Question & Answer
Question
What are the new features and other changes in ClearCase®?
Answer
Descriptions of the changes are organized by version-specific tabs.
V10.0.1.3
Installation
- For Windows, Installation Manager version 1.10 is required.
- For Linux x86_64, Installation Manager version 1.10 is required except for SLES 12.5 where Installation Manager 1.9 is required, as Installation Manager version 1.10 is not supported on SLES 12.5.
- For AIX, Linux ppc64le, and Linux s390x, Installation Manager 1.10 or version 1.9 can be used.
- For HP-UX and Solaris, Installation Manager version 1.9 is required.
CMI enhancements
We have introduced a new Change Management Provider for the PLAN REST API within the Change Management Integration (CMI). This allows you to use CMI between ClearCase and Plan.
Authentication enhancement: The cmiregister utility is updated to support Plan credentials. You need to provide a username and a Personal Access Token (PAT), which will be stored in the CMI credentials cache in the home directory of the user.
Note: Plan REST APIs require PATs as credentials and do not accept username and password pairs.
GUI enhancements:
- A new checkbox labeled as Optimize for CMI is added to the CTE check-in dialog. When checking in multiple elements in base ClearCase, either in a dynamic view or a snapshot view, you can now select a task once, and it will automatically apply to all remaining checkouts that require a task. This enhancement saves time by reducing the frequency of the task selection dialog.
- Additionally, the default behavior for CMI is modified to prompt users for credentials when using the ClearCase native UIs (such as xclearcase and clearexplorer) on a CMI-enabled branch type or stream and have not already run cmiregister or have invalid cached credentials.
- A new configuration option allowMultiTasks is added to enable administrators to restrict task selection to a single task per element version (base-ClearCase) or activity (UCM). The default value of this option is set to true.
For more information, see technote https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/289053 and IBM Documentation.
Security
We have updated the certificate truststore based on the certificates trusted by Adoptium JDK 17.0.5. If you customize your truststores in previous releases, take the new truststores from this release and reintegrate in your local changes. For information about upgrading to a new release when configuring SSL certificates, see the section Upgrading to a new release in technote https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/541765. Depending on your operating system, these are the updated truststore file paths. You can compare the updated templates to your versions in the corresponding path names without the .template suffix.
Linux or UNIX: /var/adm/rational/clearcase/config/cacert.pem.template
Windows: C:\Program Files\IBM\RationalSDLC\ClearCase\config\ccrc\ccrc_ucmcq_key.*.template
C:\Program Files\IBM\RationalSDLC\ClearCase\var\config\ TrustedCertificateAuthorities.*.template
Smart Card support
In Rational ClearCase 10.0.1.3, Smart Card authentication is now supported for Web and Automatic view. For more information, see technote https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/544879.
mecleardiffmerge in C/C++
The mecleardiffmerge tool is converted from Java to C/C++ to ensure the text_whole_copy type manager functions properly on AIX, HP, non-x86_64 Linux, and Solaris.
Eclipse 4.33
The ClearTeam Explorer for Eclipse IDE and the ClearTeam Explorer Extension now support Eclipse versions 4.6 to 4.33.
Visual Studio Code
The DevOps Code ClearCase integration with Visual Studio Code now allows you to perform basic ClearCase operations across all view types including Dynamic, Snapshot, Web, and Automatic, on Windows and Linux. For more information, see the IBM DevOps Code ClearCase Integration with Visual Studio Code blog.
Changes to commands
- -op opkind: A new flag
-op opkindis added in the lshistory command. It is a generic option, which works for reformatvob and other options such as - checkout, checkin, mkelem, mkbranch, and so on. For more information, see the lshistory man page. - rmstream: rcleartool now supports the rmstream sub-command, enabling stream deletion.
- cleartool desc: Modified the output of the cleartool describe command for symbolic links to allow the command
cleartool desc dbid:to return the full source path instead of just the DB ID (database ID). - getlog command: New flags such as -skip_header, -print_host, and -print_ok are added for improved printing output. For more information, see the getlog man page.
- -status_only: A new flag, -status_only, is added to the rcleartool login sub-command to return a successful exit status if the user is already logged in. For more information, see the login man page.
ALBD service
The panel for entering ClearCase Location Broker service (ALBD) credentials during an update or modification or rollback of the Installation Manager operation has been simplified to require only the password of the configured domain account. The Location Broker (ALBD) service credentials panel will be displayed during the following conditions:
Update:
- The ALBD service is already installed and configured with a domain account.
- The selected features still depend on the ALBD service, even if they have not changed.
Modify:
- The ALBD service is already installed and configured with a domain account.
- The selected features have changed, but they still depend on the ALBD service.
Rollback:
The version being rolled back previously had the ALBD service installed and configured with a domain account.
CtCmd-1.18 Perl extension
Modified CtCmd-1.18 Perl extension to support Windows for Microsoft Visual Studio and GCC (GNU Compiler Collection) compilers.
MVFS unloading
On Windows, you can now unload an MVFS using the Control Panel. A new dialog box is added to alert the user to finish all processes; otherwise, the MVFS will not be unloaded.
z/OS Extension
ClearCase z/OS Extensions is compatible with z/OS version 3.1.
DB server enhancement
Improved the database server (db_server) to issue warnings in log files when the VOB database approaches internal counter limits.
New platform support
For platform requirements, see the Software Product Compatibility Report (SPCR) tool.
Status of the feature level
The ClearCase® VOB feature level is unchanged in this release. For more information on feature levels and ClearCase releases, see technote https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/73065.
V10.0.1.2
Performance
Enhancement to the logic involving locks on global types improves the check-in performance of files and directories. This reduces contention when multiple check-in operations are occurring throughout the system.
ALBD service
When installing ClearCase on Windows, you now have the option to run the ALBD service using the local system account instead of using a domain user whose password needs to be maintained over time.
A system where the ALBD service is running as the local system account will not be able to host local views and VOBs. However, the system will still be able to access views and VOBs hosted on remote systems.
The Local System Account option is only available when Local Views and VOBs and all the Server Components features are not selected. To switch between the Local System account and a domain user account, you must uninstall and then reinstall ClearCase. For more information, see technote https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7184678.
Eclipse 4.30
Both the ClearTeam Explorer for Eclipse IDE and the ClearTeam Explorer Extension now support Eclipse 4.30.
TLS v1.3 support for Web view
For web views, CTE, rcleartool, and CM API now support Transport Layer Security (TLS) v1.3 connections to the CCRC WAN server when the WAN server runs in a WAS or Tomcat server that enables TLS v1.3. In the default configuration, CTE or rcleartool or CM API selects the highest supported protocol between TLS v1.2 and TLS v1.3. If required, the configuration can be adjusted to force TLS v1.3 or TLS v1.2 specifically. For more information, see technote https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/240547.
The automatic view does not support TLS v1.3.
Microsoft Visual Studio Code
The IBM DevOps Code ClearCase-Visual Studio Code extension version 1.0.3 is compatible with ClearCase 10.0.1.2 and later. The time-based process management is a new feature that allows you to configure idle time. For more information, see the IBM DevOps Code ClearCase Integration with Visual Studio Code blog.
New platform support
For platform requirements, see the Software Product Compatibility Report (SPCR) tool.
Status of the feature level
The ClearCase® VOB feature level is unchanged in this release. For more information on feature levels and ClearCase® releases, see technote https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/73065.
V10.0.1.1
z/OS Extension
64-bit ClearCase Extension on z/OS (also known as Connectors) is available. The z/OS Extension enables mainframe users to submit Remote Builds on z/OS from ClearCase and to use the TSO client to access a ClearCase repository.
Base ClearCase/ClearQuest Perl integration
Cadence integration
ClearCase 10.0.1.1 integration with Cadence Virtuoso IC23.1 is supported on RHEL 8.
New platform support
For platform requirements, see the Software Product Compatibility Report (SPCR) tool.
Status of the feature level
The ClearCase® VOB feature level is unchanged in this release. For more information on feature levels and ClearCase® releases, see technote https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/73065.
V10.0.1
Support for JRE 11
ClearCase now requires Java JRE 11. Starting in ClearCase 10.0, you must have a 64-bit Java runtime (JRE) installed before you install ClearCase. For more information about the Java Runtime Environment, see IBM Documentation.
Eclipse upgrade to 4.23
ClearCase now runs with Eclipse version 4.23, and ClearTeam Explorer is built with Eclipse 4.23. Due to the updates in Eclipse "P2" packaging, ClearCase must be uninstalled before ClearCase 10.0.1 can be installed. If you are already running 64-bit ClearCase, see the ClearCase 10.0.1 Update Guide for more information. If you are moving to ClearCase 10.0.1 from 32-bit ClearCase, see the ClearCase Migration Guide for more information.
Automatic Hijack Mode for snapshot and web views
We have introduced an optional new way of working in ClearCase. A new feature called automatic-hijack mode is added for snapshot and web views, which allows you to automatically hijack files without explicitly checking-out or modifying permissions. A view created with auto-hijack mode presents version-controlled files as writeable, as opposed to read-only. Any modification to the file automatically hijacks the file without any explicit user action. Files that are automatically hijacked are treated like explicitly hijacked files in earlier releases. This feature is implemented in the cleartool and rcleartool command-line interfaces and the ClearTeam Explorer UI.
Note: the auto-hijack mode must be selected at the time the view is created.
For more information, see the mkview, lsview, and ClearTeam Explorer documentation.
ClearCase support for zLinux on the s390x
We have completed the conversion to 64-bit support for ClearCase running on z/Linux on the s390x hardware.
Integration of IBM ClearCase with Jenkins
The integration of IBM® ClearCase with Jenkins helps to enable a continuous integration pipeline between ClearCase and Jenkins. Using the ClearCase plug-in in Jenkins, Jenkins can run automated or manual builds on ClearCase streams and baselines whenever there is an intended change in the source control. The ClearCase integration with Jenkins is supported only on the Windows and Linux x86_64 platforms using UCM streams with an automatic view or web view. For more information, see IBM Documentation.
Microsoft Visual Studio Code
In IBM® ClearCase, ClearCase is integrated with Microsoft Visual Studio Code (VS Code) to provide basic ClearCase operations through the VS Code integrated development environment (IDE). Both automatic and web views are supported. The ClearCase integration with VS Code is supported only on the Windows platform. For more information, see the Rational ClearCase Integration with Visual Studio Code blog.
Integration of IBM ClearCase with Beanbag Review Board
In IBM® ClearCase 10.0.1, ClearTeam Explorer is integrated with Review Board to provide the interface to create or update review requests from your ClearTeam Explorer interface. For more information, see the Rational ClearTeam Explorer Integratoin with Beanbag Review Board blog.
Automatic Views in ClearCase Remote Client offering
Automatic views provide advanced, WAN-friendly workspace management and enhanced security capabilities by utilizing the ClearCase virtual file system, the MVFS (Multi-Version File System). Prior to 10.0.1, automatic views could only be installed from the full ClearCase product offering using the IBM Installation Manager.
Automatic views are now also included in the ClearCase Remote Client offering as an optionally installable feature. This significantly eases the deployment of automatic views for WAN-only users who do not need the full product capabilities.
For more information about automatic views, see technote https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6845524.
Microsoft Windows Symbolic Link Support
On Microsoft Windows, ClearCase would load VOB symbolic links into snapshot view copy areas as copies of the target of the symbolic link (which could be an individual file or an entire directory hierarchy) instead of maintaining the link. Recent improvements in Windows symbolic links allowed ClearCase 10.0.1 to add the option of loading VOB symbolic links as Windows symlinks. The default behavior remains the same, but the new behavior may be chosen when creating snapshot views by using ‘-slink_mode use_slinks’ with the ‘cleartool mkview’ command. For more information, see the mkview documentation.
High-Performance Unicode File Management
ClearCase provides extensive version management of Unicode files in all 5 encodings (UTF-8, UTF-16LE, UTF-16BE, UTF-32LE, and UTF-32BE). Since ClearCase 10.0.0.1, the C++ based UTF type managers deliver improved performance when handling UTF files. This impacts checkin, checkout, diff, merge, annotate and cleartext construction (uncompressing a version when needed) operations. This release also contains several important bug fixes to the UTF processing.
Progress Bar for an automatic view
When loading an automatic view in Rational® ClearTeam Explorer, you will see a progress bar to indicate the load running in the background. For more information, see IBM Documentation.
Systemd Support on Linux
The systemd facility is now supported on Linux systems, this allows ClearCase to work seamlessly with newer versions of Linux and network services. The clearcase startup script (/usr/atria/etc/clearcase) has been updated to use systemctl appropriately. For more information, see Changes in the ClearCase startup script.
Automatic Rebuild and install of MVFS on Linux
Whenever there is an update to the Linux OS kernel or a new OS version, MVFS will be automatically rebuilt and reinstalled. Additionally, if you install or upgrade Rational ClearCase on a Linux host, where the Linux kernel is not compatible with the loadable kernel module included with ClearCase, MVFS rebuilds automatically. For more information, see IBM Documentation.
Less need to reboot when installing ClearCase on Windows
ClearCase install, update, or uninstall on Windows no longer requires a reboot in many situations, easing ClearCase administration. The MVFS can now be cleanly unloaded in many cases, thus avoiding a reboot. If you are installing ClearCase on a system for the first time, or reinstalling after a successful uninstall, then a reboot is not required. Some situations may still require a reboot. For more information, see How to install ClearCase on Windows without system reboot.
VOB automount support for AIX
The support for automounting VOBs on Linux and Solaris has been extended to AIX. For more information, see Automounting of ClearCase VOBs.
Cadence Virtuoso integration enhancements
When you set the CCASE_CDS_SIMPLIFIED_MSG environmental variable to TRUE, now Cancel check-out messages will also be logged into the Command Interpreter Window in a simplified form along with the existing check-in and check-out messages.
Platform Updates
See the Software Product Compatibility Report (SPCR) for specific details.
IBM Rational ClearCase Admin Console GUI
On the IBM® Rational ClearCase Admin Console GUI on Windows, when you click the View Name in All Views section or VOB Name in All VOBs, the respective Properties dialog opens as expected.
Changes to commands
The lsbl command, when executed with the -stime_desc option, can print the baseline list in reverse or descending order based on the timeline.
Status of the feature level
The ClearCase® VOB feature level is unchanged in this release. For more information on feature levels and ClearCase releases, see technote https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/73065.
Installation
The rcleartool command-line interface is now automatically configured by the installation process. The setup process that was previously required when running rcleartool for the first time is now not required.
On Linux_x86_64, when you update an earlier version of ClearCase to ClearCase 10.0.1 or later, then the Update Not Supported panel is displayed with the message "An update is not supported and the only way to do the update is to uninstall the current version and install the new version." For more information, see the ClearCase 10.0.1 Update Guide.
Behavior changes for Installation Manager features on UNIX or Linux
Minimal Developer Installation is a subset of the Full Function Installation. If Minimal Developer Installation is selected, Full Function Installation will be disabled.
Internal Use Only
Copy of document number 6621241 to create 10.0.1 "what's new" doc.
<h2 class="ibm-h4 ibm-bold">Eclipse upgrade</h2>
<p>Eclipse Standalone or Rich Client Protocol (RCP) is upgraded from 4.6.x to 4.23.x.</p>
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Document Information
Modified date:
07 March 2025
UID
ibm16956257