Release Definition
- Karl Henselin
- Chandresh Patel
The Definition tab on each release allows for editing basic release details, as well as managing release content (projects/packages) and work items.
Editing Basic Details
To edit basic release information, go to the Definition tab and select the icon on the right side panel.
Field | Description |
|---|---|
Name | The name of the release. |
Folder | The folder the release is located in. All security and settings are inherited from this folder, unless overridden. |
Pipeline | The pipeline which is used to process snapshots for the release. The pipeline attached to the release is displayed below the folder path for quick access, and can be updated both from here and from the right side panel.  |
Description | An optional description for the release. |
Status | The current status of the release.
Since FlexDeploy 8.0, all new Releases will be in Started status and Not Started status has been removed. This means that Release may be Started even without any content, and obviously Snapshot can only be created after some content is added to Release. |
Snapshot Schedule | A cron expression to initiate the creation of a snapshot on a regular basis, using new project versions for all release projects. Project-level scheduled build triggers are created, which can be viewed from the project triggers screen as well. More than one cron expression can be provided using ; as a separator. This would allow for more complex schedules, but all projects in the release will use the same schedule. For example,
If a project added to the release does not have a build environment selected, then a new build will not be triggered as part of the snapshot creation. The latest project version will be used for that project. When a release is ended, all the scheduled build triggers for each project/package in the release will be deleted. Release Scheduled Build Processing
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Content (Projects/Packages)
The content table on a release lists all items which are actively being built/deployed for any running snapshots, and is made to be constantly changing as snapshots are created. It can also be used to track the history of what’s been deployed as part of the release by viewing inactive/completed packages and inactive projects. To view all projects and packages in your release, make sure you have the content view selected on the Definition tab.
Adding Content
To add a project or a package to the release, enter the name in the Add Content input field and select the content you want to add.
To add multiple projects and packages at once, select the icon at the end of the input field.
In this popup, you can toggle between showing just projects, just packages, or both by using the icons. When showing only packages, you can optionally filter by only packages in a particular project. These selections are saved and remembered for future use. The Filter Results input field can be used to search by project name, package name, and folder path.
Selected content will appear on the right side of the popup. To add all selected content to the release, click the button.
You can add multiple packages to the release for the same project from the popup. Change the top left toggle to show only packages, then filter by the project to easily add only packages from a specific project.
Viewing/Editing Content
After adding content to a release, it can be configured from the context menu or actions column at the end of each row. To edit an individual item, open the context menu and select Edit or choose a field to update directly from the menu.
Multiple rows can be updated at once by selecting the rows you want to edit and right clicking on any of the rows, or by pressing the [2] icon above the table.
The table below explains each field displayed in the table and how it is initialized/updated.
Column | Description |
|---|---|
Priority | Priority defines the sequence of deployment for the project/package when a release snapshot executes the Deploy All Step.
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Item | The project and package (if project is package-based). The project/package combination cannot be edited after adding to the release. The project’s full folder path will be displayed only when not using Dense mode. Hovering over the project or package name in the content table will open a hover menu displaying more details for that item. Selecting the name at the top of the hover menu will open the corresponding project/package.  |
Project Groups | An optional categorization based on groups defined on the associated pipeline. Selection can affect the behavior/implementation of Deploy All, Test All, and Execute All pipeline stage steps, if any of these steps are configured to execute against only certain project group(s). This will only be displayed if the attached pipeline has project group(s) defined. |
Branch | The branch used when building the project/package during snapshot creation. Only one branch per project/package per release may be used. When an item is added to the release, the branch is initialized in this priority:
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CI | Read-only column which defines how builds are initiated for the project/package. This column will appear only if a snapshot schedule is configured for the release.
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Build Environment | The environment to use for builds triggered based on the snapshot schedule. If no build environment is specified and the release has a snapshot schedule, this project/package will not be included in the scheduled build. This environment is also what’s set initially for this item when creating a snapshot manually, although it can be updated. If there is only one build environment for the project, then this will be auto-set. Otherwise, the build environment will be initialized to the last environment the project/package was built against, if one exists. |
Added | The FlexDeploy user who added this item to the release and timestamp of when it was added. Note that this could be a FlexDeploy Bot user if the item was auto-added based on linked work items. |
Table Options
Just like other tables in FlexDeploy, displayed columns and ordering can be updated from the table menu. Even though there’s no saved query support, your table settings will be saved for future use and applied to all releases. Note that the Project Groups column will appear only if the pipeline attached to the release has project group(s) defined, and the CI column will appear only if a snapshot schedule is defined for the release.
Show Completed Packages - If this option is enabled, any completed packages in the release will be included in the content table. This filter can be helpful for viewing the content history of a release. These items are not eligible to be deployed and therefore will be left out of all future snapshots.
Work Items
Each release contains a listing of work items which can be used to track what's been deployed and manage content. The work items listing is shown in order of last added, with an option on the list menu to export all work items to CSV or PDF.
To view all work items in your release, make sure you have the work item view selected on the Definition tab.
Adding Work Items
To add a work item to the release, find it in the Add Work Item input field and select the work item to add it. The search input will initialize the ITS instance and ITS project(s) (if applicable) to the ITS settings configured on the release's folder. The last 50 updated work items will be shown in the list, or you can search for them.
To add multiple projects and packages at once, select the icon at the end of the input field. Similarly, when the add popup is opened, the ITS instance and ITS project(s) (if applicable) will be initialized to the ITS settings configured on the release's folder.
The results are shown in the table based on the filters provided. Depending on your release settings, there may be an arrow on the left in each row which can be expanded to show any projects and packages which are associated to the work item and therefore, would be added to the release if that work item is added. The arrow may be disabled if the work item has not yet been built in FlexDeploy.
Selected work items will appear on the right side of the popup. To add all selected items to the release, click the button. Saving will automatically add any associated projects/packages to the release if enabled by the Auto-Add Content Options release setting. Learn More.
Removing Work Items
Work items can be removed from the context menu on each row. If any related projects/packages are found in the release, a popup will be shown where you can select which related item(s) to remove along with the selected work item.
The confirmation popup will only show related content which is linked to the work item either directly on the package or on a build that’s part of a snapshot for the release. All other related content which needs to be removed will need to be removed manually.
The Work Items section on the release’s Insights tab will show all work items deployed in a snapshot range regardless of whether or not they are kept in the release work item listing here.
Automatic Adding of Release Content
If enabled by your Auto-Add Content Options release setting, there are scenarios when projects/packages could be automatically added to your release based on the work items in the release, which are explained in the image below.
When adding work items to your release from the Add Work Items popup, any projects/packages already linked to a given work item which will be auto-added with that work item can be previewed from the arrow on each row. These items are filtered based on the options selected for the release setting below.
Automatic Adding of Work Items
A work item will be automatically added to the release in the following scenarios:
The work item is added to a package, and that package is in the given release
A package is added to the release, and the work item is already linked to that package
A snapshot is created containing a build version linked to the work item
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