Totara Release Notes

Totara 9.2.2 emergency release, released 23rd December 2016

 
Simon Coggins
Re: Totara 9.2.2 emergency release, released 23rd December 2016
di Simon Coggins - Thursday, 22 December 2016, 21:11
Gruppo Totara

For reference here is the emergency release announcement:


Unfortunately I need to report that we are currently prepping for another emergency release, in order to fix an issue in HR import. This issue is unrelated to the one that lead to the release of 9.2.1 yesterday, it is just unfortunate timing that we discovered it today.

The new issue impacts multiple job assignments in the HR import User sync and may lead to incorrect updates to job assignment data. Your site will only be effected if a very specific set of circumstances apply (described below):

  1. You have upgraded to a version of Totara LMS between 9.0 and 9.2.1 inclusive
  2. You have the “Allow multiple job assignments” setting enabled in “Advanced features”
  3. You make use of the “User” element within the HR import functionality to sync user data
  4. You have changed the “Link job assignments” setting in the User element settings to “using the user’s job assignment ID number”.
  5. Subsequent to changing the setting above you have run HR import at least once
  6. You have users on your site that have multiple job assignments (created via an upgrade, an HR import or manually)
  7. Subsequent to that, you have made further modifications to the User element settings page. This step is the one that causes the setting to be incorrectly set.
  8. Subsequent to that, you have run HR import at least once more

If you have completed some of the steps above, we recommend you ensure that subsequent steps do not occur until you have upgraded to a version that is not affected by this bug. In particular if you have completed steps 1-5 on your site we recommend you specifically avoid saving changes on the User element settings page and disable manual and scheduled running of HR import as a precaution.

It is possible to confirm that your site has already been impacted for certain as follows:

  1. Visit the User element settings page via Site administration > HR import > Elements > User.
    NOTE: Do not save this form until this bug has been fixed as it could lead to triggering of the problem!
  2. Check to see if the “Link job assignments” option is visible in the form. If visible it will appear between “Reset passwords for undeleted users” and “Allowed HR Import actions”.
    If the setting is visible you are NOT impacted by this bug. If the setting is NOT visible you may be impacted, continue with the steps below.
  3. Visit the User Source settings page via Site administration > HR import > Sources > CSV or External Database
  4. Under the “Fields to import” look for the “Manager’s job assignment” checkbox. If visible it will appear between “Manager” and “Appraiser”
    If the setting is visible you are NOT impacted by this bug. If the setting is NOT visible then you are definitely impacted.

If you run the test above and find that you are impacted please open a helpdesk ticket and we will work with you resolve the issue. Depending on your exact job assignment values running the HR import at this stage could have two effects:

A. In most circumstances you will get unexpected validation errors for users with multiple job assignments.

B. In rare circumstances we suspect it is possible that changes to a users job assignment may be made. Whilst we have not confirmed this is the case, incorrect changes to job assignments can lead to dataloss, and as such warrants this emergency release.

We’d like to sincerely apologise for the need for two emergency releases so close together, unfortunately we were the victim of bad timing around when we discovered these issues on two occasions. They were both done out of an abundance of caution and we are hopeful that the impact on your clients will be minimal.

Please feel free to open a helpdesk ticket if you have any concerns. We have staff working over the Christmas season, except for on 26th-27th December and 2nd January (UK and NZ time) and 3rd of January (NZ time only) when we are closed.