Update List – Visual-Guard 2024.5

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The Visual Guard 2024.5 release brings several enhancements, fixes, and improvements to performance, security, and user experience. Below is the summary of key updates included in this version for both VGWinconsole and VGWebconsole

👤Workflow & Identity Server User Assignment

Visual Guard now introduces the ability to designate a Master Admin as the impersonated user for Workflow or Identity Server operations.
Users can now be assigned through:

A new button on the User Details page (WinConsole/WebConsole): Set as Workflow User.
A dedicated section in Settings to input and validate the impersonated user.

Additionally, deleting an impersonated user is now restricted unless the user has been reassigned, ensuring consistent workflow integrity and user mapping.

🔐Trigger MFA Validation Programmatically

This enhancement allows developers to trigger Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) validation programmatically within Visual Guard. This feature enables greater flexibility in integrating MFA checks into custom workflows, scripts, or automated processes, strengthening security while allowing controlled authentication handling.

🔷Entra Domain Icon Update

Entra domains are now visually distinct within the domain selection interface, making it easier for administrators to identify and differentiate Entra domains from other domain types at a glance.

🧹Version Logging in Trace

Both WebConsole and IdentityServer now log the application version (e.g., 2024.5.513) in VGTrace. This enhancement improves support and troubleshooting by allowing teams to quickly identify the exact application version involved in any logged activity or issue.

🔒Azure ARM Update for 2024.5

The Azure ARM templates have been updated to support seamless trial SaaS deployments using Visual Guard 2024.5. This enhancement simplifies cloud setup and deployment, ensuring faster and more reliable provisioning of Visual Guard environments in Azure.

🔒Azure Environments – Security Runtime References

All development, testing, and production applications have been audited and updated to ensure proper references to VGSecurityRuntime. This update strengthens consistency and reliability across Azure environments, improving security and runtime stability during deployment and execution.

⚙️Angular Sample Application Update

The Angular sample application has been updated to the latest stable version, along with all related dependencies and Visual Guard integration. This ensures compatibility with modern Angular frameworks, improved performance, and a smoother development experience for developers using the sample as a reference.

Engine & Platform

🧩.NET 8 Compatibility

Visual Guard has been updated for full compatibility with .NET 8. As part of this enhancement, the deprecated BinaryFormatter has been removed and replaced with modern, secure serializers such as System.Text.Json and XmlSerializer. This update improves application security, performance, and long-term framework support.

👤User Migration Performance

Performance has been significantly optimized for large repositories—for example, those containing up to 600,000 users—during the user migration process. This enhancement greatly reduces migration time and improves stability when handling large-scale data transfers.

📦NuGet Packaging

The Visual Guard 2024.5 engine components have been published to NuGet with verified signing and versioning. This enhancement simplifies deployment and integration for developers, ensuring secure, traceable, and easily maintainable package management within .NET projects.

🛡️Secure Repository Configurations

When adding existing repositories via the Console, Visual Guard now encrypts stored credentials in the configuration files. This enhancement strengthens security by protecting sensitive connection information and ensuring safer repository management practices.

🔍Trace Improvements

New tracing methods have been added to capture class and method names in log files, providing deeper insights during debugging and issue analysis. This enhancement improves traceability and makes troubleshooting more efficient for developers and support teams.

📦NuGet Vulnerability Mitigation

Over 35 NuGet packages have been updated to their latest stable versions to address known security vulnerabilities and remove warnings. Examples include updates to System.Text.Json, Oracle.ManagedDataAccess.Core, Microsoft.Data.SqlClient, Newtonsoft.Json, and Serilog. These updates strengthen Visual Guard’s security, improve compatibility, and ensure a safer runtime environment.

🧰JSON Configuration Isolation

Visual Guard settings are now stored in secure, isolated JSON configuration files that are not accessible via URL. This enhancement improves security by preventing unauthorized access to sensitive configuration data and ensuring safer application deployment practices.

WinConsole & WebConsole

🔷UI Enhancements in Entra Domain and Edit User Views

Icons, tooltips, and labels have been updated for improved clarity and consistency across the Entra Domain and Edit User views. These visual refinements enhance usability and provide a more intuitive experience for administrators managing users and domain settings.

🧮Connection String Button Restored

The manual connection string editing button has been reintroduced when generating configuration files. This restoration provides administrators with greater flexibility to review and modify connection strings directly, ensuring more control over repository and environment configurations.

👤Impersonated User Selection Mechanism

Visual Guard now offers two methods to assign an impersonated user: directly from the User Details page or through the Settings/Repository section. This flexibility simplifies configuration and allows administrators to manage impersonation assignments more efficiently based on their preferred workflow.

Bug Fixes

👤Prevent Deletion of Impersonated User

The system now prevents the deletion of users who are set as impersonated for workflow or identity operations. This safeguard ensures process continuity and prevents configuration errors that could disrupt automated workflows or identity server functions.

🛡️Role Update Protection for Impersonated Users

Role modifications are now blocked for users assigned as impersonated. This restriction ensures that workflow and identity operations remain stable and prevents unintended permission changes that could affect critical impersonation configurations.