ClearPath Forward ePortal 9.0 is Here!

We’re thrilled to announce the availability of the latest version of our application-modernization and web-enablement tool.

That’s right: ClearPath Forward® ePortal 9.0 has arrived!

With ePortal 9.0, you’ll have access to a wealth of new features and enhanced capabilities that make it easier than ever to modernize your applications and target them for web, mobile, and Web Service environments.

Here’s what’s new and noteworthy in ePortal 9.0:

• Enterprise features in Software Edition: Updates to the ClearPath Forward ePortal Software Edition (ePortal SE) bring a number of the high-availability attributes contained in the ClearPath® ePortal Enterprise solution – including failover support, multi-platform clustering, and disaster recovery functions – to VMware® and Microsoft® Hyper-V® virtualized infrastructures. With these capabilities, you’ll be well suited to address the unique demands of Software Defined Data Centers, including private cloud deployments.
  
• ClearPath ePortal Business and Enterprise (Gen 5): The “Gen 5” hardware release of ClearPath ePortal Business and Enterprise introduces a new platform that has been designed for today’s ePortal use cases, and includes a Platform Management Console for software maintenance, management, and diagnostics.
  
• Web API enhancements to support microservices: With the solution’s Web API 2.0, you can build a RESTful interface – containing a detailed response code and response message – for all the operations that can be performed through ePortal Manager, making it easy to support microservices.
  
• Improved DevOps support featuring over 200 new automation endpoints: With a new web-based ePortal Monitor and enhanced Management REST APIs, including role-based support, you’ll have access to new DevOps and automation capabilities that help you streamline the processes around developing applications, testing those applications, and delivering them to production.
  
• Intranet connections and network security: The TLS protocol has been incorporated where possible, making it possible for many of your applications to access back-end resources in a much more secure manner.
  
• New hybrid mobile device and multi-platform development support: With ePortal 9.0, we’re introducing a new method for developing multi-platform hybrid apps. It still takes advantage of the Apache® Cordova™ model, but introduces industry-standard tools and mechanisms for creating Apple® iOS, Android™, and Universal Windows apps.
  
• Updated third-party components and mobile OS support: As part of our ongoing effort to keep ePortal up to date with changes to third-party ecosystems, ePortal 9.0 supports the latest third-party standards and features – like Cordova and Bootstrap, as well as the newest mobile operating systems – enabling you to create applications that draw from the industry’s most contemporary technologies.
  
• System restore point: With this feature, you can capture your current system state and restore to it should an issue arise. Note that this feature is only available on Gen 5 ePortal Business and Enterprise platforms, and will only capture the state of the Manager and Web Partitions.
• The ClearPath Forward ePortal Monitor (EPM): With this new web-based user interface for the ePortal runtime environment, you’ll be able to see visual indications of overall system status and health, monitor the performance of deployed applications, web clusters, and web partitions, and view alerts about the various resources in your ePortal environment.
  
• Security roles: With ePortal 9.0, you can extend enterprise security by using role-based access to restrict specific ePortal manager functions exposed by the Management REST API to a certain set of approved users.
  
• Configure backup location: You now have the ability to target an alternate location for your backup files beyond the default primary back-end server.
  
• Certificate install synchronization methods: In ePortal 9.0, you’re free to choose phased or serial synchronization methods when installing a renewal certificate to a web cluster, both of which will allow some members of the cluster to continue processing transactions while the certificate is being installed.
  

If you’d like to learn more about how ClearPath Forward ePortal 9.0 can benefit your business, please contact your Unisys sales representative. And for additional information, please visit our web site to see all the value ePortal can bring to MCP and OS 2200 environments.