It’s that time of year once again! Springtime invokes thoughts of blossoming flowers, warmer weather, morning birdsong and of course, major releases of Managed File Transfer (MFT) solution Progress MOVEit.
Twice a year, Progress MOVEit update their solution with new features, updates and additions. These include added speed and stability, extended gateway tunnel configuration, read-only options and more. All of these features have been added to improve usability and create a better system.
The 16th of May 2023 sees the release of the 2023 editions of MOVEit Transfer and MOVEit Automation. The premier MFT solutions owned and maintained by Progress solutions for automated workflows, secure file transfer and collaborative working, used by thousands of organisations across the world.
In this blog, we will take a look at some of the new features and capabilities available to customers who have an active maintenance and support contract.
Elliptical Curve SSH Keys
For many of our customers and their trading partners, security and confidentiality remains their priority when considering the mechanics of putting together an automated file transfer workflow. With MOVEit being an MFT solution which prides itself on its security capabilities, Progress has added the ability to use elliptical curve SSH keys in both MOVEit Transfer and Automation as server and client respectively.
In combination with a prior release in which FIPS mode was added to MOVEit transfer specifically, the focus on security appears to be unwavering for Progress; and remains a key niche for these solutions.
Self-Publishing of SSL/TLS Certificates
As a solutions which is hosted on a Windows Server operating system, it utilises Internet Information Services (IIS) as its method of presenting its web-interface for both administrator and user interaction. Naturally, it has meant in the past that the use and updating of SSL/TLS certificates has had to take place through the IIS MMC console, which in-turn requires access to the servers operating system via Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Something, which many a server administrator finds uncomfortable given the extra inherent permissions gained from such an activity.
In the 2023 release of MOVEit Transfer, certificates can now be changed via the web-interface itself, negating the need to provide unnecessarily elevated access. In addition, MOVEit has implemented a process of authorisation, in which an organisation-level administrator can add a certificate, but it does not become live until a system-level administrator approves it.
Export of Logs to CSV
A request we have personal experience of is the need to be able to export logs from MOVEit Transfer in a Comma Separated Value (CSV) format. Either for further analysis or for the import into another solution. In the past, this was unavailable and all logs were only viewable from the MOVEit Transfer interface, with the exception of SYSLOG.
In the 2023 edition, the ability to export logs in CSV format has been added to the log viewer interface. A welcome addition for many including ourselves.
Expiring Home Folders
This topic has confused customers and consultants alike for more than a decade. In earlier versions of MOVEit, the use of user account expiration, would lock and remove accounts which were no longer in use. However, the home folder would remain if it had files contained within. The reasoning behind this was simply that there are separate settings for the automatic removal of aged files which would deal with this; and that many customers are reticent to have files automatically.
In 2023, there is now separate policy available to administrators in which they can select whether or not home folders are expired along with user accounts.
Other Additions
As with all releases, there are a number of updates and additions which are not covered in the full text of the blog. These updates include:
- Update to MySQL for improvement in stability and speed.
- Extended Gateway tunnel configuration to include the selection of a specific IP address for listening.
- When using Microsoft SQL Server, the ability for MOVEit Transfer to connect to read-only database for the purpose of reporting.
To read the full release notes for both MOVEit Transfer and Automation please refer to Progress’ own release notes.
MOVEit Transfer: https://docs.progress.com/bundle/moveit-transfer-release-notes-2023/page/Whats-New-in-MOVEit-Transfer-2023.html
MOVEit Automation: https://docs.progress.com/bundle/moveit-automation-release-notes-2023/page/Whats-New-in-MOVEit-Automation-2023.html
If you are interested in MOVEit 2023 and are a customer with an active maintenance and support contract, you are able to upgrade your MOVEit instance for free by downloading the latest copy of the software from the Community Portal.
If you do not have an active maintenance and support contact, or you would like assistance in completing this upgrade, please contact our Sales Team to book time with our technical experts.
