Voice of the DBA

Tag: DLM

  • Webinar: Database Deployment with Git, Jenkins, and Octopus Deploy

    I’ve got a webinar later today that looks at how Redgate Software’s DLM Automation and other SQL Toolbelt tools can be used to smoothly move development changes from one database to another.

    Sign up and spend an hour with me this morning.

    This is part of a monthly series that Redgate is running, where we’re changing the platform out every month. In this case, I’m going to use a git as my VCS, storing changes in there as I make them to a database.

    From there, I will push the changes to a remote git repo and have Jenkins automatically pick up the changes and build, test, and deploy the changes to another database. I’ll make table changes, data changes, proc changes, anything you want. Just ask.

    However, that’s not all. From there, we’ll see Octopus Deploy take a package of changes and deploy them out to other environments, letting my manage and track the process with the click of a button.

    I’ve been doing this demos for a few years, across multiple platforms, but never on Jenkins. However, I’m amazed that things work as smoothly here as they do with TeamCity or VSTS.

    Building software is building software, including database software.

    If you’ve got some time today, join me and see how easy this can be.

    Sign up and see database changes made live.

  • What’s a Database Pipeline?

    One of the things I ran into a few years ago was the idea of a software pipeline. A set journey across machines and stages that your software takes. In modern, DevOps style development shops, this usually means:

    • A development machine(s)
    • A Version Control System (VCS)
    • A CI/Build server/system
    • An artifact repository
    • Test server(s)/system(s)
    • Production server(s)/system(s)

    Usually software flows along this path as code is written, compiled, and moved from one stage to the next. You may have more or less stages in your environment.

    For databases, this should be similar, with databases in

    • development
    • test/QA
    • staging/pre-production
    • production

    You could also have other stages like integration, beta, user acceptance, etc. I’ve seen people with 7, 8, or 9 databases in their environment, all a part of their entire development and operational areas.

    The database development pipeline is the set of databases that your code flows through. We’ve represented this with visually in DLM Dashboard as a flow, allowing up to 5 environments to be defined. You can see one of my pipelines in this image:

    2016-08-01 22_16_05-SalesDemo-2015-12-01-1745-export-i-fgod4b6h - VMware Workstation

    Keeping code flowing smoothly along this pipeline is the goal of any development effort. We know this at Redgate, and our mission is to build tools to help you do this efficiently.

  • Getting Started with Database DevOps, DLM, and New Tools

    Next Tuesday is the next installment of our DLM series from Redgate. I’m off the hook, with Grant and Arneh showing off Git, Team City, and Octopus Deploy as the main tools. Register today and see how you can get started.

    We’ve been running this series for a year, with a focus on showing different tools being used to deploy database changes. Of course, we do showcase some Redgate tools from the Toolbelt, but the idea is to integrate with various other common development tools.

    68_dlm dashboard red wfillIf you’re looking for an easy way to get started, consider downloading and trying DLM Dashboard, a free tool to audit and monitor your database schemas.

    If you’ve missed any, you can see these combinations of Version Control, CI, and Release tools:

      Version Control Continuous Integration/Build Release Management/Deployment
    Webinar link Git TFS Build in VSTS Microsoft Release Management
    Webinar link TFSVC TeamCity Octopus Deploy
    Webinar link TFSVC Jenkins Octopus Deploy
    Webinar link Subversion (SVN) TeamCity Octopus Deploy
    Webinar link TFSVC TFS Build in VSTS Microsoft Release Management

    Feel free to watch any of these, or come to the next webinar and ask questions live. There are more resources in our DLM library.

    DLM really can help smooth your development and deployment process, reducing mistakes, and allowing you to deliver enhancements to customers faster.

  • The Next DLM Demo Webinar–Feb 23

    A quick note that I will be presenting a webinar on Feb 23rd at 10:00am MST. That’s noon EST and 5:00pm GMT. You can sign up here if you’d like to watch. This is similar to other DLM webinars I’ve done that look at the Redgate stack of products that help you develop database software in a smoother fashion.

    I am changing things up a bit. This time the stack is:

    • Git – version control
    • Team City – Continuous Integration or Build server
    • Octopus Deploy – Release Management tool.

    As with the other webinars, I’ll show how I track the version of the database in each environment, then show how to make changes in SSMS, commit them to my VCS with SQL Source Control, and then deploy them in an automated fashion across various environments. In this case, I’ll have this flow of environments

    • development
    • integration
    • test
    • acceptance
    • production

    It’s an impressive demonstration. As I’ve watched this grow at Redgate, I am impressed with how well things work. I wish I’d have had these tools when I built database software earlier in my career.