EchoSystem 5.5 Service Pack 17 (5.5.2017-6.29.x) Release Notes

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Introduction

This document covers EchoSystem 5.5, Service Pack 17 (5.5.2017-6.29.x).

Services version is:

5.5.595718452

You can refer to this version as "EchoSystem 5.5 Service Pack 17" when working with Echo360 Support.

Service Pack 17 for the Echo System Server version 5.5 is an update to the release of the EchoSystem version 5.5 and addresses the issues listed in the Fixes Included section below. This is the most advanced and reliable version of the Echo System Server released yet, containing several enhancements and fixes for our content migration tools. Please contact Echo360 support if you have any questions regarding upgrade or migration.

As announced in December of 2015, all future development will be dedicated to our Echo360 cloud platform after June 30^th, 2017. As such, this will be our final installer release of the Echo System Server. By focusing on our new, modern platform, Echo360 will continue to lead the way in education for video, engagement, and analytics.

New Features and Updated Support

New ESS to Echo360 active learning platform Migration Updates! See the Migration Guide, as well as the fixes listed below for further details.

The Migration -> Settings tab has been reworded to make the functionality more clear.
Updated Migration logic so that if an object (like an Organization or a Term) has been flagged as "Do Not Migrate" within the system, any associated child entities (like a Section) will no longer be Migrated if a user then manually selects the child entity for Migration. Instead, that child entity will also be flagged as "Do Not Migrate" if and when a user attempts to Migrate it.

Updated Documentation:

Updated Known Limitations and Pre-Migration Checklist surrounding ESS content that has been published to an LMS and your Migration options.

Stereo Audio

As a result of a fix that was implemented in Service Pack 13 (ECHO-29109), audio is now being processed in Stereo. If your Rooms are currently configured for mono audio, Echoes created will have a single stereo audio stream (audio playback only in one ear). We recommend that any rooms currently configured to capture mono audio should be rewired to capture stereo audio.

Service Pack Installation Notes

Please follow the steps below when upgrading to EchoSystem 5.5 Service Pack 17.

Review the Upgrade Instructions.
Run the EchoSystem 5.5 Service Pack 17 installer.
Wait for all of your classroom devices (Classroom Capture, SafeCapture HD, PRO) to upgrade completely.
Restart the EchoSystem Server.

Service Pack 16 provides important fixes to EchoSystem 5.5. Please note the following:

If you have already upgraded to 5.5, you should install this Service Pack in order to address any issues encountered with this installation.
If you are installing or newly upgrading to EchoSystem 5.5, contact Support with any questions about the supported upgrade path.

In addition to the fixes listed in the next section, you are strongly encouraged to read EchoSystem 5.5 Release Notes. EchoSystem 5.5 Service Pack 17 includes all of the features and fixes from Service Pack 16, and earlier.

Legacy Feature reminder

Please keep in mind, when performing upgrades, that the following items are no longer supported. This means that there is no more technical support, software patches, security updates or other development updates and that EchoSystem releases are not tested for compatibility with these items. We cannot guarantee that they will continue to work after upgrading your ESS.

LMS Building Blocks (or anything other than LTI-based Publishing)
EchoSystem Capture Appliance
Lecture Tools

An End Of Life Announcement for each of these items was sent out via email well in advance of the end of support. Customers that are actively using any of these items should take action and contact their Echo360 Sales or Account Management representative.

Fixes Included in Service Pack 17

The following issues, listed by Issue ID, have been addressed:

Issue ID	Description	Affected Component
ECHO-32760	Resolved an issue where SWF conversion was failing and causing captures not to play back properly (post-Migration) in the Echo360 active learning platform.	ESS -> Echo360 active learning platform Migration
ECHO-32751	Resolved an issue where Migration could potentially fail with a NullPointerException for captures that had been uploaded through the Media Import tool.	ESS -> Echo360 active learning platform Migration
ECHO-32004	Resolved an issue where the ESS was not tasking Media Processors to use processed media files for migration in the case that the original media is no longer present.	ESS -> Echo360 active learning platform Migration
ECHO-32283	Resolved an issue where file conversion was timing out and therefore causing Migration to fail.	ESS -> Echo360 active learning platform Migration
ECHO-32121	Resolved an issue where a Stale Object State Exception could occur when updating the status of an object (like a Term, Section, etc.) which caused the system to fail to update the migration status of the object to MIGRATED.	ESS -> Echo360 active learning platform Migration
ECHO-32665	Resolved an issue where editing a capture that was created using a Product Group with a resolution of 720p or higher caused playback problems.	Editing
ECHO-32375	Resolved an issue where the EDID was causing certain inputs to lose connection.	SafeCapture HD (SCHD)
ECHO-32108	Resolved an issue where captures were 'stuck' in a queued state and did not upload properly to the ESS.	Personal Capture for Windows
ECHO-31714	Resolved an edge case where audio-only captures made on a PRO could potentially fail due to the channels not synchronizing properly.	Echo360 PRO
ECHO-31556	Fixed the broken link to the Adobe Flashplayer within the EchoPlayer.	EchoPlayer
ECHO-32642	Resolved an issue where some users could receive the message, "Your email is not unique to this LMS / ESS Combination. Resolve conflict with your administrator." when attempting to access content via an LTI link within the LMS.	LMS users.

Known Issues

Besides the issues listed below, you may also want to refer to the Known Issues and Workarounds listed for the original 5.5 release.

Issue ID	Who is Affected?	Affected Component	Issue Description	What to do?
ECHO-31238	Customers running an external web server with an SHA-1 certificate will see an error in Chrome 56x and higher.	Content access over an SHA-1 cert.	Google has removed support for SSL/TLS certificates signed with the SHA-1 cryptographic hash algorithm as of Chrome version 56, which was released in January 2017.	If you need a temporary workaround you can go to the webserver's URL and click the "Advanced" tab to "Proceed to {web server address (unsafe)" you can get Chrome to allow you to fetch videos. For a permanent solution, get an SHA-2 cert for your external web server.
ECHO-11071, ECHO-29315, ECHO-30979	Users and Students attempting to play Downloaded Echoes (where the Echoes no longer have the raw media).	Downloaded content	Users attempting to playback a downloaded Echo may see one of the following error messages due to a security update in the latest flash versions, which is blocking the .xml file from loading on localhost when launched in a browser:	In order to playback an Echo that has been downloaded, a standalone flash player is needed. Download the flash player from https://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/labs/flashruntimes/flashplayer/flashplayer_24_sa.exe. Launch the Flash player. Choose File -> Open. Browse to the downloaded zip file and select echo_desktop.swf. Select OK and the playback should start playing.
ECHO-29886	Customers attempting to update user accounts via CSV upload.	Email addresses and CSVimports	Unfortunately, email addresses associated with user accounts cannot be updated/edited via CSV import.	Use the ESS UI to edit the email address for the user in question instead.
ECHO-27778	Customers utilizing the API to create new Users.	User creation via the API	The documentation lists the 'display-name' as a required field, however, you can currently create new users without including the 'display-name' in the .xml.	Ensure that you include the 'display-name' in the .xml when attempting to create a new user via the API.
ECHO-27274	Classroom Capture users.	CCAP	Please be aware that if your Institution has upgraded from 5.4 SP6 to a 5.5 version, Classroom Capture may not be able to upgrade automatically (by clicking on the link within the application) due to a library conflict.	If you encounter this issue, please choose one of the options below: Manually upgrade Classroom Capture Upgrade Classroom Capture using a Command Line Installation Contact Support for assistance with this issue
ECHO-26942	Customers who are doing a fresh installation of the ESS using CentOS or RHEL 7.x (customers who are upgrading their ESS are not affected).	ESS Installer	In situations where customers are doing a fresh (new) ESS Installation on CentOS or RHEL 7.x, an error occurs when attempting to use an existing user for the EchoSystem Server Admin account.	Use the ESS Installer to create a new user instead of using an existing user.
ECHO-6600	Users relying on accurate information for elapsed processing times.	ESS Monitor > Summary Page	In situations where jobs are processed back-to-back, the Elapsed column on the Monitor >Summary page will report incorrect values.	Please note that the times listed may not be accurate.
ECHO-5487	Users attempting to log in to the Ad Hoc UI through Internet Explorer 11 using Windows 8.1	Ad Hoc Web Interface	In situations when users are attempting to log in to the Ad Hoc UI via Internet Explorer 11 with instructor or admin credentials, the Ad Hoc UI will fail to load.	Please follow these steps to resolve this issue (or use Chrome or Firefox): In Internet Explorer, open Tools > Internet Options > Security dialog Select Trusted Sites then add this site to the trusted sites zone Click Close then OK and reload the page The problem should now be resolved You can also find more detail regarding these steps under "Add or remove a site from a security zone" on the following Windows page:http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-explorer/ie-security-privacy-settings#ie=ie-11
ECHO-12172	Users planning on upgrading their ESS to this version.	EchoPlayer	After an EchoSystem Server upgrade, it's possible your EchoPlayer assets may not update properly which can impede content playback following the upgrade.	If you encounter any content playback issues, please contact Echo360 support immediately for a timely resolution. We are actively developing a fix that will prevent this problem in future releases of the EchoSystem Server.
ECHO-5917	Users attempting to monitor or use Classroom Capture via Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).	Classroom Capture	In situations where a user logs into a Classroom Capture PC via the RDP, it's possible to overwrite the default Windows audio device. When that happens, the setting can 'stick' and potentially cause failed captures.	Please follow the documented workaround here under Remote Desktop Control.
ECHO-7792	Users who are planning on upgrading their ESS version and are using LDAP.	LDAP	The ESS does not automatically trust some customer's root CAs used with other systems in their deployment, so trust cannot be established between the ESS and the other server. LDAP servers frequently do not use certificates signed by CAs the ESS trusts natively and the certificates need to be manually reinstalled when upgrading the ESS.	Please contact Support for assistance with this issue.
For additional information on the currently known limitations regarding ESS to active learning platform Migrations, please see the Known Limitations list as well as the Pre-Migration Checklist within the Migration Guide.

Hotfixes Available

The following Hotfixes, Services fixes, and Client Installers, listed by number, are now available for download via anonymous FTP (username: anonymous; password: password).

Hotfix Number	Issue IDs	Description
5.5.71.10	ECHO-34600 ECHO-36240 ECHO-36323	Migrated Content Dual Display Echoes Duplicating one of those Display Inputs To Both Channels of Echo360 Captures. Re-enabled the EchoCenter Capture Availability controls after HEMS shutdown. Fix an error while copying source media for migration. See the 5.5.71.10 README.txt for further details.
5.5.71.6	ECHO-35409	Fixed minor logging statement to include READY status counts. Fix for Indexes reindexing functionality for Courses and Person records. Improved source file copying logic and logging messages for debugging. Added extra if statement to save timing.xml file if source directory exists (hotfix 6) Added an extra boolean configuration property "ess-alp-content-migration-ignore-available-source-media" in the dynamic.properties file to control the use of source media files for ALP conversion (if they exist, and no edits have been made).
5.5.71.5	ECHO-35040 ECHO-34803 ECHO-34802	Update the section's content migration status when some presentations have WILL_NOT_MIGRATE status. Expose active learning platform migration status and id in ESS Schedule API for auditing purposes. Improve ALP migration conversion logging for troubleshooting investigation.
5.5.71.4	ECHO-33945	Support content migration to AWS Canada region.
5.5.71.1	ECHO-33806	Fix to allow Section TA, Guest Presenters, and Student Presenter Roles in the ESS to migrate to Echo360 as Instructor Role.

Contacting Support

Echo360 Customer Support is always willing to help and it's easy to contact us!