deploying solution enhancements to production

aras.comCopyright © 2013 Aras. All Rights Reserved.

DOMOREA C E 2 0 1 3


A C E 2 0 1 3

Deploying Solution Enhancements to Production

Learn about Best Practices for deploying changes, extensions, or new solutions from development to production

aras.comCopyright © 2013 Aras. All Rights Reserved. Slide 3

Agenda

Deployment Challenges Getting Started

Environment Planning Terminology

Our Approach Tools that you need Walk through some example deployment scenarios Common Pitfalls


Deployment Challenges

How do you insure accurate deployments? How do you avoid regressions? How to manage parallel development? How do you keep environments in sync? How do you plan deployments?


Scenarios for Today

Moving enhancements to a production environment

Parallel or multi-resource development of a solution

Dev

Test

Production

Dev

GETTING STARTED


Getting Started

Establish your environment Establish your starting point or baseline Establish a source control plan Plan your deployment strategy Establish a validation plan


The Development Environment

3 Environments minimum Development

This is where you work Test/QA/Staging

Imports are tested here User validation is conducted here Should always reflect your

baseline to start Production

This is your baseline

Dev

Test

Production


Terminology Deployment Package

Complete set of all development changes Must be fully applied for proper deployment Typically contains full AML definitions Depends on a pre-defined Baseline

Patch Subset of development changes Provides for quick and pointed updates Can eliminate the need for a merge May contain AML snippets vs. full definition Must be applied in a particular order

Baseline A simple snapshot of system functionality Defines a starting point for development Doesn’t typically change during a development cycle


Importance of Baselines

Provides a solid foundation for the development / deployment process

New environments can be built using the baseline as a starting point

Eliminates the issue of a ‘Moving Target’

Critical for accurate deployments


Deploy

Development

Development

Deploy

Example Baseline

Standard Aras

Innovator

Development

New Baseline(Phase 2 Production System)

Target(Phase 1 Production System)

New Baseline(Phase 1 Production System)

Merge Point


Source Control Plan

Establish a system for how and where deployment packages will be stored Source control File server

Establish a naming convention for these packages Establish where the baseline will be stored Think about the sequence in which features will be

deployed


Plan your deployment

Determine how your solution will be deployed All at once Separate deployments

Deployment strategy can help define packaging Establish a validation plan


Validation plan

Defines how you will test for accuracy Define Test Strategy which includes:

Use Cases/Test Cases Test Data Test Environment How do we know when we are done?

Don’t underestimate this !

OUR APPROACH


Development & Packaging

Development Process

Plan Develop Build Deploy Test Rollout

Project PlansDeployment PlansTest & Validation strategyBaseline Established

Export PackagesBuild Cleanup scriptsPackage Code Tree ChangesBuild Custom DLLs

Run cleanup scriptsMerge activitiesImport packagesDeploy CodeTree ChangesDeploy Custom DLLs

Execute validation planRun test scripts

Repeat deployment steps in production


Deployment ProcessSingle Developer Solution

Export Package(s)

Compare to Baseline

Create Deployment Package(s)

Import into Test

Merge Conflicts

Plan Develop Build Test RolloutDeploy

PlanDevelop

Build

TestRollout


Deployment ProcessMultiple Developer Solution

Export Package(s)

Compare to Baseline


Import into Test

Merge Conflicts


PlanDevelop

Build

TestRollout

Merge Development and Baseline

This is a 3 way Compare and Merge


Exporting Packages

Done using the Aras Export tool Use the same version of the Import/Export tools to

establish the baseline and export your development Use Tools like the Aras Customization report to assist

with packaging Usually best to export entire packages to help with

the merge process Export the same packages from development and

baseline

Export Package(s)

Compare to Baseline


Import into Test

Merge Conflicts


Comparing Baselines

Requires a good XML compare utility You need to understand AML and the significance of

changes Don’t ignore differences..

Make sure that you understand the reason for the diff. Use a 3 way compare tool when multiple

developers are involved

Compare to Baseline

Export Packages


Import into Test

Merge Conflicts


Merging Conflicts

The focus is CONFLICT Resolution A difference is not necessarily a conflict

A conflict could be: An AML element that differs from the baseline AML elements that wont produce the same result

The Aras Import tool will merge changes that are not conflicted

Merge Conflicts

Export Packages


Import into Test

Compare to Baseline


Creating a Deployment Package

May require some scripts for pre-processing Deleting items Versionable items

Should be a full and complete package in most cases There are some cases for delta files and patches

Name package in accordance with your plan Store the package in the defined location Notify the team

Create Deployment

Package

Export Packages

Merge Conflicts

Import into Test

Compare to Baseline


Importing into Test

Target system MUST be equivalent to the baseline Execute any pre-processing scripts Import the deployment package using the Aras Import

Tool Move on and execute your validation plan When Issues are Identified:

Fix them in Development and repeat Patching test is OK but you should repeat the whole process

to simulate the deployment process

Import into Test

Export Packages

Merge Conflicts

Create Deployment

Package

Compare to Baseline


Synchronizing Environments

Dev 1

Dev 2

Test

Prod

Check In / Out

SourceControl RefreshBuilds /

Patches

TOOLS THAT YOU NEED


Tools – Source Control

GIT CVS SourceSafe Subversion File System Etc.


Tools -XML Diff / Merge

Beyond Compare Altova DiffDog KDiff3 Etc.


Tools – Aras

Import / Export Move solution items between environments via AML

Console Upgrade Command line version of Import / Export Tools

Nash Apply AML directly to the Innovator Server

AML Studio Similar to Nash, but with intellisense. Community Solution

EXAMPLES


Example – Simple ChangeSingle Developer

Add new field to existing Part Form:


Deployment ProcessSingle Developer Solution

Export Package(s)

Compare to Baseline


Import into Test

Merge Conflicts


PlanDevelop

Build

TestRollout


Compare AML Baseline vs Development

Baseline DevelopmentBeyondCompare


DeployImport Tool Nash / AML Studio

Test / Production

OR


Verify


Example 2 - A two developer Scenario

Developer 2 - Change Label, Name of field

Developer 1 – Adds ‘Weight’ fieldTwo Developers working in parallel make changes to the same Form. Changes are made in separate environments


Deployment ProcessMultiple Developer Solution

Export Package(s)


Import into Test


PlanDevelop

Build

TestRollout

Merge Development and Baseline


Development & Baseline CompareFirst Difference

Baseline Developer 1 Developer 2

KDiff3

Developer2 has modified the label and name

Developer 1 has not changed the baseline here

This is a DIFFERENCE but not a CONFLICT

No Merge Required!


Development & Baseline CompareSecond Difference

Baseline Developer 1 Developer 2

KDiff3

Developer 1 has added the Weight field to the form

Developer 2 has not changed the baseline here

This is a DIFFERENCE but not a CONFLICT

No Merge Required!


DeployImport Tool Nash / AML Studio

Test / Production

OR


Verify


Example of a conflictBaseline Developer 1 Developer 2

KDiff3

Developer2 has modified the label and name

Developer1 has also modified the label and name

This is a CONFLICTMerge Required!


Handling Special Cases Special cases include:

Handling Deletes

Edit properties or relationships from items in other packages

You can execute custom AML during the import process Place AML files in a folder with any name

‘Fixes’ for folder name is best practice

Files are processed by name in alphabetical order

Fixes are executed at the end of the import process Pre-Processing can be done by using multiple packages

Copy snippets of AML during Diff Analysisas a starting point

Patches can be created by editing the exported AML


Common Pitfalls Manual changes directly in Test or Production

Lack of source control

Deferring deployment planning too late in the project

Insufficient Team Communication

Waiting too long to synchronize environments

Too many manual deployment steps

Failure to adjust baseline if changed during project


A C E 2 0 1 3

Questions?

deploying solution enhancements to production

Technology

aras export tool

development environment

parallel development

development doesnt

development cycle

development use tools

test strategy

proper deployment