What’s new
This section provides a summary of the notable changes in Swarm for the 2023.3 release. Full details are available in the distribution's RELNOTES.txt
file.
Major new functionality
To share your feedback about Swarm, see Getting help.
Review page (preview) enhancements
Improved performance of Swarm when displaying reviews with many files
Performance of the preview version of the Swarm Review page has been improved when it displays reviews with many files. The review page no longer truncates the large file list and only shows the files that the user has expanded. See Review display.
Introduced a scroll bar to view the file list
You can now use a scroll bar to view the complete list of files. See File list.
View total number of file comments
The Swarm review page (preview) now shows the total number of file-level comments. See File content panel header.
Add a Thumbs up to like a review comment
You can now add a thumbs up to like a review comment. See Liking comments.
Minor new functionality
Linkified text can now be configured to open in a new tab
The target configurable enables you to open a URL in the same tab or a new tab, defaults to '_self'. To open the URL in a new tab, set to '_blank'. For more information, see Adding a new job keyword.
Test notifications contain complete URL to the tests
The test notifications email now contains the complete URL to the tests. See Notifications.
Important information
PHP 7.X versions will no longer be supported in Swarm 2024 release
Swarm will drop support for PHP 7.X in 2024. This is part of our commitment to move away from using versions of platforms that have reached End-of-Life (EOL).
PHP version 8.X addresses important security issues and helps improve Swarm's performance. You can upgrade to PHP 8.x when you upgrade Swarm.
Project level test and deploy code features to be deprecated in a later Swarm release
The project level test and deploy code features will be deprecated in a later Swarm release. We recommend you use test integration to automatically deploy code within a review. For more information, see Add a test.
The ability to edit custom modules from the Swarm UI to be removed in a later Swarm release
Editing custom modules from the Swarm UI will not work once the new review page replaces the original review page. The new review page will replace the original review page in a later Swarm release.
PHP version support changed for Swarm 2022.1
We have removed support for PHP 7.0 and 7.1 for Swarm 2022.1. This is part of our commitment to move away from using versions of platforms that have reached End-of-Life (EOL).
Swarm no longer supports Microsoft Internet Explorer
Swarm 2022.1 and later no longer supports Microsoft Internet Explorer. This is part of our commitment to move away from using platforms that have reached End-of-Life (EOL).
Swarm no longer supports CentOS 8
Swarm 2022.1 and later no longer supports Swarm installation on CentOS 8. This is part of our commitment to move away from using versions of platforms that have reached End-of-Life (EOL).
Swarm no longer supports Ubuntu 16.04
Swarm 2021.1 and later no longer supports Swarm installation on Ubuntu 16.04. This is part of our commitment to focus on supported technology platforms.
Swarm no longer supports CentOS 6 and RHEL 6
Swarm 2020.2 does not support Swarm installation on CentOS 6 and RHEL 6. This is part of our commitment to focus on supported technology platforms.
Helix Core Server 2020.1 stream spec file permissions change
Helix Core Server 2020.1 and later, permissions have changed for viewing and editing stream spec files in Swarm. To view and edit stream spec files in Swarm, the Swarm user must have admin permissions for the entire depot //...
Trigger script updated for Swarm 2020.1
The swarm.shelvedel shelve-del trigger script has been updated in Swarm 2020.1, the trigger script must be updated in the Helix Core Server trigger table or added if it does not already exist, see Update the Helix Core Server triggers table to run the trigger script.
Custom module support in Swarm 2020.1 and later
The Zend 3 Framework project has been forked to an open source project called Laminas, see https://getlaminas.org/about/. Swarm 2020.1 now uses the Laminas framework, this is part of our commitment to move away from using versions of platforms that have reached End-of-Life (EOL).
If you have existing custom Swarm modules created for Swarm 2019.3 or earlier, you must update them to use the Laminas framework. For instructions on updating your Zend custom modules to Laminas, see Migrate existing custom modules to the Laminas framework.
Upgrading from Swarm 2019.1 and earlier
Swarm 2019.2 introduced a Redis in-memory cache to improve performance and reduce the load on the Helix Core Server. This replaces the file-based cache that was previously used by Swarm.
On Swarm systems with a large number of users, groups, and projects, the initial population of this cache can take some time. If you have a large Swarm system you should read through the Redis server connection and configuration options before installing or upgrading Swarm, see Redis server.
Workflow feature support changed for Swarm 2019.2
The Swarm workflow feature is enabled by default. If you are upgrading from an earlier version you will need to update your triggers, see Upgrading Swarm.
PHP and Apache version support changed for Swarm version 2019.1
We have removed support for versions of PHP older than 7.0 in Swarm 2019.1. As a result of this change, support for Apache 2.2 has also been removed. This is part of our commitment to move away from using versions of platforms that have reached End-of-Life (EOL).
Ensure that you can install a supported version of PHP and Apache before upgrading to Swarm 2019.1. For information on versions of PHP and Apache supported by Swarm, see PHP and Apache web server.
P4PHP 2019.1 or later required for Swarm 2019.1 and later
The latest version of P4PHP is included in the Swarm package, OVA, and tarball installations.
Known limitations
After an upgrade to Swarm 2022.3, you may see partial text labels or unexpected page artifacts
After an upgrade to Swarm 2022.3, if you see partial text labels or unexpected page artifacts, clear your web browser cache and refresh Swarm in your web browser.
No activity event is created when a project setting is updated
When a project setting is updated, Swarm does not create an activity.
Review page (preview)
Swarm 2022.2: Some review page features are not yet supported by the new review page preview. This will be addressed in a later release of Swarm. In the meantime, if you need to use any of the unsupported features, switch back to the original Swarm review page with the Preview toggle. Help for the original Swarm review page is available in the Swarm 2021.2 documentation, see Review display.
The following features are currently not supported in the review page preview UI:
Comments:
Comment likes: you cannot add a like to a comment.
Files tab:
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Show full context: the Show full context: button is not available.
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File view controls: the Show whitespace, Inline, and Side-by-side view settings are not sticky and are reset on a page reload
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Show whitespace: is not showing CRLF line endings or tabs correctly
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3D model files: 3D model files are not displayed.
Other features:
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Terminating list of files/file if size is too large: we do not limit how many files we display.
Issue with userids containing a / character
Swarm shelvedel trigger can fail for a specific Windows use case
Unsupported characters in user names and group names in Swarm 2019.2 and later
Swarm support for the "Private editing of streams" feature in Helix Core Server 2019.1 and later
Multiple-Helix Core Server instances on a single Swarm instance
Issue: Swarm will lose connection to all of the Helix Core Servers if you edit the base_url configurable value in the environment block of <swarm_root>/data/config.php. This will stop your system working.
Fix: Remove the base_url configurable from the environment block of <swarm_root>/data/config.php.
Global Dashboard does not support Single Sign-On (Helix Authentication Service)

Project Commits tab can fail to show some Helix Core Server commits in the top level view
Individual branch views display the commits correctly.