Release Notes

Owned by Chandler Berry
Last updated: Apr 04, 2022 by Alan Forbes
9 min read

Release Notes

 

8.1

Current Release: 8.1 released March 2022

Quick Summary

This release is all about making PowerScripts even cooler.

New Features

  1. Parameters to PowerScripts which call for UserPrincipalNames, SamAccountNames, group names, etc. can now be set to autopopulate with matches after the user types a few characters. To learn more see https://rprvitalsigns.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/V4UG/pages/2367389697

  2. Several of the tabs were made significantly faster to load. Previously rows of groups, teams, and other pages which displayed Owners and members would get all this information prior to loading the grid. For instance, it loaded all the members for all the groups, whether you needed that or not. Now it just loads the group names and grabs the members only when clicked.

  3. The PowerScripts role management screen has been completely redesigned to be more human friendly.

  4. Reduced the number of characters needed to start a search.

  5. Prevention of data loss if the connection to Microsoft is lost in the middle of data collection.

  6. Assigned the proper modules to all the scripts. This way unnecessary Microsoft modules are not loaded.

  7. Reworked the priority of which credential is used to run a script. If you specify credentials at run time, those are the only credentials that will be tried. If you use stored credentials the script will first use the credentials assigned to it, if any, then the other credentials it may have, and finally the server credentials. This is all done as a workaround to Microsoft’s limit of 3 concurrent sessions per user.

  8. Added Global Audit Log to the O365 page for those users authorized to see it.

  9. Hide the ‘reset password’ link on the login screen if AD authentication is used.

  10. Ability to control a users' access to every menu item via UI profiles.

  11. Added the system URL to the configuration page and this URL is included in the welcome message to new users.

  12. Updated license enforcement won’t execute a PowerScript if your license has expired. It will warn you in advance so this doesn’t take you by surprise. It also counts the number of users you have in your tenant.

New Scripts

  • Top email Senders.

  • Find out which users have access to someone’s calendar.

  • Grant calendar access to a user.

  • A new set of scripts for AD were added for those companies which have to make changes locally then sync to the cloud.

Minor Geek Stuff

The Mongo log files are now cleaned up automatically. Sometimes they got very big and served no purpose.

Some reports didn’t have the export button.

All PowerScript parameter boxes use the Material framework for nicer-looking input.

Better versioning of releases.

More character types are allowed for searches and file generation which scripts create a downloadable file.

We switched from MSOnline modules (which are being sunset) to the more modern AzureAD modules where applicable.

 

717877717877

7717877

8.0

Current Release: 8.0.4 released September 2021

Quick Summary

This release is all about PowerScripts.

New Features

  1. All scripts now reside in Mongo, rather than in the file system. This is a dramatic improvement as it prevents customizations, such as setting preferred credentials, from being wiped out on upgrades.

  2. New set of cool security features, including inactivity timeout, enforced single session, and Terms of Use document.

  3. Enhanced audit trail feature now includes a pointer to the exact script which was run at time it was executed, rather than just the name of the script. (This is an example of an enhancement flowing from feature #1 above).

  4. Added helper text to the PowerScripts editor to better describe what the various fields are for.

  5. New parameter type of ValidateSet which allows you to present the user with a finite list of options, such as
    [string][ValidateSet('First Option', 'Second Option', 'Third Option')] $stringWithSet

  6. Script Dependencies allows you to create reusable modules which can be referenced in other scripts. In the event the module changes you will only need to make the change in one place.

  7. Ability to set alerts based on other queues for Exchange On-Premise. Added to support Edge Server transfer queues.

  8. Friendlier Parameter names now support the HelpMessage option to provide the user with more descriptive prompts.

  9. Ability to delete scripts from the library so that they won’t return when an upgrade is installed. This marks the record in Mongo as deleted and it is excluded from all views.

  10. Ability to call the Graph API from within a script.

  11. All PowerScripts now have version tracking so that you can see who changed a script when.

New Scripts

  • Grab all users of a group and output it as a CSV file

  • Message Tracking for Exchange On Premise

  • Give User Access to Mailbox

  • Set Account to never expire

  • Reset User Password

  • Copy Users’s OneDrive files

Minor Geek Stuff

On-Prem AD Script changed the stored credential variable name from $Credential to $Cred

Parameter bindings for PowerScripts are no longer case sensitive

Fixed issue which prevented all O365 groups from coming in

717877717877

7.0

Current Release: 11/6/2020

Quick Summary

Moved O365 page to it’s own page, and added several features.

 

New Features

  1. Moved the O365 and Exchange page from the Key Metrics category to its own category, enabling quicker navigation.

  2. Added ability to change what Pages/Tabs a user is able to see when logging in. The feature is called UI Profiles.

  3. Added the ability to save multiple Credentials to use with PowerScripts. These credentials are used sequentially to allow more that the 3 maximum concurrent usages that Microsoft allows per login.

  4. Fixed On-Premises AD scanning. Powerscripts are now able to be run against On-Premises AD servers.

  5. Modified the O365 page to include separate tabs for On-Premises Users, Mailboxes, and Groups.

  6. Added a new tab to the O365 page, allowing a Search function across all O365 objects, including Users, Mailboxes, and Rooms and Resources.

6.2

Quick Summary

Dramatically improved grid performance and usability

New Features

  1. All the grids on the the Office 365 Key Metrics page have “sticky columns” meaning that you still read the column headings regardless of how far down the grid you scroll.

  2. The Licenses Eligible for Reassignment got some overdue love. We added a column “Last Login” to help better identify stale accounts (unused but consuming a license) and also added the ability to execute PowerShell scripts directly on rows on that page. This is a report that Microsoft likely would never offer as they prefer you to buy additional licenses.

  3. Ability to select multiple rows on which to perform actions. For instance to add an owner to 10 teams simply select them all in the Teams grid and select the Add Team Owner scripts. Previously this would have required 10 button pushes so this is waaaay better.

6.1

Quick Summary

Added scheduled PowerScripts

Ability to use Azure Active Directory

New Features

  1. Added scheduled PowerScripts (can be run daily, weekly, or monthly)

  2. Added 'Audit Log' tab allowing users to see the last days of result of PowerScripts they have run

  3. Added Azure Active Directory as an authentication option

  4. Long-running PowerScripts will update status window (used to time out after 2 minutes)

  5. Updated editor with syntax highlighting for PowerScripts management

  6. New and updated PowerScripts: AssignLicenseToUser, AssignRoleToUser, BlockUserAccess, DisableAutoAcceptRoomsResources, GetRoomUsage, RoomPreparer, DisableAutoAcceptRoomsResources, DisableInboxRules, EnableInboxRules, GetInboxRules

6.0

Quick Summary

New(better) grid control throughout the product

New PowerScripts and ability to pass a file as parameter

New Features

  1. New grid control allows for faster loading of data, better sorting and filtering, sticky columns

  2. Ability to pass a file (such as a CSV) as a parameter to a PowerScript

  3. Ability to get a file download link as the output of a PowerScript

  4. Menu items are hidden based on roles (only PowerScripts admins even see the option)

  5. New PowerScripts: DeleteTeam, RemoveTeamMember, RemoveTeamOwner, Demote/Promote Team users, RemoveUserAllTeams

  6. Initial release of GetRoomUsage script and its support script RoomPreparer

 

5.3

Quick Summary

New Key Metrics for SharePoint

New Features

  1. PowerScripts support for Rooms and Resources

  2. Key Metrics and PowerScripts for SharePoint on Premise

  3. Small fix if the machine doesn't have the JSON MIME type by default in IIS

5.2

Quick Summary

New Exchange IIS Functions

New Features

  1. Modified multiple Exchange reports to be able to differentiate between items in Litigation hold or in the purged folder

  2. Added ability to Authenticate Login by AD Group

  3. New PowerScripts management page, where all PowerScript related admin tasks can be done

  4. Added PowerScript roles, to segment what kind of PowerScripts different users can run.

5.1

Quick Summary

5.1 adds Monitoring for the Microsoft Teams application. It also fixes multiple issues, and adds more functionality to Exchange monitoring/reporting.

New Features

  1. Microsoft Teams Monitoring

  2. Added a Metrics page for Teams to show all the information about each Team

  3. Added the ability to run PowerScripts against Teams

  4. Version Info Page (List version number for all VS components)

  5. New Server Type: RDP (Tests if the server is able to be reached by RDP)

  6. New Microsoft server test (Added the ability to test the RDP port on Microsoft servers)

  7. Confirmation when changing passwords

  8. Modified multiple Exchange reports to be able to differentiate between items in Litigation hold or in the purged folder

  9. Added ability to Authenticate Login by AD Group

  10. New PowerScripts management page, where all PowerScript related admin tasks can be done

  11. Added PowerScript roles, to segment what kind of PowerScripts different users can run.

Bug Fixes/Changes

UI

  • Fixed an issue where passwords would be sent using plain-text to the API

  • Fixed the Restart after X Days Health Check for Exchange

  • Fixed the RDP test for Exchange

Usability

  • Fixed issue where creating a new user caused a Chilkat error

  • Made Exchange Health Checks optional

  • Added ability to filter by DAG or Mailbox Database on multiple Exchange Reports

5.0

Quick Summary

5.0 adds more PowerScripts, fully fleshes out Exchange monitoring, and adds Active Directory support.

New Features

  1. Implemented the Exchange Mail Probe feature

  2. Added a Report that lists out all available PowerScripts

  3. Added the PowerScript feature to SharePoint

  4. Added more O365 PowerScripts

  5. Implemented Active Directory support for user logins

  6. Added User-configurable levels of access to PowerScripts

Bug Fixes/Changes

UI

  • Changed/Improved some Connections Reports Filters

  • Multiple fixes for Connections Internal champions Report

  • Fixed multiple spelling mistakes in various locations

  • Added multiple Stats to Domino servers

  • Multiple Domino Reports fixes

  • Added more information to the Domino Health page

Usability

  • Fixed Log file Scanning Alerts

  • Fixed multiple Site Navigation issues (navigating to the wrong page)

  • The Mongo Backup now checks daily to make sure it's kept updated

  • Multiple fixes for the Server Import Wizard

  • Added Y-axis labels to Reports where they were missing

  • Fixed issue where the Executive Summary page did not update automatically

  • Enabled the Server List page to update automatically

4.5.0

Quick Summary

4.5 added the PowerScripts feature, several new reports, and improved the back-end for several reports that would fail in large environments.



New Features

  1. Implemented the PowerScripts feature

    1. Pre-defined PowerShell scripts that run without any user interaction, allowing users with lesser access levels perform actions that have an arbitrarily high access requirement.

    2. All actions are logged, and can be viewed with an Audit tool included within VitalSigns 4.5

  2. Added a report that shows every Exchange user's Total Mail Access level

  3. Added an animated loading widget while Reports or Key Metrics are being loaded

  4. Modified the underlying service of the IBM Connections Internal Champions report to accommodate extremely large environments

  5. Added a page and a report that shows Licenses Eligible for Reassignment for O365 and Connections

  6. Added a License Consumption page to the O365 Mailbox and Users Key Metrics page

  7. Added the ability to view if an O365 user is forwarding any email 

Bug Fixes/Changes

UI

  • Fixed spelling mistakes in multiple places

  • Updated multiple icons

Usability

  • Changed the look of the IBM Connections Internal Champions report to accommodate extremely large environments

  • Improved to look of the Disk Health Report

  • Fixed multiple issues where reports would not display all of the relevant data.

  • Fixed errors in the Alerts service

  • Added new Maintenance interval option "Patch Saturday"



4.4.0

Quick Summary

4.4 added Sharepoint Monitoring,a slew of new configuration options, and new views/reports to see more data. 

New Features

  1. Sharepoint Monitoring

  2. Added Support for URL's as a destination for Alerts

  3. Added Proxy handling to O365

  4. Added support for Scheduled Reports

  5. Added a page for Active Directory on the Office 365 Health page

  6. New Office 365 Report: Last AD Sync

  7. Added Response Time and Up Time to multiple server types server details pages

  8. Added the ability to export to Excel on multiple pages

  9. Added multiple server types to the to the Server Import wizard

  10. Added a report that lists all of VitalSigns' currently configured Websphere Thresholds

Bug Fixes/Changes

UI

  • Fixed spelling mistakes in multiple places

  • Edited awkward wording with multiple Error messages

  • Fixed incorrect icons in multiple places

  • Fixed multiple issues with tooltips not displaying correctly

  • Changed names of multiple stats to make more sense

Usability

  • Changed format of date picker to DD/MM/YYYY

  • Fixed multiple instances of Reports failing to load data

  • O365 stability enhancements

  • Various tweaks to multiple pages and reports

4.3.0

Quick Summary

More Exchange functionality, including several new reports.



New Features

  1. Several new Microsoft Exchange Reports

    1. All reports include Drill-Down capability

  2. Enhanced Connections Monitoring/Reports

  3. Added a Summary Statistics purge interval

  4. Added a Exchange Mailbox Statistics page

Bug Fixes/Changes

UI

  • Fixed several spelling mistakes

  • Fixed several reports from failing to populate

Usability

  • Changed the Delete confirmation prompts to something more appropriate to the content.

  • Changed several report labels to be more understandable

  • Added folder names to Top 25 Biggest Single Folder report

  • Added multi-threaded operation to database scanning

  • Changed some pages date formats to DD/MM/YYYY



4.2.1

Quick Summary

Added Support for Microsoft On-Prem, and DAG. Added additional mobile device monitoring tools, and added another way to scan servers. Added additional Office 365 functionality. Several bugs fixed.



New Features

  1. Added Support for Microsoft On-Premise and Database Availability Group.

  2. Added ability to see which devices have not synced within a specific time period.

  3. Added the Right-Click/Scan option in the Server List



  4. Added a Test button to test the SMTP settings for Alerts.

  5. Added a back-up feature to the MongoDB database, to combat data loss from unexpected shutdowns.

  6. Added a new and improved Executive Summary page similar to the page from 3.X.

  7. Enhanced Office 365 Monitoring including:

    1. More Reports (ex. Disabled used consuming licenses report)

    2. New Office 365 Health Page

Bug Fixes/Changes

UI

  • Fixed an issue where the pending mail widget on the dashboard did not reflect the actual amount of mail.

  • Fixed a typo in the Server Availability Index report.

  • Fixed an issue where disk space percentage would display 100x smaller than it's actual value.

  • Fixed an issue where disk space alerts would show the percentage as 100x larger than it's actual value.

Usability

  • Fixed an issue where only one disk could be monitored per server, now multiple disks can be selected without error.

  • Fixed an issue with DateUtils on international servers.

  • Fixed an issue where selecting the Tasks tab on a Domino Server in the Server List would Soft Lock VitalSigns