You migrate configuration content from one environment
to another.
Development and testing typically occurs in a preproduction environment. You typically migrate
configuration content between the following environments: Figure 1. Migration
environments
Development environment
After you identify the configuration changes that you want to
make to your product, you can implement them in a development environment.
In the development environment, you can perform basic tests to the
changes. A development environment is useful if code must be written,
compiled, and deployed into a product to accompany changes to configuration
applications. In the migration process, in most situations, the development
environment is only a source environment.
Test environment
You perform thorough testing of the configuration changes in the test environment. Complete end
to end testing and check the logs. You can use a single test environment to mimic the production
environment. For the most accurate testing, the test environment must contain all the business
applications and configuration changes that you intend to use in the production environment. A
single test environment is best suited to aggregating changes that you create in separate
development environments. In the migration process, the test environment can be both a source and
target environment.
Production environment
After thorough testing, when the software is ready for release, you are ready to migrate your
changes to the production environment. When moving configuration content to production, schedule the
promotion to occur during maintenance periods. The deployment of Migration Manager packages must be
treated in the same manner as product installations and fix packs. In some situations, the
deployment of packages might require your application server to remain unavailable to your users for
some time. In the migration process, in most situations, the production environment is only a target
environment.
When you migrate content, you perform the following steps:
Identify the configuration changes and implement them in your product in a development
environment.
Do basic tests to the changes in the development environment.
Test the configuration changes in the test environment.
Migrate the changes from test to production environment after thorough testing. Schedule the
migration to occur during maintenance periods.
You identify source and target environments by using unique identifiers.
The identifier is the combination of the database host name, the database
identifier, and the database schema name.
You can set inbound
restrictions in a target environment to prevent the distribution and deployment of packages to that
environment from restricted sources.
