Deployment Integrations
Tracking Your Deployments in Ortelius
Ortelius uses the Command Line Interface for recording what occurs at both the build and deploy steps of your DevOps Pipeline. By recording the deployment activity Ortelius can track the location of each Component Version and Application Version running across all of your Environments.
The benefit of allowing Ortelius to track your deployments is to create a unified high-level dashboard of where you are experiencing drift. Because each Component may be deployed with a different deployment process, the data that displays this information is often stored in different tools. Ortelius serves as a centralized location of deployment intelligence and tracks your complete inventory in a single dashboard.
The Ortelius Command Line Interface
The Ortelius Command Line Interface performs the action of monitoring the deployments executed by your pipeline.
Install the Ortelius CLI to begin recording your deployments. Install the Ortelius CLI where your CI/CD server is running. Refer to the Ortelius GitHub CLI Documentation for installation instructions and usage.
Understanding Environments and Endpoints
Ortelius uses the concepts of Environments and Endpoints to track where a Component has been deployed. The Command Line Interface will create these objects, but it is useful to understand how they are used.
Intro to Environments
Environments represent where you execute your Application and Components such as a Kubernetes Cluster for Dev, Test or Production. An Environment could be a virtual cloud or physical datacenter. Applications run in many Environments to support your Pipeline states.
Environments and Domains
Environments are associated to a Domain. You can assign Environments to any level of Domain including the Global Domain. However, Environments are most commonly associated to a Project Domain used for Applications. A Project Domain is used to manage an Application and may be defined to include Life Cycle Subdomains for managing your Application’s progression from development through release.
Use the Environment List View to Add and Delete
The Environment menu is on the left of the main panel. Select the Environment menu, to view a list of all Environments to which you have access. The Search bar, represented by a funnel icon, allows you to reorder Environments based on Name or Domain.
The Environments List View has the following Tabs.
| Tab | Description |
|---|---|
| Refresh | Refreshes the browser. |
| Add | Allows you to Add a new Environment. |
| Delete | Deletes the selected item. |
| Reports | Success or Failed Report: This report shows an ongoing list of all deployments to all Environments, regardless of Domain or Application with success or fail status. This report can be sorted based on the column for easy viewing. It can also be exported. |
Double click on an item in the list to see the Dashboard view.
Use the Environment Dashboard to View and Edit
The Dashboard view displays all information related to a specific Environment. The Dashboard view has one additional tab option - Calendars. Below are the Details for an Environment.
Environment Details
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Full Domain | The fully qualified name of the Domain, including all parent Domains. |
| Name | The name of the Environment. Note: Duplicate Names are restricted. It is recommended that Environments be named in a specific manner, such as ‘DevEnv-HipsterStore.’ |
| Owner Type | User or Group |
| Owner | The owner defaults to the User or Group who created it. |
| Summary | A short text description of the Environment. |
| Created | Auto generated date and time the Environment was created. |
| Modified | Auto generated date and time the Environment was last modified. |
Endpoint Access Control
The Access Section allows Users within designated Groups to update the Environment. To add a Group to one of the access lists, drag and drop the Group from the Available Groups list onto desired access list. All Users who belong to a Group that appear in one of the Access lists will be granted access to the Environment in the following ways:
| Access | Description |
|---|---|
| View | Allows the User to see the Environment. If the User does not belong to a Group in the View Access list, the Environment will not appear in the List View. |
| Change | Allows the User to change the Environment’s characteristics i.e. Name, Summary, etc. |
| Deploy | Allows Users to deploy Applications into the selected Environment. |
Audit Trail
The Audit Trail displays audit entries for any changes or deployments that impact this object. It includes all changes in the object including User date and time, and deployments with unique numbers.
For deployment audits, select a deployment number to see the details including:
| Access | Description |
|---|---|
| Log | The output of the deployment. |
| Files | Any files or objects deployed. |
| Step Duration | Deployment Steps with time required to execute. |
| Feedback Loop | Shows what was updated starting from Component. |
You can also Subscribe or Comment to an Audit Entry.
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Subscribe: Allows you to receive information about the selected deployment.
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Comment: Click on ‘Comment’ to add information. There is a field above the list labeled “Say something about this Application” that can have comments placed into it, and files can be attached to the comment as well. Entering text into this field activates the Add Message button. Click to save the comment as a line in the list.
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Add Files to Comments: Click on the paperclip icon to add a file to the message. Once done, click on the “Add Message” button. These attachments can later be retrieved by clicking on the paperclip icon which then displays the name of the file within a list. Choose the file to download it into the your default Download directory on your local computer.
Key Value Configurations
Key Value Configurations are Value Pairs for managing associative arrays assigned to the Object.
Key Value Pairs can be assigned at multiple levels, from the Global Domain down to an individual Component and have a “scope.” Lower level Objects can override a higher level Object. Below is the order in which Key Value Pairs can be overridden:
| Object | Description |
|---|---|
| Global | Contains all Environment variables and any “additional Key Value Pairs” set by the user when running that task. |
| Environment | Overrides any Global Key Value Pairs during a deployment. |
| Application | Overrides the Environment Key Value Pairsduring a deployment. |
| Endpoint | Overrides the Application Key Value Pairs during a deployment. |
| Component | Overrides the Application Key Value Pairs during a deployed. |
Key Value Pairs can be given any Name and a Value. Use +Add to add Key Value Pairs to the table. Use Save to confirm. Use the checkbox to Delete or Edit a Key Value Pair.
Assigned Endpoints
Note: You will need to have pre-defined your Endpoints. See the Define Your Endpoints chapter for more information.
Environments are a collection of Endpoints. Use this section to assign the Endpoints that will make up this Environment. Use +Add to create a new row in the Endpoints table. Use Save to commit the row. Select the row and use Edit or Delete to update or remove an Endpoint. When you add a new Endpoint the Hostname will be displayed. The Hostname is the actual network name or IP address. It is assigned when the Endpoint is defined, but is not a required field. If it is defined, it will be displayed in the row.
Trends
This section shows the success/failure rate and time required for the last 10 deployments to this Environment.
Assigned Applications
View all the Application Base Versions assigned to this Environment. This is read only. Applications Base Versions are associated to Environments when created using the Application Dashboard.
Deployed Components to Environment Map
This map shows you all of the current Component Versions, with Application Versions, that have been deployed to this Environment.
Environment Calendars Tab
Ortelius Calendar only shows you a history of what has already been deployed.
Introduction to Endpoints
An Endpoint is an object representing a container deployment host, virtual image, or physical server in an enterprise’s data center. An Ortelius Environment is a collection of Endpoints to which your Application will be deployed.
Endpoints can be the location where you will run your Helm Chart for a Kubernetes deployment, a database server, cloud images, etc. There is a many-to-many relationship between Environments and Endpoints, so that an Endpoint can be assigned to more than one Environment, and an Environment can contain many Endpoints.
Use the Endpoint List View to Add or Delete
The Endpoint menu is on the left of the main panel. Select the Endpoint menu to view a list of all Endpoints to which you have access. Or use the Search bar, represented by a funnel icon, to reorder Endpoints based on Name or Domain.
The Endpoints List View has the following Tabs.
| Tab | Description |
|---|---|
| Refresh | Refreshes the browser. |
| Add | Allows you to Add a new Endpoint. |
| Delete | Deletes the selected item. |
Double click on an item in the list to see the Dashboard.
Use the Endpoint Dashboard to View and Edit
The Dashboard view displays all information related to a specific Endpoint.
Endpoint Details
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Full Domain | The fully qualified name of the Domain to which the Endpoint is defined. |
| Name | The name of the Endpoint object. For managing Kubernetes clusters, you should name your Endpoint to match the cluster name that the Endpoint is deploying to. This will allow Ortelius to track what has been deployed to each cluster. |
| Owner Type | Group or User |
| Owner | The owner defaults to the User or Group who created it. |
| Summary | A short text description of the Endpoint. |
| Created | The date and time the Endpoint was created. |
| Modified | The date and time the Endpoint was last modified. |
| Endpoint Operating System Type | The platform type of the physical or virtual server that the Endpoints resides on, the list currently includes Unix, Windows, Tandem, Stratus, and OpenVMS. For containers you should select Unix. |
| Endpoint Types | Used to indicate what types of Components will be deployed to this Endpoint. Used to route specific types of Components to the matching EndPoint across Environments. |
| Hostname | The unique name of a server that is used to identify it on the network. |
| Protocol | The protocol used to communicate with the Endpoint. Options are ssh and winrm. |
| ssh Port Number | The ssh Port used to connect to the Endpoint if the selected Protocol is ssh. |
| Base Directory | If you would like to force all deployments to occur in a specific high level directory, enter it into this field. The Endpoint Base Directory will override the Component Base Directory. For more information see Formatting Directories on the order of how the deployment directory is formatted. |
| Test Connection Result | The following fields display the result of the last “Test Connection” executed, performed by using the “Test Connection” option from the Endpoint Dashboard.
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Key Value Configurations
Key Value Configurations are Value Pairs for managing associative arrays assigned to the Object.
Key Value Pairs can be assigned at multiple levels, from the Global Domain down to an individual Component and have a “scope.” Lower level Objects can override a higher level Object. Below is the order in which Key Value Pairs can be overridden:
| Object | Description |
|---|---|
| Global | Contains all Environment variables and any “additional Key Value Pairs” set by the user when running that task. |
| Environment | Overrides any Global Key Value Pairs during a deployment. |
| Application | Overrides the Environment Key Value Pairsduring a deployment. |
| Endpoint | Overrides the Application Key Value Pairs during a deployment. |
| Component | Overrides the Application Key Value Pairs during a deployed. |
Key Value Pairs can be given any Name and a Value. Use +Add to add Key Value Pairs to the table. Use Save to confirm. Use the checkbox to Delete or Edit a Key Value Pair.
Endpoint Access Control
The Access Section allows Users within designated Groups to update the Endpoint. To add a Group to one of the access lists, drag and drop the Group from the Available Groups list onto desired access list. All Users who belong to a Group within one of the Access lists will be granted access to the Endpoint in the following ways:
| Access | Description |
|---|---|
| View | Any User in any Group in this list can see the selected EndPoint. |
| Change | Any User in any Group in this list can make changes to the Endpoint. |
| Available Groups | This list contains all the Groups within the Ortelius installation. Dragging and dropping back and forth between this list and the other two lists allows or prevents access to viewing and changing the selected EndPoint. |
Audit Trail
The Audit Trail displays audit entries for any changes or deployments that impact this object. It includes any changes in the object including User date and time, and deployments with unique numbers.
You can Subscribe to or Comment on an Audit Entry.
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Subscribe: Allows you to receive information about the selected deployment.
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Comment: Add information by clicking on the ‘Comment’ link within a text entry field. There is a field above the list labeled “Say something about this Application” that can have comments placed into it, and files can be attached to the comment as well. Enter text into this field to activate the Add Message button. Click to save the comment.
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Add Files to Comments: Click on the paperclip icon to add a file to the message. Once added and you made a comment, click “Add Message”. Click on the paperclip icon to retrieve these attachments. The icon opens the line in the list to display the name of the file. Choose the file to download it into the your default Download directory on your local computer.
Trends
The Trends graph shows you your success or failure rates overtime as well at the time required for the last 10 deployments. If an Application deployment is taking longer than previous deployments, this might indicate an issue with your deployment logic.
Deployed Components
This section provides a list of all current versions of Components that have been installed on the Endpoint with the Deployment Number. The Deployment Number is generated by Ortelius for each unique deployment.