Documentation forDatabase Performance Analyzer

DPA 2023.1 release notes

Release date: January 18, 2023

These release notes describe the new features, improvements, and fixed issues in Database Performance Analyzer 2023.1. They also provide information about upgrades and describe workarounds for known issues.

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New features and improvements in DPA

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DPA 2023.1 offers new features and improvements compared to previous releases of DPA.

Improvements to importing alerts, rules, and custom properties

DPA 2022.4 introduced the ability to export the alerts, rules, and custom properties that are configured on one DPA server and import them to another server. DPA 2023.1 improves the import functionality in the following ways:

  • You can specify which entities to import. The import wizard displays a list of the alerts, rules, and custom properties to be imported. Clear the checkbox next to any entity you don't want to import.

  • You can choose to overwrite existing entities with the same name. If you overwrite an entity, the existing entity is replaced by the imported entity.

Additions to systems requirements and monitored instances

Category Vender and version
Repository database Microsoft SQL Server 2022, Windows or Linux
Monitored database instances Microsoft SQL Server 2022, Windows or Linux
VMware

VMware vCenter Server 7.0

VMware ESX/ESXi Host 7.0

For more information, see the DPA 2023.1 system requirements and Database instances DPA can monitor.

Fixed issues in DPA 2023.1

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DPA 2023.1 fixes the following issues.

Case number Description
01144021, 01233510, 01234275

In deployments with an Oracle repository that monitor Oracle database instances, index analysis runs successfully. Logs no longer include the error message Unable to run index analysis.

01080326, 01129290, 01234534, 01236488

Files in the /tomcat/logs/ directory, such as catalina.out, stderr.log, and catalina.YYYY-MM-DD.log, no longer grow quickly and consume a large amount of space.

00978208, 01076887

Collecting a large number of metrics (for example, because you have configured many custom metrics), can sometimes cause DPA monitoring to stop periodically. DPA 2023.1 includes metrics setting in the system.properties files that can be adjusted to avoid this issue. For information on adjusting these properties, see Scale DPA for the number of databases being monitored and the number of custom metrics.

00560405, 00850966, 01061361, 01128672

In previous versions, when DPA was installed on Windows the installer ran a VBS script to create the Windows service. If an organization had a security policy that prevented VBS scripts from running, the service was not created and DPA would not start. To prevent this issue, DPA 2023.1 runs a Powershell script instead of a VBS script.

SolarWinds CVEs

SolarWinds would like to thank our Security Researchers below for reporting on the issue in a responsible manner and working with our security, product, and engineering teams to fix the vulnerability.

CVE-ID Vulnerability Title Description Severity
CVE-2022-38110 Reflected Cross-Site Scripting Vulnerability In DPA 2022.4 and older releases, certain URL vectors are susceptible to authenticated reflected cross-site scripting. 6.3 Medium
CVE-2022-38112 Sensitive Information Disclosure Vulnerability In DPA 2022.4 and older releases, generated heap memory dumps contain sensitive information in cleartext. 6.3 Medium

Notes - BugCrowd

SolarWinds would like to additionally thank our Bugcrowd community for their continued help in testing our products and keeping them secure

New customer installation

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For information about installing DPA, see the DPA Installation and Upgrade Guide. You can download a free trial from the SolarWinds website.

Before you upgrade!

If you are upgrading from DPA 2022.3 and you configured that version for SAML authentication, be aware that 2022.4 and later versions include changes to the SAML configuration. After the upgrade, no one will be able to log in with SAML until you update the configuration.

  • Before you upgrade, make sure you have a local login available.

  • After the upgrade, log in as a local user and complete the steps under SAML configuration changes in the DPA 2022.3 release notes to update the SAML configuration.

How to upgrade

If you are upgrading from an earlier version, use the following resources to plan and implement your upgrade:

Known issues

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Importing an alert definition without the associated database assignment rule
Issue

In some situations, the log file shows the status of an imported alert definition as both Imported and Failed. This occurs when the alert definition uses a database assignment rule, but the rule was not imported and did not already exist on the server.

The two statuses indicate that the alert definition was imported but the attempt to associate the database assignment rule failed.

Resolution or Workaround

When you import an alert definition that uses a database assignment rule, either import the rule or ensure that it already exists on the server.

If you imported an alert definition and the associated rule is missing, you must edit the alert definition to specify the database instances. (You can specify instances by manually selecting them or by applying a rule.)

REST API does not work when you access DPA with SAML login credentials
Issue

If you access DPA with SAML login credentials and you generate a refresh token, the following message is displayed when you attempt to use that refresh token to access the REST API:

You are not authorized to perform this action. Contact your DPA administrator.

Resolution or Workaround

Access DPA with a local login when you generate the refresh token.

The database name is not updated for stored procedures
Issue

If a stored procedure name includes the name of a database and it is copied to a different database, the database name is not updated. When DPA shows information about the copied stored procedure, the hash is the same as the first and the information appears to be incorrect.

Resolution or Workaround

If you experience this issue, complete the following steps:

  1. Run the following command against the DPA repository database (replacing <HashValue> with the stored procedure's hash value):

    delete from ignite.CONST_<DBID> where H = '<HashValue>'

  2. Restart DPA.
Registering an Azure SQL database instance fails when the privileged user is an Azure AD user
Issue

When registering an Azure SQL database, if you let DPA create the monitoring user and select an Azure Active Directory (AD) user as the privileged user, registration fails on the last step with the message Connection test to database as monitoring user failed.

Resolution or Workaround Select the option 'I'll create the contained user or login', and follow the instructions to create the monitoring user manually.
Adding a distributed AG to a server prevents DPA from monitoring non-distributed AGs on the server
Issue

If DPA is monitoring non-distributed SQL Server Availability Groups (AGs) on a server and you add a distributed AG to the server, DPA stops monitoring the non-distributed AGs.

Resolution or Workaround Do not add a distributed AG to the server.
Microsoft reports incorrect metric values for SQL Server on Linux
Issue

When you monitor a SQL Server 2017 database instance that runs on a Linux server:

  • The O/S CPU Utilization resource always shows usage at 100%.
  • The Instance CPU Utilization resource always shows usage at 100%.
  • The O/S Memory Utilization resource always shows usage at 0%.

When you monitor a SQL Server 2019 database instance that runs on a Linux server:

  • The O/S CPU Utilization resource always shows usage at 100%.
  • In some cases, the Instance CPU Utilization resource always shows usage at 100%.

Microsoft reports these values.

Resolution or Workaround Disregard the values that are incorrect on your version of SQL Server. You can also disable the collection of a metric that shows incorrect data.
DPA fails to reconnect after losing its connection to a SQL Server instance
Issue

When DPA loses its connection to a monitored SQL Server instance (for example, when the DPA server is rebooted), and Windows authentication is used, DPA is sometimes unable to reconnect to the instance. This can happen if DPA attempts to connect before SQL Server has been able to connect to Active Directory. DPA interprets the rejected connection attempt as possibly occuring because the credentials were incorrect. To avoid being locked out of the account, DPA does not keep trying to reconnect. Messages such as the following appear in the logs:

Monitor for database [databaseName] failed to start due to [username and/or password must be updated due to previous login failure; if the credentials have not changed for this database, stop the monitor, wait for the monitor to stop, then start the monitor.].

Resolution or Workaround When the monitored instance is fully initialized, manually restart monitoring. On the DPA home page, click the Action drop-down menu for the instance and select Start Monitor.

End of life

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Version EoL Announcement EoE Effective Date EoL Effective Date
DPA 2022.1

January 18, 2023 End-of-Life (EoL) announcement - Customers on DPA version 2022.1 or earlier should begin transitioning to the latest version of DPA.

April 18, 2023 End-of-Engineering (EoE) - Service releases, bug fixes, workarounds, and service packs for DPA version 2022.1 or earlier will no longer actively be supported by SolarWinds. April 18, 2024 End-of-Life (EoL) - SolarWinds will no longer provide technical support for DPA version 2022.1 or earlier.
DPA 2021.3

October 18, 2022 End-of-Life (EoL) announcement - Customers on DPA version 2021.3 or earlier should begin transitioning to the latest version of DPA.

January 18, 2023 End-of-Engineering (EoE) - Service releases, bug fixes, workarounds, and service packs for DPA version 2021.3 or earlier will no longer actively be supported by SolarWinds. January 18, 2024 End-of-Life (EoL) - SolarWinds will no longer provide technical support for DPA version 2021.3 or earlier.
DPA 2021.1

October 18, 2022 End-of-Life (EoL) announcement - Customers on DPA version 2021.1 or earlier should begin transitioning to the latest version of DPA.

January 18, 2023 End-of-Engineering (EoE) - Service releases, bug fixes, workarounds, and service packs for DPA version 2021.1 or earlier will no longer actively be supported by SolarWinds. January 18, 2024 End-of-Life (EoL) - SolarWinds will no longer provide technical support for DPA version 2021.1 or earlier.
DPA 2020.2

October 18, 2022 End-of-Life (EoL) announcement - Customers on DPA version 2020.2 or earlier should begin transitioning to the latest version of DPA.

January 18, 2023 End-of-Engineering (EoE) - Service releases, bug fixes, workarounds, and service packs for DPA version 2020.2 or earlier will no longer actively be supported by SolarWinds. January 18, 2024 End-of-Life (EoL) - SolarWinds will no longer provide technical support for DPA version 2020.2 or earlier.

Deprecation notices

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This version of Database Performance Analyzer deprecates the following platforms and features.

Deprecated platforms and features are still supported in the current release. However, they will be unsupported in a future release. Plan on upgrading deprecated platforms, and avoid using deprecated features. 

Type Details
DPA server OS Installing DPA on a server with a Windows Server 2012 R2 operating system is still supported in 2023.1, but support will be removed in an upcoming release.

The scripts are not supported under any SolarWinds support program or service. The scripts are provided AS IS without warranty of any kind. SolarWinds further disclaims all warranties including, without limitation, any implied warranties of merchantability or of fitness for a particular purpose. The risk arising out of the use or performance of the scripts and documentation stays with you. In no event shall SolarWinds or anyone else involved in the creation, production, or delivery of the scripts be liable for any damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, or other pecuniary loss) arising out of the use of or inability to use the scripts or documentation.

Legal notices

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© 2023 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

This document may not be reproduced by any means nor modified, decompiled, disassembled, published or distributed, in whole or in part, or translated to any electronic medium or other means without the prior written consent of SolarWinds. All right, title, and interest in and to the software, services, and documentation are and shall remain the exclusive property of SolarWinds, its affiliates, and/or its respective licensors.

SOLARWINDS DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, CONDITIONS, OR OTHER TERMS, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, ON THE DOCUMENTATION, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION NONINFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, OR USEFULNESS OF ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN. IN NO EVENT SHALL SOLARWINDS, ITS SUPPLIERS, NOR ITS LICENSORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, WHETHER ARISING IN TORT, CONTRACT OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, EVEN IF SOLARWINDS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

The SolarWinds, SolarWinds & Design, Orion, and THWACK trademarks are the exclusive property of SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC or its affiliates, are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and may be registered or pending registration in other countries. All other SolarWinds trademarks, service marks, and logos may be common law marks or are registered or pending registration. All other trademarks mentioned herein are used for identification purposes only and are trademarks of (and may be registered trademarks) of their respective companies.