InterMapper Flows Release Notes

This is a set of the changes that have gone to produce the latest version of InterMapper Flows, version 1.1, released on 18 May 2009.

InterMapper Flows™ Version 1.1 — 18 May 2009

• [LATERAL] In top session tab changed column sorting from IP address to Alphabetic.

InterMapper Flows™ Version 1.1b5 — 6 May 2009

• [FEATURE] Minor server improvements when many IMFlows clients are connected.
• [BUG FIX] CIDR block filtering is now fixed.
• [BUG FIX] Fixed an NPE in windows GUI environment.
• [BUG FIX] Auto-refresh is now fixed.

InterMapper Flows™ Version 1.1b4 — 27 April 2009

• [FEATURE] Server log files are now rotated nightly.
• [FEATURE] Host names can be used in the address filter box. 
• [FEATURE] Serial number entry is now even more resilient. 
• [FEATURE] Current exporter options are now displayed through tooltips. 
• [FEATURE] Right-click menu for exporters now contains a 'change tag' option. 
• [FEATURE] Internal performance enhancements. 
• [FEATURE] Additional sFlow exporter feedback and error reporting. 
• [FEATURE] Added a tooltip for the auto-refresh state. 
• [FEATURE] License pop-ups are now only displayed once per session. 
• [BUG FIX] Improved the layout of the 'license expired' windows. 
• [BUG FIX] Flow rate changes set in the GUI for sFlow SNMP exporters is correctly communicated. 
• [BUG FIX] Auto-refresh set to "off" now stays "off".

InterMapper Flows™ Version 1.1b3 — 14 April 2009

• [FEATURE] Exporters and interfaces are now identified by their given 'tags' in the filter box.
• [FEATURE] Added filtering options to right-click menus in tables.
• [LATERAL] Improved filtering on IPv4-mapped-IPv6 addresses and CIDR blocks.
• [LATERAL] Reduced the 'license-expired' message pop-up to once per IMFlows session.
• [LATERAL] Improved the 'license-expired' message clarity to indicate what it is that has expired.
• [LATERAL] It's now easier to enter serial numbers reliably.
• [LATERAL] Auto-refresh can be turned off.

InterMapper Flows™ Version 1.1b2 — 6 April 2009

• [FEATURE] In addition to sFlow v5, exporters using the sFlow v2 and sFlow v4 type are now properly supported.
• [FEATURE] In addition to MIB enterprise 14706, the sFlow MIB enterprise 4300 is now properly supported.
• [LATERAL] Adding an sFlow exporter now works for all versions of sFlow v2/4/5.
• [LATERAL] Removed sunset date for this beta.
• [LATERAL] The right-click menu for sFlow exporters lists current values for community string, destination, and flow rate.
• [BUG FIX] Fixed a bug on Intel Mac OS X where the SNMP module runs out of stack space.
• [BUG FIX] Minor GUI tweaks, fixed an NPE.

InterMapper Flows™ Version 1.1b1 — 30 March 2009

This is a list of the changes and new features since InterMapper Flows 1.0.1.

• SFlow InterMapper Flows now handles exporters that send sFlow version 5 flow records. This includes switches and routers from HP, Extreme, Foundry, Force10, and other manufacturers.
  • The sFlow MIB (version 1.3, enterprise number 14706) is fully implemented, and supports multiple destinations per exporter and periodic refresh.
  • Graphs and charts that contain sFlow data include a red "S" icon. Those that contain NetFlow data include a blue 1/5/9 icon for NetFlow v1/v5/v9.
  • The default sFlow port is 6343, but can be set to any other value
  • sFlow exporters can be added manually (if they support the sFlow SNMP/MIB) by clicking the Add sFlow exporter in the Exporters tab of the Settings window. The resulting window presents possible flow destinations, which is a sorted list of the IMFlows server IP addresses. A reasonable/best-guess selection is presented to the user, which can be changed using the dropdown.
  • The exporter list now contains status icons that indicate whether an enabled exporter has been silent for more than 5 minutes, more than an hour, or no reports have been seen, ever.
  • The sampling rate used by an sFlow device can be set to specific values. (Note: not all switches/routers honor this request.)
• User interface improvements
  • Ability to view data by Auto-Bits per second
  • Right-clicking on a session in the session tab selects other sessions like it
  • Window title bar now contains server name.
  • Traffic summary now shows total volume as well as total sessions in current views
  • View menu for InterMapper 5.1 was updated for Mac
  • Middle-mouse-button 'paste' in Unix now works
  • The About window's Copy to Clipboard now includes a definitive list of IP addresses for the IM Flows server.
• NetFlow Enhancements InterMapper Flows has the following improvements to its NetFlow (v1/v5/v9) handling:
  • Fixed NetFlow v5/v9 time computation for broken/slow routers switches
  • Fixed sequence number tracking in NetFlow v5
  • Added additional input threads and buffers to minimize flow packet loss
  • Bug in exporter handling was fixed Several visual GUI artifacts were improved
• Session Database on the InterMapper Flows server
  • A new cache strategy was implemented that leads to much improved startup/restart times
  • The ratio of conntrack-to-cached sessions has been changed to reduce the likelihood of session table overruns on very busy networks
  • Fixed rare race condition causing shutdown/restart deadlock
• InstallShield installer on Windows.
  • This new installer will correctly stop, and uninstall existing IMFlows installs (including previous betas), as part of the process.
  • If the new installer fails to remove the previous version, however, it is safe to remove the service through "add/remove programs" in the control panel, before re-installing with the new installer. This will not remove your existing flows database or exporter database.
  • A large number of installation issues were fixed with this new installer. Notably: under VISTA and XP a restart is no longer requested by the OS.
  • The 32-bit windows build is Windows 7 (beta) compatible (32/64-bit).
• Many bug fixes.