Introduction

This tutorial is designed for new users of IBM® UrbanCode™ Release. In this tutorial, you use default, ready-made objects to create a release and run a deployment. Although the release you create in this tutorial is relativity simple, it introduces you to the most-used features of IBM UrbanCode Release.

IBM UrbanCode Release is highly customizable. You can complete most tasks in several ways. In this tutorial, you are introduced to the most frequently used features and the most typical methods for completing everyday tasks.

Most objects that you create with IBM UrbanCode Release are reusable. This flexibility means that as you become familiar with the tool, you can quickly create releases and deployments by reusing your previous work. In the tutorial, you modify several default, ready-to-use objects to create your release. Later, you can reuse the release in other tutorials where you learn about advanced features such as applications and notifications.

The following steps are typically used to complete a release:
  1. Create a release. You can create new release or copy an existing one. In the tutorial, you create a release that uses the default lifecycle. Reusing a lifecycle is typical. After you create a lifecycle that reflects your delivery pipeline, you will frequently reuse it. In later tutorials, you learn how to create lifecycles that mirror your release pipeline. For information about creating lifecycles, see Creating lifecycles.
  2. Associate release environments with release phases. In this tutorial, you associate a default environment with one of the phases in the lifecycle. As with lifecycles, you frequently reuse release environments. When you associate an environment with a release, you also reserve it for a specific period. Generally, you complete this task every time you plan a release. For information about release environments, see Managing environments.
  3. Add phase approvals. This optional step is often used, especially for critical deployments. In the tutorial, you add a single phase approval to the release.
  4. Add segments and tasks to the deployment plan. Tasks that you add to a deployment plan become part of the plan, and they can be reused each time that you use the plan. As you become familiar with IBM UrbanCode Release, you can run deployments with all the necessary tasks already defined in your deployment plan. For information about deployment plans, see Deployment plans.
  5. Schedule a deployment for a release environment that is associated with the release. You can schedule deployments manually or automatically by defining certain trigger conditions. In the tutorial, you manually schedule the deployment.
  6. Run a deployment. You complete a deployment by completing tasks. If approvals are required, they must be provided before the deployment can be started. When all tasks are resolved, the deployment is complete. Typically, to complete an entire release, you would run one deployment for each phase in the lifecycle. In the tutorial, you run a deployment for a single phase.

Learning objectives

In this tutorial, you learn how to complete the following tasks:
  • Create a release that uses the Default Lifecycle as the lifecycle
  • Add a phase approval to the release
  • Associate a release environment to a release
  • Add manual and dependent tasks to the default deployment plan
  • Add signal and wait tasks to the deployment plan
  • Schedule a deployment that uses the release and deployment plan
  • Run a deployment

Time required

This tutorial takes about 1 hour to finish. If you explore other concepts that are related to this tutorial, it might take longer to complete.

System requirements

To run this tutorial, you need the following resources:
  • Access to an installation of IBM UrbanCode Release, version 6.2 or later.
  • A compatible browser. See System requirements for information about supported browsers.
  • An IBM UrbanCode Release user account with the necessary permissions.

Prerequisites

The tutorial uses default objects to complete each lesson, including roles, user IDs, and teams. You can complete the tutorial by using the default admin or releaser user IDs. Both user accounts are assigned to roles that have the required permissions on the default team, Team for Sample Release. The default credentials for the releaser user are releaser/releaser. The default credentials for the admin user are admin/admin.

If your trial version of IBM UrbanCode Release is expired, you must license the server before you start the tutorial. For information about licensing, see Managing licenses.

If your version of IBM UrbanCode Release is licensed, you can also use any user account that is assigned the default Release Manager or Administrator role on a team.

If you want to use your own team and user role, complete the following optional steps before you start Lesson 1.
Note: To create users, roles, and teams, you need the following permissions: Manage Users and Groups, Manage Roles and Permissions, and Manage Teams and Membership.

  1. Create a user and assign the user to the Release Manager or Administrator role on the default team, Team for Sample Release. For information about creating users, see Manually creating users. You can also import LDAP users; for more information, see Authentication realms.

  2. If you do not want to use the Team for Sample Release, create a team and assign the user to it in the Release Manager or Administrator role. For information about creating teams, see Creating teams.

  3. If you want to use your own role, make sure that the role has the following permissions:
    • All release-type permissions, such as the View Release permission, and the Edit Release permission.
    • All Deployment-type permissions, such as the Edit Deployment Plans permission, and the Execute Deployment Tasks permission.

    After you create the role, assign the user to your new team to the role you created in the previous step. For information about assigning users to teams, see Assigning users and groups to teams.