Instantrevert Version 3.0 Release Notes

InstantRevert Version 3.0 Release Notes

Release Date: March 1, 2011

New and enhanced features in InstantRevert Version 3.0:

• Dramatic Console Performance Improvements: We have made numerous performance enhancements to the Console in order to dramatically improve performance for those users with large numbers of Machines, Policies, and/or Logs. InstantRevert users who have thousands of Machines previously had to wait a few seconds to see the results of a Console change like changing the filter to show only the Machines in a particular Group or when filtering by Machine name. Now, even with tens of thousands of Machines, actions like filtering are virtually instantaneous. Previously, users with many millions of log entries could experience SQL Server timeouts. Now, log results are returned in a paged fashion that provides essentially instant response.
• Wakeup: InstantRevert uses a pull-based architecture, which means that the Agent initializes all communications. A side-effect of this architecture is that if you have specified typical check-in periods of 5 to 15 minutes, you may need to wait for up to 30 minutes to see the result of a new Policy reflected in the Console (15 minutes from setting the Policy until the Agent retrieves it (worst case) plus another 15 minutes before the log from the first execution of that Policy is returned). Now you can right-click on a Machine and select Wakeup. This sends a request to the Machine to immediately initiate a Handler check-in. NOTE: In order for this feature to function, it is necessary that the Handler be able to establish a connection to the Agent of interest, which implies that any intervening networking equipment is configured to allow such a connection. The port on the Agent to be used for this feature is configurable in the Agent’s .config file.
• Code Book Logging: In previous versions of InstantRevert, logging levels could be set to one of six levels ranging from Diagnostic (maximum amount of detail) to Critical (minimum amount of detail) in an attempt to minimize the storage requirements related to logging. Logging levels were typically set to Error or Critical for normal operation and temporarily elevated to Informational or Diagnostic when committing new Policy. Often, the manual step of elevating logging was forgotten until after someone wanted to examine logging detail – at which time it was too late. Now there are no logging level settings. A new “code book” logging technique allows all logs to be captured all the time yet consume relatively little storage. The full text of each log message is stored only once. Upon first encounter it is given a short code number, which is saved in the “code book” along with the full text of the log message. All future references to that log message are made using the short serial number. This has resulted in such huge space savings that saving all log information now typically takes less storage than previously consumed with only Error level information.
• Progressive, Packaged Logging: In previous versions of InstantRevert, each Policy Item typically created its own log entry. In order to make sense of the logs it was necessary to filter them by Machine and then order them by time. Even then, if a Machine had multiple Policies and/or multiple Policy Items, it wasn’t always clear which log entries were generated by which Policies. Also, it was possible for log entries from different Policies to occur at the same instant and thereby end up displayed in an order that made it difficult to see what was happening on the Agent. Now, log entries are kept in strict execution order and each Policy’s log results are packaged as an expandable entry. This makes it easier to view and easier to understand what happened on the Agent.
• Completed, Failed, and In-Progress Counts: The Console now displays graphics when you select Machines that show a color-coded pie chart of the number of Machines on which: all Policies have completed successfully, any Policy has failed, and any Policies that have not yet completed executing. When you select Policies, the pie chart shows the number of instances of that Policy across all Machines that have completed successfully, failed, or have not yet completed executing.
• Visual Status Indicator: An optional graphic can be showninthe Policies and Machines lists that indicate the length of time since that Machine has checked in (in the case of Machines) or that Policy has executed (in the case of Policy). This small colored circle can be one of four progressively darker shades, each indicating a four hour period. So at a glance you can see if it has been within 6 hours since a Machine checked in, longer than 24 hours, or between 6-12, 12-18, or 18-24 hours.
• Last 100 Executions Bar Graph: To the right of each Machine and Policy is a bar consisting of upt to 100 segments. Each segment contains the result of an execution of Policy. A segment can be Green or Red. Green means success; red means failure. The bar next to a Machine represents the last 100 executions of any Policies on that Machine. The bar next to a Policy represents the last 100 executions of that Policy on any Machines. So now, at a glance, you can see if you have any Machines with issues or Policies with issues.
• Log Entry Drill-Down: Right-clicking on a Machine or Policy allows you to show log entries sorted by successes and failures. If you enter via a Machine, you get the Policies on that Machine. If you enter via a Policy, you get the Machines running that Policy.
• Log Filtering: Log entries now have 3 pre-defined filters: All, Errors, and Successes. By selecting Successes you can quickly confirm that Policy has properly executed. By selecting Errors you can immediately see what Policy (if any) had issues.

InstantRevert Version 2.0 Release Notes

Release Date: September 1, 2011

New and enhanced features in InstantRevert Version 2.0:

• PowerShell Support:InstantRevert now supports Microsoft’s PowerShell scripting language. PowerShell provides the ability to manage and manipulate virtually all Microsoft products and environments, including: Hyper-V, Windows Server, Windows Desktop, SQL Server, Exchange Server, and Microsoft’s Azure Cloud Service. Many third-party vendors also utilize PowerShell to manage their products – like VMWare.
• PowerShell Results Viewer:In addition to controlling other products, PowerShell has the ability to perform sophisticated queries and return results (like Cloud resource utilization). The PowerShell Results Viewer allows you to view results of PowerShell scripts.
• Flexible Machine Details:The InstantRevertConsolehas a dedicated area for displaying details for each machine on which an Agent is running. Those details are now configurable, so InstantRevert users can choose exactly what they want to see. For example, some users might choose to see only the Machine Name while others might want to see the OS Name and Version, the BIOS version, the Processor and Core counts, and the amount of RAM. Viewable details can be selected from amongst the vast information afforded by WMI and appear directly in the Console.
• Enhanced WMI support: The WMI Query Language – WQL – is now available in a Policy Item with results returned in the log files.
• Enhanced Security and Auditing:There are now two types of user authentication: Windows and InstantRevert. Regardless of which is utilized, access to any Group, Machine, Policy, or other InstantRevert object is controllable by the InstantRevert Administrator through the application of ACLs. All InstantRevert user activity is monitored and recorded and can be audited through a dedicated viewer in the Console. Every activity within InstantRevert is traceable to a specific User’s action at a specific date and time.
• Enhanced Log Analysis: Logs can now be searched in the Console by date ranges, Policy, Machine, Group, and log message Severity level.
• In-place Upgrade Capability: The InstantRevert Agent can now be upgraded in-place – quickly and simply, with virtually no interruption in service. When new capabilities are added to the InstantRevert system, the new Agent can be scheduled for installation in the InstantRevert Console. The existing Agent downloads and installs the new Agent in-place – essentially transparently – with no additional effort on the part of an Administrator.
• Policy Import and Export: There are now menu items for importing and exporting Policies. This makes it easy to exchange policies with others in the InstantRevert community.
• Simplified Licensing Model: There is now a single license for each InstantRevert installation. The license is installed on the InstantRevert Handler only (Agent machines do not require license installation). The license contains the number of Agents that can connect to the Handler and an expiration date. Informative messages are provided regarding license limits and ample leeway is provided for both quantity and expiration.