FileMaker Server 13.0v2 Released

[Steven H. Blackwell]

FileMaker Server 13.0v2 has been released.  http://thefmkb.com/13183.

 

Many updates and refinements.

 

Steven

[Matt Klein]

I noticed that one of the updates in FMS13v2 is a fix for the Heartbleed bug(this actually was part of the 13v1a update too.)   

 

Am I reading correctly that you must get a custom certificate rather than use the FileMaker default certificate when if you use "Require Secure Connections"? 

 

I read this when 13v1a came out and thought I would sit on it for a little while to see what kind of conversations were going to happen.  I haven't seen any really.   Am I the only one concerned about this?   It is my understanding that custom certificates are NOT inexpensive.  

 

Approaching clients that have FMS13v1 installed with "Require Secure Connections" turned on, and using the Filemaker default certificate to tell them that they now have to spend more money to get a custom certificate isn't all that appealing to me, mainly because it's not going to be appealing to them.

 

What happens if we install the v2 updater and do not update to a custom certificate?   Will FMS still work?  Will workstations still see the server and function properly?   I can't really test this on a client's computer and quite honestly testing it on our FMS server isn't a good business idea either since we have business critical apps running on it.

 

I might be misinterpreting the documentation for the updater.   I have to admit that SSL Certificates and how they work is not one of my strong points at the moment.

 

Anyone?

 

Feel free to move this to another topic.   I just didn't see any other FMS13v2 threads and thought this would be a good place for it.

[Steven H. Blackwell]

 

Am I reading correctly that you must get a custom certificate rather than use the FileMaker default certificate when if you use "Require Secure Connections"? 

 

No, that's not correct.  The connection will still be encrypted.  However, the custom certificate is considered a better option.  it verifies that the server is who it claims to be.

 

Steven

[Matt Klein]

Steven -

 

So,  is the following statement from the update notes merely a suggestion and not a requirement of the update?:

 

"After applying this software, if you do not have a signed SSL certificate that matches your specific server name or DNS name, request a certificate from a trusted certificate authority (CA) supported by FileMaker, Inc."

 

 

Thanks for your time

[fndimarco]

I installed the server update yesterday and our WebDirect project became almost instantly inoperable.

When only three users attempted to access the file via browsers, the connections became impossibly slow.  On the server, I noticed that doing anything on the desktop was almost impossible.  Via Task Manager, I noticed the fmscwpc.exe process had spiked the CPU usage to 100% and even after breaking the browser connections, I couldn't get that process to let go.  I forced quit it and the computer began to work again.  Reboot, repeat -- same thing several times.

 

I spun up a clean Windows 2008 server (on Amazon Web Services), installed only FMS13 and the updater and began to work on the FMServer_Sample file via web direct.  All these problems recurred -- with only a handful of users connecting via Web Direct, we saw "Communication Error" warnings, broken connections, frozen pages, and (on the server) the fmscwpc.exe spiking.  We also noticed that the sample file was generally rendering slowly or incorrectly -- on the first page, graphics on the layout that displayed in the v1 of server do not display, for instance.  And some of the tabbing and data entry problems seem aggravated rather than improved.  The closest I have to a clue is script triggers -- we were on layouts with OnLayoutEnter triggers when things seemed to blow up.  Even though on one layout, all the trigger did was "Show All Records."

 

Anyone else seeing this kind of misbehavior in Web Direct after the update?

[Steven H. Blackwell]

Be sure you report these problems to FIleMaker, Inc.

 

 

Steven

Steven -

 

So,  is the following statement from the update notes merely a suggestion and not a requirement of the update?:

 

"After applying this software, if you do not have a signed SSL certificate that matches your specific server name or DNS name, request a certificate from a trusted certificate authority (CA) supported by FileMaker, Inc."

 

I would characterize it as a strong recommendation.

 

Steven

[fndimarco]

Thanks, Steven -- I have reported the WebDirect/v2 problems to FM this morning.  Along with some other problems we've discovered while testing.

[steveshiver]

 

fndimarco,

 

What's the status on this? I was about to upgrade to 13.02 until I read this post ... sorry you're the one that got the snake bite

 

Steve Shiver