Introduction
In this release of Console, fundamental changes have been made to the application onboarding process (i.e. the delivery of application source code, analysis, snapshot generation) for new applications. These changes are provided in "beta" alongside the existing application onboarding process and you can therefore choose whether you want to onboard exactly as in previous releases or whether you want to try out the new process.
The main changes associated with the new onboarding process are listed below and are explained in more detail later in this page:
- The process of delivering application source code is as in previous releases (either via a ZIP archive file or via a designated source code folder on disk) however, the new process is not a "quick" one-shot onboarding (upload source code, analysis, snapshot, publishing in one go): instead, source code is delivered and then Console will perform the "discover" phase to determine the application's technologies/languages/frameworks etc.
- When the discover phase is complete, users are directed automatically to a new "Pre-analysis" findings panel in the UI at application level where the delivered source code can be inspected (size, structure etc.), source code filters (exclusions) can be defined and any "additional options" (previously known as "Objectives") such as automatic extension installation, activation of Security Dataflow analysis etc. can be activated. Following that, an analysis and publishing to Dashboards (i.e. generating a snapshot) or Imaging can be launched . The main goal of this change is to encourage source code to be inspected before it is sent for analysis to ensure that the correct source code has been delivered and any unwanted code can be excluded.
- The new onboarding workflow now expects an initial analysis to be run (using all default settings provided by Console) before any configuration (Modules, Analysis settings, Architecture models etc.) can be changed.
- The application schemas (analysis/dashboard/management) are now created when the application is sent for analysis for the first time, instead of there being a dedicated "create application" action which the user must perform independently of the source code delivery process.
- The default behaviour is now to use rapid delivery mode without version history with no option to choose the legacy standard delivery mode with version history.
Current limitations
- The new workflow in this release only applies to brand new applications. If you want to redeliver new source code for an existing application, the existing workflow will be used.
- The ability to use a Named Application global license is not currently available.
Enabling the new onboarding process
Out of the box, the new onboarding process is not enabled and the existing workflow is retained. If you would like to test out the new onboarding workflow, you can enable it by accessing the Admin Center:
Then choosing Global Configurations and enabling the onboarding option - see also Administration Center - Settings - Application Onboarding:
Enabling this option will activate the new "Onboard application" option in the Application Management panel, for all users:
Onboard an application using the new workflow
To deliver source code for a new application using the new onboarding workflow, click Onboard application (instead of Add application):
The Onboarding screen is displayed:
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| 1 | Enter application name | Enter the name of the application you want to deliver source code for. Naming requirements are listed in Application onboarding with Fast Scan - onboard your application source code. |
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| 2 | Enter Domain name | Enter the name of a domain and this will be created when the Application is added, or leave the field blank in which case the Application will not belong to any domain. Naming requirements remain unchanged from previous releases of Console - see Application onboarding with Fast Scan - onboard your application source code. |
| 3 | Upload source code | Choose either to upload a ZIP archive file, or select the code from a dedicated folder (see Administration Center - Settings - Source Folder Location) - note that if no dedicated folder has been configured, this option will not be visible. |
| 4 | Discover | Click Discover to start the discovery process. |
Example when ready for discovery:
The Discover phase is then started and includes these steps:
- Create Delivery folder
- Unzipping source
- Prepare new version
- Content discovery
A loading screen is displayed while the discovery phase is ongoing:
When complete, the Pre-analysis findings panel will be displayed displaying the results of the discovery process:
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Pre-analysis findings panel
See Application - Overview with Fast Scan for more details.
Other changes
Grouped steps for actions
Each step actioned by Console is now split into specific phases. The grouping of these phases corresponds to the main actions available to use:
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New "Discovered" status
Applications for which source code has been delivered are now given the "Discovered" status in the main AIP Console - Application Management page:
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This status can also be filtered:
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