Automating Canary Deployments with CI/CD

Need quick, safe software changes? Try Canary deployments in CI/CD.

This way lets a few users try updates before everyone gets them, cutting down risks and keeping things stable. Here's why it's good and how to use it:

• What is a Canary Deployment? Slowly bring updates to a few users while others stay on the old version.
• Why mix it with CI/CD? It makes the process automatic, giving fast feedback, quick fixes, and easy backsteps if problems pop up.
• Upsides for UK Companies:
  • Finding problems early saves money and looks good.
  • Fits rules like GDPR.
  • Makes updates fast and sure.

Top Tools for Making it Automatic

• Jenkins: You can change it but you need add-ons.
• Spinnaker: Best for using many clouds.
• Argo Rollouts: Great for people using Kubernetes.
• GitLab: Comes with CI/CD stuff and ways to step back.
• Feature Flags: Tools like LaunchDarkly test new parts in control.

Short Compare List:

How to Use GitHub Actions to Automate Microservices Canary Deployments

Rules for Setting Up Canary Roll-Outs

A strong setup is key to good canary roll-outs. Your build machines must have the space to keep many versions running at the same time, making sure there's no lag as users move between old and new versions.

Good web speed is just as key. Your web must move smooth between canary and full live setups, with no lost links or slow times that might hurt the user's time on the site.

Using systems like Docker and Kubernetes may make canary roll-outs easier. Also, having many tools is a must to guide the roll-out path right:

Code as Setup (IaC) is key for keeping setups the same. Making your area in code lets you build areas fast and stops setup change across stages.

Track tools are a must too. These tools keep an eye on work, error rates, and how users act, helping find problems early and let rollbacks happen when needed.

By using auto CI/CD lines, groups can ship things faster, make fewer mistakes, lift work from coders, and cut costs.

Who Can Do What and Setup

To keep your rollouts safe, use role-based access rules (RBAC). This makes sure only the right staff can start rollouts or change setups. Set clear roles for coders, testers, and ops teams.

For private info, pick tools made for secret facts rather than putting secrets right in the code. This lowers the risk of them being seen by mistake and makes changing passwords easier.

Auto health checks are key to make sure early rollouts work right before they take on real user traffic. Checks should look at database links, API replies, and other main app parts.

A strong Git branch setup is a must-have too. By having branches for new stuff, tests, and live rollouts, you can track changes better and roll back easier if needed.

Feature flag tools let you pick which new parts early users see. This lets you test new bits with a few users while keeping the main app steady.

For example, Azure DevOps makes it simpler to auto the rollout process and handle where traffic goes.

Keep setup files - like Kubernetes setups - in version check. Using outlines for these files keeps things the same across areas.

Not just tech work, watching how users act like click rates and time in the app can show problems not clear from just system work.

UK Needs

When rolling out in the UK, think about special rules and needs. For time, make sure to set your systems to use GMT/BST right for planning rollouts and alerts to match UK work hours.

You must follow GDPR at every rollout step. Your track and log systems must take care of private info right, keeping data safe in both early and live setups.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has good tips for UK groups. Its 14 Cloud Safety Rules, though for public groups, matter for private ones too.

Strong sign-in rules are a must. Use one sign-in for all (SSO) to make password stuff simpler and make sure to have multi-way checks (MFA) for boss access. Also, watch for odd sign-ins.

Pick rollout spots that follow UK data living rules and make sure your way can handle safe multi-version work.

Plan for problems is key too. Your plan should cover your cloud area and the early rollout steps. Keep emergency contact info up to date and have clear steps for working with your cloud help during problems.

To follow UK rules, use clear, secure logs that can't be changed. Tagging resources helps keep a true track of your cloud stuff.

Set auto alerts to spot problems, like stolen login details or breaks in security that must be fixed fast. Test often and automatically to keep your setups safe and right as time goes on.

UK groups should use security made for the cloud. Using managed services can make things less complex and boost the trust in canary rollouts.

How to Set Up Canary Rollouts Automatically

We've talked about why canary rollouts are good and how to prepare for them. Now, let’s look at how to make them work on their own in a CI/CD setting. The steps involve making the CI/CD pipeline, handling how users get to different site versions, and the steps for rolling back by itself.

Making the CI/CD Pipeline

The CI/CD pipeline is key for canary rollouts to work on their own. It makes sure changes in code go live fast and safe. Start by adding auto starts in your build system and handle dependencies right. Use version control - it logs what's in each update, making it easy to go back if needed. Also, speed up builds by saving steps where you can.

Tests are super important. Add code, linking, speed, and safety tests at many parts to find issues early. This keeps your system solid and trusty.

Make sure your rollout tool can work in different settings. Control setups make sure all areas, like staging and production, are the same. Settings just for some areas should be set automatically to stop errors or setup probs.

Pick well-known tools for CI/CD and running containers to keep things smooth and able to grow. Once your pipeline is ready, the next part is to guide user flow between old and new versions.

Splitting User Flow and Keeping an Eye on It

Splitting user flow is at the heart of canary rollouts. Begin by letting a small piece - about 5–10% - of users try the new version. This small test lets you see problems before they hit most users.

Tools that balance loads and manage traffic are vital here. They choose how to split user requests between stable and new versions. As stats show the new setup is stable, slowly let more traffic to the new version until it’s all there.

It's important to watch clear stats that match your goals. Like:

• Error rates spot when things break.
• Speed stats show slow points.
• User actions and sign-ups tell how changes affect what users do.

Tools like Prometheus, Grafana, and New Relic give live updates on these stats. Boards that show both old and new versions help spot odd things. Pinning users make sure they stick with the same version, stopping mix-ups.Notes on odd stats can warn you before small issues grow big.

Making Rollbacks and Gradual Changes Automatic

With user flow split and performance watched, set up auto ways to go back to the stable version if stats hit certain bad points. For example, if errors jump or user actions change a lot, the system should stop moving users and send them back to the stable version.

One good case is Headout. They used Argo Rollouts in their Kubernetes setup to make their deployment work better. They moved from just looking at total errors to checking error changes between updates. This cut down wrong rollbacks from five each week to only one. It also helped them find three bad releases before they hit users.

Feature flags give more control. They let you turn bits on or off without pushing new code, making it easy to manage rollouts.

Build.com shows that using auto tools can cut rollback times a lot. Their system got rollbacks down to just 30 seconds, and got rid of the need for long manual checks. Adding alert tools like Slack, PagerDuty, or Opsgenie makes sure the right team knows right away, with clear info to fix problems fast.

Using auto tools needs always watching and clear goals. If things go wrong - like error rates jump - the test process stops, and users go to the stable version. This way, bad updates less hurt, and it makes more trust in doing updates often.

Easy Ways to Make Canary Deployments Work Smoothly

Today's CI/CD tools are made to help with canary deployments by doing stuff like splitting traffic, watching progress, and undoing changes. This lets teams do these updates slowly and with low risk. Here are some tools you often see used to help automate canary deployments.

Popular Tools for Canary Deployments

• Jenkins: Loved for a long time for CI/CD, Jenkins makes basic canary deployments work through add-ons and do-it-yourself scripts. It's good for rollouts based on percentages, but you need more setup for better traffic control.

• Spinnaker: Built for tricky deployment tasks, Spinnaker works across many cloud services. It's great at checking canary steps and setting up the order, making it perfect for big groups who have to follow strict rules.

• Argo Rollouts: This tool fits right into Kubernetes setups, letting you manage how traffic moves during canary deployments very well.

• GitLab: With canary features right in its CI/CD flows, GitLab has built-in watching and undo options. This makes it easy to handle version control without stress.

• Codefresh: A GitOps tool for big companies, Codefresh makes step-by-step delivery easier. It's ready for both canary and blue/green updates, works well with Kubernetes, and keeps settings in Git.

• Istio: A service mesh option that lets you manage traffic finely, Istio is really good for canary updates in Kubernetes by letting you tweak traffic bit by bit.

• Harness: This tool focuses on big companies and uses smart tech for canary checks. It spots problems on its own and can undo things based on what worked or didn't before.

Feature flags are also key in canary deployments, as they let teams turn new features on or off without new uploads. Tools like LaunchDarkly let you roll out new stuff carefully and turn them off fast if you need to.

Tool Comparison

Spinnaker works well in many-cloud places but setting it up can be complex. Argo Rollouts, however, is great for those using Kubernetes who want tight control of traffic, if they add the needed metrics.

For groups new to Kubernetes, starting with tools like Argo CD and Argo Rollouts can make things easier.

Octopus Deploy is a Continuous Delivery (CD) platform enabling deployment orchestration for Kubernetes as well as deployments to other platforms. (Source: Octopus.com [1])

When picking tools for your team, look at things like what they know, how complex the setup is, and what rules they need to follow. For example, GitLab and GitHub Actions work well with version control systems, but tools like Spinnaker and Harness might need their own lines. Tools made just for Kubernetes like Istio and Argo Rollouts need a deeper understanding of how to manage containers but are better at managing traffic.

These tools are key in making the main steps of the CI/CD canary deployment process easy. Companies in the UK can cut down risks and work better by picking the right mix of tools.

If you need custom tips on making your CI/CD line better and setting up canary deployments by yourself, Hokstad Consulting helps with DevOps changes and improving cloud use, all geared towards UK companies.

Good Steps and Big Mistakes

To make a canary work setup go right, think ahead and use smart tools. It is key to follow good steps, but knowing what to watch out for will help a lot.

Good Steps for Safe Work Setups

Start with a small part - 5–10% of your tasks. This way, you'll get enough info to spot problems but won't risk it all. For key jobs, put in more test runs and check them for a longer time to find sneaky issues that might not show up fast.

Set goals and limits before you start. Štěpán Davidovič, who knows a lot about keeping sites up, talks about the mix needed to do well:

The key to effective canary deploys is finding the right balance between three different concerns: Canary time, Canary size, and Metric selection.[2]

Pay attention to things like how fast your API works, error counts, how much CPU and memory are used, and other signs that matter to your work. Set clear limits for when to go ahead or when to stop and go back.

Make everything as automatic as you can. From putting things in place to checking them and going back if there's a problem, making it automatic cuts down on mistakes and makes fixing things fast. Use tools that help your setup run smooth, gather deep data on how things are working, and start automatic go-backs if things don't meet set goals.

Pick a good time to start. Match your start with when most people are using your service. Busy times give you quick clues because there's more data, while slow times make problems less troublesome. For businesses in the UK, starting early in the workday is best, making sure your team can watch and fix issues.

Keep users on one version. If you have both old and new versions at once, be sure users stick to just one during their visit. This stops mix-ups from different behaviors.

Staying Away from Common Mistakes

Even with a good plan, some errors can mess up your start. Here's what to keep an eye on:

Don't miss checking on things. Not seeing the full picture is a big danger. Watch not just your main app signs but also side tasks, how well your databases work, and services from others. Without this, you’re flying blind.

For example, a finance firm saw a 3% jump in API slowness soon after they tried a new advice tool on 2% of users. They hadn't looked enough at how calls to outside services went up. After spotting and fixing the problem, they went back to their start.

Be careful with how you send out traffic. Wrong setups in load balancers or how you split traffic can cause an unplanned full start. A small slip might change a careful 5% start into a big one.

Get automatic go-backs ready. When issues pop up, acting fast is key. Systems for automatic go-backs make recovery quick without waiting on people. Set limits help your system know right away what to do.

Choose your test users smartly. Bad choice of users can mess up results and risk important users on untried changes. Pick users who face low risk, use your service a lot, but aren’t key to everything, and don't just look at odd cases.

Keep everyone on the same page. Inform all groups - development, product, and help - about the start. Everyone should know when tests start, what to keep an eye on, and who to reach if there's a problem.

Fitting with DevOps Ways

Test starts fit well with bigger DevOps ideas, helping manage risks while keeping quick delivery. They show the plan of fail fast and fix fast, letting teams start more often without losing trust in reliability.

For UK firms wanting to cut cloud costs, test starts can be very helpful. By trying changes right where they'll run, you skip costly test setups while getting truer clues on how things work.

Automation is big here, making not just the set-up part better but also the whole CI/CD line. Teams good at using auto checks, go-back steps, and handling traffic often see these skills make their work flow better. This lets them test how fast things go, save money, and try new things with real-world facts, all with a safe way to go back if needed.

For businesses wanting to step up their set-up game, expert help is key. For instance, Hokstad Consulting works with UK firms to make their DevOps better and spend less on the cloud by using custom auto tools and smart plans.

Conclusion and Key Takeaways

Using auto steps in CI/CD lines is changing how UK firms let out new software - making it quick, safe, and less pricey.

The best DevOps groups are seeing great wins: 127 times faster lead times, 8 times more often roll-outs, and 182 times fewer fail rates [3]. These facts show how key auto steps have become in up-to-date software roll-out methods.

The data are clear. The market for putting out auto tools, worth £4.5 billion in 2023, is set to jump over £11.5 billion by 2032 [5]. Plus, 84% of top bosses see more money made and lower running costs due to cloud auto [5]. For UK firms, adding auto steps in canary put-outs is not just a smart tech step - it's a big plan move.

As Bill Gates once said:

The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency. [5]

Canary deploys are great as they give live user views, making it easy for teams to check and tune changes fast [4]. When used with feature flags and watching tools, they let teams put out updates when they work, secure in the fact that any problems can cause quick rollbacks.

For UK firms wanting to cut cloud costs while they make deploy trust better, using canary deploys as a steady plan makes sense. By trying updates in real work zones with real user loads, firms can drop the need for costly fake setups and get more right act facts.

Using these ways not only makes deploys more trusty but also brings clear gains for the firm. Hokstad Consulting helps UK firms fold these smart ways into their CI/CD flows, pushing them toward better work power and a lead in the race.

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