Self-Validating Application Deployment via Test Deployer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional software testing processes fail to detect errors introduced by differences between test and production environments, leading to potential bugs or errors in deployed applications that were not present during testing.
Innovation Solution
Self-validating applications include validation tests stored in an application archive, which are run by a test deployer to verify basic functionality before full deployment, allowing for error detection and reporting outside the conventional testing process, thereby ensuring the application functions properly in the production environment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional testing process is used, then development time is reduced, but errors in production environment cannot be detected
Solution Approach 1:
The validation test is executed as a preliminary action before the full deployment process. The test deployer runs validation tests against a snapshot of the production environment configuration before deploying the new application, allowing potential errors to be detected in advance without delaying the actual deployment.
Solution Approach 2:
A test deployer acts as an intermediary between the deployment system and the production environment. The test deployer creates a snapshot of the production environment configuration and runs validation tests in this isolated environment, mediating the detection of potential errors without requiring direct modification of the production system.
2Reliability
If validation tests are run before deployment, then error detection improves, but deployment process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The deployment process is segmented into distinct phases: first, the test deployer creates a snapshot of the production environment configuration; second, validation tests are executed against this snapshot; third, only if tests pass does the full deployment proceed. This segmentation isolates the complexity of validation testing from the main deployment process.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of modifying the actual production environment, the system creates a copy (snapshot) of the production environment configuration. The validation tests run against this copy, allowing comprehensive functionality verification without adding complexity to the production system itself.
3Productivity
If full deployment is performed without validation, then deployment speed increases, but cost of fixing errors increases
Solution Approach 1:
Validation tests are executed as a preliminary action before full deployment. This ensures that errors are identified and fixed in the development environment where fixing costs are lowest, rather than discovering errors after deployment when fixing costs increase significantly.
Solution Approach 2:
The validation test provides feedback about potential errors in the application before deployment. This feedback mechanism allows the deployment process to be adjusted or corrected in advance, preventing costly error fixes in the production environment and maintaining efficient deployment practices.
Data Source
AI summary
An application server operating in a production environment receives an application for deployment. A test deployer in the application server determines whether the application includes a validation test. If the application includes a validation test, the test deployer performs an auxiliary deployment of the application and runs the validation test. If the validation test succeeds, the test deployer performs a full deployment of the application on the application server.