MiNiFi Java Agent updates

MiNiFi Java Agents has periodic software updates made available independent of the Edge Flow Manager (EFM) releases.

This section lists major features and updates for the independent CEM MiNiFi Java Agent release.

April 16, 2024

CEM MiNiFi Java Agent - 2.24.02 release includes:

Based on NiFi 2
This release marks the transition to NiFi 2 as the underlying framework for the CEM MiNiFi Java Agent. With this update, support for configuring flows using config.yml has been deprecated, and only flows in JSON format are supported. If you use MiNiFi with EFM, flows will now be automatically created in JSON format. For more information, see Upgrading MiNiFi Java agents from 1.x to 2.x.
FIPS compatibility for MiNiFi Java
Sensitive properties of flows are now encrypted before storing them on disk when the flow is received through C2. Additionally, bootstrap properties can be encrypted using the minifi-toolkit.
CFM NAR compatibility
CEM MiNiFi Java Agent 2.24.02 is compatible with CFM-4.2.0.0 NARs. For more information about integrating CFM NARs into CEM-AGENTS-JAVA, see Compatibility with CFM NARs.
Graceful shutdown of MiNiFi Docker
MiNiFi now supports a graceful shutdown process when operating within a container environment, reducing the risk of data loss during shutdown procedures.
Encrypting MiNiFi bootstrap.conf sensitive properties
Sensitivity properties within MiNiFi's bootstrap.conf file can now be encrypted using the minifi-toolkit. For more information, see Encrypting sensitive properties in bootstrap.conf.

April 18, 2023

CEM MiNiFi Java Agent - 1.23.04 release includes:
  • FIPS compatibility for MiNiFi Java

    MiNiFi Java can be run in FIPS enabled environments and it can use Bouncy Castle FIPS keystores (​​BCFKS).

  • Support access through Load Balancer/Proxy

    When agents are behind Load Balancer/Proxy, EFM relies on the X-FORWARDED-HOST header to create absolute download URLs for the agents (flow, asset, and file transfer). Not all Load Balancers or Proxies support this header or they can be configured to remove it, so to bypass the issue the agent can rely on the relative path sent by EFM (from version 1.5.1.0) and combine it with the host configured for the agent to create the proper absolute URL. Three new properties have been introduced while keeping backward compatibility so the old ones can still be used. The old properties will be removed in a future release.

    The new properties are:
    c2.rest.path.base
    Base path of the C2 server's REST API

    For example: http://localhost/efm/api

    c2.rest.path.heartbeat
    Relative URL of the C2 server's heartbeat endpoint

    For example: /c2-protocol/heartbeat

    c2.rest.path.acknowledge
    Relative URL of the C2 server's acknowledge endpoint

    For example: /c2-protocol/acknowledge

March 30, 2023

CEM MiNiFi Java Agent - 1.23.02.1000 Service Pack includes the same features as the 1.23.02 release and a fix for the Too many open files error introduced in 1.23.02, which is caused by non-closed files in the heartbeat request.

February 15, 2023

CEM MiNiFi Java Agent - 1.23.02 release includes:
  • Property update command with the C2 protocol

    Implemented the UPDATE/PROPERTIES command. This command allows agents to update bootstrap properties using the C2 protocol. For more information, see Agent details in CEM.

  • Pushing assets to agents with the C2 protocol

    Implemented the UPDATE/ASSET command. This command allows agents to download artifacts into the specified assets directory as per instructed by the C2 server. For more information, see Using Asset Push command.

  • Using change ingestors for configuration updates is no longer necessary.
  • The following issues are fixed:
    • Hanging bootstrap commands when executing large flows.
    • Debug command fails on windows due to malformed input.
    • Many additional small improvements and stability fixes.

October 12, 2022

CEM MiNiFi Java Agent - 1.22.10 release includes:
  • Lightweight heartbeat support

    This reduces the payload size of the heartbeat and the agent sends the full agent manifest only if a change is detected. The functionality can be enabled with the c2.full.heartbeat=false property in the bootstrap.conf file.

  • Debug support through C2 protocol

    Debug bundles can be requested from EFM Agent Manager for the given agent. For more details, see Debug agent in CEM.

  • GZip C2 requests

    Using GZipped requests can be beneficial to prevent network saturation. To enable it, set the c2.request.compression=gzip property in the bootstrap.conf file.

  • Docker images released for multiple platforms (x86, ARM)
  • The following issues are fixed:
    • Missing required controller services for several processors
    • Fixed agent information values when running agent on Windows

July 28, 2022

CEM MiNiFi Java Agent - 1.22.07 release includes:
  • Initial release of the new MiNiFi Java agent based on the latest version of NiFi (1.16.3).
  • Includes heartbeat and update/configuration support over the C2 protocol.