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A Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment pipeline consolidates incremental code changes developers make into artifacts for automated tests to run, verifying their functionality and integrity.
Early defect identification, improved productivity, and shorter release cycles are the aim.
This process contrasts the conventional software development approach, combining multiple minor updates into one significant release for rigorous testing before deployment.
Conversely, continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) supports agile development by creating minor iterative releases to provide value faster to their customers while creating rapid feedback loops for developers.
Performance testing within Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) involves evaluating an app's performance, scalability and stability during its software development lifecycle.
Integrating performance testing into your CI/CD pipeline enables development teams to identify and fix performance issues before their software goes to production.
Performance Tests in CI/CD Usually Involve:
- Setting Performance Goals: Establishing clear performance goals that address response time, resource usage, and throughput will enable teams to develop an application with optimal functionality.
- How to Select Performance Testing Tools: Using tools that simulate user load and track application performance while analyzing results is critical for effective performance testing. Popular performance-testing platforms include CTO.ai and LoadRunner, as these provide great opportunities.
- Writing scripts for performance tests: By writing test scripts that simulate different user scenarios, teams can assess an application's performance under various circumstances.
- Integrating Performance Tests Into Your CI/CD Pipeline: By configuring CTO.ai to automate performance testing during the build, performance issues can be identified earlier in the development cycle and addressed accordingly.
- Analyzing Test Results: Utilizing CTO.ai's monitoring capabilities to view test results of your Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery Pipelines helps teams optimize application performance by pinpointing bottlenecks.
- Monitoring and optimizing performance: Regular performance analyses and tests during development can detect and resolve performance issues to ensure your app continues to run efficiently and remains stable. This provides an optimal experience.
CTO.ai insight can provide invaluable information about the effectiveness and efficiency of your CI/CD process, with critical points like these being taken into consideration:
CTO.ai provides organizations with insights to enhance software delivery by gathering DORA metrics that measure delivery performance.
You can deploy an app using CTO.ai and measure its performance, then evaluate DevOps efficiency while pinpointing areas needing improvement with your team members.
- Change Lead Time: The lead time refers to the time it takes from the initial committal of changes until their implementation into production. A shorter lead time indicates a more efficient delivery process, which reduces delivery times to users more rapidly and thus provides them with value more rapidly.
- Deployment Rate: Measured the frequency with which teams release code into production. A higher deployment frequency suggests a faster and more effective development process where teams can deliver more features, bug fixes and updates more rapidly.
- Failure Rate of Deployment: This metric tracks the failure percentage, measured as outages in service, rollbacks or hotfixes. Low failure rates reflect an efficient delivery system which minimizes end-user disruptions.
- Average Mean Time To Recovery (MTTR): The Mean Time To Recovery is the time taken for an organization or production failure to recover quickly after service disruption occurs, providing evidence of resilient delivery processes and rapid service restoration when issues arise. A shorter MTTR suggests resilience for service delivery processes within organizations as they quickly return service when problems occur.
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View Your CI/CD Pipeline Deployment Status:
Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment status illustrates where deployment has reached within an automated Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment pipeline, such as Staging/Testing or Production environments.
The deployment status gives insight into whether code deployment was successful. This helps stakeholders and development teams better comprehend whether their deployment has succeeded or failed.
Dates and Times for Events:
A Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment Event Timeline provides stakeholders and development teams a visual record of events taking place during the execution of a CI/CD pipeline, providing insight into status and progress at various stages.
It allows stakeholders to understand pipeline flow while helping identify bottlenecks more quickly.
Event Activities:
Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment events refer to any actions, stages or tasks carried out during the execution of a pipeline for Continuous Integration (CI).
As part of software delivery process automation, they automate building, testing and deploying code changes to maintain stable applications at all times.
What is JMeter? The Beginner's Guide to Step-by-Step Instructions
JMeter allows organizations to conduct performance testing of websites, web applications and APIs without incurring an upfront financial investment necessary for paid or commercial performance testing software such as.
There are various factors to keep in mind when choosing between an open-source desktop load testing tool such as JMeter or an CI/CD Development internet-based solution such as - these might include reading articles about it online as well as watching tutorial videos demonstrating its use and learning the ins and outs from using JMeter itself - this tutorial will discuss both its installation followed by setting up simple load tests using JMeter itself.
Verifying System Requirements:
JMeter is a Java-based program. To run it successfully on any desktop PC or server computer, your primary system requirements must meet these guidelines, specifically in installing Java 8+ versions and its latest minor versions for optimal security and performance on multiple operating systems - Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems alike.
- making sure they both comply.
Download JMeter binaries or source code:
Choose either binary files (compiled versions that can run immediately) or source files based on your environment and requirements for installing programs on a system, depending on whether binary software will best meet them; source files can also be installed without using package management, giving developers more direct control of installed software compared with binary programs which usually follow this pattern (typically including files such as.zip and.tgz extensions).
Installation Process for JMeter:
After selecting either binary or source, JMeter will be downloaded onto your computer and can then be opened or moved elsewhere before beginning to extract its files; the entire process usually takes several minutes depending on what operating system is being used, with once-installed JMeter functioning generally after that.
JMeter user interface:
After launching JMeter, the Test Plan Window appears, where you can create and plan for tests. The menu and Main ToolBar are located on its upper left side, which provides access to many similar tools; however, the Main ToolBar gives faster access to certain functionalities you'll use when configuring load tests.
You will also find options on its right side for viewing logs, time, and users of each load test run.
Assemble Your Load Test Plan:
JMeter users can create their load test plans or select from several test plan templates found under the File menu to do it for them.
Templates available include SOAP WebService Test Plan (basic and advanced Web Test Plans), FTP Test Plan, Functional Testing Plans and others with all their respective sections and fields needed for creating load testing plans - perfect if you are new to load testing. For instance, beginners might benefit from beginning with these types of projects before moving forward to more sophisticated plans later in a later stage.
Create your Test Plan by choosing File, New from the main menu or the button New in the ToolBar. JMeter requires using its GUI mode to create Test Plans; use its CLI (command line interface) method when performing load testing.
The next step involves specifying thread groups or users for your load-testing session.
Create Thread Groups:
In the Dialog Box for Thread Groups, you can adjust and set multiple Thread Properties such as the Number of Threads, Ramp-up Period (in seconds), and Loop Count.
Furthermore, additional actions like delays, start/stop times or what to do after a Sampler Error can also be taken.
Configure Sampler:
JMeter's Samplers allow it to make various requests. These requests could range from HTTP (to test websites, APIs and applications), FTP requests, and SMTP or TCP connections.
To perform load tests on websites or web pages for load testing purposes, select HTTP Request and enter relevant details like Protocol (HTTP/S), Server name or IP address, and Path for that website page if applicable.
Configure Listeners in JMeter:
First, configure Listeners using its Test Plan Window to take full advantage of JMeter and examine Sampler results.
Listeners such as Summary Reports, Aggregate Charts, View Results Trees and Tables allow for analysis. Furthermore, multiple Listeners may be added simultaneously, so your test plan will be ready and dashing.
Load Test scripts can be recorded:
This is the only thing that must be done if your goal is performing an HTTP or protocol-level load test. Consider using JMeter's HTTP(S) for user action-like load testing.
Test Script Recorder as this adds another step into your Test Plan: select Recording Controller within Thread Group, then navigate around the website using Recording Control; it then records all actions through HTTP/S requests on every page and saves time.
Unfortunately, JMeter only records HTTP/S transactions rather than steps within a browser from the user's perspective.
You could try JMeter Proxy Server instead to record scripts directly from the browser - however, this requires some setup time. JMeter Certificate must be imported into system proxy settings before configuring proxy settings.
with EveryStep Web Recorder offers an effective alternative to JMeter's recording features, enabling scripting in real browsers using point-and-click commands - eliminating complex or time-consuming setup processes.
Launch this recording software and begin scripting right away.
Load Test:
For optimal results, run your load test in CLI mode to optimize its results. To begin your load test: Once configured and selected, click the Run button on the ToolBar.
Review Load Test Results:
When reviewing Load Test results, depending on which type you chose (Draw Results in Table), results will appear live as test runs or users execute them; additional metrics like Time in Milliseconds, Status (to identify errors and valid responses), Bytes Sent and Received, Latency and Connect Time may also appear; all this provides insight into where mistakes have taken place or slow loading times have arisen.
What Are The Stages Of A Pipeline for CI/CD?
CI/CD Pipelines perform continuous delivery, integration and deployment through four phases: CI/CD Engineer source code analysis/generation/build / test/deployment.
The Source
Developers start off by writing source code as part of any continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) process.
At this step, requirements are translated into algorithms, behaviors and features which developers utilize during development. Tools used may differ depending on various variables, like the language of a project and project type. There needs to be a standard source creation pipeline in CI/CD processes.
Include these components of a source code generation pipeline:
- Choose an application programming framework such as Java or or.NET; your chosen IDE must support these programming languages;
- Code-checking tools include vulnerability scanners and essential error detection utilities. At the same time, Git is used as a version control system and code repository.
Build
System integration includes isolating source code from its repository and linking it with libraries, dependencies and modules.
This content will then be built into executable files (.exe). Many tools exist that generate logs of execution to track execution logs for error detection and notify developers once a build has been completed successfully.
Build tools vary based on programming languages; sometimes, separate tools may be needed, while in others, the same IDE may suffice for source code editing and build phase tasks.
Once in the build phase, additional tools might be used to convert an executable file into packaged or deployable execution environments like Virtual Machine (VM) containers for packaging purposes.
Tests
Code is dynamically tested during its creation in source control; after build completion, it moves on to continuous integration/delivery for dynamic testing.
- Testing to validate that new features work as intended is called Unit or Functional testing. In contrast, regression testing aims to ensure changes don't affect other parts of the application that once worked well.
- Integration, user acceptance and regression testing are also conducted on builds to determine their effectiveness and enhance productivity. Any errors found during these processes will be immediately returned to developers so they may analyze and correct them as soon as they occur in the testing phase.
- Developers utilize automated testing techniques because builds undergo many different tests; this helps eliminate human mistakes while increasing productivity.
Deploy
Once a build has successfully passed the testing stage, it can be deployed through one or both means:
- Continuous Delivery -- Once built, bodies are sent for human staff approval before deployment to production environments. While new versions of products can be sent directly into testing environments for deployment purposes, their promotion to production requires further processes or approval via merge/manual merging or manual approval processes.
- Continuous Deployment - the pipeline automates deployment to staging and production environments once tests pass; no manual approvals or approval requests are needed for deployments.
- Deployment involves creating the target deployment environment - usually a server - using scripts and workflows within automation tools and often includes ticketing/error reporting tools to detect unexpected issues post-release and notify developers accordingly.
Benefits in CI/CD Pipelines
Automating and streamlining application updates are crucial. Teams typically encounter difficulties when adopting Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery; typically teams encounter these problems:
- Manual Steps in the Release Process--Many continuous integration and delivery processes still use manual deployment and testing steps, leading to delays in production schedules and merging conflicts in code processes that cause additional waiting periods before receiving patches or updates from customers. This manual approach creates significant costs as production schedules suffer as production slippage occurs due to this delay in production schedules being affected; moreover, it causes production schedule delays that impact production as customers may wait longer before receiving patches and updates from vendors.
- Manual Infrastructure Administration --Manual infrastructure management can cause headaches for DevOps as it increases the chance of downtime due to unexpected traffic spikes; DevOps engineers must then take manual actions to restore application functionality in such circumstances.
- Inefficient resource utilization--applications deployed on servers often utilize resources inefficiently, forcing organizations to pay additional funds for capacity. Using hardware efficiently may prove challenging as applications grow or scale, regardless of whether they run locally or remotely.
Kubernetes can solve these three challenges effectively. By decreasing the time and effort required to build and deploy apps in a continuous integration/continuous deployment pipeline, increasing hardware utilization rates, automating processes, and minimizing customer disruptions, Kubernetes helps businesses solve all three of these issues simultaneously.
Kubernetes allows enterprises to:
- Cluster Management -- Kubernetes impartially provides all of the best practices of all clustering solutions while still being wholly open-sourced and modular in its architecture. It features critical components, including schedulers and resource managers, plugin mechanisms to handle storage networking secrets, etc. Its environment is standard without proprietary tools, making writing distributed applications simpler than legacy clustering systems.
- Orchestrate deployment and provisioning-- coordinating provisioning activities while simplifying deployment. Kubernetes is a container orchestration system which handles software/hardware resource configuration, scaling, health monitoring and software deployment - it can even be fully customized to suit specific requirements.
- Declarative constructs allow developers to code the desired environment quickly or application to an end state using simple, human-readable code, potentially helping reduce downtime, enhance production rates, streamline disaster recovery processes and better manage scaling requirements.
CI/CD Security Risks
Supply Chain Attacks:
Supply chain attacks are cyberattacks targeting weak points within an organization's supply chain network - composed of all individuals, organizations, technologies, resources and activities associated with creating and selling software products or services.
Today's Software applications rely on dependencies for their core functionality. In contrast, ecosystems rely heavily on Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery for publishing source code and binary files into public repositories.
Unfortunately, hackers have found ways to bypass security measures to breach supply chains directly, allowing them to gain entry and infect multiple websites and applications simultaneously.
Unsecure Configuration of System:
A Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment system consists of various systems from various vendors; thus, security teams need to prioritize health and resilience when considering their CI/CD strategy for maximum effectiveness.
A Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment environment, like any system that processes or stores data, contains security configurations and settings at application, infrastructure and network levels to protect itself against malicious attacks and ensure its proper operation.
Attackers regularly try to find vulnerabilities within these configurations or incorrect configurations aimed at breaking them.
Code Insecurity:
With software delivery ever faster, open-source integrations have become increasingly common. Some teams might integrate third-party components without scanning their code sources for vulnerabilities first, and this may create security holes within the CI/CD pipeline.
Failure by developers to adhere to security standards increases the attack surface; vulnerabilities include buffer overflows, errors in error handling, and user input issues that lead to security vulnerabilities within this pipeline.
The Exposure of Secrets:
Automating DevOps environments relies heavily on automation. DevOps organizations increasingly rely on configuration and orchestration tools known as Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD), such as continuous deployment/continuous delivery (CI/CD) to automate the software release process.
Still, these CI/CD tools access sensitive resources like code repositories or databases with which they communicate secret information (like API tokens and passwords), making storing, sending, or auditing secrets increasingly complex as more secrets come online.
Secrets can also be used to authenticate tools. Sometimes, sensitive information must be shared during deployment and build processes so that resources have access.
This step becomes especially critical when using auto-scaling platforms like Kubernetes for microservice deployment.
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Take CI/CD To The Next Level
was founded with one mission in 2014: accelerating team innovation. Our JMeter in CI/CD Pipeline Argo-powered platform brings open-source software together with enterprise runtimes so teams can take full advantage of Argo Workflows and Events while offering couples the GitOps-like experience needed for developing, testing, scaling, and deploying apps.
