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Achieving Agile DevOps with Microservices: CI/CD Best Practices and Lessons Learned What is CI/CD?

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Achieving Agile DevOps with Microservices: CI/CD Best Practices and Lessons Learned What is CI/CD?

CI/CD, short for Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery, is a software development process that involves integrating code changes with the existing main branch. The main branch code must meet production quality standards, which are ensured through automated builds and rigorous testing processes.


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Code changes that undergo the CI process are regularly deployed to an environment that closely resembles the production setting for continuous delivery. Once it is confirmed that the code is ready for deployment in the production environment, manual approval may be required, although it is often automated. The primary objective is to always have code that is deployable on the production server. If the code changes have successfully passed through CI and CD, they are automatically deployed into production using continuous deployment.


The CI/CD process enables developers to consistently integrate and deliver code changes with confidence, ensuring a smooth and efficient software development workflow. By automating various stages and maintaining high-quality standards, organizations can streamline their software delivery process, reducing errors and achieving faster time-to-market.


CI/CD with Micro Services

A strong CI/CD progression in microservices design encompasses specific goals. One such goal is to enable each team of coders to independently develop and deploy their changes or edits, ensuring that their work does not disrupt the efforts of other teams.


When a new version of a service is prepared for deployment on the production server, it undergoes deployment to a test or QA environment to verify that everything functions as expected. Quality checks are conducted at various implementation levels, and once these checks are successfully completed, the new version can be deployed alongside the previous version. Access control policies are in place to govern code deployment and integration, ensuring a controlled and secure process.


To facilitate the smooth functioning and implementation of CI/CD for microservices, it is beneficial to provide the appropriate tools and features for the infrastructure. This ensures that the development teams have the necessary resources to effectively manage their CI/CD pipelines. For more tips and insights on implementing CI/CD for microservices, you can refer to the Jaxenter website, where additional tricks and techniques are available.


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Best Practices

In the realm of CI/CD, several best practices can enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the process. One crucial decision involves determining which tests and processes should be automated first. Initially, automating smoke tests proves beneficial, given the daily code commits. Automating unit tests before smoke tests reduces the developers' workload significantly. Functional testing can follow suit, followed by UI testing. It is vital to consider potential dependencies and evaluate their impact on other processes to prioritize automation logically.

Frequent software releases are attainable when the software is in a release-ready state and has undergone testing in an environment identical to production. A valuable practice is A/B testing for usability, where variants are pitted against each other, with the superior performing feature prevailing. Releasing the feature or software to a subset of users for testing and gradually expanding it to a broader user base upon successful validation facilitates frequent releases.


Minimizing branching and encouraging daily commits allows developers to focus more on development rather than version control. A recommended approach is leveraging GitOps, committing directly to the main branch from local branches at least once a day. This prompts developers to handle smaller, manageable chunks of integration challenges, avoiding the massive integration pain often associated with merging multiple branches right before a release.


Being prepared to adopt microservices architecture is key to effective DevOps management. While re-architecting an existing application can be time-consuming and daunting, taking an incremental approach proves helpful. By aligning the new architecture with the mission and gradually replacing the old system, the transition becomes more manageable.


Security maintenance is paramount within a CI/CD system, as it involves retrieving codebase and credentials for installation in various development environments. Developers should consider separating the CI/CD systems and placing them within a reliable and secure internal network. Implementing strong two-factor authentication and robust access management systems helps mitigate exposure to external and internal threats.


By following these best practices, organizations can establish a strong foundation for their CI/CD processes. These practices enhance efficiency, agility, and security throughout the software development lifecycle, leading to faster delivery of high-quality software while maintaining a robust and secure environment.


Conclusion

CI/CD best practices prioritize automating the build process, testing, and software release. This requires leveraging DevOps tools to streamline automation and gain insights into software progress. Developers should also monitor performance metrics throughout the software delivery lifecycle, promptly notifying stakeholders to enable quick recovery in case of deployment or release issues.


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