What’s new
This section provides a summary of the notable changes in Swarm for the 2021.1 release. Full details are available in the distribution's RELNOTES.txt file.
Major new functionality
Updated dashboard UI and content
The Swarm dashboard UI has been updated to show the information you need more clearly than ever before. New icons make it easier to see review states and votes for the reviews. We have also added test status and review complexity to make the dashboard even more useful. To make it even easier to get to your dashboard, we have added it to the Swarm menu.
For information on your dashboard, see My Dashboard.
Activity added to the Swarm menu
We have added a link to the Activity page in the Swarm menu, this makes it even easier to view activity on the Helix Core server, see Activity.
Filter improvements for the Reviews list and My Dashboard pages
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Reviews list page:
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You can now select multiple projects in the Project filter.
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You can now select multiple branches in the Branch filter.
For more information about multi-select filters on the reviews list page, see Review filters.
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My Dashboard page: You can now select multiple projects in the Project filter, see Filtering.
Single Sign-On (SSO) support improved
You can now exclude some Swarm users from using SSO, see Swarm configuration file.
Ubuntu 16.04 is not supported by Swarm
We no longer support Swarm installation on Ubuntu 16.04. This is part of our commitment to focus on supported technology platforms.
Minor new functionality
New API endpoints
A number of new endpoints have been added to the API, see the Swarm API.
Important information
Swarm no longer supports Ubuntu 16.04
Swarm 2021.1 does not support Swarm installation on Ubuntu 16.04. This is part of our commitment to focus on supported technology platforms.
Swarm no longer supports CentOS 6 and RHEL 6
Swarm 2020.2 does not support Swarm installation on CentOS 6 and RHEL 6. This is part of our commitment to focus on supported technology platforms.
Helix Core server 2020.1 stream spec file permissions change
Helix server 2020.1 and later, permissions have changed for viewing and editing stream spec files in Swarm. To view and edit stream spec files in Swarm, the Swarm user must have admin permissions for the entire depot //...
Trigger script updated for Swarm 2020.1
The swarm.shelvedel shelve-del trigger script has been updated in Swarm 2020.1, the trigger script must be updated in the Helix server trigger table or added if it does not already exist, see Update the Helix server triggers table to run the trigger script.
Custom module support in Swarm 2020.1 and later
The Zend 3 Framework project has been forked to an open source project called Laminas, see https://getlaminas.org/about/. Swarm 2020.1 now uses the Laminas framework, this is part of our commitment to move away from using versions of platforms that have reached End-of-Life (EOL).
If you have existing custom Swarm modules created for Swarm 2019.3 or earlier, you must update them to use the Laminas framework. For instructions on updating your Zend custom modules to Laminas, see Migrate existing custom modules to the Laminas framework.
Upgrading from Swarm 2019.1 and earlier
Swarm 2019.2 introduced a Redis in-memory cache to improve performance and reduce the load on the Helix Core server. This replaces the file-based cache that was previously used by Swarm.
On Swarm systems with a large number of users, groups, and projects, the initial population of this cache can take some time. If you have a large Swarm system you should read through the Redis server connection and configuration options before installing or upgrading Swarm, see Redis server.
API support changing for Swarm User Interface release (2020)
We have started adding a new set of v10 APIs to Swarm. These will provide a new endpoint and response pattern, and are designed for use with the new rich User Interface that is being introduced in 2020. Swarm will continue to support the v9 APIs for some time, see API versions.
API support changed for Swarm 2019.3
APIs older than v9 are being deprecated, support for them will be removed in a future release. See API versions.
Workflow feature support changed for Swarm 2019.2
The Swarm workflow feature is enabled by default. If you are upgrading from an earlier version you will need to update your triggers, see Upgrade Swarm.
PHP and Apache version support changed for Swarm version 2019.1
We have removed support for versions of PHP older than 7.0 in Swarm 2019.1. As a result of this change, support for Apache 2.2 has also been removed. This is part of our commitment to move away from using versions of platforms that have reached End-of-Life (EOL).
Ensure that you can install a supported version of PHP and Apache before upgrading to Swarm 2019.1. For information on versions of PHP and Apache supported by Swarm, see PHP and Apache web server.
P4PHP 2019.1 or later required for Swarm 2019.1 and later
The latest version of P4PHP is included in the Swarm package, OVA, and tarball installations.
Known limitations
Issue: Swarm will lose connection to all of the Helix servers if you edit the base_url configurable value in the environment block of <swarm_root>/data/config.php. This will stop your system working.
Fix: Remove the base_url configurable from the environment block of <swarm_root>/data/config.php.
in the sidebar or by including the server instance name in the URL, for example: https://swarm.company.com/serverA. Individual branch views display the commits correctly.
Run p4 login2 error
Run p4 login2 error. p4 login2 for a super user account configured for Helix Authentication Service before deploying the Swarm OVA. For p4 login2 detail, see p4 login2 in Helix Core P4 Command Reference. 
