KnowNow LiveServer Version 3.5.0 Release Notes

This document contains the following sections:

Overview

The KnowNow™ LiveServer provides publish/subscribe messaging over HTTP and HTTPS. Its API offers objects and functions for modifying or creating applications to take advantage of the LiveServer's publish, subscribe, and messaging capabilities. In addition, KnowNow Connectors in different programming languages can take care of a number of the more difficult programming tasks for you, providing language-specific APIs so you can more easily write or modify applications that share data across the network or Internet.

The KnowNow LiveServer now ships with the KnowNow LiveBrowser, which was previously a separate product. The KnowNow LiveBrowser package provides you with component applications and sample applications that you can incorporate into your Web pages and JavaScript applications to provide live, real-time applications, information exchanges, and updates. An API offers JavaScript functions for modifying or creating your own JavaScript applications to take advantage of the LiveBrowser's capabilities.

These release notes cover both the LiveServer and the LiveBrowser.

Supported Platforms

LiveServer

The KnowNow LiveServer is supported on the following platforms:

Important! Regardless of platform, you must have Microsoft© Internet Explorer 5.5 or later to run the KnowNow System Administration console.

LiveBrowser

The KnowNow LiveBrowser is supported on the following Web browsers:

Important Installation, Upgrade, and Deployment Notes

Installing the LiveServer is a pretty straightforward process. The LiveServer installation file for Windows is an executable. The LiveServer installation file for the Solaris Operating System (available under special arrangement) is a package; the LiveServer installation file for Linux is an RPM file. You can find details on installing or upgrading the LiveServer in the KnowNow LiveServer Administration Guide (see below for documentation descriptions and locations).

Licenses

Important! To use this product, you must have a 3.0 KnowNow license key. All 3.0+ license files are uniquely named per customer and/or per customer order. If you have an existing installation (2.0 or earlier), your older license key will not work. In order to run this version of LiveServer, you must have a new license key for this release or a license update at 3.1.8 or later. LiveServer 3.0+ licenses go in the LiveServer's /license/ directory.

If you are upgrading from LiveServer 2.0 to LiveServer 3.0+, be sure to remove your 2.0 license file from the LiveServer's /conf/ directory before installing LiveServer 3.0+.

Access and User Accounts

Two accounts are enabled by default upon installation: a kndemo user (password: demo) and a knadmin user (password: knadmin). The kndemo user has restricted access. The knadmin user has full access and is the account that should be used to set up other user accounts. For information on these and additional users, and on configuring permissions, see the KnowNow LiveServer Administration Guide.

Clusters

Important! Clusters must be maintained at a uniform LiveServer patch level. KnowNow only supports clusters at the same patch level. While it is possible to perform a "rolling upgrade" in which each node is upgraded in turn, one should never attempt to run with two or more nodes at different patch levels. It is possible that persisted data from an updated LiveServer will not be compatible with an earlier version.

Deployment

Important! We do not recommend deploying the LiveServer over file-level sharing systems. The LiveServer's installation directory, along with its database and log directories, must be located on locally mounted file systems (either directly attached, or via a storage area network). File-level sharing systems (for example, NFS or Netbios) do not provide the latencies or guarantees needed for the LiveServer to perform reliably.

Available Documentation and Locations

For useful information on the LiveServer and LiveBrowser, see the following documentation, which is included with the LiveServer installation. The books and API files are available by accessing http:/yourliveserver:portnum (for the LiveServer documentation) or http:/yourliveserver:portnum/livebrowser/ (for the LiveBrowser documentation). In either case, choose the Documentation link.

LiveServer New Features and Enhancements

The LiveServer 3 platform offers significantly upgraded performance and scalability, including enhanced support for Windows and Linux environments, easier Excel integration, and more powerful browser and JavaScript components, as well as increased focus on clustered deployments. There are many changes to how the LiveServer looks and feels, including changes and additions to configuration, clustering, and other administration and deployment capabilities.

LiveServer Release 3.5.0

The following enhancements are present in this release:

LiveServer Release 3.2.1

This release provides a number of minor fixes to the base feature set of the 3.2.0 release. In addition, some LDAP configuration parameters have been added to the KnowNow System Administration console.

LiveServer Release 3.2.0

The following enhancements and changes are present in this release:

LiveServer Release 3.1.14

The following enhancements and changes are present in this release:

LiveBrowser New Features and Enhancements

LiveBrowser Release 3.2.6

Internet Explorer 7.0 and Mozilla Firefox 2.0 are now tested and supported browsers..

LiveServer Issues and Limitations

The following issues apply to the LiveServer.

As a general note, some configuration selections you make using the KnowNow System Administration console may cause the LiveServer not to restart. This is usually due to one of two causes: You may not be licensed to use a selected feature, or your system setup may not support the selected configuration. In either case, to undo such a change, you will need to read the server.log file to determine the name of the changed parameter (or parameters), access the knsettings.conf file, and remove the line that references that parameter. Then restart the LiveServer; all should be well now.

Also, the KnowNow LiveServer Administration Guide provides instructions on integrating the LiveServer with your LDAP environment. Beyond the scope of that document, LDAP integration procedures often need to be modified for specific LDAP infrastructures. Contact KnowNow Support for further information and help.

  1. Infrequently, the Feedwatcher doesn't retrieve data after an upgrade. If this happens, shut down LiveServer, delete the following files from the /LiveServer_Install_directory/conf/upgrade/, and restart LiveServer (TD 10839):
  2. Server proxy settings were previously stored in the KnowNow System Administration console's Configuration › Adapters › KnESS › HTTP Proxy Server Settings parameter. This parameter is now Configuration › Service Network › HTTP Proxy Server Settings. After upgrading to LiveServer 3.2, any existing proxy settings you had in this parameter will be ignored. You will need to edit this parameter in its new location. If you have edited this parameter in the knsettings.conf file (not a recommended practice), the parameter name has been changed from FeedWatcher_ProxySettings to ServiceNetwork_ProxySettings; you will need to manually edit knsettings.conf to change the parameter name. TD 10815
  3. Linux upgrade note: The command, rpm -U upgrade, is not supported. If you use it, and if you had modified any of the default permissions prior to upgrading to the 3.2 release, then the installer moves the modified access_pattern and pattern_permissions files to .rpmsave files. To restore your permissions, before restarting LiveServer, copy the .rpmsave files back to where they were. TD 10686
  4. To disable certificate validation for clients connecting to LiveServer using HTTPS protocol, set one of the system properties HTTPClient.disableCertificateVerification or KN.disableCertificateVerification to true. Note: This change affects the underlying HTTPClient stack. Once certificate validation is disabled, that applies to all HTTPS connections, whether they are made to LiveServer or any other Web server. TD 9101
  5. Although normally LiveServer shutdown takes just a few minutes, to ensure data integrity, it can take up to one hour, though this is unusual. TD 10564
  6. When starting the second node of a cluster, a dialog box with Error 1067 is sometimes displayed saying that it failed to start. However, the system does start and is functional. Workaround: This issue may arise when LiveServer takes a long time to start (for example, during recovery of a large database) and the Windows service times out waiting for it to start. To prevent this, set the ServicesPipeTimeout entry in the Windows registry as described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/824344. TD 10524
  7. If the value in the Service Network's Hostname parameter does not match the operating system's hostname (as returned from uname -n in Linux, or displayed by My Computer › Manage in Windows), then HTTPS and HTTP may not interoperate. In these cases, we recommend that installations disable HTTP in the Service Network configuration. TD 10037
  8. Upgrade note: After upgrading, please delete the /j2re1.4.2_06/ folder, which is in the following locations by default (TD 9811):

    9. On Windows: C:\Program Files\KnowNow\Server\lib\j2re1.4.2_06\
    On Linux: /opt/knserver/lib/j2re1.4.2_06/

  9. Limitation: In clusters using SSL (i.e., the Service Network parameter Enable HTTPS is set to true), you must disable the Service Network Enable HTTP parameter by setting its value to false. TD 10043
  10. There are conditions when the knauthd program (which provides services to the User, Group, and Permissions screens of the KnowNow System Administration console) will enter an infinite loop. This occurs when the LDAP server exits or shuts down its connections in certain (non-typical) ways. When this occurs, the Perl process which runs knauthd must be killed manually. Solution: In the KnowNow System Administration console, use Monitor › Processes to restart the process. TD 1828
  11. If the LiveServer fails to start after an upgrade, delete the journals.db file in the /knrouter_db/ directory. TD 8448
  12. After upgrading from a previous ESS or LiveServer release, the initial startup should be invoked with the PM (preventive maintenance) option in order to insure a proper and complete upgrade. TD 9624
  13. ESS 3.1.10 and LiveServer 3.1.14 only support SASL binding when LiveServer/ESS are hosted on a Windows server. TD 9668
  14. The LDAP Test mode in dual LDAP configurations is problematic. TD 9815
  15. A published payload with wchar_t 0xd800 and above will become corrupt, and the Connector will not generate an error event. U+D800 through U+DFFF are Unicode surrogates used to extend Unicode. They are only legal if they are used properly (that is, followed by the appropriate data). We recommend encoding all binary (non-Unicode) payloads in base 64 format. As a status event, ideally, kn_payload contains a detailed and human-readable description of what happened in plain text format. In practice, it is often empty. (It is also optional.) TD 963
  16. Limitation: HTTP/1.1 is not supported. TD 1056
  17. Very rarely, clusters may lose events during a re-start. TD 1109
  18. Linux: When attempting to start knserver on an alias Ethernet address, if an existing process is listening on the all unassigned address(0.0.0.0:80) for the same port, knserver attempts to restart continuously. TD 1411
  19. Windows: Very rarely, if nsd.exe fails to stop, and if the LiveServer is installed as a Microsoft Windows Service and has been started as a service, it may not be possible to stop the nsd.exe process using the Microsoft Windows Task Manager. Use the KILL utility instead of rebooting and see this report: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q155075/. TD 1613
  20. Occasionally, knpersistence reports an error stating that it was unable to add an event. TD 1796
  21. LDAP-based administration requests can't respond to requests from the KnowNow System Administration while waiting for a timeout on the LDAP side. TD 1817
  22. Not all LiveServer 2.0 passwords will work with the Flat File permissions configuration. TD 2098
  23. Windows 2003 Server: The KnowNow System Administration may not load into your Web browser. Workaround #1: In Internet Explorer, access Tools › Internet Options › General (tab) › Settings (button in the Temporary Internet Files section). In the Settings dialog box, change the setting for Check for newer versions of stored pages: from "Check every visit to the page" to "Every time you start Internet Explorer." Workaround #2: Add the machine as a trusted site in your security settings. TD 2133
  24. The LiveServer's default permissions allow administration of the LiveServer without use of SSL. TD 2358
  25. The LiveServer needs the same IP address each time it restarts. Otherwise, the KnowNow System Administration console will show that File_Manager, knlister.plx, and knlogd are restarting continually with an exit code of 255. TD 6112
  26. When LiveServer is deployed as a Windows service and its database is large, it may require two attempts to stop LiveServer. TD 5734, 6357, 6358
  27. As of release 3.1.11, the LiveServer supports multiple filters on a topic or route. However, currently there is no way for an instance of a filter attachment to know that it's been attached to the same stream twice, or to distinguish between those attachments. That means that any filter that retains state has no way of distinguishing *which* state to use. For this reason, our advice is to never attach the same filter module to the same object twice, unless you absolutely know that what you're doing will work. TD 7005
  28. If you have a cluster with two nodes that have been configured to use SSL protocol (the Service Network parameter Enable HTTP is set to false), the second node fails to recover off the first node. This can be fixed by setting the Daemon_Protocol flag in kn_settings.conf as follows (TD 8356):

    29. set Daemon_Protocol {https}

  29. If LDAP is being used for LiveServer permissions and the knrouter_db database is deleted, the corresponding LDAP container for LiveServer must also be deleted. Then the LDAP container must be re-created using the following Perl command (TD 8893):

    30. perl ../../bin/knloadldif --doit --ldap_url ldap://ldap-server.domain.com:389 --bind_dn CN=LSadmin,OU=eng,OU=liveserver,DC=QADOM1,DC=com --password password --kn_container OU=eng,OU=liveserver,DC=QADOM1,DC=com data/knobjects.ldff -name liveserver.domain.com

  30. Very rarely, if you kill the LiveServer's process, the database may become corrupted. A good backup strategy is always advisable. TD 1425
  31. Do not place linefeeds in topic names. This can cause problems in clusters. TD 1574
  32. The OpenSSL req utility may not work correctly on all systems. TD 2036
  33. The KnowNow System Administration status bar will occasionally turn red even though the KnowNow System Administration screens are still connected and fully functional. Whenever the status bar turns red, press the Reload button to determine the state of the KnowNow System Administration tool. TD 2106
  34. We've removed the configurability of the /kn prefix from LiveServer 3.0. TD 2325
  35. The LiveJava Connector fails when trying to subscribe to a topic name which contains a vertical plus horizontal tab, form feed, line feed, and carriage return. TD 2852
  36. On Windows, if you start to remove a running LiveServer, then choose Cancel, the LiveServer can no longer be started as a service. Also, an uninstall process named GLF*.EXE continues to run and uses up 50% of the CPU. The Windows Add or Remove Programs cannot be shut down or used until the GLF*.EXE process is killed. TD 2889
  37. If you begin the process of uninstalling the LiveServer, then cancel the uninstallation, the LiveServer will not restart. TD 5728
  38. Windows limitation: If the Windows firewall is not enabled and the Windows "User Mode Process Dumper" service is running, the LiveServer may crash, creating *.dmp files. To prevent this, enable the Windows firewall. TD 8616
  39. Font issues in the KnowNow System Administration console occur when these two Internet Explorer Accessibility options are enabled: "Ignore font styles specified on Web pages" and "Ignore font sizes specified on Web pages." Workaround: Disable these two accessibility options in Internet Explorer. TD 4440

LiveBrowser Issues and Limitations

The following issues and limitations apply either to the LiveBrowser or to third-party applications:

  1. LiveBrowser applications don't work through the F5 BigIP load balancer using its Layer 5 "proxying." If you encounter this difficulty, use "Layer 3" (IP) load balancing. TD 10900
  2. The kn.lastError property may not be available in Internet Explorer 5.5 running under Windows XP unless the browser cache is cleared. TD 346
  3. kn_include_isLoaded() cannot tell if the JavaScript library is missing or not at the given URL. It can only tell that the library was requested at least once prior. This is a limitation of the browser, not of the LiveBrowser. TD 805
  4. On Windows 2000 Professional, the LiveServer and LiveBrowser might not work while older versions of ZoneAlarm Pro and possibly other pop-up killers and ad blockers are active. If you are having this problem, consider updating to the latest version of ZoneAlarm Pro, which does not seem to cause trouble with the LiveServer and LiveBrowser. TD 880
  5. On rare occasions, after reinstalling the LiveServer and LiveBrowser, the sample applications may not work. Workaround: Try deleting the LiveBrowser cookies and your browser's temporary files. Note that there is no way to ensure that cookies and temp files are cleared programmatically. TD 881
  6. If you disable cookie authentication, the Livebrowser will not use the values of kn_displayname or kn_userid as specified within the code. Workaround: Use the JavaScript function kn.customInit(). When present, this function is called by the JavaScript Connector during startup. Because this code runs after do_method=whoami, but before normal Connector startup, it can override any of the values provided by do_method=whoami. For an example, see the LiveBrowser file /livebrowser/js/auth/kn_cookies.js. For more information on whoami, see the KnowNow LiveServer Developer's Guide. TD 907
  7. None of the sample applications can detect if the LiveServer is offline or otherwise inaccessible. If the LiveServer is offline or not accessible, the application will show no data from the LiveServer.
  8. In the case of extremely large events, or a large, rapid inflow of many events, the graphical user interface (GUI) components (scrollbars, ActivePanels) may temporarily freeze until the event stream can be parsed.
  9. When using the Frameless JavaScript Connector option, any dynamic content written directly into the body element of the page will destroy the connection to the LiveServer. To avoid this, use KN ActivePanels or another nested element (such as a table cell or div) to contain the dynamic content. TD 1007
  10. If presence updates exceed ten per second, the LiveBrowser will have a problem displaying accurate and current status. The problem shows itself with a single user creating multiple subscriptions to the same topic (one new route created per subscription). The same problem manifests for a dynamic application that has a large number of users subscribing and unsubscribing during a small time interval. TD 1572
  11. kn_marquee must be passed the input for "outerTableWidth." If this is not passed, then marquees with horizontal scrolling will not appear. TD 3308
  12. In the LiveBrowser "Static Paged" Table samples, when you are in the first page and change any column to Descending order, then navigate to the next page, the table on the next page is not displayed. TD 5689
  13. You may experience very slow load times when running LiveBrowser-based applications on the version of Internet Explorer 6 that comes with Windows 2003. Workaround 1: Use Firefox. Workaround 2: Connect using Internet Explorer 6 or another browser from another desktop. TD 10315
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Last updated: February 20, 2008