Creating releases and specifying release details

To create a release, configure the lifecycle for the release, select the applications that are part of the release, and create approvals for the release's phases.

  • Create or import applications for the release. See Managing applications with the Applications page.
  • Ensure that the team assigned to the release has the applications you intend to use assigned to it. See, Assigning applications to teams.
  • Create a lifecycle for the release. See Creating lifecycles.
  • Configure the release environments for the release. Ensure that the application you intend to use are assigned to the release environments. See Configuring release environments.
  • Create a notification scheme. The notification scheme defines the notification rules for the release or, if you attach a scheme to a phase, for individual phases. For more information, see Configuring notifications.
  • If you want to use notifications, make sure that an SMTP server is configured.
  • To map events to releases, enable the feature flag in the installed.properties file as follows:
    feature.event.type.integration.data=yes

    The installed.properties file is located in the installation_directory/conf/server/ folder. After you modify the installed.properties file, restart the server.

Tip: If you plan to create a release that is similar to an existing release, duplicate the existing release. To duplicate a release, click Releases & Deployments, find the release, and then click Copy. The new release is included in the table of releases. Then, you can edit the new release.

In outline, you create a release by selecting a lifecycle, team, and target date. Before you can run deployments with the new release, you must assign release environments to the lifecycle's phases. After a phase has at least one release environment assigned to it, you can run deployments for the phase. In most cases, you assign applications to the release, although it is not required.

You can customize a release at any time. You can change the deployment plans, add phase approvals, notification schemes, and process checklists. You can also add events to a release. If you add enterprise events, the release can participate in enterprise-wide release events.

  1. From the IBM UrbanCode Release dashboard, click Releases & Deployments.
  2. On the Releases page, click Add New, and then provide these details:
    1. Specify a name for the release.
      Use a name that is meaningful to your organization and its release processes. If you schedule releases based on sprints or product iterations, include that information in the release name.
    2. In the Lifecycle field, select the lifecycle for the release.
      The lifecycle determines the number and order of phases in the release. Typically, to complete a release, you run a deployment for each phase in the lifeycle. You can change the lifecycle for the release later, if necessary.
    3. In the Team field, select the team for the release.
      If you assign a team to a release, only members of that team can interact with the release. See Security teams.
    4. In the Target Date field, specify the planned completion date for the last phase of the release.
    5. In the Description field, specify a description for the release.
      Provide details about the release that other members of your enterprise find meaningful or that uniquely identify the release.
    6. In the Notification Scheme list, select a notification scheme.
      The notification scheme defines the notification rules for the release. The scheme's rules are used for all notification events. You can override the scheme by attaching a scheme to a phase, or to a deployment when you schedule a deployment. If you attach a scheme to a phase, the rules in the phase's scheme are used except for the release-related events, which continue to use the rules in the release's scheme. For information about notifications, see Configuring notifications.
    7. Click Save.
      The new release is displayed in the list of releases.
  3. To specify applications that are included in the release, complete these steps:
    1. On the Releases tab, click the name of the release.
      The Release Detail page is displayed.
    2. Next to Participating Applications, click Add New.
    3. In the Application list, select an application, and then click Save.
    4. Repeat steps a and b to add all applications that are part of the release.
    5. To limit the application versions included in the Enterprise View and Applications and Versions pages, click the Update Filter link for an application. Enter text used to be used as a filter. You can use the asterisk character (*) as a wildcard in your filter text.
      The filter affects the application versions available in several pages.
      • Only information for application versions that match the filter is displayed in the Enterprise View page.
      • In the Applications and Versions, only application versions that match the filter are available to use in a deployment. Use the filter to ensure that only versions ready for deployment are available.
  4. To add release environments to a phase, complete these steps:
    1. Under the Release Pipeline section, for a phase click New environment release icon to open the New Environment Reservation dialog.
    2. Specify the start date and end date during which the release environment is reserved for the release.
      The environment is reserved for the selected phase during the specified time.
    3. In the table of environments, select one or more environments, and then click Save.
      You can filter the list to show only those environments that are available for the selected dates by enabling the Show only Environments without conflicts field.
    4. Repeat steps a to c to add release environments to each phase of the release lifecycle.
    5. Optional: To set a default start time for release environments, click the Edit Phase icon , and in the Start Date field, specify the date.
      Release environments that are associated with the phase are reserved beginning on the specified date. You can override the default setting.
    To run a deployment for a phase, at least one environment must be assigned to the phase. You can run deployments in the assigned environment any time during the period that is defined by the start and end dates. For more information, see Reserving release environments.
  5. To define approvals for a phase, complete these steps:
    1. In the Release Detail tab, in the row for the phase, click the Edit Phase icon.
    2. Next to Phase Approvals, click Add New.
    3. Specify the approval name, and, from the Role list, select the role that a user must be assigned to complete the approval.
    4. Click Save.
    5. Repeat steps a to d to add additional approvals.
    If a phase has an approval that is defined for it, deployments for the phase cannot start until a user with the expected role approves it.
  6. In the row for the phase, click the Edit Phase icon, and then use one of these methods to change the deployment plan for a phase:
    • To select a deployment plan from the current release, from the Default Plan list, select the deployment plan, and click Save.
    • To copy a plan from another release, from the Default Plan list, select Create/Import Plan. Using the Create a New Deployment Plan dialog box, click Copy from a plan, and specify a name for the new plan. Finally, from the Copy From list, select the plan, and click Save. To start with a fresh, blank deployment plan, select None (Empty Plan).
    • To copy a plan from a CSV file, from the Default Plan list, select Create/Import Plan. Using the Create a New Deployment Plan dialog box, click Import from CSV, and specify a name for the new plan. Finally, browse to the file location and click Save. A new deployment plan is created by using the values in the CSV file. For information about exporting deployment plans, see Exporting deployment plans to CSV file.
    By default, the deployment plan is inherited from the lifecycle that is selected for the release. The deployment plan for the default lifecycle is the Default Plan. You can change the deployment plan for any phase in the release.
  7. To add a notification scheme to a phase, complete these steps:
    1. In the Release Detail tab, in the row for the phase, click the Edit Phase icon.
    2. In the Notification Scheme, select a scheme.
    You can override the scheme that is attached to a release by adding a scheme to a phase. For example, you might want to use a different scheme for your productions phase. If you do not attach a scheme to a phase, the scheme that is attached to the release is used instead.
  8. Add a process checklist by using one of these methods:
    • To add an item to the checklist, next to Process Checklist, click Add New, and enter the details. Repeat this step for all release processes.
    • To import a process checklist from a template, click Import from Template, select the template from the Process Checklist Template list, and click Save. See Creating process checklist templates.
  9. To add events to the release, complete these steps:
    1. Under Events, click Add New.
    2. In the Name field, type a name for the event.
    3. From the Type list, select the event type.
      If the type is of the Related Deployment Module category, the release can participate in release events with other releases. For information about event types, see Creating event types.
    4. Specify a start date for the event, and an optional end date.
      The calendar widget displays other events that are scheduled for selected dates.
    5. In the Releases list, select the releases to which to add the event.
      By default, the current release is selected, but you can clear it. If you select more releases, the event is added to each of the selected releases.
    6. Click Save.
      If you did not select any release for the event, the event is still saved and is available for use later.