DPA 2024.2 release notes

Release date: April 17, 2024

These release notes were last updated on September 5, 2024

Here's what's new in Database Performance Analyzer 2024.2.

New features and improvements in DPA

Security enhancements

The following drivers used by DPA have been upgraded to:

• Tomcat 9.0.85
• Open JDK 11.0.20.1 (Windows and Linux)

Table and index advisors for PostgreSQL

In addition to query advisors, DPA 2024.2 provides the following advisors for PostgreSQL database instances:

• Table advisors are generated when a significant number of inefficient queries run against a table. Inefficient queries perform a large number of reads but return a small number of rows.

  

  Click a table advisor to open the Table Tuning Advisor page, which displays aggregated information about the table, the inefficient queries that ran against it, and any existing indexes.

• Index advisors identify missing indexes and provide estimates of how much time adding the suggested index could potentially save. You can view details or hide an advisor.

  

Information about top plans

To identify inefficient queries and analyze indexes, DPA must collect execution plans from PostgreSQL database instances. Plan information is available in the following places:

• On the Trends tab, click the Plans tab to see a chart representing the cached plans with the highest wait times. Hover over part of a bar to see details about that plan.

  

  Click a plan hash in the legend to display the plan text. This helps you identify costly operations like sequential scans.

  

• The Query Detail page displays wait times for plans associated with the selected query. As on the Trends tab, you can click a plan hash in the legend to display the plan text.

  

• The Table Tuning Advisor page shows any inefficient steps in the plans for the inefficient queries that ran against the table. To display the plan text, click View plan details. For details and possible solutions, click the icon.

  

• The following reports are now available for PostgreSQL database instances. They were previously available for Oracle and SQL Server database instances.

  • Top Plans
  • Top Plans for single SQL
  • Top SQLs for single Plan

Requirements for upgrading customers

If you are monitoring PostgreSQL database instances with an earlier version of DPA, make the following changes to enable table and index advisors.

1. If the DPA monitoring user does not have the SUPERUSER privilege, grant the following additional privileges. These privileges enable the DPA monitoring user to collect execution plans, which it needs to generate index and table advisors.

   GRANT ALL ON ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA public TO dpa_user;

   At a minimum, the monitoring user must be granted SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE privileges. You can use a more granular command to list specific privileges and tables. Examples include:

   GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE ON TABLE table_name TO dpa_user;

   GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE ON ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA public TO dpa_user;

2. DPA recommends increasing the track_activity_query_size value.

   PostgreSQL stores currently running SQL statements in the pg_stat_activity.query field. If there is not enough memory allocated to store the entire SQL statement, it truncates the query. DPA cannot collect the execution plan for a truncated SQL statement. To avoid truncated queries, DPA recommends increasing the amount of reserved memory to 4096 bytes.

   • For on-premises deployments, edit the postgresql.conf file and modify the following entry:

     track_activity_query_size = 4096
     

   • For Amazon RDS deployments, use the AWS Console to modify your DB Parameter Group. Then change the track_activity_query_size parameter value to 4096.

   • For Azure Single Server or Hyperscale deployments, modify your Server parameters to change ththe track_activity_query_size parameter value to 4096.

3. Restart the PostgreSQL server.

4. Create the pgstattuple extension in the database. This extension is database-bound and must be created for each database. It is required to enable DPA to display the Index Bloat Metrics percentage on a table advisor.

   To create the extension: 

   1. Connect to the PostgreSQL database instance with the DPA user account or superuser (for EDB Enterprise edition).

   2. Execute following command:

      CREATE EXTENSION pgstattuple;

Alert information in DPA Central

In addition to the information shown in previous DPA versions, the Alarm Summary tab on the Central page now shows:

• The number of broken alerts
• The number of alerts at each level that are triggered but not acknowledged

On the DB Instances in Alarm tab, the Alert column contains the broken alert icon if the instance has any broken alerts. Otherwise, it contains an icon to indicate the highest severity alert that is triggered but not acknowledged. When you sort by alarm severity and multiple rows have the same score, issues in the Alert column are given more weight than issues in other columns.

On both tabs, alert information is shown for DPA servers running DPA 2024.2 and later. For DPA servers running earlier versions, a question mark is displayed.

Microsoft Entra service principal authentication

When you register an Azure SQL Database instance or an Azure SQL Managed Instance (ASMI) for monitoring, you can choose to use a Microsoft Entra service principal (previously Azure service principle) for authenticating the monitoring user.

For Azure SQL Database and ASMI instances that are already registered, the Update DB Instance Connection Wizard includes a field to change the authentication method. You can change the authentication method between the following types:

• SQL User
• Microsoft Entra Password (formerly Azure Active Directory password)
• Microsoft Entra Service Principal (formerly Azure service principal)

Option for specifying the authentication method for Azure SQL Database and ASMI instances

When you register an Azure SQL Database or ASMI instance, DPA 2024.2 provides the following options for specifying which authentication method is used. If the authentication method is not specified, password authentication is used.

• In the registration wizard, choose one of the following options under Authentication method:

  • SQL User – (Default) A SQL Server user password
  • Microsoft Entra Password – A Microsoft Entra (formerly Azure AD) password
  • Microsoft Entra Service Principal – A Microsoft Entra service principal (formerly Azure service principal)

• In the mass registration spreadsheet, enter one of the following in the Authentication Method column:

  • PASSWORD – (Default) A SQL Server user password
  • MEP – A Microsoft Entra (formerly Azure AD) password
  • MESP – A Microsoft Entra service principal (formerly Azure service principal)

• In a script to call the API, specify one of the following values for the authenticationSchema parameter:

  • PASSWORD – (Default) A SQL Server user password
  • AD or MEP – A Microsoft Entra (formerly Azure AD) password

  The value AD was introduced in a previous version. It is retained to maintain backward compatibility with existing scripts.

  • MESP – A Microsoft Entra service principal (formerly Azure service principal)

For detailed registration information, see the following topics:

• Register an Azure SQL Database
• Register an Azure SQL Managed Instance
• Register multiple database instances

Information about registering instances with the API is in Swagger. See Learn about and experiment with the DPA API for access information.

Port used to send data to the SolarWinds Platform

If you have configured the DPA Integration Module (DPAIM) on the SolarWinds Platform, DPA 2024.2 can use either port 17774 or 17778 to send data to the SolarWinds Platform. DPA now uses port 17774 by default, but you can set the system property com.confio.orion.hco.custom.port to define which port you want to use. To communicate, both DPA and the SolarWinds Platform must use the same port. For information about specifying which port they use, see Specify the port DPA uses....

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Fixes

Case number	Description
01309215	Users can configure a company email server and DPA can authenticate to that server with any valid password. Some valid passwords no longer fail.
01435343	Statistics (such as Executions, Rows Processed, Physical Reads, and Logical Reads) are available for all queries that run on Sybase monitored instances. Enabling statistics monitoring no longer returns the error Chart doesn't have data collected for selected time period.
01451096, 01460503, 01456415, 01457479, 01488113, 01518771, 01567625, 01568794	When you are monitoring a Db2 server with multiple databases, the following alerts now return data for all databases: Database Free Space Alert Table Space Free Alert Transaction log Space DPA 2024.2 also resolves other issues related to replacing the deprecated SNAP* functions that were previously used to monitor Db2 database instances. These issues included: Monitoring failed or frequently stopped and started Attempting to connect to Db2 instances failed High memory use Incorrect statistics, metrics, execution times, or counts Incorrect number of active sessions
01445160	The JDBC fetch size defines how many records are returned in one network call. If all data cannot be returned in one call because of the fetch size, multiple calls are issued. By default, PostgreSQL does not set a fetch size, and attempts to return all data in one call. When a large amount of data needed to be sent to DPA, DPA could run out of memory. When this occurred, the idc.log file included errors such as: ERROR (2023-08-29T18:55:17,717-0400) [repositoryManager-thread-12] {name=MS-DB-PROD} PostgreSQLTextPollService:227 - Error getting data from pg_stat_statements. org.springframework.dao.DataAccessResourceFailureException: PreparedStatementCallback; SQL [SELECT query FROM pg_stat_statements GROUP BY query ORDER BY SUM(total_time) DESC LIMIT ?]; Ran out of memory retrieving query results.; nested exception is org.postgresql.util.PSQLException: Ran out of memory retrieving query results. In new installations of DPA 2024.2 and later, the system.properties file includes the following property to set a fetch size value for PostgreSQL database instances: com.confio.idc.database.service.statspoll.postgres.fetchsize=300 Upgrading customers, if you monitor PostgreSQL database instances, follow the instructions in DPA troubleshooting tips to add this property.
01439523	UTL_CON is a package that DPA installs into the SYS schema in an Oracle database when the is registered for monitoring. It is used for a variety of things including DPA upgrades. Sometimes monitoring objects required by DPA are dropped during an Oracle upgrade. DPA uses UTL_CON to recreate those objects. Any model changes made by the UTL_CON package is now logged in the wizard.log file.
01539301	The default logging level for the following files associated with index analysis for Oracle has changed from WARN to TRACE: com.confio.idc.database.indexanalysis.service.OracleIndexAnalysisServiceImpl com.confio.idc.database.service.support.ServiceSupport This change prevents DPA logs from being filled with warnings such as the following when the index analysis job is unable to access a table (for example, because the table was deleted): A cookie header was received that contained an invalid cookie.
01466505	If licenses cannot be deactivated using the online method (for example because of a firewall), DPA opens a dialog that enables users to continue with offline deactivation.
01522316	The Ineffective Statistics alert for SQL Server, Azure SQL Server Managed Instance, and Azure SQL Database instances is no longer triggered by data in system tables.

Third-party 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-2023-46589	Tomcat Improper Input Validation Vulnerability	Tomcat did not correctly parse HTTP trailer headers. A specially crafted trailer header that exceeded the header size limit could cause Tomcat to treat a single request as multiple requests leading to the possibility of request smuggling when behind a reverse proxy.	7.5 (HIGH)
CVE-2023-21843	Vulnerability in the Oracle Java SE, Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition	This vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via multiple protocols to compromise Oracle Java SE, Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized update, insert or delete access to some of Oracle Java SE, Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition accessible data.
CVE-2023-21835	Vulnerability in the Oracle Java SE, Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition product	This vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via DTLS to compromise Oracle Java SE, Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized ability to cause a partial denial of service (partial DOS) of Oracle Java SE, Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition.
CVE-2023-21830	Vulnerability in the Oracle Java SE, Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition	This vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via multiple protocols to compromise Oracle Java SE, Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized update, insert or delete access to some of Oracle Java SE, Oracle GraalVM.

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Before you upgrade!

As a result of the changes made to correct issues with monitoring Db2 database instances, upgrading customers monitoring Db2 instances need to grant an additional privilege to the DBA monitoring user. Run this command on each Db2 instance, changing userName to the monitoring user:

grant execute on function SYSPROC.MON_GET_MEMORY_POOL to userName;

This change can be made before or after the upgrade, but to ensure continuous monitoring, SolarWinds recommends that you make it before the upgrade.

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Installation or upgrade

For new installations, you can download the installer from the SolarWinds website or from the Customer Portal. For more information, see the DPA Installation and Upgrade Guide.

For upgrades, use the DPA Installation and Upgrade Guide to help you plan and execute your upgrade. When you are ready, download the upgrade package from the SolarWinds Customer Portal.

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Known issues

Upgrading with an Oracle repository

Upgrading a DPA deployment with an Oracle repository to DPA 2024.2 fails with the error ORA-00910: specified length too long for its datatype.

Resolution or workaround: This issue is fixed in DPA 2024.3. Upgrade to DPA 2024.3 or later.

Custom alerts and custom metrics are not supported on a Db2 server with multiple databases

When you are monitoring a Db2 server with multiple databases, custom alerts and custom metrics do not return data for all databases. Because of a limitation with MON_GET_* functions, custom alerts and custom metrics are supported only for connected databases.

Resolution or Workaround: None.

Mass registration for Azure SQL Database instances

The script to generate the mass registration file for an Azure SQL Database instance has not yet been updated to reflect the changes to mass registration fields. DPA 2024.2 cannot use the file created by this script.

Resolution or workaround: Use the wizard or the API to register Azure SQL Database instances.

DPA does not always use the Microsoft JDBC driver by default

When you register a database instance for monitoring, DPA should use the Microsoft JDBC driver by default. However, it uses the jTDS JDBC driver by default if the system.properties file does not contain the following entry:

com.confio.ignite.jdbc.sqlserver.useJtdsDriver=false

This missing configuration is likely to happen on DPA servers where older versions of DPA were initially installed, before DPA began using the Microsoft Driver.

Resolution or Workaround: Open the system.properties file in a text editor, and determine if it contains the entry above. If not, manually add it and save the file.

PostgreSQL OS CPU utilization not showing data on a Windows installation

When PostgreSQL is installed on a server with a Windows operating system, the O/S CPU Utilization resource metric in DPA does not display any data. It displays the message Chart doesn't have data collected for selected time period.

If PostgreSQL OS CPU utilization data is missing in other environments, make sure the system_stats extension is installed. For instructions, see Register a PostgreSQL database instance and prepare for monitoring.

Resolution or Workaround: None.

Importing an alert definition without the associated database assignment rule

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.)

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End of life

Version	EoL Announcement	EoE Effective Date	EoL Effective Date
DPA 2023.1	April 19, 2024 End-of-Life (EoL) announcement - Customers on DPA version 2023.1 or earlier should begin transitioning to the latest version of DPA.	May 20, 2024 End-of-Engineering (EoE) - Service releases, bug fixes, workarounds, and service packs for DPA version 2023.1 or earlier will no longer actively be supported by SolarWinds.	May 19, 2025 End-of-Life (EoL) - SolarWinds will no longer provide technical support for DPA version 2023.1 or earlier.
DPA 2022.4	January 19, 2024 End-of-Life (EoL) announcement - Customers on DPA version 2022.4 or earlier should begin transitioning to the latest version of DPA.	May 20, 2024 End-of-Engineering (EoE) - Service releases, bug fixes, workarounds, and service packs for DPA version 2022.3 or earlier will no longer actively be supported by SolarWinds.	May 19, 2025 End-of-Life (EoL) - SolarWinds will no longer provide technical support for DPA version 2022.3 or earlier.
DPA 2022.3	November 23, 2023 End-of-Life (EoL) announcement - Customers on DPA version 2022.3 or earlier should begin transitioning to the latest version of DPA.	April 12, 2024 End-of-Engineering (EoE) - Service releases, bug fixes, workarounds, and service packs for DPA version 2022.3 or earlier will no longer actively be supported by SolarWinds.	April 14, 2025 End-of-Life (EoL) - SolarWinds will no longer provide technical support for DPA version 2022.3 or earlier.
DPA 2022.2	April 18, 2023 End-of-Life (EoL) announcement - Customers on DPA version 2022.2 or earlier should begin transitioning to the latest version of DPA.	August 18, 2023 End-of-Engineering (EoE) - Service releases, bug fixes, workarounds, and service packs for DPA version 2022.2 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 2022.2 or earlier.
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.

See the End of Life Policy for information about SolarWinds product life cycle phases. To see EoL dates for earlier DPA versions, see DPA release history.

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End of support

Monitored database versions

Database Performance Analyzer 2024.2 no longer supports monitoring database versions that are unsupported by the vendor. Monitoring these versions may continue to function; however, SolarWinds does not provide support for any issues specific to an unsupported version.

For information about database versions supported for monitoring, see Database instances DPA can monitor.

DPA repository database versions

Database Performance Analyzer 2024.2 no longer supports using the following database versions as the DPA repository database. These versions are currently unsupported by the vendor.

Self-managed

• MySQL 5.7
• MySQL 5.6
• Oracle 18.4
• Oracle 12.2
• Oracle 12.1
• SQL Server 2017
• SQL Server 2016
• SQL Server 2014

Amazon RDS

• Amazon RDS for MySQL 5.7
• Amazon RDS for MySQL 5.6

Amazon Aurora

• Amazon Aurora for MySQL-compatible 5.7
• Amazon Aurora for MySQL-compatible 5.6

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