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BitssCloud 5.7

In this document, you will find all of the new features, enhancements, and visible changes included in the BitssCloud PaaS 5.7 release

1.  Dashboard Search-

Starting with the platform 5.7 release, BitssCloud PaaS provides built-in search functionality for the developer’s dashboard. The core functionality is straightforward – access the Search form at the top-right corner (or use the Ctrl+F/Cmd+F shortcut), type a search term(s) and hit Enter. For example, you can locate a container by its IP/ID; or search for the particular deployed project/environment; or deploy applications from BitssCloud Marketplace.

dashboard search
Herewith, the implemented search engine is highly customizable, allowing you to get the most accurate results for the requests. Among the main options:

  • special characters for search expression (e.g. “–” prefix to exclude a term or “*” wildcard)
  • search source (either whole account or the current environment group)
  • categories filter to search among the selected entities (e.g. exclude the Marketplace packages or look for IPs only)

We highly recommend reading the help hint within the search form (circled in the image above) for a detailed overview.

2. Extended Marketplace Search –

BitssCloud Marketplace is an excellent source of numerous managed solutions, which can be installed in one click on the platform. In order to help with locating the required package, the search option was improved for the appropriate frame and within the dashboard search. For now, the provided phrase is looked for in the package description as well as in its name.

marketplace search

Also, the position of the search box was adjusted, allowing to utilize space within the Marketplace frame with higher efficiency.

3. NFSv4 support

The Network File System (NFS) is a widely used protocol for data sharing, as it allows accessing files over a network in the same way as on a local machine. Herewith, BitssCloud PaaS provides out-of-the-box support for the functionality for all of the containers (NFSv3), allowing to easily share data between instances through the mount points.

In the present 5.7 platform release, the Shared Storage Container was updated to fully support the latest (fourth) version of the NFS protocol, allowing to use as an NFSv4 server. For now, new exports from the shared storage are configured over NFSv4 by default, while existing ones should be re-created to get the benefits of the latest version – improved performance (especially for a large number of files), stronger security, support of the FUSE directories export, and more. Note: Any BitssCloud-managed container can receive mounts over the fourth version of the protocol, but only the Shared Storage Container can export data over NFSv4. 

4.  Firewall Optimization – The ESTABLISHED and RELATED connections are accepted via container firewall on all of the BitssCloud nodes by default. In the present 5.7 platform release, the appropriate rules (for both IPv4 and IPv6) were moved to the top of the iptables list. Such adjustment speeds up access over the already established connections (by preventing the traffic flow through a whole list of rules).

firewall related established rules

5. UI for Direct SSH/SFTP Access Links BitssCloud provides multiple options for remote connection to the container file system, some of them may not be obvious (especially for the new users) – SFTP/FISH protocols and direct SSH access. In the current platform upgrade, the dedicated SFTP / Direct SSH Access tab was added to the dashboard to emphasize such feature availability and simplify its utilization. The new section can be accessed from the:

  • Account Settings > SSH Access > SFTP / Direct SSH Access
  • Environment Settings > SSH Access > SFTP / Direct SSH Access
  • Configuration File Manager > SFTP / SSH Gate
  • Additionally > SFTP / Direct SSH Access (within the functional icons of the node or layer)

Note: The feature requires at least one public SSH key to be added to the account. If this requirement is not met, the section will be locked, displaying the appropriate notification with a link to the SSH key addition form.

Within the Direct SSH Access frame, you can select the required Node to view/copy the automatically generated SFTP/FISH Link and SSH Gate Command for direct access. The former is suitable for file management via third-party tools (e.g. Midnight Commander), and the later one – for remote connection via console / SSH client.

6. UI/UX AmendmentsSeveral UI adjustments were applied in the current BitssCloud release to improve the user experience:

  • denomination of one of the authentication options for the Git / SVN projects’ deployment was renamed to Password or Token, which explicitly highlights the support of the access tokens (e.g. for GitHub or GitLab)

    password or token caption
  • resize possibility for the management section at the bottom of the dashboard was simplified; for now, the whole toolbar can be dragged instead of just the border at the top, which was removed to make the transition between the dashboard parts smoother

    the Upgrade and Contact Us buttons within the topology wizard were recolored to match the latest interface style

Additionally, if working via the container file manager, the current directory will be included in the provided commands, allowing to switch to it automatically upon establishing a connection. 

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