DevOps toolchain

In software, a toolchain is the set of programming tools that is used to perform a complex software development task or to create a software product, which is typically another computer program or a set of related programs. In general, the tools forming a toolchain are executed consecutively so the output or resulting environment state of each tool becomes the input or starting environment for the next one, but the term is also used when referring to a set of related tools that are not necessarily executed consecutively. As DevOps is a set of practices that emphasizes the collaboration and communication of both software developers and other information technology (IT) professionals, while automating the process of software delivery and infrastructure changes, its implementation can include the definition of the series of tools used at various stages of the lifecycle; because DevOps is a cultural shift and collaboration between development and operations, there is no one product that can be considered a single DevOps tool. Instead a collection of tools, potentially from a variety of vendors, are used in one or more stages of the lifecycle. == Stages of DevOps ==

Plan Plan consists of two elements: "define" and "plan". This activity refers to the business value and application requirements. Specifically "Plan" activities include: • Production metrics, objects and feedback • Requirements • Business metrics • Update release metrics • Release plan, timing and business case • Security policy and requirement A combination of the IT personnel will be involved in these activities: business application owners, software development, software architects, continual release management, security officers and the organization responsible for managing the production of IT infrastructure. Create Create consists of the building, coding, and configuring of the software development process. The specific Release activities include: • Release coordination • Deploying and promoting applications • Fallbacks and recovery • Scheduled/timed releases Solutions that cover this aspect of the toolchain include application release automation, deployment automation and release management. Configure Configure activities fall under the operation side of DevOps. Once software is deployed, there may be additional IT infrastructure provisioning and configuration activities required. Monitor Monitoring is an important link in a DevOps toolchain. It allows IT organization to identify specific issues of specific releases and to understand the impact on end-users. A summary of Monitor related activities are: • Performance of IT infrastructure • End-user response and experience • Production metrics and statistics Information from monitoring activities often impacts Plan activities required for changes and for new release cycles. Version Control Version Control is an important link in a DevOps toolchain and a component of software configuration management. Version Control is the management of changes to documents, computer programs, large web sites, and other collections of information. A summary of Version Control related activities are: • Non-linear development • Distributed development • Compatibility with existent systems and protocols • Toolkit-based design Information from Version Control often supports Release activities required for changes and for new release cycles. ==See also==