A Typical Release Control Flow Using Planning Release Trains

This section describes a typical successful flow using planning release trains.

The steps in this section assume that Release Control has been installed and configured, and that release elements have been created using the steps in Creating Release Elements.

1. Create standalone release packages.
2. Add requests, deployment units, and deployment tasks to the release packages.
3. Deploy, approve, and validate release packages through the test environments in the deployment path.
4. Deliver production-ready release packages to the release engineering team for acceptance.
5. Optionally organize the release packages in a logical parent-child hierarchy for attachment to a release train.
   Tip: This is typically done in preparation for deploying the release train, and is therefore done after candidate release packages have been tested through test environments. Once the release packages are ready to be released as part of a particular release train, the release package hierarchy can be added to the release train.
6. Create a planning release train and add exit criteria and milestones.
7. Add all standalone and parent release packages targeted for this release to the release train.
   Tip: The linked release packages will be changed to follow the production deployment path associated with the release train.
8. Verify and send the release train for release approval.
9. Deploy and approve the train's release packages through the production deployment path.
   Important: Planning release trains track the flow of the release, but do not actually drive the deployment; that is done only through release packages in this scenario. If you want release trains to drive deployment, use deployable release trains instead.