Support for DROP operations in continuous deployment (external repository)

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Beginning with release 1.1.0.3 (UO07247), Db2® CI/CD Expert supports DROP operations in continuous deployments from an external repository. Previously, continuous deployments supported Db2 object changes introduced by CREATE and ALTER statements only.

DROP support is currently limited to a small set of object types and is governed by strict deployment plan composition and approval process to ensure operational clarity and data integrity.

Note: DROP support for catalog‑to‑catalog deployments is not available in this release and will be introduced in a future release.
Supported source
External repository deployments only.
Supported Db2 object types for DROP
  • Alias (AL)
  • Index (secondary) (IX)
Deployment plan composition
  • A deployment plan can contain only DROP operations or only CREATE/ALTER operations.
  • You cannot mix DROP and CREATE/ALTER operations in the same deployment plan.
  • If both types of changes are required, create separate releases, one for DROP and another for CREATE/ALTER.
Request body usage for CREATE (external deployments)
  • For DROP operations, include a dropObjectActionList array that identifies the objects to be dropped.
  • For CREATE/ALTER operations, include externalRepoDdl to provide the DDL statements from the external resource.
  • dropObjectActionList and externalRepoDdl are mutually exclusive in a single plan.
Approval
A deployment plan that contains DROP operations require explicit approval. Db2 CI/CD Expert supports approval of such plans at two levels:
Plan-level approval (APPROVE action)
  • Approves the entire deployment plan.
  • Can be performed only by a Db2 CD administrator.
  • Required before a Db2 CD operator can run the plan.
  • The APPROVE request must not include a dropObjectActionList entry containing approvals for individual drop objects.
  • If dropObjectActionList is included in an APPROVE request, the system returns the error IZPAN0476E.
Object‑level approval (RUN action with runUnapprovedPlan=true)
  • A Db2 CD administrator can choose to run an unapproved plan directly.
  • The runUnapprovedPlan parameter must be set to true.
  • Object-level approval must be provided by setting "approved": true for each object in the dropObjectActionList in the RUN request.
  • Partial approval is not allowed. You must approve all objects in the dropObjectActionList ("approved": true for every object). Mixed approval states (some approved and some not approved) are not supported.
  • If any object in dropObjectActionList is not approved when running an unapproved plan, the system returns the error IZPAN0470E.
  • This approach bypasses the plan‑level APPROVE step and is permitted only for Db2 CD administrators.

Use the following guidelines for approval decisions:

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Is the deployment plan already approved?         │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ YES → RUN (do not include dropObjectActionList)  │
│                                                  │
│ NO  → Choose one:                                │
│       • APPROVE first, then RUN                  │
│       • RUN with runUnapprovedPlan=true          │
│         and approve objects individually         │
│         ("approved": true for each object)       │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
How dropped objects are reflected on the Business object details page
When an object is dropped through a DROP‑only deployment plan, it is removed from the Db2 catalog but retained in the business environment object metadata for audit and tracking.
  • If the dropped object was not previously managed by Db2 CI/CD Expert, a business object and its corresponding business environment object are created so that the object drop is represented in the continuous deployment workflow. On the Edit Business object details page, the In catalog column for the environment object shows Dropped.
  • If the object was already managed, its In catalog status changes from Present to Dropped, indicating that the object no longer exists in the Db2 catalog but remains in metadata for historical tracking.

This behavior preserves a clear history of the object in deployment environments and enables auditing of DROP activity through the CI/CD workflow.

For a complete how‑to, see Example – external deployment with DROP operations.