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What’s Great in FME Server 2015

Mark Ireland
February 18, 20155 min
The FME Server 2015.0 release has a whole new look. We’re particularly excited about the improved user experience, which makes it easier than ever to configure, manage, and navigate FME Server....
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The FME Server 2015.0 release has a whole new look. We’re particularly excited about the improved user experience, which makes it easier than ever to configure, manage, and navigate FME Server.

Below is a technical summary of all the new and updated functionality in FME Server 2015.  See a general overview of what’s new at safe.com/fme/new/, and watch the webinar recording to take a closer look. Details on what’s new in FME Desktop can be found here.

Download the release and see the detailed “What’s New” documentation at safe.com/download.

New Functionality

Access new management and security functionality under the Administration menu.
Access new management and security functionality under the Administration menu.
  • Added tools for system maintenance and cleanup
  • Implemented Cross Origin Resource Sharing (CORS), which allows websites hosted on other domains to access resources from the FME Server. This is dynamically configurable from the web interface.
  • Implemented improved encryption for password parameters, or any non-password parameter whose name contains the word ‘password’
  • Implemented “Run Till Cancelled” (RTC) functionality to allow jobs to run forever until cancelled (even when the server is interrupted)
  • Added support for S3-hosted Shared Resources
  • Implemented tools to clean up temporary files and logs when FME Server is started
  • Added TLS support for the WebSocketReceiver and WebSocketSender transformers
  • Added ability to restore a backup over existing items
  • Added ability to upload engine updates (like custom transformers, Python scripts, plugins, etc.) to the Resources folders

Web Interface

We implemented a whole new look and feel to the FME Server web interface. It’s been designed for Desktop, Tablet, and Mobile viewing, with buttons and resources on the homepage that make it easier than ever for you to get started.

FME Server 2015 new web interface

  • Renamed Migration tools to “Backup & Restore”
  • Added “Test Protocol” buttons for S3 publishers and subscribers
  • Added username and log filename to the job history pages
  • Added the ability to change all Service Hostnames at once, instead of only individually
  • Added a file preview button to the resources GUI
  • Added a “Test Topic” button to the edit topic page
  • Added a Resubmit Job button to the completed jobs view and the job details page
  • Implemented a proper color picker tool for color picker published parameters
  • Added the ability to change the number of engines running from the web interface
  • Added 32 or 64 bit indication to engine view and show running job Id
  • Added visual feedback when dragging and dropping files in the workspace configuration view
  • Improved indication of read-only fields in security section
  • Added shared resource support for dirname, filename, and dest_geodatabase published parameters
  • Added the ability to create topics as part of the publication/subscription creation process
  • Added a link to REST documentation on the login/home page
  • Added ability to upload folders of resources (using Google Chrome)
FME Server 2015 new protocols
New Amazon S3 Watch and Email (IMAP) protocols were added in FME Server 2015.0

Notifications

New Publishers/Subscribers

  • Added Amazon S3 Watch publisher
  • Added IMAP Publication email protocol

Directory Watch Updates

  • Changed the Directory Watch publisher output schemas to split the action and the file it was performed on into separate JSON attributes
  • Updated the Directory Watch subscriber to filter events by Create, Modify, or Delete.
  • Fixed Directory Watcher from reporting the same notification twice
  • Updated the Directory Watcher service to support monitoring UNC Paths

Other Updates

  • Updated the JMS Subscription with a Persistent Delivery mode
  • Added support for multiple JMS queues
  • Added BCC field support for Email subscribers
  • Added TLS support for WebSocket server, publisher, and subscriber

Services

Data Streaming

  • Updated Data Streaming to return a HTTP Status code of 204 (No Content) when a workspace correctly yields no output data (instead of code 500)
  • Support all request methods (GET, DELETE, PUT, POST) on the web services to be exposed as a published parameter in the workspace “FME_SERVER_REQUEST_METHOD”

Data Download

  • Updated the download service to report file sizes. This enables a progress bar in most web browsers
  • Updated to allow download of files contained within sub-directories of the default results folder used by the data download service

REST API

  • Updated all existing REST API samples (C++, Java, .NET) to use REST v2 and added a new Python sample
  • Implemented new API methods for:
    • Testing notification publications and subscriptions
    • Managing topics to notify upon success or failure
    • Pausing/unpausing the transformation manager and querying this status
    • System cleanup
  • Added REST support for the RTC (Run Till Cancelled) transformation manager directive
  • Data Download Get requests now return content-length in the response header (helps support download progress notifications)

Other Updates

  • Installer: Upgraded Tomcat to version 7.0.54
  • Security: Updated Active Directory security with an option to use a root certificate of authority
  • Logging: Improved the ProcessMonitor log to differentiate between when an Engine is restarted on purpose and when it has crashed
  • Configuration: Added new settings to determine if a shared resource should be included in a migration

FME Cloud

In addition to the above upgrades, FME Cloud underwent an application and security audit with a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). FME Cloud security is outlined in detail in this whitepaper. Other updates specific to FME Cloud include the following.

  • Implemented automated security patching on instances
  • Upgraded all instances to use SSD disks which has resulted in workspaces that run up to 2.5x faster
  • New snapshots feature for instances. Users can now take a snapshot of any instance and create a full copy of that instance, which persists even after it has been terminated
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