For the list of all release notes click here.
The following list will give a quick overview about the newest improvements that contentACCESS version 5.4 brings to you:
Teams archive
✓ Retention changer
Have your business needs changed and now you need to keep your archived Teams data for a different period than before? Do you need to delete sensitive archived data earlier? Now, you can change the previously specified retention time for your MS Teams archived data, thanks to which it’s now possible to delete items from the archive sooner due to the new shortened retention time. This option is supported by the following stores: Disk, Azure, Amazon S3.
✓ Delete job
The new delete from archive job for Teams archive allows cleaning up the archive from unwanted/expired items. The delete jobs can run in three modes: report generation, delete based on report, immediate deletion. Using the report mode, the administration will have full control over the deleted items.
Another possibility to delete items from the archives is to mark the items for deletion in Portal. This feature allows the users with the necessary rights to mark files for deletion, so the delete job will clean these files and messages even if those are in unprotected retention time. The users can select single items, single folders, or a whole search result.
The deletion is dependent on the used storage as well. The following storages support deletion: Disk, Azure, HybridStore, Google, AmazonS3 (and compatible). The delete job will not have any effect on storages which does not support deletion.
✓ Extended filtration
Teams archive jobs filters were extended to allow more granular and fine-tuned filtration when archiving recovering or simply working with data. The archive job now has filters on all 3 levels, you can filter the channels, the messages, and the files separately. Besides this, we try to simplify the configuration for those who do not want to filter data but keep everything in the archive. With the current filtration possibilities, we hope these could cover both needs, both the simplicity and the granularity.
Email archive
✓ Folder prefix in mailbox move job
Originally the mailbox move job was designed to allow the customers to switch the store or database behind the mailboxes. Going forward, this job was also started to be used for data consolidation. We are constantly listening to customer voices and continuously extending the functionality based on the needs. To support these consolidation use-cases more, we have extended the mailbox move configuration to allow specifying a subfolder (path), which will be the base path in the target mailbox for the imported data.
Common
✓ Notification about new version
From now on, you will never miss any new version. We have added a notification bar into Central Administration, which will let the system administrators know when a new contentACCESS version is available. You can open the release notes directly from the notification bar to check the exact features and changes, what the new version brings to you.
✓ Sign up for a newsletter
The new version notification is one of the channels only we are communicating with our customers and partners. This will inform you about the new contentACCESS version only. If you would like to be informed about other products or read useful articles how to get the maximum from your archive or increase your productivity, you can sign up for our newsletter. This can be done directly from Central Administration now.
✓ Report an issue
Did you run into an issue or have a question regarding any of the functionality? Do you have troubles reaching out to our professional support? Don’t worry, you are only a click far from us! We have built an option into Central Administration, using which directly opens a support ticket with us. As an extra, this option will allow you to send information about your system to our team. This will help our technicians to quickly understand the current configuration you are using. This can save you the first few emails and our technicians can directly focus on your issue.
✓ Mail App vNext
Mail App is a lightweight cross-platform contentACCESS client for Microsoft Outlook. It was primarily designed to give basic functions (manually archive and restore or search) for emails which were archived by contentACCESS. The client was loved by the customers as it was fast and cross-platform.
The vNext version is not just a simple update of the app, but a complete rewrite of it. We have taken the existing features from the legacy mail app, from our contentACCESS Mobile and Share App and put all together. The users who are using contentACCESS Mobile already will get a very similar look and feel and a similar feature set in the new Mail App.
Pin the app
The pin feature means, Mail App will be always open, when an email is selected for preview in Outlook. This allows you to have your app always at your hand.
New look and feel
Dynamics, simplicity, and productivity … these are the key factors driving us when creating the new design. The result speaks for itself! The new design allows the user to focus on important data and functionality.
Startup screen
The startup screen shows the main features of the app with a short description. If you are using the new Mail App for the first time, you will most probably appreciate it.
Active email
The active email page gives access to archive functions for the email which is currently opened in Outlook’s preview pane. This view is like the old Mail Apps startup page, but more feature rich. You can manually archive the unarchived email or restore the already archived one. The active email view will automatically load the email preview from the archive. If you have shortcuts, then the original text and attachments will be directly accessible here. As an extra, you can share or attach the email or any of its content by a single click.
Advanced search
The new search experience integrates all the features of the contentACCESS search. You have now search suggestions, hit highlighting, history, and advanced filters available.
Data browsing
The new MailApp gives you access to all available entities from all modules. You can see the folders, the items inside, you can search or see all relevant information. You can also restore items or share one or more items or their attachments.
Sharing
In contentACCESS 5.0, we introduced our platform level sharing feature. This feature is now available in the Mail App too. You can share data directly from the contentACCESS archive with only 2 clicks. You can also see the download audit for an already shared item and modify sharing settings.
Inviting the recipient to contentACCESS, sending the shared files to the recipients, ensuring the shared data retention, limiting the downloads and audit the access… everything is managed by the system!
Sounds good? So, give it a try!
✓ Performance and stability fixes
Improvements were made to make the system faster and more stable, so your contentACCESS experience is now even better than it has been before.
Update from older versions
✓ Update path: The update is supported by contentACCESS version 3.1 and later. Older versions must be firstly updated to contentACCESS 3.1 and after that they can be updated to the latest version.
If the update has been done for an earlier version than 3.3, after the update some of the new features must be configured manually.
One of these features is the Task runner, which requires resource storage where the export files will be stored. This storage must be configured in System -> System -> Resource storage settings. This store must be accessible by all contentACCESS nodes inside a cluster, so it is highly recommended to use a network share.
✓ Teams and Teams chat job filter must be adjusted: In 5.4 we have fully redesigned the filtering capabilities in all Teams and Teams Chat jobs. Your existing Teams and Teams Chat jobs settings must be verified and adjusted after the update from 5.3 and earlier.
✓ Application pool identities changed: To increase the security, all application pools of contentACCESS are using the isolated IIS App Pool Identity. This requires a switch to the server-side rendering in contentACCESS Portal for email archive.
✓ .NET Framework support: From the 5.0 version, the minimum required .NET version for all applications was increased from 4.5.2 to 4.8.
✓ Mail app activation: As a result of redesigning the Mail app activation method in contentACCESS Email Archive, new permissions: “Org Marketplace Apps” and “User Options”, are needed to make the super user work correctly.
✓ Outlook forms: If the update has been done from an earlier version than 3.4, because of some internal changes in the email archive shortcut format, the Outlook forms must be updated to the latest version to maintain the correct functionality. For contentACCESS 3.8, the Outlook forms must be also republished due to the authentication changes.
✓ Remote file archiving: While updating from contentACCESS 3.6, existing remote agent definitions will be not working, since some of the database structures have been moved from the file system archive database to the tenant database.
✓ SQL server support: The minimum required SQL version was increased from MS SQL 2008 to MS SQL 2012.
✓ Redesigned filtering: The old filtering was converted to a new format. Therefore, after the update from 3.7 or earlier, we recommend the checking of all your job filtering settings.
Documentation
Please check the updated documentation and manuals.
contentACCESS user manual
