Deployment Pipeline
Deployment Pipeline
Automated implementation of an application’s build, test, deploy and release process is known as deployment pipeline.
Shown are the typical stages a change passes through in the pipeline.
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Any change in application’s configuration, source code, data or environment triggers a new instance of the pipeline.
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In the pipeline, binaries and installers are created first.
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Tests are run on the binaries.
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A combination of code, configuration, data, and the environment is considered releasable only after passing the pipeline successfully.
Deployment Pipeline Advantages
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Enables collaboration (each step is visible to the team).
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Ensures issues are identified and resolved at an early stage.
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Helps team to automatically deploy and release a software version anytime.
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Aids team to identify inefficiencies in the release process.
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Enables metrics collection (such as cycle time).
Pipeline Flow
Commit Stage
The commit stage includes:
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Code compilation
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Execution of commit tests
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Binaries creation (for use at later stages)
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Static code analysis
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Artifacts creation (like test databases)
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The release candidate is created after passing this stage.
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Eliminates the code changes that are unfit for production.
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Reports at the earliest to the developer if the application is broken.
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The owner is the developer.
Commit Stage Practices
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Create efficient, fast, non-environment dependent scripts.
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Fail commit, if the build fails due to the compilation, test or environmental issues.
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Design a fast user feedback mechanism.
Acceptance Testing Stage
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A critical threshold in the deployment pipeline.
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Takes delivery teams beyond basic continuous integration.
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Tests every version of the software that passes the commit stage.
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Changes that fails at this stage, is not deployed.
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Validates if the system meets the business criteria.
Capacity Testing Stage
- Specific real-world scenarios are tested.
Practices to follow:
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Set threshold limit for concluding the test result.
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Plan short duration tests.
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Tests must be repeatable.
Manual Testing Stage
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Ensures system is usable and fulfills its requirements.
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Detects bugs that are not identified in the previous stages.
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This stage includes:
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User Acceptance Testing
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Testing in an exploratory or integration environment.
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Release Stage
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Delivers the system to users:
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As packaged software or
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Deploys it into a production or staging environment.
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Also known as deployment stage.
Steps to deploy or release software:
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Create and manage the infrastructure (like hardware, networking, etc.) on which your application will run.
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Install the correct version of the application.
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Configure the application, including any data it requires.
What are Dependencies?
Dependencies occur, when a piece of code depends on:
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another part of the code (components) or
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software (like libraries) to build or run.
Dependencies are represented by a Directed Acyclic Graph.
Dependency Types
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Build-time: To be present when the code is compiled and linked.
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Run-time: To be present when the application runs in an environment.
Managing Libraries
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Check-in the libraries to the artifact repository.
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Use a dependency management tool like Maven or Ivy to declare the libraries. It fetches the libraries from artifact repository when required.
Next section Component Pipeline elaborates on components dependency.