What's New inService Virtualization 5.4 and 5.4.1

This topic introduces the new features and improvements in Service Virtualization 5.4 and 5.4.1.

What's New in Service Virtualization 5.4.1

Highlights

The Service Virtualization 5.4.1 release is a cumulative update and introduces numerous enhancements and bug fixes, improving product usability and expanding technology and protocol coverage. The main new enhancements include: easier Virtual Service data modeling, enhanced editing of Service Description, enabled XML over JMS in hybrid simulation, enriched Virtual Service events, simplified export and sharing of logged messages, and enhanced HTTPS, Java Virtualization, JMS, MQ, FTP, Fixed Length, and SAP protocols.

Design and simulation enhancements

Data Model. Improved Virtual Service modeling with the following enhancements to data models:

  • Easier column setup with better table header pre-selection, improved saving of column widths, highlighted collapsed values, marked hidden headers with filter symbol
  • Improved representation of arrays in data rows, improved representation of array items in Virtual Service creation wizard
  • Added access to dynamic functions in Learned Rules
  • Added ability to hide an operation in a Data Model

Protocol enhancements

  • HTTPS. Eliminated a request for client certificate by default when using HTTPS proxy.

  • Java Virtualization. Java protocol now supports interface for a more light-weight EJB virtualization. Added support for Java Virtualization on SV Server on Linux.

  • JMS. New support for Solace JMS, added JSON over JMS protocol, new support for XML over JMS in hybrid simulation mode.

  • MQ. Enabled ReplyToQueueManagerName value in MQ configuration dialog.

  • FTP. Enabled processing of a whole CSV file at once.

  • Fixed length. Shortened operation names by eliminating "operation", "request", and "response" from names. Enabled correlation by time and operation name.

  • SAP. Introduced validation of credentials directly from the Virtual Service creation wizard.

Early Access Program

Service Virtualization version 5.4.1 continues to support the Early Access Program (EAP), allowing access to innovative capabilities and technologies in “beta level” quality. EAP features are available for experimental use and testing and may be subject to change based on feedback and further product development.

The EAP features included in this release are:

  • Protocol Hooks API. Protocol Hooks API introduces a new level of customizability, making protocol customization simpler. It introduces an easier way to change message payload, protocol header values and metadata on input and output in all service modes by writing a simple custom code. Examples of usage are: creation and processing of custom signatures, implementation of XSLT transformation on input or output, creation of a custom protocol by using a parser for a non-supported message format and converting it to a supported message format (such as XML). Protocol Hooks custom code can also be exported to a Virtual Service template, allowing reusability in multiple Virtual Services.

  • Service Description. It is now possible to delete structures from a Service Description in the data model editor.

For a more detailed explanation, see Early access features.

Other improvements

  • Virtual Service Statistics. Enriched Virtual Service event view with message/transaction, error and warning counts.

  • Logging. Added ability to export and share logged Virtual Service messages in bulk. Simplified access to SV Designer logs and made them easily accessible for sharing. Enable/disable option for in-memory simulation.

  • LDAP. LDAP timeout is now configurable.

  • Infrastructure updates. Updated support for deployment of SV Server in Docker image with RedHat OpenShift 4.7. Added support for Oracle 19C, MS SQL 2019.

  • Bug fixes and usability. Improved stability and performance and fixed issues in SV Designer and SV Server.

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What's New in Service Virtualization 5.4

Highlights

The Service Virtualization 5.4 release brings numerous improvements to existing SV product capabilities. The main new enhancements include: Virtual Service creation in SVM, simplified SV Designer trial and deployment, SV Lab embedded license into SV Server, new protocols and technologies like Azure Service Bus, RabbitMQ and Kafka, support for CORS, SAP enhancements, improvements to simulation runtime, Virtual Service filtering in SVM, and SV Server statistics. SV Lab technology comes with improved learning, simulation and runtime, as well as new support for JMS, IBM WebSphere MQ, RabbitMQ, and Kafka.

Design, simulation and management enhancements

  • Virtual Service Creation in SVM. Introduced ability to quickly create Virtual Services directly in the SV Management web UI and populate data model by importing sample messages or learning. All without a need for SV Designer, enabling users to quickly and easily create mocks and data simulators without extensive knowledge of how to design Virtual Services.

  • SV Lab with SV Server License. Included limited capacity of SV Lab Virtual Services for use as part of SV Server Enterprise license. All existing users of SV Server with an Instance or Concurrent license can now start using SV Lab without a need to purchase additional Virtual Service licenses.

  • Azure Service Bus. Enabled use of XML and binary/text message payloads for use with Azure Service Bus (AMQP 1.0).

  • RabbitMQ. Enabled use of XML and binary/text message payloads for use with RabbitMQ.

  • XML namespace prefixes. Enabled learning of XML namespace prefixes as a default behavior to better replicate real message structure and minimize the amount of Virtual Services requiring modifications.

  • CORS. Added support for Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) pre-flight requests. CORS messages are now filtered out during learning and not included in the data model.

  • SAP. Improved validation of SAP agent configuration allowing quicker troubleshooting of parameters and connection issues. Simplified SAP agent maintenance by allowing restarts without a need to undeploy SAP Virtual Services.

  • SV Management. Improved Virtual Service filtering. SV Management interface now remembers Virtual Service filter settings eliminating the need to configure a filter every time a user accesses the list of Virtual Services.

  • SV Server Statistics. Added long term persistence of SV Server level statistics into the database and enabled export to external files for offline processing and reporting.

SV Lab enhancements

  • Learning. Improved incremental learning of VSL variables with COPY FROM/IGNORE and single occurrence IGNORE functions. Improved learning of long scenarios with Digital Lab.

  • Simulation. Improved stateless simulation precision, data matching, and scenario selection based on incoming data (mainly used with data driving).

  • Runtime. Enhanced SV Lab runtime with:

    • Improved VSL compiler performance when running multiple SV Labs on one host.

    • Added typed SV Client API exceptions when accessing a standalone server.

    • Expanded support for OpenJDK versions 8-13.

  • Connectors. Enabled new messaging protocols into SV Lab and improved existing technologies:

    • Added JMS and IBM WebSphere MQ messaging with XML, binary/text, and JSON message payloads, enabled usage with Azure Service Bus.

    • Added RabbitMQ messaging with XML, binary/text, and JSON message payloads over queues or exchanges.

    • Added Kafka messaging with XML, binary/text, and JSON message payloads.

    • Added support for Azure Service Bus leveraging Apache Qpid.

    • Updated MQTT with learning, multiple operations in service, path variables for wild card subscriptions and mixed input/output messages, enabled XML, binary/text, and JSON message payloads.

    • Updated Bluetooth LE to support Android 9 and 10.

  • API Testing. Improved API testing and invocation mode with new waitForSimulationFinish function with a timeout parameter.

Other improvements

  • SV Designer. Simplified SV Designer deployment and maintenance by adding an in-process database for SV Designer. The in-process database removes the need to setup and configure an external database for SV Designer.

  • SV Designer Trial License. Unified SV Designer Enterprise trial and SV Designer Express distributions. Users of SV Express can now use SV Designer without limitations for the first 30 days after installation.

  • Token Licensing. Updated ADM Consumption and Concurrent Token license enforcement.

  • RedHat OpenShift. Added support for deployment of SV Server in Docker image with RedHat OpenShift 4.

  • Bug fixes and Usability. Improved stability, performance, and fixed issues in SV Designer, SV Server, and SV Lab.

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