Turn Off Tabs
Path to Production
This file contains information about promoting changes from your test environment into production. Last updated on 2020-02-27.

Contents

Overview

This document describes how to promote design changes from a development environment to a testing environment and finally into production in an on-demand SBM instance.

About Process Apps, Publishing, and Deployment

The process app blueprint file (.msd) is the basic unit of development in SBM and represents a complete design of one or more applications, orchestrations, or both. Process app blueprints are created in SBM Composer, published and deployed to the SBM Application Engine and the SBM Orchestration Engine, and configured with runtime data using SBM Application Administrator.

About SBM On-Demand

The scenarios in this document describe how to deploy your process apps from development to testing and finally into production. The scenarios assume the following:

  • You have three separate runtime environments that are operating within a single SBM instance: one for development, one for testing, and one for production.
  • The environments contain runtime data (such as users, groups, and projects) that is unique to each environment. For example, each environment might has a unique set of user accounts:
    • Dev_Admin, Dev_Bill, Dev_Susan
    • Test_Admin, Test_Bill, Test_Susan
    • Prod_Admin, Prod_Bill, Prod_Susan
    Note: Process app blueprint files do not contain any configuration data such as projects, users, notifications, or auxiliary table data. You must manually configure these elements for each environment individually.
  • These user accounts do not have access to each other's runtime environments. Each account can log into the same SBM instance; but only the process apps and data for the environment the account belongs to are viewable. For example, the Test_Admin account can only use deployed test apps and test data; everything in production can only be viewed by Prod_Admin, Prod_Bill, or Prod_Susan.

Steps for Publishing and Deploying from Test to Production

The following scenarios describe how to move process app design changes from one environment to another and illustrate this concept.

Beginning Development

To begin the process of promoting a process app from your development environment into production, perform the following steps:

  1. Launch SBM Composer.
  2. Connect to the repository using a development user account.
  3. Create a new process app and complete your designs.
  4. Deploy the process and view the changes in SBM Work Center.
  5. Once the process app is ready for testing, open SBM Composer and export the process app, saving the .msd locally.

The following use case describes this process:

Susan has completed some initial design work for a new process app. In SBM Composer, she logs in as Dev_Susan and deploys the process app. In SBM Work Center, she performs some functional tests against the initial design, and finds some problems with a form that need to be changed before the app is ready for testing. Bill is an expert with custom forms, so he helps Susan tweak the design as needed in SBM Composer. Bill logs in to SBM Composer as Dev_Bill, deploys the process app and verifies that the custom form works well in SBM Work Center. Susan is now satisfied that the process app is functionally complete and ready for testing with runtime data. In SBM Composer, she exports the process app and saves the .msd file locally.

Note: After deploying to either the development or test environment, use SBM Application Repository to update the endpoints for your corresponding external development and test systems and then redeploy the process app from SBM Application Repository.

Deploying from Development to Test

To promote a process app from your development environment into your test environment, perform the following steps:

  1. Launch SBM Composer.
  2. Connect to the repository using a test user account.
  3. Import the process app from the local .msd file.
  4. Deploy the process and begin testing in SBM Work Center.
  5. Prepare the process app for use by configuring runtime elements such as new users, notifications, or auxiliary table data.
  6. Once the process app is ready for production, open SBM Composer and export the process app, saving the .msd locally.

The following use case describes this process:

Susan now wants to start thorough testing of the process app she created in development. She opens SBM Composer, logs in as Test_Susan, and imports the .msd file that she saved locally. While she is logged in as Test_Susan, she deploys the process app again, which pushes the process app to the test environment. Susan needs to test some new notifications, so she logs in to SBM Application Administrator as Test_Susan and creates a set of test users and notifications. She begins testing and everything seems to be working smoothly, so she logs back in to SBM Composer as Test_Susan, exports the process app again, and saves the .msd file locally.

Deploying from Test to Production

To promote a process app from your test environment into your production environment, perform the following steps:

  1. Launch SBM Composer.
  2. Connect to the repository using a production user account.
  3. Import the tested process app from the local .msd file.
  4. Deploy the process and verify it in SBM Work Center.
  5. Prepare the process app for use by configuring the same runtime elements your created in test (new users, notifications, and auxiliary table data).

The following use case describes this process:

Now that the process app is ready for production, Susan logs in to SBM Composer as Prod_Susan and imports the .msd she just saved from test. While she is logged in as Prod_Susan, she deploys the process app, which pushes it to the production environment. Because the .msd does not contain and users or notifications, Susan logs into the SBM Application Administrator as Prod_Susan and manually creates the same set of notifications and user accounts again. If any additional changes need to be developed and tested, she will export the .msd and start the process over again using her Test_Susan account.
Note: This applies to any process app that is already running in production. To modify process apps that are running in production, export the .msd from SBM Composer using a production user account, import the .msd using a development or test account, and then begin the process again.

Copyright © 2007–2017 Serena Software, Inc., a Micro Focus company. All rights reserved.