finnish, Danish, German, Swedish, and Norwegian.
What’s New in Jira Service Management?
Emoji Reactions in Service Desk
Data Center only
Emoji comment reactions familiar from Jira and various chat applications come to Jira Service Management. Now you and your Service Desk customers can reduce the old-fashioned keyboard clackety-clack to a minimum and respond to comments with a smile(yface) instead. This could even be actually useful when you’re communicating with multiple participants and want to show you have understood or approve what someone else proposes.
Configurable Field Selection for “My Requests” Customer View
Data Center only
Jira Service Desk project administrators can now modify the fields available to customers when they are viewing a list of all their service desk requests. Customers can either use the fields defined by an administrator or they can select which fields they would like to see from the list of available ones.
What’s noteworthy in the Jira plugins ecosystem?
Automation for Jira
- Fixed the integration with Insight - Asset Management used in project administration
- New features: filtering and exporting the audit log. For more info, see Using the audit log.
- Introduced configurable automation event serializer thread pool size via new property
automation.event.serializer.thread.pool.size.per.node
Checklist for Jira
- A new custom field type is now available that enables Checklist fields to be used and displayed in the customer portal.
- Just like the Checklist Proxy, the Checklist Proxy for Customer Portal acts as a stand-in for an existing checklist and comes with its own feature flags.
Jira Misc Workflow Extensions (JMWE)
- Want to copy one or more fields either within the same issue or between issues? You can now use our Copy issue fields post-function that allows you to copy the values of one or more fields from the current issue or related issue(s) or a set of filtered issues to the specified destination issue(s).
- You can now set the value of the Tempo Account field by key or name
Refined for Jira
- Customize the My Request view
- More options for the My Request module
- Languages & Dictionary improvements
- More flexible Request Type module
- Refined Admin QoL improvements
Find out more
And, as always, complete release notes for Jira and Jira Service Management can be found on atlassian.com:
In addition to the feature releases for Confluence and Jira, we’ll push out patches for Crowd and Fisheye/Crucible.
What’s new in Crowd?
Atlassian’s user management tool Crowd gets an update to version 4.4.1 in May. Please refer to the Crowd Release Notes at atlassian.com for full disclosure on what’s changing. See our highlights below.
Automatic directory pruning for delegated directories
Delegated directories in Crowd allow you to manage users and groups within Crowd but allow users to authenticate against an external LDAP Directory (e.g. AD) when the Crowd and external LDAP usernames are the same.
This release of Crowd implements Pruning for delegated directories, which allows you to automatically disable or delete a user in Crowd, then their account is removed from in the external directory.
Sync Scheduling with Cron expressions
Data Center only
Previously you could only set up directory syncs in Crowd using intervals. Now it is possible to replace the interval with a cron expression, which allows a Crowd administrator more control over when and how often the information is synced from an external directory to Crowd.
Sync users based on their application access
Data Center only
Normally all users (and groups) are synchronized from Crowd to - for example - Jira, even though not every one of them had been given Jira application access. This could lead to confusion when Jira User Browser listed many users who in reality could not access Jira.
Starting with this release a Crowd administrator can configure access-based synchronization to only sync those users with access right to the application. Check out the documentation for syncing users based on their access rights at atlassian.com for more details on this one.
What’s new in Fisheye/Crucible?
This month Fisheye receives a minor update to version 4.8.9. As Fisheye is in basic maintenance mode from Atlassian development perspective, this version does not include new features.
TLS 1.2 support for outgoing mail
The previous Fisheye version came packaged with an older version of mail handling functionality that could in some situations cause problems with sending mail when TLS 1.2 is enabled.
Added new supported platforms
Fisheye now supports Mercurial up to 5.9 and PostgreSQL up to 14.
In May, SonarQube Current levels up to version 9.4 with improved performance, precision, and a bunch of new rules.
GCP Support for the Terraform SAST
This release of SonarQube will improve the Terraform static analysis capabilities by adding a total of 17 new rules for Google Cloud Platform, complementing the already existing support for AWS and Azure Terraform.
The new GCP rules cover permissions, encryption at rest and in transit, traceability, and logging. Azure Cloud support has also been expanded with three new traceability/logging Security Hotspot rules.
Faster Java Analysis
SonarQube has implemented more efficient file handling for Java analysis – instead of processing files one by one, the related files are now handled in batches. SonarQube’s own tests indicate an average of 30% improvement in the speed of the Java sensor. Naturally, it’s the larger projects with longer processing times that will see the greatest benefit from this.
And as the performance improvement is all result of more efficient file handling, there’s no precision trade-off. A win-win situation, one might say.
SonarQube is also anticipating rolling out similar improvements to other languages later this year!
Improved C and C++ precision
Starting with SonarQube 9.4, C/C++ analysis will make the distinction between system and user headers in order to analyze the latter appropriately. The improved handling of header files will lead to fewer false negatives for most rules – and particularly so for advanced bug rules such as S2259, which detects null pointer dereferences.
Automatic quality profile sync for SonarLint
Good news, SonarLint users! Instead of having to rely on pulling Quality Profile changes, there’s now automation that’ll do it for you in the background, ensuring your IDE is always up-to-date with the latest rules.
Be sure to check out the official SonarQube 9.4 release announcement at sonarqube.org as well!
May is bringing updates for GitHub, GitLab, Jenkins, and the LTS variety of SonarQube as well. Details below.
GitHub Enterprise fix release 3.4.2
This month we are updating GitHub Enterprise to the patch release 3.4.2, which addresses some minor niggles with the version rolled out in April. There are some performance improvements for Advanced Security background processes, fixes to some bugs, and medium-level security concerns.
For further details on the fixes head on over to GitHub Enterprise 3.4 Release Notes at github.com.
GitLab’s Latest and Greatest, the Release 14.10
Compliance Insights with Individual Violation Reporting
The compliance report in GitLab now reports every individual merge request violation for all the projects within a group – a vast improvement over the previous versions, which only showed the latest Merge Request that had one or more violations.
In this version all the violations are individually listed, making it easy to see what caused the violation, who was involved and when it happened. There are also several other quality-of-life improvements, such as filtering and sorting the Compliance report view, to help you find exactly what you’re looking for, quickly and conveniently.
GitLab Runner Operator for Kubernetes
The GitLab Runner Operator for RedHat OpenShift container platform saw the light of day in version 13.10. That release provided OpenShift users with the automation and management capabilities and simplified the management of runners in an OpenShift Kubernetes cluster.
Fast forward 13 months to this month’s release of GitLab 14.10. It will provide GitLab Runner Operator v1.7.0 which you can use on any Kubernetes cluster, not only OpenShift.
And much more… As always
There are also the usual monthly SAST updates, various user interface usability improvements, a brand new interface for configuring the Audit Event Streaming (a feature first introduced in 14.7), and much more. All of which is, once again, listed in exhaustive detail on the GitLab 14.10 Release Announcement at gitlab.com. Be sure to check them out!
Jenkins LTS
Jenkins' usual monthly treatment is more usual than the one last month – a minor version bump to 2.332.2 LTS for Jenkins Core, with a couple of fixes and improvements coupled with a host of plugin updates with, you guessed it, some fixes and improvements. Nothing too drastic.
Eficode ROOT Jenkins deployments differ from one to another – please do reach out to your friendly Eficode ROOT Support for a full list of plugin changes specific to your ROOT Jenkins instance.
SonarQube LTS
In addition to SonarQube Current getting a bump to a new patch level, SonarQube’s LTS variety also receives an update to the latest release 8.9.8 LTS, which delivers some security fixes and improvements to the CFamily analysis.
Full disclosure of this release can be found in SonarQube 8.9.8 LTS release notes at sonarsource.com.
Published: May 4, 2022
Updated: Sep 1, 2022