Creating Release Tasks

This topic explains how to create Release Tasks and add them to the Release Phase.

A new Task can be added to any place of the Release Plan when this is not in running mode. If the plan is paused or failed, Tasks can only be added (or deleted) after the last successfully finished Task.

To Create a Release Task

  1. Open the Release Plan. The Release Board view is displayed.
  2. Click Add Task to add a new Task to the Release Plan. The Create Manual Task dialog is shown.

  3. From the type dropdown list select the type of Task you want to create: manual (Manual Task) or automatic (ARA Deployment Task, ARA Provisioning Task, Automation Engine Workflow, Email Notification). Depending on the type selected, a different dialog is displayed.

  4. Enter the following information:

    • Email Notification (automatically sends an email using the AE's mail configuration).

      SMTP must be configured in the AE for the current client. To know more see the following topics:

      • General tab:

        1. Enter a name for the task.

          Please note that the name can only contain alphanumeric characters, blanks, ".", "-", "_", "@", "$", "#". Task names can consist of from 3 to 255 characters and don't need to be unique.

        2. Optionally, add a description to better identify the purpose of the Task.
        3. Select an owner from the dropdown list. Only existing/active users/groups can be selected.

      • Email tab:

        1. At least one recipient must be entered/added either in the To or in the Cc field. To do so:

          1. Click Edit next to the appropriate field to open the Edit Recipients dialog.

          2. Select one user or user group as recipient of the email or manually enter an email address.
          3. Click Add.
          4. Optionally, add/enter more users/addresses and add them to the recipients list.
          5. Click OK.
        2. Enter a subject to the email.
        3. Enter the message that will be sent.

      • Optionally, click the Notification tab to define when to notify users about changes in the Release Task. When the owner is a user group, all members will be notified. Select one or more of the following checkboxes and add the user(s)/user group(s) you want to be notified:

        • Notify on Start: a message will be sent when the Release Task is started.
        • Notify on Error: a message will be sent when the Release Task fails.
        • Notify when Finished: a message will be sent when the Release Task finished successfully.
        • Notify when Delayed: a message will be sent when a Task did not start in the specified time.

        Message notifications are sent to the Notification bar. To know more see: Notification Object (CALL).

    • Manual Task (E.g.: preparation steps: collect artifacts from various sources, validation steps: analyze test reports, third-party activities: activities performed by an outsourced team, approvals).

      1. Enter a name for the task.

        Please note that the name can only contain alphanumeric characters, blanks, ".", "-", "_", "@", "$", "#". Task names can consist of from 3 to 255 characters.

      2. Optionally, add a description to better identify the purpose of the Task.
      3. Select an owner from the dropdown list (user or user group responsible for the Task). Only existing/active users/groups can be selected. The default owner is the user who creates the Task.

      4. Enter the duration of the Task. Default time: 30 minutes.

        The value must be in the following format: M/d/yyyy HH:mm.

        The planned start date/time is calculated based on the end date/time of the previous Task or the start date/time of the Release Plan (if the Task you are creating is the first to be executed).

      5. Assign the task to yourself, another user or a user group. The assignee is the user or user group responsible for the execution of the Task.

    • Automation Engine Workflow (enables the user to set up which AE workflow should be triggered):

      • General tab:

        1. Enter a name for the Task.

          Please note that the name can only contain alphanumeric characters, blanks, ".", "-", "_", "@", "$", "#". Task names can consist of from 3 to 255 characters and don't need to be unique.

        2. Optionally, add a description to better identify the purpose of the Task.
        3. Select an owner from the dropdown list. Only existing/active users/groups can be selected.
        4. Enter the duration of the Task. Default time: 30 minutes.

          The value must be in the following format: M/d/yyyy HH:mm.

          The planned start date/time is calculated based on the end date/time of the previous Task or the start date/time of the Release Plan (if the Task you are creating is the first to be executed).

      • Workflow tab:

        All the fields below allow expression values. See also Using Variables in Release Plans.

        1. Select the AE Workflow that will be executed.
        2. Select an AE user. If you have previously created another Automation Engine Workflow task, the user to whom the first task was assigned will be selected by default.
        3. Enter the user password. If the default user has not been changed, the password will be automatically entered.

      • Prompts tab. Lists all Prompts with their default values.

      • Optionally, click the Notification tab to define when to notify users about changes in the Release Task. When the owner is a user group, all members will be notified. Select one or more of the following checkboxes and add the user(s)/user group(s) you want to be notified:

        • Notify on Start: a message will be sent when the Release Task is started.
        • Notify on Error: a message will be sent when the Release Task fails.
        • Notify when Finished: a message will be sent when the Release Task finished successfully.
        • Notify when Delayed: a message will be sent when a Task did not start in the specified time.

        Message notifications are sent to the Notification bar. To know more see: Notification Object (CALL).

    • ARA Deployment (defines which ARA Workflow should be triggered to deploy an Application).

      • General tab:

        1. Enter a name for the Task.

          Please note that the name can only contain alphanumeric characters, blanks, ".", "-", "_", "@", "$", "#". Task names can consist of from 3 to 255 characters and don't need to be unique.

        2. Optionally, add a description to better identify the purpose of the Task.
        3. Select an owner from the dropdown list. Only existing/active users/groups can be selected.
        4. Enter the duration of the Task. Default time: 30 minutes.

          The value must be in the following format: M/d/yyyy HH:mm.

          The planned start date/time is calculated based on the end date/time of the previous Task or the start date/time of the Release Plan (if the Task you are creating is the first to be executed).

      • Deployment tab:

        1. Select the entities for the ARA deployment execution:

          These fields allow expression values. See also Using Variables in Release Plans

          • Application
          • Workflow
          • Profile
          • Package

        2. Select the installation mode. The Skip existing components option is selected by default.

          All the above fields allow expression values.

        3. Select an ARA user.
        4. Enter a valid password.

      • Optionally, click the Notification tab to define when to notify users about changes in the Release Task. When the owner is a user group, all members will be notified. Select one or more of the following checkboxes and add the user(s)/user group(s) you want to be notified:

        • Notify on Start: a message will be sent when the Release Task is started.
        • Notify on Error: a message will be sent when the Release Task fails.
        • Notify when Finished: a message will be sent when the Release Task finished successfully.
        • Notify when Delayed: a message will be sent when a Task did not start in the specified time.

        Message notifications are sent to the Notification bar. To know more see: Notification Object (CALL).

      Dynamic Properties: Prompt on Execution is not supported for this Task.

    • ARA Provisioning (provisions a new ARA Environment)

      • General tab:

        1. Enter a name for the Task.

          Please note that the name can only contain alphanumeric characters, blanks, ".", "-", "_", "@", "$", "#". Task names can consist of from 3 to 255 characters and don't need to be unique.

        2. Optionally, add a description to better identify the purpose of the Task.
        3. Select an owner from the dropdown list. Only existing/active users/groups can be selected.

      • Provisioning tab:

        1. Select the Blueprint to be used for provisioning a new Environment.
        2. Enter a name for the new Environment.

          This field allows expression values. See also: Using Variables in Release Plans

        3. Select an Environment type from the dropdown list (generic, production, etc...)

          This field allows expression values. See also: Using Variables in Release Plans

        4. Select the folder where you want to store the new Environment.

          This field allows expression values. See also: Using Variables in Release Plans

        5. Select a user with sufficient rights.
        6. Enter the user password.

      • Optionally, click the Notification tab to define when to notify users about changes in the Release Task. When the owner is a user group, all members will be notified. Select one or more of the following checkboxes and add the user(s)/user group(s) you want to be notified:

        • Notify on Start: a message will be sent when the Release Task is started.
        • Notify on Error: a message will be sent when the Release Task fails.
        • Notify when Finished: a message will be sent when the Release Task finished successfully.
        • Notify when Delayed: a message will be sent when a Task did not start in the specified time.

        Message notifications are sent to the Notification bar. To know more see: Notification Object (CALL).

  5. Click Create.

You can create as many Tasks as you want and edit or delete them at a later point in time. To reorder the Tasks simply drag-and drop them.

After adding a new Task to the Phase, the duration of the Release Plan and Phase is automatically updated. The start & end date/time of all subsequent Tasks and Phases are updated as well.

What to do next: