Tracking Version and Target Drift

 

How to compare releases before deployment and track drift afterwards.

 

RapidDeploy allows you to automatically or manually create point in time versions of a Project which will include the Orchestration (deployment model), external or internal resources and target configurations. These versions can be replayed into the target environments to bring the target to a ‘desired state’ based on any of the versions that were created for the project.

The versions of the project and external resources can be stored either in a local or remote filesystem, or in a remote Maven, Nexus or Artifactory repository, depending on the Artifact plugin chosen for the project.

We can compare these versions with one another to see what was changed in previous deployments, what we expect to change in the next deployment and cumulative change over time.

We also have the ability to ‘Snapshot‘ target configurations periodically, or before and after a deployment, to see what actually did change in the target. The screens are similar to the ones shown below for package comparison, but are accessed from the ‘Installation‘ panels.

1. Versions of a Project

You can view the versions of a project on the projects packages tab. 

  • First select your project. Go to ‘Projects’ -> [Selected Project].
  • From the project pages, select the ‘Packages’ tab – example shown in Fig.1.

Fig. 1. Package Version Panel

Shows all the retained versions for the project, with the Actions column showing ability to select versions for comparison. Any of these versions can be replayed to any of the Project targets.

2. Version Manifest

You can view specific package manifest data in a number of ways: 

  • First select your project. Go to ‘Projects’ -> [Selected Project].
  • From the project pages, select the ‘Packages’ tab
  • From the list of package versions, select the pencil icon from the ‘Actions’ menu item, corresponding to the version to view. Alternatively just click on the version name hyperlink (See Fig. 1). 
  • You can also click on the ‘Panel Expansion Button’ to the left of the version name hyperlink, as shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2. Package Version Manifest

Clicking on the 'Panel Expansion' button to the left of the package link, shows a summary of the manifest for the package. Clicking on the link shows more detail about the package.

3. Version Comparison - File

You select the two package versions to compare as follows: 

  • First select your project. Go to ‘Projects’ -> [Selected Project].
  • From the project pages, select the ‘Packages’ tab
  • From the list of package versions, click the ‘Angle down Left Arrow’ icon from the ‘Actions’ menu item, corresponding to the version for the ‘left side’ to compare (See Fig. 1).
  • From the list of package versions, click the ‘Angle down Right Arrow’ icon from the ‘Actions’ menu item, corresponding to the version for the ‘right side’ to compare (See Fig. 1).
  • Click the ‘Compare’ button under the package version list. You will see a comparison view similar to that shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3. Version Comparison

Shows the comparison of two versions with 'Drill Down'. All changed files are shown in amber. New files are shown in green, and deleted files in red. Unchanged files are shown in grey. The user can click on any of the magnifying glass icons to the right of the file, to see highlighted line level differences in the file, shown below.

4. Version Comparison - Line

For any entry in the comparison navigator view, you can click on the magnifying glass icon to the right of the file name (as shown in Fig to see the line-by-line version comparison of that file.

  • Follow the steps in section 3
  • Identify the file to be compared and click on the magnifying glass adjacent to the file as shown in Fig. 3.
  • View side-by-side line differences of the file. Note if the file is unchanged between versions (grey), then the editor opens showing just the file contents and not in a side-by-side view. An example is shown in Fig. 4. 

Fig. 4. Version Comparison - Line

Shows the comparison of two versions of a file with line level comparison.

5. Version Comparison - Deployed Environments

You can view a graphical representation of the package version deployment topology on the project panels. 

  • First select your project. Go to ‘Projects’ -> [Selected Project].
  • From the project pages, select the ‘Targets’ tab
  • By default you are in the ‘Entries’ sub-tab. Select the ‘Deployments Visualisation’ sub tab to see the deployment topology as shown in Fig. 5. .

Fig. 5. Version Comparison - Deployed Environments

Shows the versions deployed to each of a project's target environments.

Next: Deployment calendars