Automating deployment tasks

Deployment automation requires the IBM® Rational Software Architect Extension for Deployment Automation Planning. Deployment automation with Rational Automation Framework for WebSphere requires the IBM Rational Deployment Automation Content Pack for RAFW and WAS.

To model a deployment task, you first create or import automation signatures, which are models of the tasks that are available in the automation environment. Then you create a topology that represents the changes that you want to make to a specific IT system. Then you create a workflow from that topology; this workflow is a list of the automation signatures that make the specified changes to the IT system. Finally, you publish the workflow to the automation environment and run the automated tasks.

The following diagram illustrates the major steps in the process of automating deployment tasks with the deployment planning tools and Rational Build Forge. Automating deployment tasks is iterative work, but the people involved generally follow these high-level steps:

1. Install the Rational Build Forge client. See Installing the Rational Build Forge client.
2. Connect the client to the Rational Build Forge console. See Connecting the client to Rational Build Forge.
3. Set up the automation environment, including configuring Rational Build Forge projects, libraries, and servers. Setting up the automation environment might also include integrating Rational Automation Framework for WebSphere with Rational Build Forge. See Configuring the automation environment.
4. Set up the automation signatures in the automation environment. See Modeling automated tasks with automation signatures.
5. Import information about the systems on which you want to run the automated tasks. See Importing information about IT systems into topologies.
6. Model the changes to make to the IT system. See Planning a workflow of automated tasks.
7. Match automation signatures to the topology. See Retrieving automated tasks from Rational Build Forge or Modeling tasks for Rational Automation Framework for WebSphere.
8. Publish the workflow to the automation environment. See Publishing a workflow to Rational Build Forge.

Figure 1. Major steps in automating deployment tasks with Rational Build Forge. Click any box for more information.