Promoting versioned applications advances them from their current environment level to the next available one. This process is similar for unversioned applications, but versioned applications use the Promotion and Versions page to promote and manage promoted applications.
Understanding Versioned Application Promotions
In Unqork, every versioned application can have multiple published versions, each representing a snapshot of its configuration, logic, and dependencies at a specific point in time. This feature is different from legacy promotion tools, which often promote the latest state of an application, regardless of whether it was published or stable. For this reason, the UDLC Release Management Dashboard tool and unversioned application promotion steps are not used for versioned applications.
Versioned promotion introduces discipline and traceability, which is essential for regulated industries or multi-team environments. So, you’ll use the Promotions and Version page to promote versioned applications.
Unversioned applications are excluded from versioned promotions and must be promoted separately using legacy tools.
Automatic Dependency Promotion
Applications often depend on other applications, like modules, data models, or UI screens. You must define these dependencies. If your application has a set dependency for a specific published version of another application, that dependency is automatically promoted with your application, unless it already exists in the target environment.
If you set the dependency to the default version, Unqork assumes the target environment already has a suitable default, so the dependency is not promoted. It’s important to consider that mismatches can occur if the default version is different from environment to environment.
When a dependency is an unversioned application, it functions similarly to the default scenario above. So, the default is the most recent application state. For this reason, unversioned dependencies are not automatically promoted when you promote your versioned application. Instead, they must be promoted separately using legacy tools.
Unversioned apps or default-based dependencies are excluded from versioned promotions. They must be promoted manually.
Reverting to a Previous Version
If a recently promoted version introduced a bug into the next environment, Creators must identify it and fix it in the Staging environment. Until the fix is completed, it’s desirable to remove the issue from the higher environment. You’ll set the previous stable version as the Default Version in the Set Default Version tab of the Promotions and Versions page. That way, you can rollback or revert to a previous version. This option is available at all environment levels.
Learn more about non-promotable elements in our Non-Configuration Elements article.