Deployment processes

Required Roles n/a
Required Rights
(by category)		 Clients
Environments
Deployment Process Diagrams
Scripts
Perspective  Configuration Management
Access  DROPS Server →  Configuration → ( Client →)  Environments → click on Environment →  Process List

All of the entities configured in the artifact and Infrastructure repositories come together during the deployment process. Application(s) and the component(s) to deploy are joined with the target environment(s) and specific infrastructure item(s) in deployment process diagrams. It is in these diagrams, the key elements in your process, that the final location for the content to deploy and the actions to carry out during deployment are defined.

The deployment process is represented by the diagram in order to easily define and display the activities and stages required to successfully deploy releases to each infrastructure item.

The  Process List is displayed automatically when you click on an environment in the  Environments search view.

Note

It is recommended to open the Process List in a different area than the Environments view. If both views are tabs in the same area, it is difficult to access the Environment editor.

Reference

For more information about the  Environments view, refer to Environments.

The  Process List displays all of the processes defined for the selected environment.

The Process List view

There are two ways to create deployment processes:

Creating a new process enables you to duplicate it later.

Follow the subsequent steps to create a new deployment process.

Step 1   Click the  create icon in the  Process List or right-click anywhere in the view and select  Create a new deployment process to open the Create a new deployment process wizard.

Step 2   Define the Process Code and Process Name. These values can be edited later.

Step 3   Select the  application to associate with the process. This is the application that contains the artifacts to deploy to the environment.

Note

If the application only has one component, the component will be automatically assigned to be deployed to (all of) the infrastructure item(s) selected in the next step.

Important!

Make sure to select the correct application! Once you click Finish and create a deployment process, you cannot change the application associated with it.

Step 4   Select the infrastructure item(s) to use in the deployment process diagram. The list of items is prepopulated with all of the items defined for the selected environment. If no item is selected, the deployment process diagram will include all of the infrastructure items defined for the environment.

Note

infrastructure items can be added and removed from the diagram after it is created, also.

Click Finish.

Result   New deployment processes are available in the  Process List after refreshing the list. It is very important to continue configuring a process after it’s created before using it.

Reference

For more information about building and configuring deployment process, refer to Building deployment process diagrams and Editing deployment process properties.

Duplicating a deployment process defined for an environment is a quick way to apply an existing method of deploying content to another set of infrastructure items on a different environment.

Example

You have similar infrastructure items in two different environments. They both require the same deployment process. Instead of creating the same process twice, create it once then duplicate it and manually define which of the original items' processes should be "copied" and applied to the similar item in the second environment.

Important!

You cannot change the application associated with a process when you duplicate it. The new process will deploy the same application as the original.

Follow the subsequent steps to duplicate an existing deployment process in order to create a new process.

Step 1   To open the Duplicate a deployment process wizard, either select an existing process in the  Process List then click the  duplicate icon, or right-click on it and select  Duplicate.

Step 2   Define the new process’ Process Code and Process Name. These values can be edited later but must be unique.

Click Next > to continue.

Step 3   Select the version of the existing process to duplicate.

Click Next > to continue.

Step 4   Define the environment for the new process.

Note

If you do not tick the Change the target Environment checkbox, the new process will be copied to the current process' environment and use the original infrastructure items.

  1. To change the environment and the infrastructure items for the new process, tick the Change the target Environment checkbox, then select the new environment from the drop-down list.

    The list of environments to select is prepopulated with all of the environments defined for the current server that include the original process' application in the Allowed Applications manager. You cannot change the application the process is linked to when duplicating it, so it must also be allowed to be deployed to the new environment.

    Select the original environment to duplicate the process using different infrastructure items.

    Important!

    Make sure to select the correct environment. Once you click Finish and create the process, you cannot change the associated environment.

  2. To define which of the new environment's infrastructure items should use the processes defined, map the original items to the new environment's items. The items from the original process already contain defined stages and actions. In order to ensure their diagrams are matched to similar infrastructure items in the new process, define which of items in the original process should be mapped to each target infrastructure item.

    The infrastructure items that the original process references are listed in the Source Infrastructure Item column. Match an original item to an item in the new environment by double-clicking in the corresponding item's row in the Target Infrastructure Item column.

    The Infrastructure Item Selection dialog is prepopulated with all of the infrastructure items defined in the selected environment that are also the same type as the original infrastructure item. Requiring that the types of both the original and new items are the same when duplicating a process ensures that the actions defined in the process are applicable to both infrastructure items.

    Important!

    Make sure to select the correct infrastructure item in the mapping dialog. Once you click OK and map the process, you cannot change the individual infrastructure item. To reset all of the mapped items, reselect the environment from the Target Environment drop-down list.

    All of the original items must be mapped to a new infrastructure item to finish the duplication. You can edit, add and remove items from the new process once it is created.

Step 5    Click Finish.

Result   New deployment processes are available in the  Process List after refreshing the list. It is very important to continue configuring a process after it’s created before using it.

Reference

For more information about building and configuring deployment process, refer to Building deployment process diagrams and Editing deployment process properties.

To change the deployment process status, either right-click on it in the  Process List then select  Change Status or select it, then click the  Change Status icon.

The list of available deployment process statuses is prepopulated with the statuses defined by the administrator in the Preferences menu.

If a deployment process is marked as Production Status, it means that the process has been validated and cannot be modified.

Reference

For more information about defining statuses, refer to Defining deployment process statuses.

Defining a default status for an environment is not required but it is useful when creating multiple deployment process instances at the same time using environment groups. The default deployment process for an environment is always used as the process to deploy when multiple deployment process instances are created using environment groups. Default deployment processes are indicated by the  default icon in the  Process List.

Because environment groups can share more than one common application, default deployment processes are defined per application. An environment can have multiple default processes but only one per application. If a different deployment process with the same application is already defined as the default, selecting another and clicking the Default icon will remove the title from the previous process.

To define the default deployment process for an environment, select it from the  Process List then either right-click and select  Set As Default or click the  set default icon in the local toolbar.

To remove the default status of a deployment process, select it from the  Process List then either right-click and select  Remove As Default or click the  set default icon in the local toolbar.

Reference

For more information about the entities mentioned above, refer to:

Reference

Building deployment process diagrams

Reference

Editing deployment process properties

Warning!

Deleted deployment processes cannot be accessed or recovered. Any deployment process instances created from the process are deleted as well.

To delete a deployment process, either right-click on it in the  Process List and select  Delete, or select it and click the  delete icon. Click OK to confirm or click Cancel to keep the deployment process.