Creating Release Packages

You should create a release package when you are ready to begin configuring the deployment details for a release. You can create release packages by submitting to the release packages project. If using release trains, you can create a release package directly from a release train.

By default release packages are standalone, but they can be designated as parent or child packages. See Designating Release Packages as Parents and Linking Release Packages.

Prerequisites:

• You must have at least one active deployment path.

To create a release package:

1. Depending on whether you are using release trains, open the release packages project submit form in one of the following ways:

   • In Work Center, select a release train, and in its Overview tab, click Create Release Package.

   • In Work Center, click +New and select your release packages project.

     (By default, the Release Packages project is used to store release packages.)

2. Fill out the required fields.
   Tip: Include the version of the release package in the Title or Description so that you can later report on and compare release package versions through standard SBM reports.
3. Fill out optional fields as needed.
   • Use task templates to save time and enable reuse of deployment tasks. In the Overview section, in the Use Task Template field, select a task template from which to copy deployment tasks.
   • Under Options:
     • Select custom column items for add and display of deployment units and requests. See Custom Columns .
     • Select whether to require that failure tasks be run if the deployment fails in an environment. See Adding Failure Tasks.
     • Select plugin configuration fields for which the values can be overridden for this release package. See "Overriding Configuration Settings" in the plugins documentation.
     • Select whether or not to bypass the Deployed state. By default, the release package process flow bypasses this state. If you want to have users manually transition to this state, you can set the option to No.
4. Click Submit.

   This places the release package in the Acceptance state.

   Note: You can instead click Save as Draft, which places the release package in the Construction state, where it must be configured before delivering it to the release engineering team for acceptance.
5. Configure and manage the release package using the tabs that appear in the form.

Required Fields

The required fields when you create a release package are as follows:

• Title
• Purpose
• Release Type: Select the release type, such as Emergency, Major, or Minor. The release type filters the deployment paths available to this release package.
• Deployment Path: Specify the deployment path for this release package. You must select the release type first, because deployment paths are filtered by release type. Only active deployment paths appear for selection.

  Deployment paths are typically created and maintained by Administrators. For information on creating and activating deployment paths, see Creating Deployment Paths

• Release Manager
• Dates: Specify the dates for the release train gates. You can also select Quarter Release or Six Month Release to auto-populate the fields using today's date as the start date, or calculate them using a specified start or end date.

Tabs

The tabs available from a release package once it is created are as follows:

• Deployment Path: View the deployment path for this release package, including detailed deployment history for each environment in the path.
• Deployment Units: View deployment units for this release package. See Adding Deployment Units.
• Deployment Tasks: View and add deployment tasks and deployment executions for this release package. See Adding Deployment Tasks.
• Requests: Select requests to associate with this release package.
• Approvals: Select approvals to associate with this release package. Auto-generated approvals appear here when a release package is deployed to an environment that requires approval.
• Notes/Attachments: View notes and attachments that have been added to the item through the Work Center More option and related email correspondence.
• History: View the history of the release package item.