EXTRA! X-treme 9.3 New Features and Release Notes

  • 7021710
  • 13-Jun-2013
  • 02-Mar-2018

Environment

EXTRA! X-treme version 9.3

Situation

This technical note includes the most up-to-date information about this release including new features and installation notes, and supersedes the EXTRA! product release notes available in the product documentation.

Note: For information about new features in EXTRA! X-treme 9.3 Service Pack 1, see KB 7021712.

Resolution

Obtaining the Product

Maintained customers are eligible to download the latest product releases from the Attachmate Download Library web site: https://download.attachmate.com/Upgrades/.

You will be prompted to login and accept the Software License Agreement before you can select and download a file. For more information on using the Download Library web site, see KB 7021965.

New Release Available for Windows 8, Windows 7 or Vista Users

If you run Windows 8, Windows 7, or Windows Vista, you may want to consider installing Reflection Standard Suite 2011, the successor product for EXTRA! X-treme. For a list of new features in Reflection 2011, see KB 7021456.

For information about purchasing Attachmate products, please e-mail us: SalesRecept@attachmate.com or visit https://www.attachmate.com/How+To+Buy/.

New Features and Enhancements

Following is a summary of the new and enhanced features in EXTRA! X-treme 9.3:

Certified Windows 8 Compatible

EXTRA! X-treme 9.3 meets the requirements outlined in the Windows 8 Compatible logo specification, including (but not limited to) adherence of the Windows Security best practices and support for running in a 64-bit environment.

Updated SSL/TLS and SSH Security Components

This release includes the latest Attachmate Reflection security components for SSL/TLS and SSH. These cryptographic modules are validated against the stringent Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS 140-2) federal security specification and enable Attachmate products to adhere to the DOD PKI certification requirements. For instructions on using updated Reflection security components in your sessions, see the "Creating Secure Connections in EXTRA!" topic in the help update, https://docs.attachmate.com/extra/x-treme/9.3/help/en/23653.htm.

Enhanced Macro Recording and Playback for HP NonStop (Tandem) Sessions

The macro recording and playback features for HP NonStop sessions have been enhanced to allow typing in password and hidden fields to be replaced by a user prompt dialog box at playback time.

Integration with Reflection Security Gateway

Reflection Security Gateway (available fall of 2013) provides increased security to EXTRA! by leveraging the current enterprise authentication infrastructure. By using Reflection Security Gateway with EXTRA!, you have access to the following features:

  • Improved Session Management – Create sessions and make them available to client workstations from the Reflection Management Server. The Reflection Management Server authenticates users connecting to hosts via the Reflection Security Proxy Server. For details, see the "Deploying Sessions with Reflection Security Gateway" topic in the help update, https://docs.attachmate.com/extra/x-treme/9.3/help/en/29187.htm.
  • User Authorization Support – Increase security in your host connections by using the Reflection Security Proxy Server to control access with user authorization tokens. For details, see the "Configure Sessions that Connect using the Security Proxy and User Authentication Tokens" topic in the help update, available from https://docs.attachmate.com/extra/x-treme/9.3/help/en/31928.htm.
  • ID Management – Clients can use resource IDs to authenticate host connections, eliminating the need for administrators to create configurations for each and every client. For more information, see the "Configure Sessions to use ID Manager to Assign Terminal IDs" topic in the help update, available from https://docs.attachmate.com/extra/x-treme/9.3/help/en/32297.htm.
  • Usage Metering – Use metering to track and report product usage from client workstations. Metering also allows you to limit the number of concurrent users that can access a host at a given time. Metering is a web-based management system provided by the Reflection Metering Server, which is included in Reflection Security Gateway. For more information, see the "Enable Usage Metering" topic in the help update, available from https://docs.attachmate.com/extra/x-treme/9.3/help/en/32211.htm.

Resolved Issues

The following issues have been resolved in EXTRA! X-treme 9.3:

5250 / iSeries

  • The change of a 5250 device name when the session is connected now results in a prompt for reconnection.
  • 5250 batch file transfer succeeds when transferring files from an iSeries Host running V7R1.
  • Resolved an issue where a TN520 session might freeze depending on specific host data stream where multiple frames of data arrive simultaneously.
  • User and password entry fields in 5250 dialogs have been increased in size to handle the longer iSeries login credentials.
  • The ability to control 5250 username and password format requirements (all capitals versus mixed case) for individual sessions is now provided.
  • Fixed an issue where terminal sessions would not always reconnect to the iSeries host when using an SSL connection.

Printing

  • Output tray setting on the printer is respected when using the Print Screen button.
  • An application error no longer occurs if the host session is terminated while the Print Multiple Screens dialog is displayed on the screen.
  • Print screen output from the VT session history buffer to a printer is now readable when using default session values.
  • Printing from a VT 401x (Tektronix) session no longer results in blank output.

API/Programming

  • Resolved issues that could occur when using API applications that re-open EXTRA! host sessions that are closed manually by users.
  • Removed the delay in opening a host session that could occur when an API client invoked the Sessions.Item method from a Distributed File System (DFS) network drive.
  • The COM API method ExtraSession.Title now successfully changes the session window caption.
  • The HLLAPI QuerySessions function will no longer fail to list the sessions when the session 'B' shortname association is configured with the Custom Installation Wizard as “shared among all users.”
  • The SendKey function no longer occasionally generates a duplicate string when the Windows 7 system is under heavy CPU use.
  • Multiple ExtraLauncher controls in a tabbed client application window now work properly.

Logging

  • Connection errors reported by the Reflection Security Components for SSL and SSH sessions will now appear in the Status Application Audit Log by default for newly created sessions.
  • Status Application Audit Log messages relating to redirected “My Documents” user document data configurations have been improved.

6530 Tandem Sessions

  • The EXTRA! 6530 Client Option ActiveX control and supporting files have been upgraded to the latest versions.

Upgrading

  • Upgrading from earlier versions of EXTRA! now removes the Connection Pack, Option Pack, and 6530 terminal option.
  • The HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry key for ATMKeyboard is now deleted when EXTRA! is removed from the system.
  • Fixed an issue where the error 1606 could occur when installing EXTRA! on a machine where the user's My Documents folder has been redirected to a network location.

Starting / Session Load:

  • Host sessions launched from specifically named directories containing dashes in the folder name no longer generate the error "Override configuration data file not found. Session settings not modified."
  • "An error occurred while trying to load your session document into the application" no longer appears when loading EXTRA! sessions from a user’s profile stored on a Citrix Server using Universal Naming Convention (UNC) and DFS.
  • Fixed a rare occurrence of a problem where one host session would fail to open when launching many sessions simultaneously.

Additional Fixes:

  • Added a Keep Alive Option for VT Telnet connections in the [Connection] section of the EDP file.
  • Added the ability to delimit words, selected by double-clicking with a mouse, using non-alphabetic characters instead of just the space character.
  • Text is no longer pasted twice when highlighting and then dragging and dropping in SSH sessions while running on Windows 7.
  • The description displayed by the encryption strength tool-tip for the SSL lock icons in the status bar is now consistent in all languages.
  • The ability to drag-and-drop files for IND$FILE file transfer to a 3270 session window has been fixed.
  • Fixed issue where the EXTRA! section of the HKCU registry keys could become partially corrupted if the user specific document keys were not explicitly set in the Windows “shell folders” portion of the registry.

Known Issue

  • Shared HLLAPI short names are not currently supported on Windows 8.

Installation Notes

For installation information, see the EXTRA! Help Update, available from the Help menu in the product or from https://docs.attachmate.com/EXTRA/X-treme/9.3/Help/en/index.htm.

  • No access codes required. Access code fields have been removed from the user inteface.
  • Over installs. EXTRA! X-treme 9.3 can be installed over myEXTRA! Enterprise 7.11 and EXTRA! X-treme 8.0-9.2.
  • Installing the Custom Installation Wizard. The Custom Installation Wizard, a tool for administrators to pre-configure EXTRA! prior to deploying it to users, can be installed simply by copying CustomInstallationWizard.exe from the Tools folder from the EXTRA! installation location to an administrator's hard drive. After running the electronic product download package, the product image files are extracted to C:\~Attachmate\EXTRA!-v9.3.0 by default.
  • Unsupported installation option. Although you can select "This feature will be installed when required" during a custom installation, this option is not supported in this version of EXTRA! X-treme.
  • Reboot recommended after uninstalling. To delete files that may be in use, Attachmate recommends rebooting your computer after uninstalling this product.
  • EXTRA! 6530 Client Option. When using Group Policy to publish EXTRA! X-treme to users, EXTRA! X-treme must be installed before the EXTRA! 6530 Client Option can be installed. When you install EXTRA! X-treme 9.3 over a previous version of EXTRA! X-treme with myEXTRA! 6530 Client Option installed, the 6530 Client Option is removed. To enable Tandem connectivity, you must install EXTRA! 6530 Client Option 9.3 after you install EXTRA! X-treme 9.3. Contact your Attachmate sales representative for information on the EXTRA! 6530 Client Option 9.3: https://www.attachmate.com/Worldwide/Attachmate+Worldwide.htm.
  • DLC Driver for Windows XP installation. Although the Attachmate DLC driver for Windows XP cannot be covered under the “Designed for Windows XP” logo, it has been tested extensively on the Windows platform and works well.

Note: The DLC driver cannot be installed on Windows 8, Windows 7, or Vista.

On computers running Windows XP, the DLC driver is installed as part of a typical installation of EXTRA! X-treme. If, however, you want to install this driver manually on a Windows XP computer, see Technical Note 2464.

Additional Information

EXTRA! Documentation is available on the support site: https://support.microfocus.com/manuals/extra.html.

Legacy KB ID

This article was originally published as Attachmate Technical Note 2661.