Flux News

Easy Configuration of Workflows in Flux Managed File Transfer A...

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:31:11 -0700

Easy Configuration of Workflows in Flux Managed File Transfer

A step-by-step demonstration of the simple workflow design model that allows managed file transfer operations to be efficiently integrated with other applications, databases, and systems.

Here’s the original blog post.

7.11.2 Maintenance Release

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:35:18 -0700

The Flux 7.11.2 maintenance release is now available! This release includes 1 improvement and 15 bug fixes.

Flux customers can download Flux 7.11.2 from the Flux Portal at:

portal.fluxcorp.com

Evaluation versions of the latest Flux release are also available at:

www.fluxcorp.com/download

Flux 7.11.2 is a drop-in replace for any Flux 7.11.x version.

Improvements

The default sort ordering for Reports page columns are now switched to newest first instead of oldest first.

Bug Fixes

Workflows that contain numeric characters are now displayed correct in the Operations Console.
The JMS Action’s “body” property is now saved correctly after editing in the Desktop Designer.
The Web-based Designer no longer introduces duplicate XML headers into workflow files when saving to disk.
Special characters inside an FTP, SFTP, or FTPS host’s password no longer cause errors when the workflow executes.
The Signals To Monitor action property now correctly loads and saves in the Web-based and Desktop Designer when running with OpenJDK 6.
POJO types are now correctly persisted to the database when retrieved from a Rest Action through the flow context.
The Delete All Data button now correctly works from the system page in Operations Console.
The RestAction and WebServiceAction examples in the software_developers example directory were updated to use valid web services.
The RestAction XPath expression now correctly return array types from an XML document.
The Rest Action and Web Service Action example scripts in the software_developers example directory now correctly work on Windows.
The Web Service Action no longer requires complex data types used in the web service listener method to implement Serializable.
Java API: The getByState() and getFlowChartElements() APIs no longer throw a ClassCastException when running with a secured engine.
Java API: Renaming a workflow using the Java API now correctly updates the workflow’s name in the Operations Console’s flow charts grid.
Java API: The fluxopsconsole.Cluster Java API no longer fails to connect to secured engines that have been configured in the Operations Console
Java API: The getFlowChartElements(String namespace, SuperState superState, Set<SubState> subStates, String engineName, String actionName, String messageFilter) and getByState(String namespace, SuperState superState, SubState subState) methods now correctly returns results when filtered with SubState.ANY.

Flux 7.9.15 Maintenance Release

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:48:43 -0700

The Flux 7.9.15 maintenance release is now available! This release includes 2 improvements and 30 bug fixes.

Flux 7.9.15 is a drop-in replacement for any Flux 7.9.x version.

Improvements

The file transfer buffer size has been increased from 8k to 50k, improving file transfer performance.
The Web-based Designer now supports the Message Type property for JMS Actions.

Bug Fixes

Jobs no longer stop running across the cluster if one engine displays the error message ‘primary flow of control has stopped due to an error condition’.
Runtime substitution now works correctly for namespaces that are more than one level below the root.
The Database Stored Procedure Action property “Parameters” can now be set and viewed in the Web-based Designer.
Flow charts no longer run out of priority order if one flow chart is finishing execution, a high-priority flow chart has a namespace with a lower alphanumeric value than the finishing flow chart, and a lower-priority flow chart has a namespace with a higher alphanumeric value than the finishing flow chart.
Resuming a PAUSED flow chart now correctly allows the flow chart to begin running again, and the error “unable to seal” is no longer displayed in the logs after resuming.
The error message “The Flux engine’s primary flow of control is alive, but it is blocked or deadlocked and cannot make progress.” is no longer logged when the engine is operating normally but the SYSTEM_DELAY and FAILOVER_TIME_WINDOW configuration options are both larger than 3 minutes.
Engines no longer encounter the error NullPointerException when executing flow charts that contains splits and joins.
Disposing a Flux engine no longer logs the error message “The ENGINES_CACHE Cache is not alive”.
The Flow Chart Action no longer fails with the message “Repository Element is not a flow chart”.
While the flow chart cache is enabled, multiple flow contexts in the error state of the same flow chart no longer produce a “could not find action” error message when attempting to execute the default error handler.
The Rest Action now gracefully shuts down all HTTP Connections after executing, preventing connections from remaining open unnecessarily (this behavior was not known to have any negative impact on the Flux system or flow chart execution).
Flow chart namespaces that contained both a capital letter and a space character in a branch name no longer bypass their concurrency throttle settings in the runtime configuration.
The auto-refresh option on the Flow Charts page of the Operations Console now correctly loads updated data.
Attempting to look up users on an engine no longer fails with an error when the engine is configured to use the PostgreSQL database.
The File Create Action no longer produces an exception in the Flux logs upon successful execution.
File triggers no longer produce an error if the base directory is not present when using an FTP, FTPS, or SFTP host.
The built-in Windows services now correctly use the recommend JVM settings when running Flux.
The error message ORA-00918: column ambiguously defined no longer appears while an engine is selecting flow charts for execution.
Flow charts with a namespace containing an escaped HTML character now correctly accept commands (like pause, resume, or remove) from the Operations Console.
The error java.lang.NullPointerException no longer appears if a JMS Inbound Configuration fails to register with the engine on engine startup.
If a flow chart is created with the “Paused” property enabled, it no longer becomes paused again at the next transaction break.
The engine now correctly recovers and connects to a database if the database was not available when the engine started, but the database becomes available later.
The REST Action property “Request Entity String” is now editable in the Web-based Designer.
Flow Chart Actions no longer encounter the error message “You must be logged in to call this method” when LDAP security is enabled on the engine.
The error flux.EngineException: Unable to load flow chart from file: null. no longer appears when running a Flow Chart Action when LDAP security is enabled on the engine.
Java API: The getFlowChartElements(String namespace, SuperState superState, Set<SubState> subStates, String engineName, String actionName, String messageFilter) method now correctly returns results when filtered with SubState.ANY.
Specifying a base directory of ‘./’ no longer signifies the root of an FTP, SFTP, or FTPS file system. It now implies from the user’s home directory.
The file transfer monitor now correctly displays the appropriate unit for file sizes larger than 1 MB.
The Audit Trail Trigger now ignores old audit trail entries in a looping flow scenario.
JMS Action body property now correctly saves from the Desktop Designer.

Flux 7.10.3 Maintenance Release

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 09:36:00 -0700

The Flux 7.10.3 maintenance release is now available! This release includes 3 improvements and 41 bug fixes.

Flux 7.10.3 is a drop-in replacement for any Flux 7.10.x version.

Improvements

File transfer speed and performance are improved, and the file transfer buffer size has been increased from 8k to 50k.
Expediting a flow chart now displays a confirmation dialog that allows users to see the total number of triggers that were expedited.
The “Message Type” property of the JMS Action can now be edited in the Web-based Designer.

Bug Fixes

The error message Warning: Unresponsive Script no longer appears after viewing the Flow Charts page of the Operations Console for a significant amount of time. Additionally, memory usage in the browser no longer grows unbounded while viewing the Flow Charts page for a significant amount of time.
Runtime substitution now works correctly for namespaces that are more than one level below the root.
The Database Stored Procedure Action property “Parameters” can now be set and viewed in the Web-based Designer.
Flow charts no longer run out of priority order if one flow chart is finishing execution, a high-priority flow chart has a namespace with a lower alphanumeric value than the finishing flow chart, and a lower-priority flow chart has a namespace with a higher alphanumeric value than the finishing flow chart.

The Operations Console now correctly returns to the home page if a connected engine becomes available while the “All Engines Unreachable” dialog is displayed.
The Operations Console now correctly returns to the home page after adding a new engine from the “All Engines Unreachable” dialog.
Broken images no longer appear in the Web-based Designer when using Google Chrome.
The error Cannot read property ‘fluxAction’ of undefined no longer appears when adding a runtime data map to an action in the Web-based Designer using Google Chrome.
Triggers and actions no longer become deselected after double-clicking them in the Web-based Designer when using Google Chrome.
In the Web-based Designer, editing the “Timeout Expression” property on an action no longer causes the error Cannot call method ‘setAttribute’ of null to appear in the browser.
The error Cannot execute [object Object]: Util.selectSinglenode[result[i] “map-value/value /text ()”) is null no longer appears when editing Flow Chart Actions in the Web-based Designer.
The error java.lang.NullPointerException no longer appears if a JMS Inbound Configuration fails to register with the engine on engine startup.
The engine now correctly recovers and connects to a database if the database was not available when the engine started, but the database becomes available later.
The error com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerException: Invalid object name ‘SYSOBJECTS’ no longer occurs when using a SQL Server database with binary collation.
Adding a new user in the Operations Console no longer fails with a browser error in Internet Explorer 8.
The Web-based Designer no longer displays an error message if the domain or username is empty on a UNC host.
If a File Exist Trigger has a stable period, and there are enough files located to satisfy a minimum count on an include but not enough stable files, the trigger will now correctly wait for all of the files to become stable instead of firing immediately.
The Operations Console now correctly displays long engine and agent host names.
Java API: The getActionHistory(String flowChartName, String actionName) method no longer throws a ClassCastException when calling next() on the ActionHistoryIterator object.
Java API: The getActionHistory() methods no longer throw an EngineException when calling next() on the ActionHistoryIterator object for engines configured to use the H2 database.
The Operations Console flow charts grid now correctly displays running flow charts that contain splits.
When using LDAP in “group search mode”, special characters in group DNs no longer cause the login to fail with an error.
The message column in the flow charts grid now correctly shows the status message set in the flow context.
Using a Zip File Criteria in a File Action with no renamer no longer encounters an error during execution.
Passwords are now correctly encoded in the URL property of FileInfo results for file triggers and actions, allowing them to be successfully used in runtime data maps.
The REST Action property “Request Entity String” can now be edited in the Web-based Designer.
The Flow Chart Action property “overwrite” can now be edited in the Web-based Designer.
Flow Chart Actions no longer encounter the error message “You must be logged in to call this method” when LDAP security is enabled on the engine.
The Web-based Designer no longer displays an error when attempting to edit an action’s properties that contain a file criteria in a copied flow chart.
The error flux.EngineException: Unable to load flow chart from file: null no longer appears when running a Flow Chart Action when LDAP security is enabled on the engine.
Java API: The getFlowChartElements(String namespace, SuperState superState, Set<SubState> subStates, String engineName, String actionName, String messageFilter) method now correctly returns results when filtered with SubState.ANY.
Specifying a base directory of ‘./’ for an FTP, SFTP, or FTPS host type now instructs Flux to operate from the connected user’s home directory instead of the user’s root directory.
When installing Flux, the flux Operations Console (flux.war) is now generated correctly if the system uses a JRE rather than a JDK.
Flow charts are now correctly, alphanumerically sorted in the Operation Console’s repository page.
The Audit Trail Trigger now correctly moves forward to fire on newer entries (the trigger no longer becomes stuck firing repeatedly on the first audit trail entry it finds).
Flow Chart Actions no longer fail to run if security is enabled on the Flux engine.
The Operations Console flow charts grid now correctly displays namespaces that contain digits.
The JMS Action “body” property now correctly saves when edited from the Desktop Designer.
In the Operations Console, the filter for the Audit Trail page no longer displays an invalid “deadline exceeding” event.
The encryption type of an FTPS host now saves properly when using the Desktop Designer.

3 minute video shows off capabilities of Flux workload automation and managed file transfer

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 09:28:44 -0700

3 minute video shows off capabilities of Flux workload automation and managed file transfer

Flux and File Transfer Consulting Forge Professional Services Partnership

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 09:51:13 -0700

Flux and File Transfer Consulting Forge Professional Services Partnership:

Flux now has more professional services options. Excited to announce partnership with File Transfer Consulting! They are truly managed file transfer experts.

"Flux makes headlines at ITJungle.com. Flux featured in story at ITJungle.com — Workload automation..."

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 09:05:42 -0700

“Flux makes headlines at ITJungle.com. Flux featured in story at ITJungle.com — Workload automation for IBM i shops.”

- itjungle.com

Flux Announces End-to-End Data Warehouse Automation Solution for Cognos

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 11:47:52 -0700

Integration point allows Cognos to be managed as a part of a comprehensive cross-platform workload automation solution

LAS VEGAS, United States — Wednesday, 15 June 2011

Flux, a proven leader in sophisticated job scheduling, managed file transfer, automated dataflows, and ETL automation, announced today the availability of their unique integration between Flux and Cognos Business Intelligence.

Powerful. Intuitive. Simplified.

The standard Cognos scheduling capabilities do not allow you to wait for files to arrive and move them into position before running reports, nor can you use complex business calendars for automating reports. With Flux, the Cognos user can now leverage more advanced enterprise job scheduling features than those provided by the native Cognos scheduler.

Design your jobs and workflows using a drag-and-drop visual interface, right in your web-based Flux Operations Console. No need to install a desktop client. With the Flux Operations Console, you now have a single point of control to watch over and monitor all your jobs, workflows, and file transfers.

Eliminates scripting and complex integration requirements.
Enables integration of Cognos jobs with all other workflows.
Design, launch, and monitor automated Cognos reports from Flux.

Cost Effective. Robust. Reliable.

Cognos SDK purchase eliminated — Already a surprisingly affordable workload automation solution, the innovative Flux development team has gone so far as to eliminate the need to purchase the Cognos SDK and enhances the Cognos scheduler with the enterprise class workload automation capabilities found in Flux.

Acquire access to Flux’s robust features — This includes automation of ETL tools, managed file transfer, and report functionality that ensures reliability, efficiency, and security. Designing multiple job flows is straight forward with the flexibility to suspend jobs, structure a collection of independent jobs, and the capability to set up custom calendars. Error detection and logging is a key feature along with job history tracking and scalability.

Increase productivity and timely reports — Flux has tackled the ongoing BI customer issue of on-time report delivery. Whether it runs in a batch or is on demand, available data is launched automatically as soon as it is received. Additionally, data integrity and accuracy is confirmed through the use of Flux’s comprehensive scheduling and failure detection processes.

Stay on top of issues by setting custom SLA’s for automated Cognos reports — With Flux, you can utilize automatic email and SMS notifications of delayed reports or warnings of potential costly delays and resolve issues quickly. Flux also enables you to define SLA’s and notifications for the various parts of an automated data warehouse. With increased communication to IT staff, action can be taken immediately.

About Flux

Flux is a software company dedicated to advancing workload automation and managed file transfer by delivering performance, reliability, ease-of-use, and unyielding accessible customer support. First released in 2000, Flux has grown into a vital part of IT operations around the world with hundreds of customers in 35 countries.

With an emphasis on the orchestration of sophisticated job scheduling, managed file transfer, Web Services (SOA), and Java technology support, Flux delivers it all with a single point of control through a web browser. Intuitive modern interfaces bring it all together in a single browser window.

Across platforms and many industry sectors, Flux has simplified tasks surrounding workload scheduling ensuring that critical transactions are processed on time. Whether Flux is used as a powerful stand-alone workload automation solution or embedded into a larger application pushing tens of thousands of jobs, Flux solutions bring solid business value with efficiencies, precise control, and affordability.

Privately held, offices are located in Las Vegas, Buenos Aires, and Montana, all of which provide effective technical support and sales services to Flux’s global customer base.

To learn more about Flux:

Visit fluxcorp.com
Request a Demo or Talk with an Engineer
Download Flux Data Sheet or Software

Data Sheet Now Available for Flux Workload Automation Solution

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 10:32:00 -0700

Capabilities summarized for Flux enterprise job scheduler and managed file transfer solution

LAS VEGAS, United States — Thursday, 9 June 2011

Flux, a proven leader in enterprise job scheduling, managed file transfer, automated dataflows, and ETL automation, announced today the availability of their data sheet for their workload automation solution.

Flux provides a 100% Web-based solution that highlights ease-of-use and a single point of control for:

Workload automation
Managed file transfer
Job scheduling
Java automation
Web Services and SOA
Database integration
ETL and business intelligence tool orchestration and automation

The Flux data sheet is available for download at:

http://fluxcorp.com/download/flux-data-sheet.pdf

For More Information

For more information about the Flux job scheduler and managed file transfer solution, visit http://fluxcorp.com.

About Flux

Flux is an enterprise software company dedicated to advancing workload automation and managed file transfer by delivering performance, reliability, ease-of-use, and unyielding accessible customer support. First released in 2000, Flux has grown into a vital part of IT operations around the world with hundreds of customers in 35 countries.

Privately held, offices are located in Las Vegas, Buenos Aires, and Montana, all of which provide effective technical support and sales services to Flux’s global customer base.

To learn more about Flux:

Visit fluxcorp.com

Download Flux Data Sheet

Download Flux Software

Request a Demo

Talk with an Engineer

For more information contact:

David Sims
+1 702.789.0907
david@fluxcorp.com
Website: http://fluxcorp.com

Flux Scheduler Innovates with Granular Access Control for Its Operation Console

Mon, 23 May 2011 17:01:47 -0700

Version 7.11 extends enterprise class workload automation capabilities

LAS VEGAS, United States — Monday, 23 May 2011

Version 7.11 of Flux, a proven leader in sophisticated job scheduling, managed file transfer, automated dataflows, and ETL automation, was released today and is now generally available.

For over a decade, Flux has enhanced the feature set well beyond job scheduling. IT staffs and developers around the world trust the suite of easy-to-use tools and advanced capabilities to gain efficiencies and expedite IT objectives.

Always integration-friendly with web services through a service-oriented architecture (SOA), Flux has remained highly scalable and now boasts updated features to a comprehensive cross-platform workload automation solution. Schedule and automate various applications, databases, and technologies, including virtualized machines and services in the cloud.

Building on Flux strengths, 7.11 adds several new features including:

Overall Ease of Use — From a single point of control, design, deploy, and track your jobs and workflows using a drag-and-drop visual interface, right in your web browser.

Enhanced Security and Control — With the web-based Flux Operations Console, you can watch over and monitor all your jobs, workflows, and file transfers with a single point of control. Version 7.11 adds granular user access controls to govern assigned tasks for staff. Set privileges and customize tabs to increase security and efficiency.

Improved Promotion and Migration — Save time and reduce errors between development, QA, and production. From the Operations Console, copy configurations and workflows for simple migration and promotion between instances and environments.

RESTful Web Services API Adds Interface Flexibility—With web services via SOA, your business processes can communicate using a variety of networked and online services by exposing workloads as a service. You can connect to and control Flux remotely using any programming language that supports RESTful web services. Schedule a workflow in Flux from other SOA services in the cloud, like Mule ESB or Microsoft Biztalk.

Invoke web services using SOAP or REST.
Supports WS-Security basic authentication.
Simplifies integration in an SOA environment.

Cognos Integration Provides End-to-End Data Warehouse Automation Solution — Integration with Flux eliminates scripting and complex integration requirements and enables Cognos to be managed as part of a reliable, comprehensive cross-platform workload automation solution. Additionally, the need to purchase the Cognos SDK is eliminated.

Edit, Configure, and Reload with Ease — Save time and reduce errors by creating and editing engine and agents configurations. Reload configurations on-the-fly and permit engines to restart with updated configurations — all from the web-based Operations Console.

Designing multiple job flows is straight forward with the flexibility to suspend jobs, structure a collection of independent jobs, and the capability to set up custom calendars. With the Audit Trail, you can run reports to determine what tasks, steps, actions, jobs, and workflows executed within a specified time frame. With the Audit Trail History feature, operators can track and time workflows to quickly identify bottlenecks and poor resource utilization.

Flux can be deployed by the customer or with help from professional services training that is available on site and online.

About Flux

Privately held, offices are located in Las Vegas, Buenos Aires and Montana, all of which provide effective technical support and sales services to Flux’s global customer base.

To learn more about Flux:

Visit fluxcorp.com

Request a Demo

Download Flux

Talk with an Engineer

Flux 7.11 Beta available for download. Cognos integration....

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 07:10:29 -0700

Flux 7.11 Beta available for download. Cognos integration. Manage and control everything through the browser. http://fluxcorp.com