Support Matrix for ALM/QC

 

Software version 15.5.x

 

This document provides information on system requirements, recommended environments, and supported environments for running ALM.

Note: For the support matrix of other ALM versions, see Support Matrix for ALM 17.0.x, Support Matrix for ALM 16.0.x, and Support Matrix for ALM 15.0.x.

In this topic:

Server-side system requirements. 1

Hardware minimum requirements. 1

Recommended environments. 1

Supported environments. 1

Cloud computing. 1

Full disk encryption. 1

Client-side system requirements. 1

Hardware minimum requirements. 1

Recommended environments. 1

Desktop Client supported environments. 1

Screen resolution and DPI settings. 1

 

Server-side system requirements

The following are the server-side system requirements and configurations for installing Micro Focus ALM 15.5.x and Micro Focus Quality Center Enterprise 15.5.x on Windows and Linux.

Note: These requirements do not apply if you are utilizing Managed Software Solutions for Micro Focus ALM or Micro Focus Quality Center Enterprise. In that case, the Managed Software Solutions team provides a hosted version of Micro Focus ALM or Micro Focus Quality Center Enterprise.

 

Hardware minimum requirements

The following table lists the minimum hardware requirements on the server side:

Component

Requirement

CPU

Quad Core AMD64 processor or equivalent x86-compatible processor

Memory (RAM)

8 GB minimum

Free disk space

8 GB minimum

Note: For hardware and tuning recommendations according to the deployment type and capacity, see ALM Advisor.

 

Recommended environments

The following table lists recommended configurations for each operating system:

Operating System

Database

Web Server

JDK/JRE

Microsoft Windows Server 2016

Microsoft SQL Server 2016

Microsoft IIS 10.0

Oracle Java 8

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.x 64-bit

Oracle 12.2.x

Apache 2.4

Oracle Java 8

Note: If you are working with an Oracle database, to store non-English or multiple language groups, it is recommended that you set Database Character Set to Unicode Character Set.

 

Supported environments

The following table lists supported versions of Operating Systems, Database Servers, and Web Servers:

Component

Requirement

Notes

Operating System

·        Microsoft Windows Server 2019

·        Microsoft Windows Server 2016

·        Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2

·        Microsoft Windows Server 2012

·        Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.x 64-bit (requires ALM 15.5.1 or later)

·        Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.x 64-bit

·        Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.x 64-bit

·        Oracle Linux 7.x 64-bit

·        Oracle Linux 6.x 64-bit

·        SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 64-bit

·        SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12.0 64-bit

·        SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11.0 SP4 64-bit

·        SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11.0 SP364-bit

·        CentOS 7.X 64-bit

·        Operating systems’ service packs and updates are supported, provided they are compatible with the vendor’s general availability release.

·        Oracle Linux versions are supported, provided they are compatible with the supported versions of Red Hat Linux.

·        CentOS versions are supported, provided they are compatible with the supported CentOS 7.5 64-bit.

·        Before installing ALM on Microsoft Windows Server 2019, follow the recommendations as described in the "Installing ALM: Windows" section of the Installation and Upgrade Guide for Windows.

·        ALM 15.5.0 supports 10 languages: English, French, German, Italian, Simplified Chinese, Dutch, Russian, Spanish, Japanese, and Korean.

o   English, Simplified Chinese, French, Italian, and German have both Linux and Windows installation.

o   Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, and Russian have Windows installation only.

·        ALM 15.5.1 supports 8 languages: English, French, German, Simplified Chinese, Russian, Japanese, Korean, and Brazilian Portuguese.

o   English, Simplified Chinese, French, and German have both Linux and Windows installations.

o   Japanese, Korean, Russian and Brazilian Portuguese have Windows installation only.

Database

·        Oracle 19c

·        Oracle 18c

·        Oracle 12.2.x

·        Oracle 12.1.x

·        Microsoft SQL Server 2019 (requires ALM 15.5.1 or later)

·        Microsoft SQL Server 2017

·        Microsoft SQL Server 2016

·        Microsoft SQL Server 2014

·        If Database Character Set is not set to Unicode Character Set, some non-English characters may be corrupted after upgrading to Oracle 12.2.0.1. This issue has been identified as an Oracle defect. The fix is addressed in Oracle patch 26380097. For additional help, contact Oracle Support. SQL SERVER 2012 is not supported since it is end of life.

JDK/JRE

·        Oracle Java 8

·        OpenJDK 8

 

Application Server

·        Apache 2.4.x

·        Apache 2.2

·        Microsoft IIS 10

·        Microsoft IIS 8.5

·        Microsoft IIS 8.0

·        Microsoft IIS 7.5

·        By default, application servers include HTTP servers. If you need additional functionality, a web server can be added.

·        Micro Focus will certify major and minor releases of Apache (e.g. Apache 2.2), while all minor-minor releases of Apache (e.g. version 2.2.x) will not undergo specific certifications, as it is expected that minor-minor software releases from Apache will maintain full compatibility.

Virtual environments

·        VMWare ESX/ESXi Server 5.0 and higher

Micro Focus ALM/QC is certified to work with VMWare ESX/ESXi. Due to the rapidly evolving architectures provided by virtualization vendors (e.g. Hyper V or Citrix), as long as the above-stated vendor guarantees full compatibility of the virtualized environment to the Micro Focus ALM/QC approved system requirements for physical hardware, Micro Focus ALM/QC supports the virtualized environments and function as designed.

 

Cloud computing

Micro Focus ALM/QC version 15.5.x is tested and certified with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Microsoft Azure. Micro Focus ALM/QC version 15.5.x is supported with any other cloud platforms if all components of the cloud computing environment follow the system requirements specified in this document.

 

Cloud computing – Amazon AWS

Micro Focus ALM/QC version 15.5.x is certified to be installed and run under Amazon Web Services (AWS), using a BYOL model, if all components of the cloud computing environment follow the system requirements specified in this document. In addition, Micro Focus ALM/QC version 15.5.x is certified to work with Amazon Web Services (AWS) using the following services:

·        Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) – when used with Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle Database if the database follows the Database System Requirements specified in this document.

·        Amazon Elastic File System (EFS)                                   

·        Amazon Simple Email Service (Amazon SES)

·        Amazon Classic Load Balancer

 

Recommended AWS environment:

Component

Requirement

Notes

Computing

·        Amazon EC2 running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.x 64-bit, or

·        Amazon EC2 running Microsoft Windows Server 2016

·        Using AWS may have an impact on the system’s performance and availability.

·        Amazon RDS for Microsoft SQL Server database instances: You can create up to 30 databases on each database instance. The Microsoft system databases, such as master and model, are not counted toward this limit.

·        In AWS GovCloud (US) Regions, Micro Focus ALM/QC version 15.5.x is certified to work with Amazon EC2 running Microsoft Windows Server 2016. For details, consult AWS.

File System

·        Amazon Elastic File System (EFS)

Database

·        Amazon RDS for Oracle 12.2.x

Emailing

·        Amazon Simple Email Service (SES)

Networking

·        Amazon Classic Load Balancer

 

Cloud computing – Microsoft Azure

Micro Focus ALM/QC version 15.5.x is certified to be installed and run under Azure.

 

Recommended Azure environment:

Component

Requirement

Notes

Computing

Azure Virtual Machines running

·        Microsoft Windows Server 2016, or

·        Microsoft Windows Server 2019, or

·        SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12.0 SP3 64-bit

·        There are several deployment models available for Azure SQL Database. ALM supports Managed Instance deployment model. For details, see:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/sql-database
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/sql-database/sql-database-managed-instance-index

·        For a sample that shows how to install ALM on Microsoft Azure, see KM03280653.

·        For a sample that shows how to migrate OnPrem ALM databases to Azure SQL Database Managed Instance, see KM03276819.

·        In Azure Government, Micro Focus ALM/QC version 15.5.x is certified to work with Azure Virtual Machines running Microsoft Windows Server 2016. For details, consult Azure.

File System

·        Azure Files

Database

·        Azure SQL Database - Deployment Model: Managed Instance

Emailing

·        SendGrid Email Delivery for Microsoft Azure

Networking

·        Azure Load Balancer

 

Full disk encryption

Full disk encryption (FDE) is supported for all system components, including database, server, repository server, and client machines.  Implementation of FDE does have an impact on system performance. For details, contact the vendor that provides the encryption.

 

 

Client-side system requirements

The following are the client-side system requirements and configurations for installing a Micro Focus ALM/Micro Focus Quality Center Enterprise client:

 

Hardware minimum requirements

The following table lists the minimum hardware requirements on the client side:

Component

Requirement

CPU

Core duo 1.6 Ghz (or higher) or equivalent compatible processor

Memory (RAM)

2 GB minimum

Free disk space

2 GB minimum

 

Recommended environments

The following table lists the recommended environments:

Component

Requirement

Note

Operating System

·        Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit

 

Browsers/Client Launcher

·        ALM Client Launcher (latest)

·        Google Chrome (Web Runner mode only)

ALM Client Launcher is a lightweight and flexible tool that enables you to run an ALM client without the need for Internet Explorer and without Windows administrator permissions. For details, go to https://marketplace.microfocus.com/appdelivery/content/v2/alm-client-launcher.

Office Suites

·        Microsoft Office 365 32-bit

 

 

Desktop Client supported environments

The following tables include prerequisites and supported versions of Operating Systems, Browsers, and Office Suites for the desktop client:

 

Prerequisites

Prerequisite

Notes

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.x versions are supported provided they are backward compatible with the .NET 4.5 release.

 

Operating System

The following table lists the supported operating systems:

Operating System

Minimum Patch Required

Notes

Microsoft Windows 10

All Windows 10 builds distributed and approved by Microsoft are supported, provided they are compatible with the Windows 10 general availability release.

Due to the "blue screen" error in some builds of Microsoft Windows 10, you may need to apply a required fix:

·        For Windows 10 Build 1507 (32-bit), see:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/KB4048956

·        For Windows 10 Build 1703 (32-bit or 64-bit), see:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/KB4022716

·        For Windows 10 Build 1903 and later (32-bit or 64-bit), see:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/KB5010415

·        If you are integrating ALM with other Micro Focus testing tools, you must modify the DCOM permissions on your client machine.

·        DCOM is not required for running Functional test sets (server-side execution).

·        Functional test sets are available only in ALM Edition.

·        Micro Focus ALM/QC Client on Windows 64-bit runs in WOW64 mode.

Microsoft Windows 8.1

 

Microsoft Windows Server 2019

 

Microsoft Windows Server 2016

 

Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2

 

Microsoft Windows Server 2012

 

 

Browsers/Client Launcher

The following table lists the supported browsers:

Browsers/Client Launcher

Notes

ALM Client Launcher

No browser is needed.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 11, 32-bit

 

Microsoft Edge (version 77 and later)

Supported with IE mode is enabled only. For the instructions and known limitations, please refer to KM03638120.

Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari

Supported only in Web Runner. See the Web Runner Help.

 

Office Suites

In addition to what is included in the following table, Microsoft Office service packs and updates are also supported, provided they are compatible with the vendor’s general availability release.

Office Suite

Notes

Microsoft Office 365

Desktop clients only

Microsoft Office 2019 64-bit

Excel add-ins only

Microsoft Office 2019 32-bit

 

Microsoft Office 2016 64-bit

Excel add-ins only

Microsoft Office 2016 32-bit

 

Microsoft Office 2013 64-bit

Excel add-ins only

Microsoft Office 2013 32-bit

 

 

Virtual environments

The following table lists the supported virtual environments:

Virtual Environment

Notes

Citrix XenApp 6.0 or higher

Micro Focus ALM/QC is certified to work with Citrix XenApp, Microsoft Terminal Services, and Remote Desktop Services.

Due to the rapidly evolving architectures provided by Virtualization vendors, as long as the above-stated vendors guarantee full compatibility of the virtualized environment to the Micro Focus ALM/QC approved system requirements for physical hardware, Micro Focus ALM/QC functions as designed.

Microsoft Terminal Services

Remote Desktop Services

 

Screen resolution and DPI settings

ALM recommends the following screen resolution and DPI settings:

Component

Settings

Notes

Screen resolution

Min: 1024*768

The recommended resolution for ALM is 1600*900 or higher. When using a lower resolution, unnecessary scroll bars may be displayed.

DPI settings

100%

ALM 15.5.x improved support for tablet devices. Using manufacturer-recommended screen resolution, the recommended DPI setting is 125% and the maximum DPI setting is 150%. If you use higher DPI settings, the ALM client menu items and columns may not be fully displayed.  

 

For support matrix of legacy versions:

·        For ALM 12.60, see ALM 12.60 Support Matrix.

·        For ALM 10.00-12.5x, see ALM 10.00-12.5x Support Matrix.

 

Visit the Product Support Lifecycle table for release details and dates. The Product Support Lifecycle policy defines the level of support Micro Focus provides for each product version.