We are excited to announce the latest update to IBM WebSphere Automation with our recent releases 1.8.2 (April 30, 2025) and 1.8.1 (March 28, 2025). Based on customer feedback, IBM has made considerable enhancements to ensure performance, stability and security of the product.
Let's dive into what's new and how you can benefit from these enhancements.
Fix for security vulnerability related to the FreeType library:
Vulnerability was identified in FreeTypeLibrary that is used for rendering fonts, and it was patched. This reduces the risk of further exploitation by attackers executing malicious code. Applying the fix ensures compliance with cybersecurity best practices and maintain secure software environment.
Added support for Red Hat® OpenShift® Container Platform 4.18 : Ensures WebSphere Automation is supported on Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform (OCP) version 4.18, providing customers with the latest OCP capabilities.
Red Hat® OpenShift® Container Platform 4.18
Improved readability of Audit report
Fix package names:
With the multiple fixes on a server through a single installation (N:1) scenario fix names were listed in a single row across separate columns, causing data to shift for all the columns in that row. Audit report must show all the data for installations/uninstallations inside the specified columns. This view has been improved and now all fix names are contained within the ‘Fix Package Name’ column.
Host name/server name:
If there are 2 servers with same name but different hosts, the ui used to filter using hostname and server name but the audit report only used the server name as filter. Now Audit report and UI display same value for health investigation of a specific server.
This simplifies investigations, reduces the chances of human error from comparing disparate datasets, and ultimately saves valuable time and resources.
Ease of tracking licenses:
The IBM License Metric Tool (ILMT ) automatically detects the chargeable components that are part of IBM. New instructions on the document specify how to track license usage in virtual machines (VMs) for WebSphere Automation standalone entitlements.
Now, the Software Identification (SWID) tags have been included in the IBM product package and deployed by the product installer. SWID tags contain metadata about installed software, allowing ILMT to track usage and ensure compliance with licensing agreements.
ILMT can calculate VPC consumption only when SWID tags exist and are activated by the customer. For ILMT to detect and start tracking license usage in VMs, the customer must manually copy the WebSphere Automation software identification tag to the appropriate location on the file system.
Direct upgrade to higher version:
There is possibility of directly upgrading to version 1.8.1/1.8.2 from 1.7.5 or 1.8.0 This simplifies the upgrade process, reduces time and effort of upgrading incrementally.
For more information, check out our What’s New page in IBM Documentation.
These enhancements were developed based on your input, and we remain committed to continuously improving WebSphere Automation to meet your evolving needs. We invite you to try these new enhancements and share your experiences with us.