Release Dashboard

The release dashboard provides an interactive "cockpit" for managing pipeline executions and viewing current state of the release snapshots across the environments.

Once a Release Snapshot has been created, it then flows through the Pipeline configured on the Release Definition. The aforementioned “flow” is called a Pipeline Execution and its status can be viewed on the Release Dashboard.

Snapshot and Stage Selection

Area

Description

Area

Description

1

Snapshot Selection

At any given time only a single snapshot is displayed in the dashboard. You can change what snapshot is currently being displayed from this dropdown. Select a snapshot to view the Execution and Project detail, and manage the execution in real-time.

2

Content Toggle

Each snapshot consists of two main facets: the content and the execution (dashboard).

  • Content - When creating a new Snapshot, all Projects and Packages included in the Release get built and versioned. These versioned builds are known as the Snapshot Content

  • Dashboard - Once the Snapshot Content has been built, it is submitted to the Pipeline configured on the Release. The process of the Snapshot Content flowing through the Pipeline is called a Pipeline Execution and this is exactly what the dashboard displays.

By default the Dashboard tab will be shown if the Pipeline Execution has started. At any point however you may switch to content and vice versa via this toggle.

3

Stages

Each stage in the Pipeline is displayed here in sequential order. The icon shown indicates the status of the stage. Clicking on the Stage icon will select it and it display its Gates and Steps in section 4.

You can hover each Stage icon to view the name and other additional context such as error messages.

4

Stage Gates/Steps

The currently selected Stage is shown in this Panel. At the top of the list are any Gates configured on the Stage, followed by the Steps. Clicking on a Gate or Step will open it in the details view on the right.

Gate/Step Details

Area

Description

Area

Description

1

Gate/Step Details

Some high level information for the selected Gate or Step will show here. This can include start and end times, statuses, as well as any manual actions taken by users.

2

Gate/Step Content

The content displayed here can vary depending upon which Gate or Step is selected. For example the majority of the Gates will show the Snapshot Content compared with the target environment.

3

Gate/Step Comments

Comments can be added during the Pipeline Execution. Comments can be anything from providing additional instructions for other users or mentioning another user to take a look at a possible execution failure.

Any instructions left on the Pipeline Definition for this Gate or Step will also be shown here.

Performing Actions

Area

Description

Area

Description

1

Stage Actions

Any actions on the Stage can be done here. These include:

  • Abort Stage - Cancels the stage and stops all execution. The Pipeline Execution will be halted here indefinitely unless the stage is Replayed.

    • Requires Manage Stage Execution permission

  • Replay Stage - Restart the execution of this Stage. This includes any Gates prior to Step executions.

    • Requires Manage Stage Execution permission

  • Upload Execution Info - More information can be found below. See …

    • Requires Upload Execution Info permission

2

Gate/Step Actions

All actions specific to the selected Gate or Step show here. This can largely vary depending upon which Gate or Step is selected and typically requires either the Manage Gate Execution or Manage Step Execution permissions.

3

View Pipeline Definition

Opens a popup to view the configured definition for the selected Gate or Step.

4

Fullscreen

Opens the Gate or Step details in the full-screen viewer

Uploading Execution Info

When submitting a Deploy Request for a Project or Package there are a number of fields that may need to be specified: FlexFields, Workflow Inputs etc. Releases deploy multiple projects at once, and need locations to specify this information for each Project and Package. This data is known as Stage Execution Info and can be seen by clicking the paperclip icon in the Stage Actions.

Clicking the paperclip opens a popup where the aforementioned mentioned fields can be specified.

Area

Description

Area

Description

1

Change Tickets

Change Management Tickets for the entire Stage can be specified here. Note that there are two options when specifying Change Tickets:

  1. On the Stage - (input #1 in the image above) When done here the Change Ticket is meant to encompass all content in the Snapshot

  2. On the Project/Package - (input #4 in the image above) If you would instead like to specify individual Change Tickets for each Project/Package that can be done on the respective Project row.

In either case, ALL Change Tickets specified, whether in the Stage Input or Project Inputs, must be approved before the Gate will be completed.

2

Upload CSV

More often than not a Release will be running through multiple Snapshots day after day. It can become a tedious to have to specify this information over and over again. To alleviate that burden you can upload a previously filled out form by uploading a previously populated CSV.

3

Download CSV

Downloads the currently populated Stage Execution Info in CSV format. This can then be reuploaded in a different Stage or Snapshot.

4

Project Info

Each Project/Package in your Release is represented by a row in this form. On each row you can specify specific CMS tickets, overrides, and FlexFields.

5

Workflow Inputs

Each Project/Package can have different Workflow Inputs available. Inputs can be shown underneath each project/package row. You can toggle displaying the Inputs by clicking the input icon at the end of each project row.

Page Options

Found in the top right corner of the Release Dashboard is an options menu with a few quality of life features:

Menu Item

Description

Menu Item

Description

Classic View

The Release Dashboard has two views to convey the same information:

  • Classic View - This was the only view prior to FlexDeploy v7.0.0.0. It provides a high level view displaying each Pipeline Stage in its entirety. Step and Gate details can be viewed by clicking on the respective Step or Gate.

  • Focused View - This view is the default view in FlexDeploy v7.0.0.0. Unlike the Classic View the Focused View displays the selected Gate or Step details directly on the page with the trade off being only a single Pipeline Stage is shown at a time.

The currently active view can be changed at any time via this menu option.

View Variables

Pipelines can define “Variables” that are updated in real-time as the Pipeline Execution progresses. Those variables and their current values can be viewed from this popup. Snapshot Inputs are also shown.

 

View History

Often times as the Pipeline Execution progresses there are several user actions along the way, such as approving Gates, overriding test results and so on. It can be helpful to view this information for both troubleshooting and audit purposes. Every user action and progression update is available in the View History popup.

By default only Manual Actions (actions taken by users) will be shown but if you wish to see all activity this option can be turned off. A few other quality of life features are available such as reversing the sort order.



 

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