Setting up miscellaneous metadata

Metadata, or data about data, is important in the context of BMC Release Process Management. For basic information about metadata, see Metadata in the Key concepts section. You reach the metadata list from Environment > Metadata. Setting up metadata can be done only by the administrator of BMC Release Process Management and users with Coordinator or Deployer roles.

This topic provides the following instructions for setting up metadata:

To set up plan templates

Before creating a plan, you need to create a plan template. The plan template contains the stages. A stage is the process through which the application passes, for example, development, QA, and whatever stage that you want to define.

1. From Environment > Metadata, click Manage Plan Templates.
2. Click Create Plan Template on the right.
3. In the Name field, type a name.
4. From the Template Type list, select the template type.
5. Click Create.
6. To complete the plan template creation, add stages by clicking Add Stages.
7. Add as many stages as you require to define the template.
8. While adding the stage, you can associate as many default request templates as you require.

To set up package contents

Package content refers to labeling requests. For example, you might enter items such as "Database modification", "Code change for calendar functionality", and others.

1. From Environment > Metadata, click Manage Packet Contents.
2. Click Create Package Content on the right.
3. In the Name field, add the package content name that you want to add and then click Create.
4. Add as many package contents as you want.

To set up phases

1. From Environment > Metadata, click Manage Phases.
2. Click the Add a New Phase link.
3. In the Name field under Phases, type a name for the phase.
4. Click Create.
5. Create as many phases as you want.
6. (Optional) After you have created the phases, you can drag and drop the icon on the left to change their order.

To use phases

You must have created a request associated steps with the request. You specify the phase from the request. After you specify a phase, your request runs only during during the selected runtime phase.

1. Click Requests and click open the request for which you want to specify a phase.
2. Click open the step associated with the request.
3. After you have completed the other fields, select the phase from the phase list.
4. From the Runtime Phase list, select the required phase.
5. After you have entered the other relevant fields, click Save Step.

To set up procedures

A procedure is a group of steps.

1. From Environment > Metadata, click Manage Procedures.
2. To add a new procedure, click Create Procedure at the right side of your screen.
3. To see the steps added for for a procedure, click one of the procedures appearing in the list on the Metadata > Procedures page. You can also reorder the steps added within the procedure by clicking Reorder Steps.

To set up processes

1. From Environment > Metadata, click Manage Processes.
2. Click the Add New Process link.
3. In the Name field under Process, type a name for the process.
4. From the Label color list, select a hexadecimal code that represents the label color.
   Using colors enables you to identify processes easily.
5. Create as many processes as you want.

To set up releases

1. From Environment > Metadata, click Manage Releases.
2. Click Create Release at the right side of your screen.
3. In the Name field, type a name or a date.
4. Click Create.
5. Add as many releases as required.
6. (Optional) After you have created the releases, you can drag and drop the icon on the left to change the order.
   To edit a release, click Edit.
   To make a release inactive, click Make Inactive on the right.

To set up work tasks

1. From Environment > Metadata, click Manage Work Tasks.
2. Click the Add a new work task link.
3. Click Create.
4. Create as many work tasks as required.
5. (Optional) After you have created the work tasks, you can drag and drop the icon on the left to change the order.

To set up versions

You need to create newer and newer versions of your applications, depending on your releases. You can create as many versions as required.

1. From Environment > Metadata, click Manage Versions Tags.
2. Click Add a new version on the right.
3. Add the details in the fields.
   The Version, Environment, and Application fields are required.

4. Click Create.

   Note

   If you select the check box for Limit Versions to Metadata under Module - Requests from the Settings > General tab, the version appearing in the Steps session is limited to the version created for the specific session.

After preliminary metadata is set up, you can create a request from the Dashboard page by clicking Dashboard > Create Request.