Voice of the DBA

Tag: DevOps

  • DevOps Basics – Ignoring Files in Git

    Another post for me that is simple and hopefully serves as an example for people trying to get blogging as #SQLNewBloggers. This is also a part of a basic series on git and how to use it.

    One of the things you’ll run into at times is the need to keep some scratch files, or extra files, in your Git repository, but not track them. One common type of file for me when working with SQL is a .zip file. I may zip up code to share or copy to a friend (without giving repo access).

    Ignoring files is easy in Git. We just add a .gitignore file. This is a list of files that the git repository will not track or show in status. Essentially, we see them in our file system, but git doesn’t.

    Creating .gitignore

    To create a .gitignore file, the easiest method for me is to just create a text file. I can do it like this:

    2017-10-09 16_36_08-cmd

    This gives me a new file. Certainly VS Code, Sublime, etc. will make this easy as well.  The format is simple, with a list of files and/or patterns to ignore. For example, I’ve got a .zip file in my repo.

    2017-10-09 16_34_24-GitTests

    I don’t want to see this, but I do right now:

    2017-10-09 16_37_31-cmd

    If I want to ignore this file, I’ll enter this in my .gitignore file:

    GitTests.zip

    If I want to ignore all zips, I’ll do this:

    2017-10-09 16_38_09-cmd

    This is a part of my repo, so I need to commit it.

    2017-10-09 16_38_32-cmd

    Now my status is clean.

    2017-10-09 16_39_14-cmd

    Generated .gitignore

    Some applications will generate a .gitignore. For example, my C# project gets this file from Visual Studio.

    2017-10-09 16_40_33-.gitignore — Visual Studio Code

    That’s a subset of files that are often in a VS project, but we don’t want to track in a VCS. Images, archives, executables, etc.

    You can customize this as you need, and it’s easy to just edit the text file and commit the changes.

    Hopefully this helps you understand how to best work with git and keep your repo clean. This also means your  git add –all is easy to use without adding unnecessary files.

  • All Day DevOps Slides

    The conference will upload the slides to Slide Share at some point, but if you want to get them now, here are the slides from my talk:

    Including Database in DevOps – AllDayDevOps.pptx

    If you  have questions, drop a note at AllDayDevOps.Slack.com in the #modern-infrastructure channel. I’m way0utwest.

  • Redgate at Summit 2017

    I’ll be heading out to the PASS Summit next week, spending Halloween in a conference center with a lot of other geeks. I know some of you won’t make it, and we’ll miss you, but I understand.

    I’m meeting my colleagues from Redgate there, including the new editor of Simple Talk, Kathi Kellenberger. We’ll be at the event all week and we look forward to chatting with you about databases, DevOps, and more. We’ve also got a few events during the week that we hope you’ll attend.

    Stop by the Redgate Booth in the expo center for a demo, or just to chat about SQL Server.

    Adopting a DevOps Process for Your Database

    I’ve got a session on Wednesday, Nov 1, at 1:30 that will provide an overview of how you might rub some DevOps on your database development. I’ll use some of the Redgate tools, but really I want you convince you that a smoother, more reliable database development process is possible.

    Lower your risk, make your deployments reliable and repeatable. Come join me, see how the process can work, and ask lots of questions. I’ll have lots of answers.

    How DevOps for the Database Helps with Compliance

    Immediately after my DevOps talk, I’ll be joining Grant Fritchey and Richard Macaskill to talk about DevOps and compliance. We are seeing more and more organizations bound by rules and regulations that require them to be careful about who can see their production data and how it’s stored. This will mean that more of us need to be careful about how we manage data.

    With the move to DevOps and releasing changes more often, this can present some challenges for data professionals. However, DevOps can actually help with compliance if done right. Join Grant, Richard, and I for a discussion of the challenges and potential solutions.

    Redgate Rocks

    If you are coming to the Summit, make sure you stop by the Redgate booth to pick up your #RedgateRocks ribbon for entrance to our party Thursday night. I’ll be there with the Redgate crew to celebrate the last evening of the Summit at 1927 Events.

    This is your chance to get out of the Conference Center, head towards the ocean and have a good time in downtown Seattle with us.

  • All DevOps All Day

    There is no shortage of webinar events taking place for technology professionals. From our monthly Redgate DevOps webinars to the GroupBy conference to PASS Virtual chapters, there’s a huge set of online events that you can attend and learn from. It’s gotten to the point where you could have a full time job watching webinars if you could find someone to fund your efforts.

    Every year PASS does a 24 Hours of PASS, which is a neat event where 24 hour long sessions in a row are broadcast. It’s a lot of work to get this going, and certainly not many people want to watch 24 hours in a row, but it does seem to be fun. That same idea is being taken a step further tomorrow with All Day DevOps 2017.

    There’s still time to register and attend a few sessions, or even throw a party (or join one) with fellow technical professionals. Maybe this is a good way to take a break from work and still be productive. This might be one of the cheaper conferences you could attend this year. Maybe you can even convince the boss to get some t-shirts with the savings.

    As you might have guessed, I’m a part of this event. I submitted to DevOps East, a conference in Orlando next month, but they also picked me up for the online event, so I’ll be watching and speaking tomorrow. This is an interesting format as it’s not just 24 sessions. It’s over 100 sessions, with 2, 3, or 6 sessions going on at the same time. There are some long sessions, some short ones, all covering different aspects of what we call DevOps.

    Whether you think DevOps is a fad, the idea is silly, or are excited to start building software better and faster, I’d urge you to take a few minutes to scan the schedule and see if there is anything that catches your eye. You might learn a bit on how to change your culture, or improve security, or implement automation. There are even some testing sessions, which I’m looking forward to watching.

    Whether you’re a believer or a skeptic, learn a bit more about DevOps and have an informed opinion. Don’t just judge the movement on the media hype. Listen to some real technical people talk about the ways that they are trying to improve software.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 3.1MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Libsyn.