Neverfail Engine 20 Release Notes

Neverfail Engine 20 Release Notes

Summary

The following information applies to the v20 release of Neverfail Engine.

Engine 20.0

This release supersedes Engine v19.

What's New

Windows Server 2025 Support

  1. OS version detection improvements.
  2. Supported deployment of Engine components: EMS Web Console, Engine, Scope, CLI, Utilities. 
  3. Support for System Plugin, IIS Server Plugin, File Server Plugin with Windows Server 2025 bundled roles and features.
  4. Support for vSphere Integration Plugin operations on WS2025 running inside a VMware VM.

In-Product Notification Optimization

  1. Improvements to notifications delivery mechanism. 
  2. Silent triggers mechanism used in EMS relicensing offers more granularity, allowing deeper Engine deployment-level targets. 

Independent Identity Deployment Support

  1. Engine may be deployed in a Independent Identity  (IID) cluster architecture via CLI Installer.
  2. ProServices driven deployments: additional requirements and post-deployment configuration may be needed, depending on the deployment scenario and protected application.
  3. Plugins will be changed to support IID application deployment (where applicable). In this release, System plugin was added to IID-supporting family. 

Engine Compliance - SBOM

  1. SBOM is now available for this release to provide transparency into the bundled components and their dependencies. 
    1. Availability: Downloadable SBOMs are available for current GA version of Engine components. 
    2. Format: The SBOM is provided in CycloneDX.
    3. Download links: Exposed in EMS UI> Compliance> SBOM section.

Alerting based on Managed Server Telemetry

  1. By enabling telemetry, you empower the EMS to deliver better monitoring and alerting for critical events that matter most to your business. This will translate into quicker response times, more accurate alerts, and ultimately, greater peace of mind knowing that your systems are running optimally.
  2. The first chapter in unlocking advanced monitoring and alerting was to enable our new telemetry service v16, which will seamlessly extract relevant information about events happening on the Engine nodes.
  3. v17 adds more to this feature by improving the telemetry data upload-via-EMS feature for a deployment not managed via Engine Management Service. 
  4. v18 enables In-Product Notification feature which may be used for announcing and alerting customers with relevant Engine information.
  5. v19 extends and prepares notification vehicle to be used in relicensing and alerts delivery.
  6. v20 brings granular, deeper access to Engine online deployment targets for Engine silent relicense mechanism. 

Better User Experience

Application Management - Automating Discovery and Protection via Dedicated Plugins  (on-going)

  1. New plugins will be developed and added to Engine family, release by release. These plugins will replace the manual implementation of User Defined application protection. 
  2. Application protection made simple. Homogeneous. Reliable.

Configure Server Wizard - Service Stop Timeout Configuration 

  1. Windows OS service stop timeout during reboots configuration is available via Engine Configure Server Wizard.
    1. Recommendation: Set this value to at least 20s to ensure a graceful stop of Engine service during system reboot.  

Application Management Framework - Periodic Tasks Running on Passive Node   

  1. AMFx changed to be more flexible.
  2. User defined Periodic Tasks may now be configured to run-on only-Active, only-Passive or on both Active and Passive Engine nodes. This feature allows a more granular management of application related tasks which need to take different actions if active or passive role.  

    Advanced Management Client UI

    1. Server Monitoring configuration terminology is updated to align with EMS Split-brain Avoidance feature configuration.
    2. Network Monitoring configuration terminology is updated to align with EMS Client/Public Network Monitoring feature configuration.

    Offline Licensing Management via EMS

    1. UX Improvements for hardened environments: managed server will show Product Version on grey background with tooltip message "Cannot validate support". Access to offline licensing is permitted.
    2. Self-service offline licensing based on telemetry data: customers may claim license keys directly from Engine Management Service for deployments which are not managed via EMS.
    3. Install Engine Management Service on any supported Windows machine with access to internet (i.e. Engine Licensing Server) then claim your license keys corresponding to your purchased software subscription from the Support section. Details in Self-Service Offline Licensing: How to Claim a License Key for a Deployment Not Managed via Engine Management Service.

    New Version Availability and Download Published via EMS

      Patching Downtime Reduction with Passive Management Name

      1. Engine's Passive Management Name feature enables the ability of patching of standby passive nodes in centralized update management environment.
      2. Following document lists all the Patch Management or Backup Software Solutions / Technologies proven to work or scheduled in the near future for interoping validation with Engine's Passive Management Name feature: Patch Management Solutions / Technologies supported by Engine's Passive Management Name

      Automated Logic WebCTRL Plugin 201.5.3

      1. Enhanced the login that scans for WebCTRL instances and tries to detect if the service is installed on the machine.
      2. Monitoring rule for WebCTRL SQL database.
      3. Support for Automated Logic WebCTRL 9.0.x system.
      4. More details in  Automated Logic WebCTRL Plugin v201.5.3 - Release Notes.

      Honeywell Maxpro VMS Plugin v201.5.1

      1. Support for Honeywell MAXPRO VMS R795 server.
      2. More details in Honeywell Maxpro VMS Plugin v201.5.1 - Release Notes.

      Siemens Desigo CC Plugin v201.5.1

      1. Support for Siemens Desigo CC 7.0 server.
      2. More details in Siemens Desigo CC Plugin v201.5.1 - Release Notes.

      System Plugin v401.0.11

      1. Split-Brain Avoidance (SBA) auto-configuration optimization for ping routes having targets Engine Public IP addresses.
      2. Improvements and fixes related to Microsoft Windows Server 2025 support.
        1. [EN-6904]: Fix for "Memory Free PTEs" rule (correct free PTE entries detection).
        2. [EN-6907]: Fix for "Version check for Windows OS" rule (correct OS version detection).
      3. More details in System Plugin v401.0.11 Release Notes.

      Access to Engine Utilities Repo

      1. Access Engine collection of utility scripts and add-ons designed to extend core features
      2. Collaborate for enhancing and extending Engine functionality for specific scenarios 
      3. Utilities repo may be accessed directly from EMS UI> Support> Add-ons

      Snapshot Management Improvements

      Ransomware Recovery: With Snapshot Management organizations can take snapshots each 15 minutes and roll back the dataset to before the incident happened thus restoring the protected application server to full operating conditions.
      1. How to Use Engine For Ransomware Mitigation
      2. How to Setup Snapshot Management for Neverfail Engine

      CLI Installer and Service Manager Improvements

      1. Upgrade: improvements to preferences preservation mechanism.  
      Engine command-line installer (CLI) may be used for installing, upgrading or uninstalling Engine on a specific node. 
      It was designed to be used in the scenarios where EMS-driven fully automated install/upgrade cannot be used. Contact Support for guidance.

      Desktop Widget Tool

      1. This standalone tool may be registered to Engine SysTray tool and provides high-level, in-desktop System and Engine status and notifications.
      2. Usage described in Engine Desktop Widget Tool Guide

      More Secure

      Latest Security Updates and Fixes for OpenJDK and Apache Tomcat

      New Supported Versions

      VMware vCenter Server and VMware vCenter Converter Support

      1. Supported - Engine Management Service API Support for deployment using the latest versions of VMware vCenter Server 7.0 and VMware vCenter Converter 6.2.
      2. Supported - vSphere Integration Plugin Support for interoping with the latest versions of VMware vCenter Server 7.0
      3. Coming Soon - Engine Management Service API Support for deployment using the latest versions of VMware vCenter Server 8.0 and VMware vCenter Converter 6.3.
      4. Coming Soon - vSphere Integration Plugin Support for interoping with the latest versions of VMware vCenter Server 8.0.
      5. Coming Soon - Engine Management Service API Support for deployment using the latest versions of VMware vCenter Server 9.0 and VMware vCenter Converter 6.6.
      6. Coming Soon - vSphere Integration Plugin Support for interoping with the latest versions of VMware vCenter Server 9.0.

      Licensing Updates 

      License Management - Plugin Subscription

      1. Each Engine deployment requires the appropriate Plugins to be installed and corresponding Plugin subscriptions to be purchased.
      2. A separate Plugin subscription is required for each installed and protected application that has its own dedicated Plugin. 

      Licensing Service Access only for Supported Versions

      1. End-User License-Subscription Agreement changes are summarized in the below section extracted from Neverfail End-User Software Subscription License Agreement.
      2. License Key Issuance vs. Software lifecycle: License Key issuance for a new or a renewed Software Subscription is viable only on currently supported versions of the Software..
      3. Engine follows a software subscription term and rental licensing  model. Engine Licensing Service (ELS) enables call-home features that power our software subscription based licensing. The new license service is free but is required for Term and Rental deployments. For more information on how the licensing works and upgrade notes please read Engine Licensing Model. 

      Backward Compatibility

      Engine 20 Management Service is compatible with older supported versions of Engine (i.e. EMS 20.0 manages correctly, including licensing services, for all the supported CE versions 16/17/18/19). 

      1. If I upgrade to Engine 20, will my perpetual license cease? Yes! You are accepting software subscription's  requirements outlined in the new EULA for Term and Rental. Neverfail will generate new software subscriptions expiring the same day as the support was paid through. This means you will need to pay for support to continue software operations yearly or monthly depending on the type of subscription.
      1. Can I upgrade using the Upgrade Wizard from older/unsupported versions to Engine 20? Yes, the upgrade wizard is still supported. Keep in mind that Continuity Engine versions 6.7, 7.x, 8.x, 9.x, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 are currently End-of-Life (EOL), thus Unsupported. To ensure organization continued support and access to licensing services, you must upgrade to the latest Continuity Engine version.

      2. When will Continuity Engine EOL? Check End of Life Policy for Neverfail Engine

      3. Can I stay on previous versions of Continuity Engine? Yes, however, previous versions will eventually EOL and you will not be able to take full advantage of the new features of Continuity Engine. And evenly important, your systems will be more exposed to cyberattacks. For example:

        1. CEv15.0
          1. misses all the Java OpenJDK security fixes released between July 2024 (8u422-b05)) and October 2025 (8u472-b08).
          2. misses all the Apache Tomcat security fixes released between July 2024 (Tomcat 9.0.91) and November 2025 (9.0.112).

      Fixed Issues

      1. [EN-6799]: [AMCx64]: Group/Connection behaves funky: works when defined first. But after restarting AMC group definition is missing and defined connection is misbehaving.
      2. [EN-6816]: [EMS UI]:Logout after timeout expires is not user friendly - it shows a lot of RED toast messages. 
      3. [EN-6828]: [CLI Installer]: Fix version reporting. 
      4. [EN-6848]: [EMS UI]: Replace login suggested "administrator" with something more appropriate indicating a local\domain account.
      5. [EN-6904]: [Windows Server 2025 Support] -  Fix for Preinstall validation check: "Cannot determine number of Free System Table pages."
      6. [EN-6839]: Neverfail Engine's listener thread for the AMC GUI (port 52267) crashes silently sometimes.
      7. [EN-6975]: [EMS UI]: Dashboard page not loading if EMS can't connect to ELS.

      Supported Deployment Infrastructure

      • Server roles/applications for which protection will be installed automatically via plugins are:
        • SQL Server 2008 SP4*, SQL Server 2008 R2 SP3*, SQL Server 2012 SP4*, SQL Server 2014 SP3*, SQL Server 2016 SP3, SQL Server 2017, SQL Server 2019, SQL Server 2022
        • Exchange 2010 SP3*, Exchange 2013 up CU17*, Exchange 2016*, Exchange 2019
          • ForeFront for Exchange up v10 SP1
          • Symantec Mail Security up to v7.9
        • SharePoint 2007 SP2, SharePoint 2010 SP2, SharePoint 2013 up to SP1*, SharePoint 2016, SharePoint 2019
          • Microsoft Office Online Server 2016*
        • File Server including Windows Server 2025 version
        • Internet Information Server including v10 on Windows Server 2025 version
        • VMware vCenter Server 6.0 up Update 3c, VMware vCenter Server 6.5 up Update 1d, VMware vCenter Server 6.7
        • vCenter Server 5.1 Update 2, vCenter Server 5.1 Update 3, vCenter Server 5.5 Update 1a, vCenter Server 5.5 Update 2, vCenter Server 5.5 Update 3, vCenter Server 5.5 Update 3a, and vCenter Server 5.5 Update 3b
        • VMware View Composer 5.3, VMware View Composer 6.2.5, VMware View Composer 7.6
        • Progress MOVEit Central 8.0/8.1, MOVEit DMZ 8.1, MOVEit 2017, MOVEit 2018, MOVEit 2019.2, MOVEit 2020.1, MOVEit 2021.1, MOVEit 2022.1, MOVEit 2023.0, MOVEit 2023.1, MOVEit 2024.0, MOVEit 2024.1: Automation, Transfer, Mobile Servers, Analytics Agent
        • MySQL Server 5.x, 8.x
        • Mitel CX 1.0, MiContact Center Server v9.0, MiContact Center Business 9.3, MiContact Center Business 9.4, MiContact Center Business 9.5, MiContact Center Business R10.0/SIP
        • Any of the following SolarWinds Orion Network Management components: SolarWinds NPM v12.0.1, v12.1, SolarWinds APE v12.0.1, v12.1, SolarWinds NCM v7.5.1, v7.6, SolarWinds SAM v6.3.0, v6.4, SolarWinds NTA v4.2.1, v4.2.2
        • Oracle Database 19c, 18c, 12c, 11g
          • Oracle Management Agent v12, v13
        • System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) platforms: 2007*, 2007 R2*, 2012*, 2012 R2*, 2016, 2019 
        • Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 U3 & U4
        • Atlassian Confluence 6.x versions 
        • Atlassian Jira 7.x versions
        • PostgreSQL 9.3, 9.4, 9.5, 9.6, 10.x versions
        • Apache Tomcat 8.x.x., 9.x.x, 10.x.x. versions
        • OpenText CX-E Voice (formerly xMedius/AVST CX-E/CallXpress) up to version 23.4
        • Clever Devices CleverCAD 9.9, 10.x
        • Automated Logic WebCTRL 8.0, 9.0
        • Hyper-V Server 2016, 2019, 2022(non-clustered architecture)
        • Mitel BluStar 7.3.0
        • OPSWAT MetaDefender Managed File Transfer v3.6.x, 3.7.x., cloned or non-cloned architecture
        • Honeywell Pro-Watch 6.5.1
        • Honeywell MAXPRO VMS R795
        • Siemens Desigo CC 7.0
      • Additional supported plugins
        • Neverfail CE for Business Application
           *Limited support as per manufacturer (via older Continuity Engine versions) - contact Neverfail Support 

      Engine Plugins

      Note: Detailed information about each plugin is contained in the plugin's knowledgebase file that is available by clicking on the link.

      Engine plugins provide protection for specific installed application configuration data, services, and application data files.  

      The following plugins are included in this release of Engine and are installed automatically if the application is present and version supported:

      Plugin Installation

      Initial installations of Engine Plugins must be performed using the Engine Management Service. Subsequent plugin re-installations and upgrades may be performed using the Applications: Plugins tab of the Advanced Client. However, Neverfail recommends that any subsequent plugin repair installations or upgrades to be performed using Engine Management Service.    

      To manually install a plugin follow the How to install a Continuity Engine Plugin using Advanced Management Client procedure.

      Known Limitations

      • Passwords starting and/or ending with space ( ) character(s) are not supported (EN-3935).
      • (Re)cloning limitation: Disconnected Engine cluster after a cloning or recloning action: recloned node is connected to wrong port group. Workaround documented in Continuity Engine Cloning and Recloning limitations: disconnected Engine cluster  (EN-3354)
      • Recloning limitations when Continuity Engine passive nodes when static routes are configured: these are listed in Engine Recloning limitations when static routes are configured  (EN-3355)
      • Continuity Engine Localization limitations: following localized versions of Windows Server targets/topologies are supported for Engine installation: (EN-3221) 
        • any WS2008R2, WS2012/R2, WS2016 OS domain or workgroup member protected by HA, DR or HA+DR Engine topology having only alphanumeric chars in its hostname and AD domain name
        • any WS2008R2, WS2012/R2, WS2016 OS domain or workgroup member protected by HA or DR-with-same-Public-IP Engine topology having only alphanumeric chars in the AD domain name
      • Engine Management Service will not uninstall a server with an expired license (EN-1315).
      • Affects only vCenter Server 6.x protected by Engine v8.x (or newer) DR deployments with the DR-node configured with different IP address: Managed ESXi hosts appear as disconnected in vCenter Server/vSphere Client after making DR node active. (EN-2042).
      • Continuity Engine .msi installer package is sometimes detected as having untrusted publishers (EN-969).
      • The FileServer plugin bundled with Continuity Engine v8.5 (or newer) properly replicates DFS namespaces. The DFS Management Client does not load the namespaces correctly each time.
      • Affects only MOVEit Central/Automation Server protected by Engine v8.5 (or newer): Local folders specified as source/destination in MOVEit Automation tasks require user-defined filters for protection. (EN-2879)
      • Affects only Engine clusters upgraded from Ipswitch Failover 9.0/9.5 to Engine 8.5 (or newer) (when Create and maintain shadows automatically was not enabled): Progress Failover shadows are still visible as restore points in DRM after upgrading to Engine 8.5 (EN-2863)
      • Affects only upgrades from Ipswitch Failover 9.0/9.5 to Engine 8.5 (or newer): Some Ipswitch Failover 9.0/9.5 log and configuration files are not deleted when upgrading to Engine 8.5 (EN-2820, EN-2861)
      • [Applies to 9.0 (or newer) with Passive Node Management Identity configured] vCenter Inventory passive VMs are not detected as Protected nodes if management name is configured and webservices are stopped on the active. Dashboard's protected servers count in Global Inventory is also impacted. (EN-4647)
        • conditions: Management name configured AND active server webservices stopped
        • result: deployment.location is not available hence the clustername mechanism is used. that makes only the Active server to be reported as protected node (if VM). Passives cannot be determined as vmid is not available
      • [CE HTML5 UI] When extending from pair to trio (add DR to HA pair) Secondary webservices require restart in order to serve (when made active) the updated deployment topology (trio instead of pair). This is known as the webservices are not restarted on S and S is the T's cloning source. (EN-4657)
        • impact: only if S is made active before webservices restart: new HTML UI Datacenter info is not accurate on Tertiary. Possible Protected node count is wrong if management identity is configured on any of the passives.
        • remediation: restart webservices on Secondary/Tertiary
      • [AMFx]: User defined sponsor is not persisted in prefs till Engine service is restarted. Thus webservices don't know about it (till restart is done) (EN-4341)
      • [CE HTML5 UI] Active compression type is shown as 'Standard' when there are no passive instances present in the replication chain. Workaround: This issue is purely cosmetic and it will correct itself once there are passive instances present in the replication chain. (EN-4855)
      • [CE HTML5 UI] Data traffic value in serverlist API is not always accurate. (EN-4859)
      • [CE HTML5 UI] Reconstruct pair: transform from pair HA to pair DR> HA cached configuration must be cleaned up before defining new DR config (EN-4915)
      • [CE HTML5 UI] Startup Engine service may experience delay when unreachable nodes are selected for starting the service on. (EN-4949)
      • [CE HTML5 UI] EULA accept is required all the time when Engine service is stopped (even if previously accepted). (EN-4958)

      Known Issues

      Engine Management Service & Engine

      • With SQL Plugin + SQL 2014 & In-Memory Tables may result in an OFFLINE DB state during "In Recovery" state (EN-329). 
      • Trying to add a 6.7 pair/trio in EMS UI protected servers list fails with an error. 
        Workaround: Restart Engine Web Services on the active server. (EN-1354)
      • Virtual Bytes rule triggered at every check (EN-859).
      • The Engine Management Service MSI repair mode fails to operate properly (EN-1389).
      • If the Engine is running, a new license is added to the list of licenses. If the Engine is stopped, it replaces the list of licenses (EN-902).
      • [WS2022 only]: Sometimes file are not deleted on passive when they're being deleted on active. This may cause orphan files presence on passive nodes. (EN-6346). Workarounds:
        • Run Orphan Files Check on each of the passive nodes
        • Restart replication (stop/start)
        • Restart Engine service

      Install/Uninstall

      Administration

      • LogCollector - The process was terminated due to an unhandled exception (EN-2011).

      Applies To

      Neverfail Engine v20


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