Creating and using pipelines in Code Stream

You can use vRealize Automation Code Stream to model your build, test, and deploy process. With vRealize Automation Code Stream, you set up the infrastructure that supports your release cycle and create pipelines that model your software release activities. vRealize Automation Code Stream delivers your software from development code, through testing, and deploys it to your production instances.

Each pipeline includes stages and tasks. Stages represent your development phases, and tasks perform the required actions that deliver your software application through the stages.

What are Pipelines in vRealize Automation Code Stream

A pipeline is a continuous integration and continuous delivery model of your software release process. It releases your software from source code, through testing, to production. It includes a sequence of stages that include tasks that represent the activities in your software release cycle. Your software application flows from one stage to the next through the pipeline.

You add endpoints so that the tasks in your pipeline can connect to data sources, repositories, or notification systems.

Creating Pipelines

You can create a pipeline by starting with a blank canvas, using a smart pipeline template, or by importing YAML code.

• Use the blank canvas. For an example, see Planning a CICD native build in Code Stream before manually adding tasks.
• Use a smart pipeline template. For an example, see Planning to natively build, integrate, and deliver your code in Code Stream.
• Import YAML code. Click Pipelines > Import. In the Import dialog box, select the YAML file or enter the YAML code, and click Import.

When you use the blank canvas to create a pipeline, you add stages, tasks, and approvals. The pipeline automates the process that builds, tests, deploys, and releases your application. The tasks in each stage run actions that build, test, and release your code through each stage.

Table 1. Example pipeline stages and uses

Example stage	Examples of what you can do
Development	In a development stage, you can provision a machine, retrieve an artifact, add a build task that creates a Docker host for continuous integration of your code, and more. For example: To plan and create a continuous integration (CI) build, which delivers your code by using the native build capability in vRealize Automation Code Stream, see Planning a continuous integration native build in Code Stream before using the smart pipeline template.
Test	In a test stage, you can add a Jenkins task to test your software application, and include post-processing test tools such as JUnit and JaCoCo, and more. For example: Integrate vRealize Automation Code Stream with Jenkins, and run a Jenkins job in your pipeline, which builds and tests your source code. See How do I integrate Code Stream with Jenkins. Create custom scripts that extend the capability of vRealize Automation Code Stream to integrate with your own build, test, and deploy tools. See How do I integrate my own build, test, and deploy tools with Code Stream. Track trends on post-processing for a continuous integration (CI) pipeline. See How do I use custom dashboards to track key performance indicators for my pipeline in Code Stream.
Production	In a production stage, you can integrate a cloud template in Cloud Assembly that provisions your infrastructure, deploys your software to a Kubernetes cluster, and more. For example: To see example stages for development and production, which can deploy your software application in your own Blue-Green deployment model, see How do I deploy my application in Code Stream to my Blue-Green deployment. To integrate a cloud template into your pipeline, see How do I automate the release of an application that I deploy from a YAML cloud template in Code Stream. You can also add a deployment task that runs a script to deploy the application. To automate the deployment of your software applications to a Kubernetes cluster, How do I automate the release of an application in Code Stream to a Kubernetes cluster. To integrate code into your pipeline and deploy your build image, see How do I continuously integrate code from my GitHub or GitLab repository into my pipeline in Code Stream.

You can export your pipeline as a YAML file. Click Pipelines, click a pipeline card, then click Actions > Export.

Approving pipelines

You can obtain an approval from another team member at specific points in your pipeline.

• To require approval on a pipeline by including a user operation task in a pipeline, see How do I run a pipeline and see results. This task sends an email notification to the user who must review it. The reviewer must either approve or reject the approval before the pipeline can continue to run. If the User Operation task has an expiration timeout set in days, hours, or minutes, the required user must approve the pipeline before the task expires. Otherwise, the pipeline fails as expected.
• In any stage of a pipeline, if a task or stage fails, you can have vRealize Automation Code Stream create a Jira ticket. See How do I create a Jira ticket in Code Stream when a pipeline task fails.

Triggering pipelines

Pipelines can trigger when developers check their code into the repository, or review code, or when it identifies a new or updated build artifact.

• To integrate vRealize Automation Code Stream with the Git lifecycle, and trigger a pipeline when developers update their code, use the Git trigger. See How do I use the Git trigger in Code Stream to run a pipeline.
• To integrate vRealize Automation Code Stream with the Gerrit code review lifecycle, and trigger a pipeline on code reviews, use the Gerrit trigger. See How do I use the Gerrit trigger in Code Stream to run a pipeline.
• To trigger a pipeline when a Docker build artifact is created or updated, use the Docker trigger. See How do I use the Docker trigger in Code Stream to run a continuous delivery pipeline.

For more information about the triggers that vRealize Automation Code Stream supports, see Triggering pipelines in Code Stream.