                             Release Notes for
                                Helix Swarm

                              Version ~:VERSION:~

Introduction

    Helix Swarm (hereafter referred to as "Swarm") enables collaboration
    and code review for teams using Helix Core that will help your teams ship
    quality software faster.

    This document lists all user-visible changes to Helix Swarm for
    Release ~:VERSION:~.

    Perforce numbers releases YYYY.R/CCCCC, for example, 20~:VER:~/123456. YYYY is the
    year; R is the release of that year; CCCCC is the bug fix change level.
    Each bug fix in these release notes is marked by its change number.
    Any release includes (1) all bug fixes of all previous releases and (2)
    all bug fixes of the current release up to the bug fix change level.

    The most up to date version of these release notes can be found here:

    * http://www.perforce.com/perforce/doc.current/user/swarm_relnotes.txt

    Please send all feedback to support@perforce.com.

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Important Platform End-of-Life Notice

    Swarm no longer provides an OVA.

    Swarm now supports PHP 8.1 and greater starting with 2024.5.

    Dropped support for the below Operating Systems:
        - CentOS 7 and 8
        - Ubuntu 16 and 18
        - RHEL 7
        - Amazon Linux 2

    As of 2024.5, Swarm supports PHP 8.1 and above, having discontinued support for all earlier versions.
    This shift addresses significant security issues and improves Swarm's performance,
    reflecting our commitment to retiring platforms that have reached End-of-Life (EOL).
    Upon upgrading Helix Swarm, consider migrating to PHP version 8.1 and above.

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Important Notes

    Helix Visual Client (P4V) version 2021.3 or older does not work with Helix Swarm 2022.3 or newer versions.

    v9 is the latest complete set of APIs. The v11 APIs are not yet complete,
    and might undergo refinement in the upcoming releases.

    Review Page

         You can switch back to the Classic view seamlessly using the classic view toggle.

    Task Stream Reviews

        Pre-commit reviews in a task stream are not supported.

    AI Feature
        Please read Perforce's Generative AI policy before enabling Swarm's AI code analysis feature.
        See https://www.perforce.com/generative-ai-policy

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Upgrading from earlier versions

    In the Swarm 2024.3 release, Redis binary has been upgraded to version 7.2.4. As a result 
    of this upgrade, the kernel and glibc requirements have automatically changed from 
    version 2.6 to 3.10. If you need to run Redis under kernel version 2.6, you can do either
    of the following:

    - Compile Redis from sources on the target host meeting the target kernel.

    - Or use your own older Redis installation.
    
    Please see the upgrade section of the documentation:
    https://www.perforce.com/manuals/v~:VER:~/swarm/Content/Swarm/chapter-setup-upgrade.html

    In the Swarm 2024.6 release, Redis binary has been upgraded to version 7.2.6.

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Platform Notes

    Swarm supports the following client web browsers at the latest stable
    browser version:

    * Apple Safari
    * Google Chrome
    * Microsoft Edge
    * Mozilla Firefox

    We recommend the use of the latest stable version of the browsers
    listed above for the best experience when using Swarm.

    Other web browsers might also work, including prior, development or
    beta builds of the above web browsers, but are not officially
    supported.

    Swarm requires that JavaScript and cookies are enabled in the web
    browser.

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Supported Platforms

    Linux (x86_64)
        Ubuntu 20.04, 22.04 and 24.04
        Rocky Linux 8 and 9
        RHEL 8 and 9

    The above platforms are tested and subject to regression testing on a frequent basis.
    Errors or bugs discovered in these platforms are prioritized for correction.
    Any platform not listed above is not actively tested by Perforce.
    Swarm may run on other platforms that are not actively tested.

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Installation

    We recommend installing Swarm using packages. This takes away all the
    complication of installing all the required packages and software used
    by Swarm.

    Please see the installation section of the documentation:
    https://www.perforce.com/manuals/v~:VER:~/swarm/Content/Swarm/chapter.setup.html


    Support for Ubuntu 16.04 has been dropped from release 21.1 onwards and
    support for CentOS 7 has been dropped from 2024.3.

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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 section of the documentation:

    https://www.perforce.com/manuals/v~:VER:~/swarm/Content/Swarm/admin.redis.html

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Technology Preview features:

    Features offered in Technology Preview are experimental and not
    guaranteed to always work as expected. If you have feedback and
    functionality suggestions, email techpreview@perforce.com.

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Interoperating With Previous Releases

   Swarm is tested against all supported Helix Core Server at the time of release.
   We test new releases of Swarm against the versions of Helix Core that are under
   standard maintenance at the time of the release.

   https://www.perforce.com/manuals/v~:VER:~/swarm/Content/Swarm/setup.dependencies.html#Helix_Core_Server_requirements

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Documentation

    Swarm Release ~:VERSION:~ documentation is included in the distribution
    under the "public/docs" folder. To access it locally, edit the URL to point
    to the docs directory on your local system. The documentation can be accessed from
    within Swarm from the "Help" icon in the toolbar when you are logged in.

    Additionally, the documentation is available online:

    * http://www.perforce.com/manuals/v~:VER:~/swarm

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License

    Please see the separate "license" file, a peer to this file, or:
    https://www.perforce.com/perforce/r~:VER:~/user/swarm_license.txt
