4th September 2021 (Europe 1)

Scope

We have worked hard to deliver a great MindSphere experience, but we are still tracking some known issues. If you find others, please give us your feedback by contacting our MindSphere Support.

We recommend that you read the following release notes carefully. These notes contain important information for installation and use.

These release notes are relevant for MindSphere region Europe 1 Release in September 2021 with version "V1801.CW.EU1.N0902".

New Product Portfolio

What's new?

NOTE

The new product portfolio is only applicable for new customers.

For the existing MIndSphere customers, there is no change since the new product portfolio is not applicable.

The new product portfolio simplifies the offering structure of MindSphere to help users scale their digitalization with industrial IoT solutions in a seamless way. It has the following functionalities:

  • Provides a clear separation between value-add (I)IoT capabilities and pure Cloud resources.

  • Adds flexibility to focus on several deployment options to meet customer needs:

    • Public cloud

    • Virtual private cloud

    • Local private cloud

  • Simplifies overall structure, since it does not differentiate between account types.

  • Fosters a land & expand strategy via modular expansion capabilities.

When ordering one of the products of the new MindSphere portfolio, every customer will receive a MindSphere Account, identified by a unique Account Name and Identifier (SoldTo /Install ID depending on customer's country of residence).

  • The apps and IIoT services in the Account are determined by the purchased Capability Package (Basic/Standard/Premium).

  • Every Account will entitle customers to a certain amount of Environments (also known as Tenants) for different purposes (productive use, development or test).

With a Basic Capability Package, customers may receive up to two Environments:

  • One for productive use

  • One for development purposes

IoT File Service will be part of Basic capability pack. For IoT Time Series and IoT File Service, in addition to a Capability Package, at least Asset Attributes and an IIoT Data Package

(mandatory Cloud Resource Package) are required. For Asset Attributes and Cloud Resource Packages, all usage across all Environments is aggregated and counted against the purchased quota.

With Standard and Premium Capability Packages, customers may receive up to four Environments:

  • One for productive use

  • One for development purposes

  • Two for test purposes

Data Lake Service will be available as part of Standard and Premium capability pack.

For Data Lake, in addition to a Capability Package, one of the following Data Lake Optional Resource Pack need to be purchased:

  • Small

  • Medium

  • Large

Upon purchase, customers will receive the productive Environment. All other Environments are made available upon customer request via Support Center. The number of environments cannot be increased.

The purchased apps will be made available on the productive Environment, by default. On request via Support Center, purchased apps can be deployed to other Environments within same Capability Package as well.

Asset Manager

Applicable for:

  • IIoT for Makers

What's new?

  • It is now possible for the users to change the name of existing asset types.

Known issues

  • If a VFC workflow for an asset in a subtenant exists, it is not shown in the respective tile in the Asset Manager for a tenant admin.

  • Fleet Manager navigation is not working correctly if you have to re-login, as query parameters are lost. This problem will be addressed soon. Please try again by clicking the Fleet Manager navigation button.

  • If you are using app specific roles you need to assign plugin roles as well. This is up to now only possible for MindConnect LIB plugin, MindConnect Nano and MindConnect IoT2040.

  • The Connectivity Management view currently only shows assets derived by BasicAgent, MindConnect Nano, MindConnect IoT2040, MindConnect Library or Industrial Edge or a derived type of the mentioned ones.

Asset Management API

Applicable for:

  • MindAccess Developer Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Operator Plan Subscribers

What's new?

  • It is now possible to delete variable from aspect types where no reference (asset instances) exist, this helps to maintain your representation properly.

Known issues

  • Currently it is possible to use a variable name equal to the aspect name which leads to errors for example in Fleet Manager.

Cloud Foundry

Applicable for:

  • MindAccess Developer Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Operator Plan Subscribers

Additional Info:

  • Available and Updated buildpacks:

Buildpack

Version

Details

dotnet-core-buildpack

2.3.25

https://github.com/cloudfoundry/dotnet-core-buildpack/releases/tag/v2.3.25

go-buildpack

1.9.28

https://github.com/cloudfoundry/go-buildpack/releases/tag/v1.9.28

java-buildpack

4.37

https://github.com/cloudfoundry/java-buildpack/releases/tag/v4.37

nodejs-buildpack

1.7.46

https://github.com/cloudfoundry/nodejs-buildpack/releases/tag/v1.7.46

php-buildpack

4.4.34

https://github.com/cloudfoundry/php-buildpack/releases/tag/v4.4.34

python-buildpack

1.7.26

https://github.com/cloudfoundry/python-buildpack/releases/tag/v1.7.26

ruby-buildpack

1.8.35

https://github.com/cloudfoundry/ruby-buildpack/releases/tag/v1.8.35

staticfile-buildpack

1.5.17

https://github.com/cloudfoundry/staticfile-buildpack/releases/tag/v1.5.17

mendix-buildpack

4.15.6

https://github.com/mendix/cf-mendix-buildpack/releases/tag/v4.15.6

binary-buildpack

1.0.36

https://github.com/cloudfoundry/binary-buildpack/tree/v1.0.36

  • PostgreSQL11 Migration Assist is available. It is recommended to migrate your a9s PostgreSQL 9.4. The version 9.4 is deprecated and will be removed in the future.https://developer.mindsphere.io/paas/a9s-postgresql/using.html#migrate-the-service-instance-to-another-postgresql-version-into-new-postgresql-instance

  • Please note that redis32 and rabbitmq36 are going to be deprecated and might be removed in the future.

  • Buildpack version deprecation warnings:

    • The first release of the Ruby buildpack after 2021-04-23 will no longer include ruby versions 2.5.x. 

      The first release of the Go buildpack after 2021-04-23 will no longer include Go versions 1.14.x.

  • Parachute values added to Backing Service Metrics API - You can now see the Parachute threshold and if your Backing Services was stopped or is going to be stopped.

  • Backing Service Backup Page added to LogMe Service Dashboard. The Kibana Page can be opended with a link on Backing Service Backup Page.

Container Registry

Applicable for:

  • MindAccess Developer Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Operator Plan Subscribers

Fixed issues

  • Fixed a sporadic HTTP ERROR 431

Cross-Tenancy

Applicable for:

  • MindAccess IoT Value Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Developer Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Operator Plan Subscribers

Known issues

  • Only single asset sharing is available in the first release.

  • Sharing of assets derived from basicAgent and their corresponding plugins is not yet supported.

  • Tenant assets can not be moved under collaborators root asset or shared assets.

  • The successful implementation of a new sharing is normally completed within 2 minutes. If the new sharing is not successful within this time, the internal retry mechanism starts automatically after 4 minutes to complete the sharing. This issue will be addressed soon to prevent delays in the implementation.

Data Exploration built on Tableau®

Applicable for:

  • MindAccess IoT Value Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Developer Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Operator Plan Subscribers

Known issues

  • If you receive NULL values for timestamps on a Windows PC, please change your language for non-Unicode programs to English (United States). You'll find the settings in Control Panel → Region and Language → Administrative.

Developer Cockpit

Applicable for:

  • MindAccess Developer Plan Subscribers

What's new?

  • Within this release, we have enhanced the process for app creation workflow by introducing the following:

    • Automation/prepopulation around the Scope creation (Default Scope will be automatically created)

    • Role (Admin Role there by Default)

    • Automatic suggestion of an Internal App Name and an Initial Version for more convenience

    • When creating a technical User, a Postman Collection including the credentials can be downloaded.

    • Marking of mandatory fields

  • The customers of the new MindSphere Portfolio are able to leverage the following improvements within the Application Lifecycle:

    • During application assignment, no approval steps are required

    • It is now possible to assign applications to dedicated Test Environments before bringing them to production

Known issues

  • Currently, it is not possible to call MindSphere Core API's (e.g. Asset Management) from API Apps when using them as external dependencies from Standard Application hosted on different tenant.

  • Currently, not all roles and scopes are supported by Custom App Credentials. In this case, use the other provided options.

  • Application versions that contain a "#" character cannot be deployed in the Operator Cockpit. We advise customers not to use "#" in production version strings.

  • Applications cannot be deleted after being transferred to the production system.

  • the System is automatically suggesting an Internal App Name and an Initial Version for more convenience.

  • Layout issues in Internet Explorer 11 in combination with high resolution displays and 125 % font scaling.

Identity and Access Management

Applicable for:

  • MindAccess Developer Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Operator Plan Subscribers

Known issues

  • If you have problems logging off in Internet Explorer 11, please refer to Overcoming Logout Problems in IE11

  • App specific roles: 

    • Additional core app roles are coming soon.

    • Some apps are still accessible via their direct URL and allow the use of shared functionality if the user has been granted rights via the app-specific role of a different app.

Integrated Data Lake

Applicable for:

  • MindAccess IoT Value Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Developer Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Operator Plan Subscribers

Known issues

  • In Time Series Import user interface, the user can only view first level of child asset at the moment when importing the time series data.  The workaround for this approach is to use backend API to import data related to multiple child assets

  • It is observed that browser crashes randomly when trying to download files > 400MB.  It is advisable to use backend API for downloading objects > 400MB

  • When uploading the data using cross account access via native applications e.g. AWS CLI, the default permission is set to user of the account. The user has to provide the parameter (--acl bucket-owner-full-control) so the bucket owner (Integrated Data Lake) will get the necessary access to generate pre-signed URLs.

IoT and Storage Services: File Service

Applicable for:

  • MindAccess IoT Value Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Developer Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Operator Plan Subscribers

Known issues

  • For security reasons a strict timeout is enforced. Currently, this leads to the situation that the size of a file which can be uploaded/ downloaded depends on the network bandwidth at client side.

  • When uploading files to the File Service, a file name cannot contain blank spaces. Blank spaces in the file name will prevent the file form being stored.

  • After deleting an asset, associated files might still be accessible for up to 30 minutes as this data is deleted asynchronously.

  • After deleting a file, it will take some time (up to 60 seconds) to create the file with the same name again.

  • After creating or deleting the file, it will take some time (up to 3 seconds) to get the file in "search file" API.

IoT and Storage Services: Time Series Service

Applicable for:

  • MindAccess IoT Value Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Developer Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Operator Plan Subscribers

Known issues

  • The maximum payload size of a message sent to Time Series Service as part of a PUT request cannot exceed 1 MB.

  • The service will never return more than 2000 records in a response.

  • After deleting an asset, respective time series data might still be accessible for up to 30 minutes as this data is deleted asynchronously.

  • When getting the job status of a bulk import job, the response might not always contain detailed information on errors that occurred.

  • When creating or updating an aspect it might take up to 30 minutes until aggregated data can be read for this aspect. Writing data or reading raw data is possible immediately.

  • When ingesting time series data for multiple asset and aspects in single request, the combination of records should be unique.

  • Get Latest Value with query parameter "latestValue = true" will work with a delay up to 2 hours from the time of ingestion. Refer to developer documentation 'sample' section for more information.

  • While using Get Latest Value with query parameter  "latestValue = true", historic/late arriving data may take more than 1 day to reflect in the response.

Java SDK

Applicable for:

  • MindAccess Developer Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Operator Plan Subscribers

What's new?

  • Within this release, the SDK Example Applications will incorporate MindSphere Message Broker implementation

MindConnect Edge Analytics

Applicable for:

  • MindAccess IoT Value Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Developer Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Operator Plan Subscribers

Known Issues

  • Within this release, the Analysis Package for Event-Based Data Upload has been extended with an option to upload target data to the Integrated Data Lake.

  • After successful onboarding and when the App is onboarded to another Asset, the data communication can have issues and the Edge Analytics Engine can appear unresponsive within the Control UI. In this case, please re-install the MindConnect Edge Analytics App on the Industrial Edge device and re-onboard to the target Asset.

  • With a new onboarded device and when trying to assign a data point license, it can happen that the update button only appears after several seconds. A refresh of the page can cure the situation.

  • When uploading Event Based Data Upload or Data Upload package to MindConnect Nano device and there are no enabled input signals within the Analysis Package configuration, the update ends in error state "Prepare Environment or Update/Start Configuration". Having critical error message in User Logs.

  • Note: A full configured monitoring of the Analyzing Packages Vibration Characteristic Values and Vibration Frequency Spectra with all channels of one SM1281 can exceed the CPU performance of the MindConnect Nano. Also in other scenarios dependent of tasks running in parallel on the MindConnect Nano, CPU load can get to high. The recommendation is to use only two fully configured Vibration Frequency Spectra Analyzing Packages in parallel.

  • Deactivating a data point within a MindConnect data source will not deactivate a connection check in Edge Analytics Engine. This can lead to an error if the target device is no longer available.

  • DataBus and Event Based Data Upload configuration can be created without data or deactivated data, which will lead to a critical error on project start.

  • In some sporadic cases of a configuration update via Edge Analytics Manager it is possible that the Mind Connect Nano gets stuck in "project stopping" - In this case, the MindConnect Nano should be rebooted.

  • If a migration of SM1281 configuration has been done with EAE Version 1.0.6 speed is shown with unit m/s - The configuration has to be recreated to fix this issue and show a correct unit in rpm.

  • On updating to the new Firmware version, the currently defined project will still run. Existing configurations can't be modified with the new Firmeware. Instead the complete project has to be re-created to use the new feature of Trigger Rules.

  • It is recommended to use at minimum Mozilla version 78.0.2 or Microsoft Edge version 83. To ensure the app will be loaded correct.

MindSphere IIoT for Makers

Applicable for:

  • MindSphere IIoT for Makers

What's new?

  • Within this release, a new MindSphere IIoT for Makers Learning Path is made available.

  • Within this release, Mendix Template can be used as a starting point for MindSphere IIoT for Makers integration.

Node SDK

Applicable for:

  • MindAccess Developer Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Operator Plan Subscribers

What's new?

  • Within this release, the SDK Example Applications will incorporate MindSphere Message Broker implementation.

Notification Service

Applicable for:

  • MindAccess Developer Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Operator Plan Subscribers

What's new?

  • With this release Notification Services provides provides three offerings with regards to the separate channels of email, push and SMS notifications. They will be part of the new MindSphere subscription plans.

OIA Analyzer

Applicable for:

  • MindAccess IoT Value Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Developer Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Operator Plan Subscribers

What's new?

  • Within this release, we provide the capability to define the Key Performance Integrator formula which runs on the aggregation of data from IoT Time Series or from columnar (CSV, Parquet) data in Integrated Data lake.

Operator Cockpit

Applicable for:

  • MindAccess Operator Plan Subscribers

What's new?

  • Within this release, we provide version upgrade enhancement for API type apps (Key Credentials enabled).

  •  Customers of the new MindSphere Portfolio are able to leverage the following improvements within the Application Lifecycle:

    • When assigning Applications to own Environments, no further Approval steps are needed

    • Better control for Cloud Foundry applications

    • Seamless handshake from Developer to productive tenants

Known issues

  • Limitations for update of Cloud Foundry applications:

    • The service instance names for each service should be same in the current and new version of the application. If the service instance names are different in the new version and the existing version of an application, then the existing service instances will not be readily available even after zero-downtime version upgrade.

    • During manual deployment of a new version of an application, do not use the same component names as available in the existing version. This might create name conflicts and usability issues. In order to avoid such conflicts, while deploying a new version of an application, append green at the end of the component name.

  • For every individual (single) application, one Cloud Foundry space must be deployed.

  • After modifying the authorization of a user via the Operator Cockpit user interface, the change is not immediately visible. The user has to close the browser and login again.

  • After deployment of an app, there is a security feature in place validating if the app is known to MindSphere or the app has somehow been modified. Sometimes issues occur with regards to name changes or deploying from various folders. The apps need to be deployed as they are assigned from the developer.

Operations Insight

Applicable for:

  • MindAccess IoT Value Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Developer Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Operator Plan Subscribers

What's new?

  • In "Start for free", Operations Insight is now included in TourGuide. Use the TourGuide to find out how easy it is to use Operations Insight and create value from your data!

  • Within this release, we have introduced a Tour Guide for Start for Free.

  • It is now possible to visualize the data types string, time stamp and big string in Operations Insight Explore Assets / Time Series plugin.

  • Within this release, we provide a few fixed internal defects and improved error messages around delete work order.

  • On all tenants Operations Insight provides a "quick start" tour which guides you through the different parts of the application.

    You can start the tour on the home page of Operations Insight - see "Quick links > Learn > Quick start tour"

    Operations Insight is now available by default to every TenantAdmin or StandardUser

    • by default the oi.viewer role is included

    • if a user need more rights, the oi.creator role has to be assigned

    • learn how to assign the roles to a tenant for the first time here: https://documentation.mindsphere.io/videos/AssignRoles.mp4

    In Analyze / TimeSeries you can now select different line modes in you line chart. Just click on the color picker for a variable and chose between for example linear, step line, smooth or even no line.

  • Within this release, we have improved the following:

    • Modified the role description for Settings app

    • reduced space for boolean variables

    • start boolean variables at the botttom of the chart

    • for viewing Visual Explorer (VE) dashboards only one of the VE roles is necessary and an active licence (Visual Explorer Connector Author role is not needed anymore)

    • added debouncing time when adding many variables to the chart, that not each time the chart is reloaded

  • Within this release, we have improved error messages around delete work order.

Known issues

  • Work orders are not supported for sub-tenants

  • Rules are not enabled for sub-tenant users

Python SDK

Applicable for:

  • MindAccess Developer Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Operator Plan Subscribers

What's new?

  • Within this release, the SDK Example Applications will incorporate MindSphere Message Broker implementation.

Settings

Applicable for:

  • MindAccess IoT Value Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Developer Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Operator Plan Subscribers

What's new?

  • Within this release, Settings has a new "Home" screen that shows relevant information and provides a better overview about the available features and functionalities.

Start for Free

What's new?

  • It is now possible for the customers in Kuwait or Saudi Arabia to register for MindSphere Start for free at www.mindsphere.io/start.

Known issues

  • MindSphere Start for Free is only compatible with a web browser and therefore cannot be launched from a mobile browser.

  • The creation of tenant takes approximately 2 minutes.

  • If the TourGuide is interrupted, check that your internet connection is stable. If this is not the problem, then re-launch the user journey from your Launchpad.

  • The data coming from the simulated pump asset will only be available the first 7 days after account creation.

  • While trying to launch an auto registered app which was created with the same name as that of a deleted app, a "Forbidden" error occurs.

    Workaround: The issue does not occur if you re-launch the browser after registration and then launch the app again.

  • For tenants with Enabled Session Persistency (see documentation), it is not recommended to use Google Chrome in incognito mode.

Subtenant Functionality

Applicable for:

  • MindAccess IoT Value Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Developer Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Operator Plan Subscribers

Known issues

  • Applications can use the subtenant functionality via the provided APIs. Tenant administrators should pay attention when assigning such apps to subtenant users as subtenant isolation cannot be ensured by the platform. The app might expose data to the user that is not intended to be seen.

  • When moving an asset from a parent tenant to a subtenant, there might be a delay of up to 30 minutes until a subtenant user will be able to see data related to that asset.

  • Please be aware, if you provide a user (even subtenant user) the role "mdsp:core:TenantAdmin", this user is then able to get access to all kinds of tenant data.

Upgrade

Applicable for:

  • MindAccess IoT Value Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Developer Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Operator Plan Subscribers

What's new?

  • It is now possible for the customers to open the third party terms provided by the package owner.

  • Within this release, we have made minor amendments of Basic Starter Package description and order form in the user interface of the Upgrade Tool.

Known issues

  • Currently no personalized notifications for subscriptions (TenantAdmin) or subscription requests (StandardUser) are available.

  • Purchasing request notifications are send to all tenant admins.

  • Upgrade is providing a fast provisional access to the requested quota. It requires an approval by the commercial contact who will be informed separately.

  • Supported Language: English only.

  • Supported Currency: EUR only.

Usage Transparency

Applicable for:

  • MindAccess Developer Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Operator Plan Subscribers

What's new?

  • With this release, CSV export of daily aggregated "time series data ingest rate per asset" in "history" view of "services" tab provides 5 places after the decimal point.

Visual Explorer

Applicable for:

  • MindAccess IoT Value Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Developer Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Operator Plan Subscribers

Known issues

  • Any request within Visual Explorer is limited to an execution time of 60 sec.

  • The "share via link" functionality works unreliable.

  • Support time series data types “LONG” with values for safe integer ->(253-1) to (253-1).

  • If the value is e.g. 263 the value will be reset to safe integer ->253-1.

Visual Flow Creator

Applicable for:

  • MindAccess IoT Value Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Developer Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Operator Plan Subscribers

Known issues

  • Subtenant users cannot use the time series subscription node.

  • Compute hours are assigned to the main tenant only. This means that VFC cannot be used with additional test tenants.

Web components

Applicable for:

  • MindAccess Developer Plan Subscribers

  • MindAccess Operator Plan Subscribers

What's new?