======================================================================
                  Halcyon Monitoring Solutions
                      www.HalcyonInc.com

                      Halcyon Neuron Core 
                         Version 1.8.0

                         ReleaseNotes 
======================================================================
Copyright (c) 2009-2010 Halcyon Monitoring Solutions, Inc.

Note: For the latest information on this product, visit:
      http://www.HalcyonInc.com

      Refer to the README file(s) for all other information.

Versions Documented Below: 1.8.0, 1.7.0, 1.6.0, 1.5.2, 1.5.1, 1.5.0,
                           1.4.1, 1.4.0, 1.3.0, 1.2.0, 1.1.0, 1.0.0


======================================================================
VERSION/DATE: 1.8.0/2010-01-29


ENHANCEMENTS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Add icons for event severities in the Event Viewer of Neuron Management 
  Portal for better identification of various severities. 
- Add "Settings" button in the Event Viewer of Neuron Management Portal,
  which can be used to set up the way how events are highlighted.
- Better organization of hosts in the Event Viewer - Topology panel.  
- Add more functionalities to the ProcessRule command-line utility, so
  that it can be used to enable/disable rules, undelete or purge rules
  that have been marked as deleted.  
- Add revisionHistory.log file to record user actions performed in
  Neuron Management Portal, and user actions which make changes to 
  configuration files, or user running any command-line utility that 
  is included in this release, for better auditing. 
- Add support for forwarding remote acknowledgement of Sun MC alarms
  to Sun MC.
- Add support for Solaris hardware monitoring.
- Add support for processing management data through Windows Management 
  Instrumentation (WMI). 
- Improve performance such as the processing speed of SNMP traps.


BUG FIXES
--------------------------------------------------------------------
- When user clicks on "About" button in Neuron Management Portal, and
  then click on "View Logs", no error will occur.
- In Neuron Event Manager GUI, user can delete all actions and filters
  of a rule.
- In Internet Explorer, user can navigate from Neuron Management Portal
  on one Neuron Core host to Neuron Management Portal on another Neuron
  Core host.   


KNOWN PROBLEMS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- None.


UPGRADE STRATEGY
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- This release is compatible with the previous version. The following
  configuration options must be updated manually after installation if
  they were modified from the defaults.

  [LOCAL_DIR]/conf/service/SnmpService.xml:

      - listener.port
      - listener.details.off

  [LOCAL_DIR]/conf/TrapRules.hmf:

      where the default [LOCAL_DIR] is /var/opt/HMF.

      During an upgrade this file is replaced with the latest version.
      Any custom modifications must be manullay added from the backup
      file that is created during the upgrade process.

- The unit of the following configuration parameter in PerfdbService.xml
  file has been changed from 'second' to 'minute':
      - reporter.dataCollectionInterval
  
  Follow these steps to manually update the value:
      - Save a backup copy of [LOCAL_DIR]/conf/service/PerfdbService.xml.
      - Edit the above PerfdbService.xml file, and change the value (in
        seconds) on the following line to the equivalent value in minutes:
  
         <property name="reporter.dataCollectionInterval" value="3600" type="int"/> 

        In the above example, the value need to be updated to 60 (minutes),
        instead of 3600 (seconds).

 
======================================================================
VERSION/DATE: 1.7.0/2009-11-16


ENHANCEMENTS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Added support for Sun Ops Center 2.5.
- Events can be deleted after configurable retention period or after
  exceeding the configurable maximum number of events.
- Added ProcessRule command-line utility, which can be used to add,
  update, or delete a filter from a rule, or add a new rule, or mark
  a rule as deleted.
- Added a search bar in the Event Viewer of Neuron Management Portal,
  which can be used to search for events that match the given keyword(s). 
- User can define event tag(s) for events in the Event Viewer of Neuron 
  Management Portal, which can be used to classify events.
- Added ReverseAcknowledge.sh script, which can be used with various
  Neuron Integration solutions to remotely acknowledge Halcyon Neuron
  Core events from 3rd-party management frameworks. 
- Performance statistics are collected and stored for Halcyon Neuron
  Core, Neuron Integration solutions, and Neuron modules. 
- Added a new log file RequestAction.log to record the execution 
  history of rules.
 

BUG FIXES
--------------------------------------------------------------------
- Performance data collected from Halcyon Neuron Agent is associated
  with proper metric type.
- The asset of events received from Sun Ops Center is properly matched
  to an asset in Sun Ops Center.


KNOWN PROBLEMS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- None.


UPGRADE STRATEGY
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- None.  This release is compatible with the previous version.



======================================================================
VERSION/DATE: 1.6.0/2009-09-30


ENHANCEMENTS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Improved stability and user-experience.
- Events received are linked to an asset for the originating host,
  device, agent, or Neuron Core service. The Neuron Event Viewer
  contains new topology views which make locating events for a
  particular asset much easier.
- Neuron Core creates a list of aliases for each host it detects.
  Common aliases are short host names, host names including the
  fully qualified domain name, or IP addresses. This information
  is used to link an event to an asset.
- Assets for agents such as the Sun Management Center Agent or
  Neuron Agent contain a link to their parent asset, i.e. the host
  on which the agent is running.
- Events received from Sun Ops Center or via IPMI now contain
  a unique id for deduplication. This virtually eliminates the
  possibility of duplicate events from these sources.
- The Neuron Core database supports the definition of operations.
  These can be added by the user in order to execute them manually
  or automatically based on a schedule. An existing command-line
  tool has been extended to allow addition of, updates to, and
  removal of these operations. A new utility has been included
  which can be used to execute operations.
- Improved look and feel of alert boxes.
- Event Viewer contains an improved mechanism for selecting
  date and time values for the Time Received filter. Values
  can also be entered directly.
- Events are logged by all Neuron adapters and modules when they
  are installed or removed.
- All components of Neuron Core as well as Neuron adapters and
  modules reuse existing configuration information upon
  reinstallation.
- Message Logger also logs the name of the rule that caused the
  execution of an action.
- Neuron Management Portal displays detailed version information
  in the About box.

BUG FIXES
--------------------------------------------------------------------
- Display correct text when logging out from Neuron Management
  Portal.
- Improved error handling in Neuron Management Portal in case no
  response has been received from Neuron Core.
- Corrected ownership of files in the run-time directories.
- File name of exported and published performance data reports
  contains name of report.
- Increased default graph size of published reports.
- Raw events are always deleted from the database. In case of an
  error the event is logged to the PostgreSQL log of Neuron Core.
- Improved the robustness of stored procedures used by Neuron Core.
- The source asset of SNMP v1 traps received by Neuron Core is
  set to the IP address of the originating host or its host
  name (if resolvable).
- Message Gateway sends events to Neuron Core if it cannot read
  data from its message cache file and creates a backup of the
  message cache.


KNOWN PROBLEMS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- None.


UPGRADE STRATEGY
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- None.  This release is compatible with the previous version.



======================================================================
VERSION/DATE: 1.5.2/2009-09-18


BUG FIXES
--------------------------------------------------------------------
- Improved stored procedure add_asset for better error handling.


UPGRADE STRATEGY
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- None.  This release is compatible with the previous version.



======================================================================
VERSION/DATE: 1.5.1/2009-09-04


BUG FIXES
--------------------------------------------------------------------
- Time Received filter in Event Viewer allows selection of date and
  time.


UPGRADE STRATEGY
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- None.  This release is compatible with the previous version.



======================================================================
VERSION/DATE: 1.5.0/2009-08-18


ENHANCEMENTS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Neuron Management Portal can now only be accessed using a secure
  connection. All communication between the Neuron Management Portal
  and Neuron Core is also using SSL for improved security.
- Neuron Agent assets are automatically added to the configuration
  database when events from these agents are received.
- Neuron Agent assets can be viewed remotely through the Neuron 
  Management Portal's Neuron Agent Viewer
- Neuron Agent's performance data as gathered by the Agent's 
  Reporter module can now be extracted by Halcyon's Neuron Core.
- ActiveMQ has been updated to FUSE Message Broker version 8.3.0.4
  for improved performance and stability.
- PostgreSQL database has been updated to version 8.4.0. Support for
  the PostgreSQL extension dblink is now included on all platforms.


BUG FIXES
--------------------------------------------------------------------
- Numerous bug fixes that improve the stability and user-experience
  of the product.


KNOWN PROBLEMS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- None.


UPGRADE STRATEGY
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Upgrading the configuration from the previous version is handled
  automatically. However, due to changes in security and database
  versions an existing database cannot be reused. Future upgrades
  will be fully supported.

- If the previous version of Neuron Core was used to integrate with
  Nueron agents (Neuron agents setup to send events to the Neuron
  Core), then the following strategy needs to be followed:
    1) Stop Neuron Core.
    2) Stop all Neuron Agents that were integrated with the Nueron 
       Core.
    3) Upgrade each Neuron Agent that was integrated with the Neuron
       Core from version 3.0.0 to version 3.1.0.
    4) Upgrade the Neuron Core to the current 1.5 version.
    5) Start the Neuron Core.
    6) Start each Neuron Agent integrated with the Nueron Core.
  The upgrade must be carried out in this order to ensure that no
  Neuron 3.0.0 Agent is integrated with the Neuron 1.5.0 Core.  If 
  a Neuron 3.0.0 Agent has been integrated with the Neuron 1.5.0
  Core, and is then upgraded to a 3.1.0 Agent, Neuron Core will
  recognize it as a new agent, but will be unable to distinguish
  which is valid.



======================================================================
VERSION/DATE: 1.4.1/2009-07-07


ENHANCEMENTS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Email Adapter now contains all fields in email body.
- Email content layout adjusted for improved readability.


BUG FIXES
--------------------------------------------------------------------
- Fixed a bug that prevent client sessions from timing out properly
  if new events were received frequently and consistently.
- Fixed a bug that parsed Rule parameters incorrectly.
- 'Test Actions' function will now test disabled rules.
- Default port for SNMP communications set to 162, from non-standard
  port 1162.


KNOWN PROBLEMS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- None.


UPGRADE STRATEGY
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- When Neuron Core is started an existing GenericAdapter.drl rule file
  is imported into its database. Any disabled actions in the rule file
  will be removed.  This is done automatically and does not require
  any user intervention.



======================================================================
VERSION/DATE: 1.4.0/2009-06-19


ENHANCEMENTS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Neuron EventAction Converter utility for converting a PrimeAlert
  EventAction rule file to a Neuron Core rule.
- Ability to perform actions immediately or after a specified delay.
- Ability to perform actions repeatedly.
- Rules in GenericAdapter.drl are imported into the Neuron Core
  database.


KNOWN PROBLEMS
----------------------------------------------------------------------


UPGRADE STRATEGY
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- When Neuron Core is started an existing GenericAdapter.drl rule file
  is imported into its database. Any disabled actions in the rule file
  will be removed.  This is done automatically and does not require
  any user intervention.



======================================================================
VERSION/DATE: 1.3.0/2009-04-03


ENHANCEMENTS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Ability to integrate the Neuron Core with a wide variety of 
  Enterprise Management Frameworks (EMFs) through a variety of Neuron
  Integration Adapters.


KNOWN PROBLEMS
----------------------------------------------------------------------


UPGRADE STRATEGY
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- None.



======================================================================
VERSION/DATE: 1.2.0/2009-03-13


ENHANCEMENTS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Integration with xVM Ops Center 2.0



KNOWN PROBLEMS
----------------------------------------------------------------------


UPGRADE STRATEGY
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- None.
  This release is not compatible with prior releases.  Any existing
  installations must be entirely uninstalled before release 1.2.0 may
  be installed.  Note: The directory containing run-time files must be
  removed manually.  See LOCALDIR in README.install for the location
  of this directory.



======================================================================
VERSION/DATE: 1.1.0/2009-01-30 (limited availability)


ENHANCEMENTS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Inclusion of a graphical event viewer for fault events.


KNOWN PROBLEMS
----------------------------------------------------------------------


UPGRADE STRATEGY
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- None.  
  1.0.0 was a Beta release.  It is entirely incompatible with this
  1.1.0 release.  1.0.0 must be entirely uninstalled before 1.1.0
  may be installed.



======================================================================
VERSION/DATE: 1.0.0/2008-11-21

BUG FIXES
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- No prior releases

KNOWN PROBLEMS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- First release.

UPGRADE STRATEGY
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- None.  First release.

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