WHD 12.4 release notes
Release date: April 4, 2016
These release notes describe the new features, improvements, and fixed issues in Web Help Desk 12.4. They also provide information about upgrades and describe workarounds for known issues.
Learn more
For information about hotfixes, see Web Help Desk Hotfixes.
For access to previous release notes, see the Previous Version documentation.
For information about requirements, see the Web Help Desk documentation.
For information about configuring your deployment, see the Web Help Desk Administrator Guide.
New features and improvements in WHD
WHD 12.4 offers new features and improvements compared to previous releases of WHD.
Security improvements
Improved security across the application for FIPS-mode SSL connections, which include:
- HTTP over SSL connections
- Microsoft® Exchange, IMAP, POP3, and SMTP over SSL
- WMI and other asset discovery connections over SSL
- LDAP over SSL
- SolarWinds integration connections over SSL for encrypting Orion platform alerts from SolarWinds
- Network Performance Monitor (NPM), Systems and Applications Monitor (SAM), and Network Configuration Monitor (NCM) to Web Help Desk
Additional security updates
These updates include:
- User password hashes, integration password hashes, and other static data such as database custom
- fields and stored credentials
- Detection and indication of system cryptography status
- Automatic migration of all stored passwords for stronger and more secure cryptography
Support for FIPS 140-2 compatible cryptography
For environments where high security standards are required, you can install and configure FIPS 140-2 compatible cryptography to achieve your required level of regulation compliance. The user interface includes a password migration tool to help you migrate techs and clients to FIPS-secure passwords.
Other improvements
- Smarter backup rotations in the Virtual Appliance
- Oracle® Java™ 8 support
- Over 100 bug fixes that improve the stability of the application
New customer installation
For information about installing Web Help Desk, see the Web Help Desk Installation Guide.
How to upgrade
If you are upgrading from a previous version, see the Web Help Desk Upgrade Guide. This guide includes checklists to help you prepare and complete your upgrades, gotchas, and troubleshooting steps.
Upgrade your Apache Tomcat software
The SolarWinds Web Help Desk software installer includes Apache Tomcat 7.0.68, which provides enhanced security and is required for this release. When you upgrade your Web Help Desk software, the upgrade procedure replaces the (WebHelpDesk)\conf\tomcat_web_template.xml file with an updated file that includes the Tomcat 7.0.68 settings.
Before you upgrade your Web Help Desk software, back up your current tomcat_web_template.xml file to an
external directory. When the upgrade is completed, add your personal settings to the updated file from your backup file.
Upgrading your Apache Tomcat server template file
To prevent unauthorized access to your Tomcat server, SolarWinds recommends configuring your tomcat_server_template.xml file using the following procedure. Do not add any additional code or modifications to the file, which may result in system performance issues or errors.
- On your Web Help Desk server, navigate to the following directory:
(WebHelpDesk)/conf
where(WebHelpDesk)is your Web Help Desk home directory. - In the
/confdirectory, back up your currenttomcat_server_template.xmlfile to a separate location. - In the
/confdirectory, open the following file in a text editor:tomcat_server_template.xml - In the file, locate and replace all
_DHE_substrings with the following substring:_ECDHE_ - Save and close the file.
For more information, contact SolarWinds Customer Support.
Product licensing for existing installations
The evaluation version is fully functional for 30 days. After 30 days, you must purchase and apply a new SolarWinds Web Help Desk license to access all advanced features and additional tech seats based on your purchase.
You can purchase a license online or by contacting Customer Sales at (866) 530-8100Call: (866) 530-8100. After your order is processed, you will receive an email with your SolarWinds customer ID (SWID) and password along with your invoice (if purchased directly). You can use this information to access the Customer Portal, create an account,
download your software, and activate the license in your SolarWinds Web Help Desk software.
See Apply the license for more information.
Fixed issues
WHD 12.4 fixes the following issues.
| Case Number | Description |
|---|---|
| 415328 | Duplicating an action rule now duplicates an action trigger. |
| 621960, 705290 | Links to YouTube videos are no longer broken when included in a ticket note. |
| 586123 | Web Help Desk now selects the correct location when adding a company to a request type. |
|
700028 779562 794468 856894 858255 |
Approval and denial email is now sent to the client or tech for tickets with request types that are not linked with an approval process. |
| 465191 | Searching for a pop-up custom field value now returns the correct value. |
| 399395 733872 755531 772494 783947 816023 816544 828164 835696 854116 | The Close button now appears above all messages in the Messages > New Messages screen. |
| 450619 | You can now edit an assigned room from within a ticket after you select the "Lock Ticket To Client Location" checkbox in the Setup > Tickets > Options > Ticket Options screen. |
| 798399 | Saving a numerical value greater than 999 in an asset custom field no longer generates an error. |
| 779339 | The request type text now appears correctly against a dark background color. |
| 809636 811655 814160 813859 | You can now access and edit the client admin credentials and automated emails. |
| 810897 811692 | Generating a ticket invoice in the Parts & Billing tab no longer includes tech notes with excessive line breaks. |
| 814454 815206 820467 | You can now access an HTTPS connection to Web Help Desk using the Google® Chrome™ Canary web browser. |
| 814246 | The Scheduled time and date appear correctly in TSV and PDF ticket reports. |
| 815916 816798 | An error message no longer appears when you click a widget ticket bar chart in the Dashboard screen. |
| 810773 | An error message no longer appears when you access incoming or outgoing email using a Microsoft® Exchange email account. |
| 823475 | All ticket notes appear correctly in client tickets and emails. |
| 827765 | Action rules using "only if criteria did not match before the ticket was updated" logic no longer executes multiple times when using the REST API. |
| 851308 | Web Help Desk no longer crashes during startup when using the full text search feature in Microsoft SQL Server®. |
| 685112 | The tech group assignment is automatically selected correctly when not selected in a client ticket. |
| 831594 834992 835526 836461 842943 | A Failure error no longer appears when you unlink a task from a parent ticket and manually run the task from the Setup > Tickets > Tasks > Task Info tab. |
| 826266 | Tickets with preselected parent-level request now appear correctly in a ticket report. |
| 841655 89030 | Performing a ticket type search in the Tickets > Search Tickets > Advanced Search tab produces the correct results. |
| 812041 838658 920317 | The Locations values in the client now filter correctly in the client help request window. |
| 837328 849309 | Plain text emails generated to your outgoing mail account are now formatted correctly |
| 837452 | The tooltip for the Category drop-down menu in the Report Details tab now contains accurate help text. |
| N/A | You can now set the correct billing rates for each country in the Settings > General > Time & Place > Business Zones tab. |
| 872195 | You can now set the hourly rate for each country in the Settings > General > Time & Place > Business Zones tab. |
| 870160 | You can now select SAML 2.0 as an authentication method in the Setup > General > Authentication Settings screen. |
| 811818 | The client secondary locations now sort correctly in the client view. |
| 877817 | Tooltips for the Request Type column now appear correctly in the second and subsequent report pages. |
End of life
| Version | EoL Annoucement | EoE Effective Date | EoL Effective Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12.1 | November 17, 2016: End-of-Life (EoL) announcement - Customers on Web Help Desk version 12.1 or earlier should begin transitioning to Web Help Desk version 12.5 and above. | February 17, 2017: End-of-Engineering (EoE): Service releases, bug fixes, workarounds, and service packs for Web Help Desk version 12.1 or earlier are no longer actively supported by SolarWinds. | February 17, 2018: End-of-Life (EoL): SolarWinds no longer provides technical support for Web Help Desk version 12.1 or earlier. |
See the End of Life Policy for information about SolarWinds product lifecycle phases. For supported versions and EOL announcements for all SolarWinds products, see Currently supported software versions.
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