January 7, 2016 – On the heels of the extremely well received FlexDeploy 3.0 release at Oracle OpenWorld in October 2015, Flexagon today announced FlexDeploy 3.1 is now available. With 3.0 users saw enhancements for Oracle Cloud, test automation, E-Business Suite, and Fusion Middleware. FlexDeploy 3.1 provides additional support for Fusion Middleware and Cloud PaaS, additional plugins for test automation, and usability improvements. FlexDeploy is a DevOps and Application Release Automation platform that significantly lowers project risk and cost, while accelerating software delivery. FlexDeploy provides a comprehensive and integrated platform for managing the entire build, deploy, test, and release lifecycle. Users are able to capitalize on their investments and innovate faster than ever, with extensive automation, improved controls, and visibility to information like never before. FlexDeploy is an open platform, which includes pre-built content for Oracle Fusion Middleware, Oracle Applications, Oracle Cloud Services and many non-Oracle tools and technologies.
FlexDeploy 3.1 Highlights
- Fusion Middleware and Cloud PaaS Enhancements– FlexDeploy’s support for Fusion Middleware and PaaS is unparalleled, providing out of the box Build and Deployment features that enable full automation. FlexDeploy 3.1 makes additional improvements, driving further automation and consistency of Fusion Middleware and Cloud PaaS implementations.
- WebLogic Plugin: Resource/Configuration Management – deployment of WebLogic datasources, JMS resources, and SOA Outbound Connection Pools (EIS entries).
- WebLogic Plugin: Custom OWSM policies – added support for build and deployment of custom OWSM policies.
- WebLogic Plugin: WLST Script Execution – support for execution of user defined WLST scripts for Fusion Middleware domains. These scripts can be written and executed for base WebLogic, SOA, WebCenter, or any other Fusion Middleware component.
- Fusion Middleware 12.2.1 support: Oracle Fusion Middleware plugins for WebLogic, JDev, ADF, SOA, OSB, and MDS are now certified with WebLogic 12.2.1
- SOA Plugin Revisions: Use the FlexDeploy project version or other custom identifier as the revision number for SOA composites.
- OSB Plugin Changes: Service Bus projects can now utilize a parameterized customization file (11g) or configuration file (12c), which will be used to generate the target customization/configuration file, referencing the correct endpoints for the deployment target.
- Test Automation: Plugins and Usability Features– FlexDeploy enables test automation during software deployments to help improve quality and provide visibility to test results. New plugins for open source and commercial products, and enhancements in usability, extend the robust test framework delivered in 3.0.
- SoapUI Plugin – Helps makes it easy to test SOA, Service Bus, and other WebService interfaces.
- Oracle Application Test Suite (OATS) Plugin – Test Oracle EBS and other applications using Oracle ATS from within the FlexDeploy testing framework.
- HP Unified Functional Testing (UFT) Plugin – Test Oracle EBS and other applications Using HP tools from within the FlexDeploy test automation framework.
- Notification emails now include a summary of test results if applicable, enabling users to understand quality of their deployments quickly.
- Usability Improvements– Usability and great user experience is critical. FlexDeploy 3.1 includes a variety of enhancements that improve the experience and effectiveness of developers, operations, and other FlexDeploy users.
- Use SCM revision as Project Version: Generate FlexDeploy project versions using the SCM revision from the build, making it easy to correlate.
- Project Discrepancy Report: Quickly identify which project versions are out of sync across environments, helping improve governance and the ability to troubleshoot more effectively.
- Application Request, Continue if Error: Ability to abort an application deployment request if one or more of its projects fail.
- Prioritization of Workflow execution: The ability to define the scope of deployment dependencies. The scope can be within a Folder, Application, or Global to all of FlexDeploy. This feature provides additional control and flexibility for dependency management.
- Move FlexFields to the Application Level on Deployment Request: FlexFields are now available at the application request level instead of having to enter information for each project within the Application at request time.
- Refresh for Workflow logs: Auto-refresh status pages and execution logs so the user does not have to hit refresh.
- Role mapping with AD or LDAP: Allows mapping of enterprise groups (LDAP/AD) to FlexDeploy groups, eliminating added configuration and ongoing maintenance. This feature enables the value of an enterprise directory.
FlexDeploy Differentiation
FlexDeploy is a superior choice to manual or scripted deployment processes, including commercial products or open source tools, because it allows Information Technology teams to stop focusing on “the plumbing” – things FlexDeploy can automate – and invest their effort on more value-added activities.
- FlexDeploy provides a comprehensive solution for build, continuous integration, artifact repository, test, and deployment, which provides the ability to execute the entire process without other third party and open source tools. No other open source or commercial product provides this broad and integrated solution. FlexDeploy is also an open platform, allowing integration with open source and commercial products, tools, and platforms.
- FlexDeploy provides unrivaled content (plugins & integrations) for Oracle Fusion Middleware, Oracle Applications, and Oracle Cloud, eliminating manual activities and scripting, which other commercial and open source tools require.
- FlexDeploy provides Automation, Controls, and Visibility; the combination of these establishes repeatable and consistent Application Release Automation processes which drive significant improvements in the speed, quality, and cost of software delivery.
For more information on what sets FlexDeploy apart from other open source or commercial products, please see our FlexDeploy Differentiators article.
