Managing applications

BMC Release Process Management processes are centered on applications. Applications are composed of components. Components are related to applications through membership in an environment.

This topic provides an overview of applications and instructions for managing them:

• Overview of applications
• To create an application
• To edit an application
• To assign packages to an application
• Where to go from here

Overview of applications

In the context of BMC Release Process Management, an application is a software system that your organization is developing. The software system can be a software product that your organization is developing, a software service that your organization provides, or even a new operating system that your organization is creating. BMC Release Process Management enables you to efficiently and effectively manage a software system until it is released.

The following image depicts the application-centric model:

 

When you start working with BMC Release Process Management, you either add new applications or edit previously defined applications.

After creating an application, you then create an environment to associate with the application.

You can set Strict plan control for your applications. If a request is associated with an application that has Strict plan control, this request cannot be created, updated, or started unless it has a plan and a plan stage assigned.

Environments are platforms on which applications are deployed and configured. A software environment is a collection of hosted servers and application software that provides a platform for running and testing applications.

After you have created environments in an application, you need to create components to associate with the environments. Some components are local to the application, such as a JAR file. Others are remote components, such as a database cluster.

A component that is associated with an environment is called an installed component. If an application depends on components in a separate application, the components in the other application are called remote components. For example, the database component for an application named TravelTime might be supplied by a separate application named Oracle. The TravelTime application refers to the remote component in the Oracle application.

After associating a component with an environment, you can assign a version number to the installed component. You can also associate the installed component with servers, server groups, or server-level groups.

You then create properties and map them to the components in the environments that you create. Properties store settings and values that are important to the execution of requests. Properties are also associated with servers and server levels. Components, servers, and server levels inherit property values from the Property Dictionary, which is also called a global.

You can use alphabetical sorting for the list of components and the list of environments associated with the application. For more information about alphabetical sorting, see Managing-components and Managing-environments.

You can export your existing applications to an XML file. While exporting, you can select various application options that you want to include or remove from the XML file such as servers, deployment windows, request templates, and automations.

To create an application

1. Go to the Applications tab and, on the right side of your screen, click Create Application.
2. In the Name field, enter the name for your application.
3. (Optional) In the App version field, enter the version number of your application.
4. (Optional) To use the application only in requests that are part of a release plan, select the Strict plan control check box.
5. In the Team list, select a team that will be associated with the application. By default, an application is associated with the default team.
6. Click Create.

To edit an application

1. Go to the Applications tab or Dashboard > My Applications.
2. Next to the appropriate application, click Edit.
3. Make your changes as needed.
4. Click Save.

To assign packages to an application

1. Click the Applications tab.
2. From the list of applications, click edit for the required application.
3. Click the Packages tab on the right.
4. Click Add/Remove Packages.
   The Select Packages dialog box opens.
5. For each package that you want to assign to the application, move the package from the list on the left to the list on the right.
6. Click Select Packages to save your package selection.

Where to go from here

After you create applications, create environments and components, and then associate components with environments.