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It’s that time again, when different Development Teams at Devolutions race to launch major updates to all of our products before the year is up! In fact, we even have a special little name for the day when everything is released — we call it Devolutions Deployment Day, or DDD for short (OK, I admit that our choice of name might be slightly influenced by our love for games like Company of Heroes).
This year’s DDD was no exception, as our Development Teams pushed out some pretty significant and feature-rich releases that we believe our community will absolutely love!
Personally, I have had the pleasure of collaborating with the amazing Development Team that has been working on the 2020.3 release of Devolutions Server. Let me tell you, this update is one of the largest releases they have EVER worked on. In fact, they incorporated more than 140 feature requests, fixes, updates, and enhancements! I’ve decided to highlight the most beneficial and important improvements in this article. To simplify and organize things, I have grouped them into four categories: UX & UI Improvements, PAM Upgrades, Administrative Changes, and Console Updates.
UX & UI Improvements
Interface Facelift: We have re-invented the Devolutions Server interface to be more consistent and intuitive. This includes better font spacing and layout, as well as cleaner icons boxes and buttons. Our talented UX and UI designers went to great lengths in ensuring that Devolutions Server (and all of our other products) have that certain “je ne sais quoi” unified look and feel. And as we all know, software that is pleasing and easy to use makes our stressful IT jobs a whole lot more Zen…
Vault Selector: Now when you click to select a vault, you are presented with three new interface upgrades:
- First, you can now filter through your vaults by typing in the filter input box. This is especially handy if you are managing hundreds of vaults for departments or clients.
- Second, you can finally “favorite” the vault(s) that you use regularly by checking the little star beside them.
- Third, we added a recently viewed tab on the bottom to help you quickly go back to the vault(s) you were recently active on. You no longer have to ask yourself, “Which vault was that in again?” Time saved and problem solved!
Entry Duplication: Due to popular demand, we have given you the ability to duplicate an entry by simply right-clicking it, selecting more, and then choosing duplicate. Your wish is our command!
Secure Messages: Previously, you could only send credentials and user vault entries in secure messages. But now you can also send file attachments! Just click on the secure messages icon on the top right of the screen, click the + icon, then select the paperclip to attach a file to your message.
Logo Customization: To give you even more customization over the look and feel of Devolutions Server, you can now personalize your login screen landing page with your own image, your company logo or server name. You can also customize the little image icon on the top left of the screen. This is ideal if you want to brand Devolutions to meet your (or your clients’) unique needs. To access this, simply go to the Administration tab -> Server Settings -> Advanced, and then upload your own logo(s) to personalize it.
Improved Search: We have added the ability to search the description of an entry, and not just the entry name or URL.
PAM Upgrades
PAM Onboarding: We have added a shiny new Quick Start wizard to help simplify the process of importing privileged accounts into Devolutions Server. The step-by-step instructions will get you started by setting up your account provider (e.g. AD), creating a scan configuration, and helping you filter and assign privileged accounts into folders. Also, the wizard will remember your settings so that you can rescan for accounts without having to start from scratch every time — which will save you time and effort!
PAM Checkout: Now when a user requests to check out a privileged account, the approver can either approve or deny the request directly from the secure messages window. No more having to go through the Privileged Access Tab only! We have also added the ability to grant a user access to approve their own checkouts, as well as force a check in for any account(s) that may have been left checked out.
Expanded Role-Based Access for PAM: We have improved the security for accessing privileged accounts by enabling you to assign predefined roles to them. For example, a privileged account can be set as viewable by an Operator or Reader, but it can only be edited or deleted by an Owner, Manager, or Contributor. Permissions can easily be set by going to the Privileged Access Tab -> Accounts -> then clicking on the triple line icon on a privileged account, selecting edit, and then clicking on the Security Tab. Plus, if you want to quickly see which users are assigned to a group, simply click the triple line icon and select View Resolved User Groups.
Administrative Changes
Security Dashboard: We have created a brand-new Security Dashboard, which is a centralized location that provides admins with security information, along with action steps based on basic predefined security criteria. Since this feature is completely new, we would love your input on what you would like to see here. However, please keep in mind that we already plan on expanding this feature and incorporating even more tools to help you better assess your security needs. You can check out the new dashboard in the Administration Tab.
Password Policies: Now when you create a brand-new Devolutions Server instance, you can set the default password policy to be used system wide. This saves you the hassle of doing this manually later.
Backup Manager: The backup manager now gives you the ability to encrypt your backups with a password.
Licenses: Now under the Administration Tab, there is a new Licenses icon that provides admins with a centralized location to keep track of all licenses, and even assign them to specific users.
Reports: We have beefed up the reports section to help you better find the information you need. Now you can filter your search results by selecting specific vaults through a convenient pop-up window.
Console Updates
Our team has also made some important changes to the Server console. The UI has been updated to make the interface easier to use and navigate. Also, we have added a wizard tool to provide a streamlined and faster installation process. We have also given you the ability to save a response .json file to make future installations even simpler.
That’s a Wrap!
Phew, that was a lot to talk about, and thanks for sticking around to the end! As you can see, the whole Devolutions Server team led by David Savard has been extremely busy getting this release rolled out, and I think you’ll agree with me that it was well worth it. Now, if you’re one of those adventurous people who wants to read about ALL of the most recent changes in the 2020.3 update, then you’ll find the Devolutions Server Release Notes here.
As always, please let us know if you have any questions or comments about these improvements by commenting below, or by posting on our forum. And reach out to us if we can help you get started with Devolutions Server or assist you in upgrading to the latest version. We are here to help!
