what’s New
On the ActiveState Platform
New features are updated regularly. Make a pick: Identify & Resolve Security Vulnerabilities Faster| Python 3.9 Beta | CLI-Enabled Security/CVE Reports Beta | Project Branching | Role-Based Access Control
Identify & Resolve Security Vulnerabilities Faster
Update – June 2021
Shorten the lengthy remediation process of investigating, rebuilding, retesting and updating runtime environments. The ActiveState Platform lets you find, fix and automatically rebuild a secure version of your Python, Perl and Tcl environments in minutes, decreasing Mean Time To Remediation (MTTR) from days to hours.
Read How To Remediate Your Open Source Vulnerabilities Quicker or watch a demonstration.
Python 3.9 – Beta
Update – March 2021
We’re introducing a whole new way to work with Python from ActiveState. Rather than a monolithic ActivePython distribution, our Python 3.9 release lets you:
- Manage packages with a single toolchain for both Windows and Linux — reduce tool maintenance overhead
- Deploy into a virtual environment by default (simpler than venv) — run multiple versions of Python without dependency conflicts
- Automatically build dependencies from source in parallel, including linked C libraries — faster, more secure Python builds
Unlike ActivePython, our Python 3.9 provides:
- A much smaller footprint — just the language and the packages you need to get started
- Standard licensing — all the packages you install have just their original licensing
- Command line installation — automated installation with a single line of code
Ready to try it out?
- Build your own version (select “Python” -> “Custom Python Build” -> version 3.9.2), or
- Download just the language and our State Tool CLI and go from there.
- To get started with State Tool, check out our cheat sheet, which shows you how to search/install/remove packages, and otherwise manage your environment.
Problems? Questions? Create a post in the ActiveState Community Forums and let us know.
CLI-Enabled Security/CVE Reports – Beta
Update – March 2021
View the number and severity of vulnerabilities in your Python or Perl projects at a glance, or access a detailed report using the State Tool by running state cve. See how it works. (Requires a paid subscription to the ActiveState Platform.)
Don’t have a paid account? You can still request access to give it a try.
Project Branching
Update – February 2021
Similar to a git branch, those on paid tiers can now create branches of their projects in order to make different configurations for debug, test, production, etc. For example, the main configuration of a runtime environment might be for development and test purposes, but you can create a child configuration for production purposes that doesn’t include test harnesses.
In this way, you need only centrally maintain one main runtime that all children inherit. See how it works.
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
Update – February 2021
You can now add users to your organization on the ActiveState Platform and assign them a role:
- Read Only – user can only install and work with your runtime environments
- Editor – user can edit existing runtime environments, as well as create new ones
- Admin – user can edit and create runtime environments, as well as invite others to your organization
In this way you can provide greater control over how your users interact with your runtime environments. For example, you may want your lead developer to be the only person to be able to create and modify the runtime environment used by their team.
Next Steps
Get a 15-minute personalized demo to understand how it can support your organization.
Check out the different kinds of runtimes you can build. Download one to start exploring.
Get the latest ActiveState Platform Resources. Get demonstations, case studies, executive guides and more.
