In a previous blog, we examined the fundamentals of pipelines in Mendix and their contribution to streamlining CI/CD processes. Continuing from that foundation, this article details the steps involved in designing a pipeline from the ground up with the Empty Pipeline option. By the end, you will understand how to build a flexible pipeline structure that serves as a foundation for further customization and scalability.
To get started, click on Design a new pipeline button and Select the Empty Pipeline option from below options.
Provide a valid name for your pipeline, for example, UAT Release. Then click the Next button to proceed.
By default, the Pipeline will be loaded with mandatory step: Start Pipeline.
Clicking the Plus button at the bottom displays all available steps that can be added to design your pipeline.
In our previous blog post, we discussed Build, Checkout, Deploy and Publish steps. We will discuss the other important steps in this blog post.
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Create Backup
The Backup step in Mendix pipelines creates a snapshot of the app and its database before deployment, which is stored securely, ensuring it can be quickly restored in case of failures. This step is available only for Mendix cloud.
Maia Best Practice Recommender
The Maia Best Practice Recommender analyzes the entire Mendix application to identify areas where best practices are not followed and generates a report. The results may include errors, deprecations, warnings, and recommendations. Pipeline execution can be configured to fail automatically if any issues are detected during the analysis.
Promote Package
This step enables the migration of packages from one environment to another, such as moving from the test environment to acceptance, and from acceptance to production, ensuring a smooth deployment flow.
Stop Environment
This step allows us to specify which environment should be stopped before the deployment begins.
Start Environment
This step allows us to specify which environment should be started once the deployment is completed.
Unit Test
This step executes the unit test cases defined within the application. It requires the Unit Testing module to be present in the app, where the test cases are configured. To run these tests from the pipeline, a remote API password must be specified in the pipeline configuration. Additionally, a timeout can be set to ensure that if any failure occurs during test execution, the step will automatically fail once the timeout is reached.
I hope this blog has provided practical insights and actionable steps to help you in your Mendix journey. Stay connected with us for more in-depth articles on CI/CD practices, pipeline optimization, and other topics that drive efficiency and innovation in application delivery.
