Preview of KNIME Analytics Platform 5.9.0

Node Development
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Dear community developers:

We’d like to draw your attention to a preview of KNIME Analytics Platform 5.9.0, which is scheduled to be released at the end of November. This is especially important if you have built custom node extensions for KNIME as this new version comes with significant framework changes, most notably Java and Eclipse. The preliminary release notes are copied below. Other changes are listed in the nightly build change log; downloads are available from the nightly build download page.

  • Update to Java 21 (previously running on Java 17). Note, no update to the system’s Java installation is required as a Java runtime environment is pre-packaged.

  • Update to Eclipse 2025-06 (previously 2024-03) – includes numerous library updates and enhancements (improved high-res support, support for new Java versions, CVE fixes, etc)

  • 3rd party KNIME node extensions (community, partner, in-house at customers) are expected to continue compiling and functioning as before. Further details:

    • Updates to native KNIME nodes were generally minimal (runtime environment updates, not strictly required) and included test infrastructure changes due to updates in Mockito (examples in knime-database and knime-xgboost)

    • Numerous individual library updates were applied – too many to list individually. A comprehensive overview is available in the github comparison. (Edit: we noticed that this repository is not public readable (yet), please refer to the list attached below for all updates.)

    • For extensions built using Tycho, the version must be updated to 4.0.13 to support Java 21. Contact us if assistance is needed.

  • Windows HiDPI Update: The legacy non-HiDPI launch mode on Windows has been removed. This change resolves the previous blurriness on high-DPI displays. Some visual elements in the Classic UI (Eclipse-based) may appear unscaled (e.g., node icons), but functionality is unaffected. No updates are required for custom extensions to ensure high-resolution display compatibility.

  • Conda environments used by Python-based extensions are now created during the restart phase after installing the extension, rather than during installation.

  • Rendering of Workflows: Workflows are now rendered using Canvas on all operating systems, replacing the previous SVG-based rendering. This change ensures smooth rendering performance even for large workflows (1000+ nodes). The rendering mode can be configured in the KNIME preferences.

  • Library removal: one library, com.ggasoftware.parso, could not be ported, and the corresponding node “SAS7BDAT Reader (deprecated)” has been permanently removed. It was deprecated in 2016, and replacement nodes providing equivalent functionality are already available.

If you have developed custom KNIME extensions, please test them with this preview, because some minor changes might be required.

Download the preview from our build download page and take it for a test drive. Please reply here with any problems, questions or comments – ideally as soon as possible!

Thanks,
– Bernd (on behalf of many others here at KNIME).

PS:

A detailed list of library updates

Added

  • aQute / bndtools tooling (7.1.0 series)
  • com.github.weisj.jsvg (1.7.2)
  • JUnit 5 stack (jupiter / platform modules 5.12.2 & 1.12.2)
  • org.apache.commons.codec (1.18.0.v20250903-knime)
  • org.apache.commons.lang3 (3.18.0)
  • org.apache.commons.net (3.11.1.v20250903-knime)
  • org.apache.cxf family (4.0.9.v20250812-knime) – re-added/upgraded unified CXF modules
  • javax.inject (1.0.0.v20250708-knime)
  • org.eclipse.jgit (7.3.0.20250603-r) – now a plugin instead of feature include
  • org.eclipse.net4j.* (DB core/jdbc/h2/util 4.x)
  • org.eclipse.pde.bnd.ui (1.2.200.v20250515-0445)
  • org.mockito.junit-jupiter (5.18.0)
  • org.tukaani.xz (1.10.0)
  • org.commonmark / commonmark-gfm-tables (0.24.0)
  • org.mortbay.jasper.apache-jsp (9.0.102)
  • org.eclipse.jetty.deploy / ee modules (12.0.21)
  • junit-vintage-engine (5.12.2)
  • org.opentest4j (1.3.0)
  • javax.xml.jre (1.3.4.202210170008)
  • javax.xml.soap (1.2.0.v201005080501)

Removed

  • org.eclipse.ecf.core.ssl.feature
  • org.eclipse.ecf.filetransfer.ssl.feature
  • com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat.jackson-dataformat-cbor (2.13.2)
  • com.ggasoftware.parso → replaced by com.epam.parso
  • com.github.ben-manes.caffeine (2.6.2)
  • com.github.flatbuffers (1.6.0.3-v20210507-knime)
  • com.vlkan.flatbuffers (1.2.0.3f79e055)
  • org.apache.commons.jxpath (1.3.0.v200911051830)
  • org.mockito.inline (merged into mockito-core 5.x)
  • org.picocontainer (2.15.0)
  • org.eclipse.jgit feature include (6.9.0) → replaced by plugin 7.3.0

Major Updates

  • org.eclipse.platform 4.31 → 4.36
  • org.eclipse.gef 3.19 → 3.24
  • org.eclipse.draw2d 3.19 → 3.24
  • org.eclipse.emf (core feature bundle) 2.37 → 2.42
  • org.eclipse.jdt 3.19 → 3.20

(All first-segment changes per semantic versioning.)

Minor & Patch Updates

Eclipse / Equinox / EMF stack

  • org.eclipse.pde 3.15 → 3.16
  • org.eclipse.equinox.core.sdk 3.25.0 → 3.25.500
  • org.eclipse.equinox.executable 3.8.2400 → 3.8.2900
  • org.eclipse.emf.codegen*, common*, edit*, mapping* – 2.3x → 2.4x series
  • org.eclipse.emf.transaction 1.13 → 1.14.1
  • org.eclipse.emf.validation 1.13.3 → 1.14.0
  • org.eclipse.emf.workspace 1.13 → 1.14.1
  • org.eclipse.gmf / runtime thirdparty 1.16.3 → 1.16.6
  • org.eclipse.xsd 2.21 → 2.22
  • org.eclipse.rcp 4.31 → 4.36

Apache Jetty 12.x

  • all Jetty modules (ee8.* / server / client / security / util / xml etc.) 12.0.6 → 12.0.21

Apache CXF 4.0.x

  • unified family (core, jaxrs/jaxws, rs-client, bindings, transports, security etc.) 4.0.4 → 4.0.9

Apache Commons / POI / Logging

  • org.apache.commons.codec 1.14 → 1.18 (knime tag)
  • org.apache.commons.lang3 3.14 → 3.18
  • org.apache.commons.net 3.7 → 3.11.1
  • org.apache.commons.text 1.12 → 1.13.1
  • org.apache.commons.csv 1.11 → 1.14
  • org.apache.poi*, xmlbeans 5.2.5 → 5.4.1 / 5.3.0
  • org.apache.log4j 1.2.25 → 1.2.26 (patch)
  • slf4j.api / slf4j.nop 2.0.12 → 2.0.17

Jackson / Woodstox / StAX

  • all com.fasterxml.jackson.* modules (core, databind, dataformat, datatype, jakarta.rs, module-*) 2.13 → 2.19
  • com.fasterxml.woodstox.woodstox-core 6.6.1 → 6.7.0
  • stax2-api 4.2.1 → 4.2.2 (relocated to eclipse feature)

HTTP Components & Jakarta

  • org.apache.httpcomponents.httpclient 4.5.14 → 4.5.14.v20250717-knime (qualifier)
  • org.apache.httpcomponents.httpcore 4.4.16.v20221207 → 4.4.16 (qualifier)
  • jakarta.activation-api 2.1.2 → 2.1.3
  • jakarta.xml.bind-api 4.0.1 → 4.0.2

Google / Utility Libs

  • com.google.gson 2.8.9 → 2.13.1
  • com.google.guava 33.0.0 → 33.4.8 (jre)
  • com.google.guava.failureaccess 1.0.2 → 1.0.3

Security / Crypto

  • bcpg / bcpkix / bcprov / bcutil 1.77 → 1.80

Tooling / Runtime Infrastructure

  • biz.aQute.* / org.bndtools.* 7.0.0 → 7.1.0
  • org.eclipse.osgi 3.19 → 3.23.100
  • org.objectweb.asm 9.6 → 9.8
  • org.objenesis 3.3 → 3.4
  • net.bytebuddy.* 1.14.12 → 1.17.5
  • com.sun.jna / platform 5.14 → 5.17
  • assertj-core 3.24 → 3.27.3

Other notables

  • org.awaitility 3.0 → 4.3
  • org.dom4j 1.6 → 2.1.4
  • org.hamcrest.core 1.3 → 2.2
  • com.github.librepdf.openpdf 1.3.26 → 2.0.4
  • org.eclipse.search.core 3.16.100 → 3.16.400
  • org.xerial.snappy.snappy-java 1.1.8.5-KNIME → 1.1.10.8
6 Likes
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Thanks Bernd (and the “many others”)

Very happy to see JDK-21 arriving in there :slight_smile:

Two questions (of course!):

  1. Will this be an LTS release? (“Late November” being quite near the traditional KNIME Nikolaustag release date!)
  2. Does the change to the conda resolution mean that the issue where if I install extensions headlessly using something like knime -application org.eclipse.p2.director …… -p2.os win -p2.arch x86_74 will now respect the platform specified in the conda environments (e.g. is building a W11 install on a linux-based architecture, to deploy to Windows)?

Steve

1 Like
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For everyone having custom KNIME node extensions:

As an example of how third-party extensions are adapted to the new Eclipse version, see the pull request we created for the RDKit community extension (courtesy of KNIME :wink: ). It contains two commits: one for the Tycho update and another for changes required by the updated Java/Eclipse version.

1 Like
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Hi Steve,

  1. LTS: KNIME AP 5.9 will not be long-term supported, but it will serve as the basis for all future versions of KNIME. AP 5.8(.1+) will be long-term supported, though it does not include these library changes. There will be only a short time window between the 5.9 and 5.8.1 (LTS) releases. The latter is planned for around St. Nikolaus (which falls on a Saturday this year), so after 5.9. It won’t be a “big-■■■■” release. (Here is the announcement with more details.)
  2. Python-based extensions: Phew, hard to answer! We have not tested this. The main motivation for changing the installation path for Python-based extensions is recurring issues with meta information and p2 touchpoints. To fully complete an installation, another full restart of the application is required (and for headless applications, we are going to offer an additional application – stay tuned for details).

– Bernd

3 Likes
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@wiswedel thank you for the updates. It would be really great if the AI Agents bug fix () could make an update in the near future (AP-24608). Currently it hinders the use of local LLM systems like Ollama with the agents node.

Also I think the navigation in the new WebGL view feels a little bit off to me (clicking the icons to navigate and then unclicking). Maybe I am just old and like the scrollbars.

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@wiswedel also I experienced a problem when updating the nightly version 03-11 to 04-11 with a Python component. I created a ticket (47650) and uploaded the log files there to inspect.

Edit: a reboot seems to have fixed the issue. It seems some Python based processes were still running in the background. So just as a note.

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@mlauber71 - I talked to the team regarding AP-24608 - this is currently in motion. We will get rid of the strict requirements of the IDs, which should fix a lot of the problems with tool invocation by the LLM.

Regaring the python upgrade. Bummer you ran into it. We know this problem and are working on it. We didn’t anticipate that some would update their production version to this preview. (Apologies for not having mentioned it.)

1 Like
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Just to be clear: I tried to update from the nightly preview to the latest version. Although another version was present in a different folder :slight_smile:

1 Like
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That would be great. The use of LLM and KNIME is great especially if one can build agents simply out of KNIME workflows. I think this has great potential.

For a corporate environment I see two options:

  • host LLMs locally which this is about
  • connect to some sort of secured version of (eg) ChatGPT that for example runs in Europe and has some additional safeguards in it

I plan on exploring both options. ‘Normal’ use of local LLMs seems to work just fine:

1 Like