What's new in Adaxes 2013.2

External MS SQL Database

Now Adaxes can be configured to store log records in an external MS SQL database. This option is especially helpful if you have multiple replicated Adaxes services, as log records generated by all the services will be stored in one database. Adaxes supports distributed MS SQL databases (databases that are spread out over several hosts).

SIEM Integration via Syslog

The new release introduces support for the Syslog protocol, allowing you to integrate Adaxes into SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) products and enterprise audit logging solutions.

Brute Force Attack Protection

Adaxes Web Interface is now protected against brute-force attacks aimed at stealing passwords and locking out accounts. The protection measures include captcha verification, web server response delays, and security questions.

Group Membership Filtering

Now you can configure the Members and Member Of sections to display only objects that match certain criteria. For example, you can configure Member Of section to display only groups whose name contains Office. Or, you can configure Members section to display only users belonging to the department of the logged-on user.

Adding New Web Interfaces

Adding new Web Interfaces is now very easy. Instead of manually copying files and configuring IIS, now you can use a simple user interface. But what is more important is that you don't need to do anything when upgrading to a newer version of Adaxes, as the job to upgrade custom Web Interfaces is done by the Backup/Restore utility.

Enhanced AD Reports

All Active Directory reports related to password management now honor Fine-Grained Password Policies. Also, we have added two new reports: Recently Created Groups and Recently Modified Groups.

Refined Active Directory Pane

The Active Directory pane serves to display specific AD objects on the Home page. We have added an option to show different objects depending on who is connected to the Web Interface. For example, you can configure the pane to display a group called Staff that is located in the Organizational Unit of the logged-on user.

More Options for List Views

Now, list views for Active Directory objects can display columns that show custom object properties stored in Adaxes (e.g. CustomAttributeText1). Also, we have added an option to set the default page size for Active Directory object lists.

Scheduled Task Load Balancing

In the new version it is possible to bind a Scheduled Task to a specific Adaxes service. A task bound to an Adaxes service runs on that service only and under no circumstances is reassigned to another one. This option is helpful if you have multiple replicated Adaxes services and want to manually distribute the load across them.

Scheduled Tasks Management

It has become easier to control execution of Scheduled Tasks. The tasks that are currently running are highlighted bold in the Console Tree. For each task you can view the host on which it runs, how long it runs, and the duration of the last execution. Also, now you can manually stop a Scheduled Task that is currently running.

More Flexible Actions/Conditions

Now you have more flexibility when working with Business Rules, Custom Commands, and Scheduled Tasks, as we have extended some actions and conditions to support value references. This enables you to define different behaviour depending on the object on which the operation is performed and the operation initiator.

HTML Email Notifications

E-mail notifications sent by Business Rules, Custom Commands, and Scheduled Tasks can now be formatted as HTML. To compose HTML-formatted notifications you can use the embedded visual HTML editor.

Improved Group Support

The Approval Workflow module now supports scenarios in which objects are managed by a group of users. When a request is submitted for approval to the owner or manager of an object, and the owner/manager is a group, members of the group are recognized as approvers and are able to approve or deny the request.

Viewing and Notifying Approvers

Now, when working with approval requests in Adaxes Web Interface, it is possible to view all approvers authorized to approve a specific request, and send them email notifications and reminders.

Secretary and Assistant

The new version introduces two new security principals: Secretary and Assistant. When a Security Role is assigned to one of the principals, the permissions are granted to the user or group specified in the Secretary or Assistant property of a user account.

System Tray Notification to Enroll

Now Adaxes can periodically remind users to enroll for Password Self-Service by popping up a balloon in the system notification area (system tray).

Grouping

The first thing you will see when you open Adaxes Administration Console is the new Result Pane. Among other improvements, it allows you to arrange Active Directory objects into groups, which greatly enhances user experience when browsing and managing Active Directory. The Grouping feature is available in the Result Pane, Find dialog, and Basket.

Data Import/Export

By following the expectations of our customers, we have improved the Import/Export wizard.
Here is what we have done:

• Export of Adaxes custom properties allowed.
• Data validation for CSV files enhanced.
• Support for Macintosh line breaks added.
• BOM support for UTF-8 CSV files added.

Improved Performance

We have seriously worked on performance improvements for Adaxes Administration Console. As a result, Active Directory browsing and searching now work several times faster than before.