Continuous deployment system for software development

• US 8,677,315 B1
• Filed: 09/26/2011
• Issued: 03/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Anderson, Keith H., Kenyon, John L., Hollis, Benjamin R., Edwards, Jill, Reid, Brad
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong, Don
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rivera, Anibal
• Application Number:
  US13/245,539
• Time in Patent Office: 904 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 717/110
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3668 Software testing software testing in telephone exchanges H04M3/242, testing of hardware G06F11/22
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/60 Software deployment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/71 Version control security arrangements therefor G06F21/57; Configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4411 Configuring for operating with peripheral devices; Loading of device drivers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44526 Plug-ins; Add-ons

Abstract

Examples of a continuous deployment system are provided that manage and track releases of software code, where some or all of the steps between check-in and deployment to production can be automated. Such systems can reduce the amount of developer effort needed to deploy a package, as developers may not have to be responsible for scheduling package builds, clicking deployment buttons, or manually running tests. The system can take care of all or some of that work.

Claims

1. A method for deploying software, the method comprising:

under control of a continuous deployment system comprising computing hardware;

receiving first source code modifications to a source code package and second source code modifications to the source code package;

automatically building a first software package having the first source code modifications and a second software package having the second source code modifications, the first software package and the second software package comprising executable program instructions;

automatically initiating one or more software tests against the first software package and the second software package to determine whether to deploy the first software package or the second software package, wherein automatically initiating one or more software tests comprises locking a testing environment on which the first software package or the second software package is operating to prevent additional deployments to the testing environment during testing;

approving the first software package for promotion to a deployment environment when the one or more software tests are passed by the first software package, wherein the deployment environment comprises computer hardware and wherein the first software package is promoted through a plurality of stages prior to the promotion to the deployment environment;

approving the second software package for promotion to a deployment environment when the one or more software tests are passed by the second software package, wherein the second software package is promoted through the plurality of stages prior to the promotion to the deployment environment;

automatically selecting one of the first software package or the second software package for deployment, wherein the first software package and the second software package are built from the same source code package; and

causing the selected one of the first software package and the second software package to be deployed to the deployment environment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second software package is a later revision of the source code than the first software package and the second software package is the selected software package for deployment.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first software package and the second software package are built into a first application and a second application.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein deploying the selected software package comprises deploying the application of which the selected software package is a part.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein approving the first software package or the second software package for promotion comprises receiving a manual approval from a user.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein a user-selectable approve feature is presented on an interface of the continuous deployment system.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein approving the first software package or the second software package for promotion comprises automatically determining whether the first or second software package is approved based at least partly on results of the one or more software tests.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein deploying the selected software package comprises:

determining a time window operative on the selected software package; and

deploying the selected software package during a time when the time window is open.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein approving the first software package or the second software package for promotion comprises determining whether the first or second software package has been approved as complying with a compliance policy applicable to the first or second software package.

10. A system for deploying software, the system comprising:

a computer interface configured to receive source code modifications for a source code package; and

a software deployment manager comprising computer hardware, the deployment manager configured to;

automatically build a first software package having the source code modifications;

automatically initiate one or more software tests against the first software package to determine whether to promote the modified software package, wherein to automatically initiate the one or more software tests the deployment manager is configured to lock a testing environment on which the first software package or the second software package is operating to prevent additional deployments to the testing environment during testing;

approve the first software package for promotion to a deployment environment when the one or more software tests are passed by the first software package, wherein the first software package is promoted through a plurality of stages prior to the promotion to the deployment environment;

automatically select a software package for deployment from a set of approved software packages, the set of approved software packages including the first software package; and

cause the selected software package to be deployed to the deployment environment.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the deployment environment is a production environment.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein computer interface comprises a pipeline interface configured to report progress of deployment of the software.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the deployment environment is determined based on promotion configurations provided by a user.

14. The system of claim 10, further comprising an autobuild module configured to identify changes in source code collections and provide source code modifications to the computer interface.

15. The system of claim 10, further comprising an autodeploy module configured to automatically deploy the selected software package to the deployment environment.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the deployment manager is further configured to, in response to a determination that a deployment of the selected software package to the deployment environment failed, rollback the deployment.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the software tests check for previously identified bugs.

18. The system of claim 10, wherein the software tests check that functionality is provided correctly.

19. The system of claim 10, wherein the software tests check the performance of the first software package.

20. The system of claim 10, wherein the software tests check for compliance with a compliance policy.

21. The system of claim 10, wherein the plurality of approved software packages are revisions of the same source code package.

22. The system of claim 10, wherein the deployment manager is further configured to approve the first software package for promotion upon receiving a manual approval from a user.

23. Non-transitory computer storage having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to:

in response to receipt of source code modifications to a source code package, automatically build an executable software package having the source code modifications;

deploy the executable software package software package to a deployment environment;

automatically initiate one or more software tests on the executable software package to determine whether to deploy the executable software package, wherein to automatically initiate the one or more software tests the instructions cause the computer system to lock the deployment environment during testing to prevent additional deployments;

approve the executable software package for promotion to a deployment environment when the one or more software tests are passed by the software package, wherein the executable software package is promoted through a plurality of stages prior to the promotion to the deployment environment;

automatically determine whether the executable software package includes latest approved revisions to the source code package; and

cause the executable software package to be deployed to a second deployment environment based at least partly on determining that the executable software package includes the latest approved revisions.

24. The non-transitory computer storage of claim 23, wherein the executable software package is approved for promotion based on receiving manual approval from a user.

25. The non-transitory computer storage of claim 24, wherein the manual approval from the user is received via a user-selectable approve feature presented on an interface of the computer system.

26. The non-transitory computer storage of claim 23, wherein the instructions further cause the computing system to:

determine a time window operative on the software package; and

deploy the software package during a time when the time window is open.

27. The non-transitory computer storage of claim 23, wherein the instructions further cause the computing system to:

in response to a determination that a deployment of the executable software package to a deployment environment failed, rollback the deployment.

28. The non-transitory computer storage of claim 23, wherein the executable software package is approved for promotion based on a determination that the executable software package has been approved as complying with a compliance policy applicable to the executable software package.