DevOps: Real Time Prod Deployment Process Explained

#devopsengineer #devopsmadeeasy #production #deployment 1. Release Planning & Scheduling • Every production deployment starts with a fixed release date and time. • This is usually aligned with: o Business impact o Low-traffic windows o Team availability ________________________________________ 2. Testing Across All Environments • Before PROD, the application must be fully tested in: o DEV (Development testing) o QAT (Quality Assurance Testing) o UAT (User Acceptance Testing) ________________________________________ 3. Change Request (CR) Approval • A valid Change Request (CR) must be: o Created o Reviewed o Pre-approved ________________________________________ 4. Rollback Planning • Always define clear rollback steps before deployment. • You should be able to: o Revert to previous version quickly o Minimize downtime ________________________________________ 5. Right People & Access • Ensure all required teams are available: o DevOps Team o Development Team o Support Team • Everyone should have: o Proper access o Defined responsibilities ________________________________________ 6. CI/CD Consistency Across Environments • Same pipeline is used for all environments: o DEV → QAT → UAT → PROD • Key principle: o Same artifact (JAR/Docker image) goes to PROD “We don’t rebuild for PROD — we promote the same artifact.” ________________________________________7. CI vs CD in Production • CI (Continuous Integration): o Already completed before deployment • CD (Continuous Deployment): o Triggered during the deployment window ________________________________________ 8. Quality Gates & Security Checks • Ensure all checks are passed: o Code coverage o Security scans o Image signing o Artifact validation ________________________________________ 9. Environment-Agnostic Pipelines • Avoid hardcoding anything: o URLs o Credentials o Configs Use: • Environment variables • Config maps • Secrets ________________________________________ 10. Deployment Execution • Trigger CD pipeline: o Uses tools like:  Helm  kubectl • Ensure: o Proper ownership of releases o Clean deployment tracking ________________________________________ 11. Secrets & Configuration Readiness • Verify beforehand: o Secrets are stored in vault (e.g., HashiCorp Vault / Kubernetes secrets) o All credentials are available ________________________________________ 12. Deployment Strategy • Use Rolling Update strategy o Pods restart one by one o No downtime for users ________________________________________ 13. Rollback Execution • Rollback should be: o Fast o Automated via pipeline o Tested beforehand