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Triggering promotions

Explore ways to trigger promotions manually based on deployment requirements

Promotions are a key component of the continuous delivery (CD) process, enabling teams to control how software moves through various environments based on automated triggers or manual inputs.

Codefresh GitOps supports automated promotion sceanrios tailored to various deployment models through Promotion Flows, triggered on predefined criteria, such as specific commit messages or changes in Git branches, allowing seamless and consistent updates across environments. See Creating Promotion Flows.

Recognizing that some scenarios require on-demand control, Codefresh also provides manual promotion triggers to handle specific needs. Whether deploying a hotfix to production, promoting an entire product release, or testing code changes in a targeted environment, manual promotion options offer flexibility to meet these demands.

Manual promotion triggers provide different levels of control, accessible from distinct areas of the platform, enabling:

  • Single-environment promotion
    Useful for quick promotion to a specific environment through the drag-and-drop option, or the promote option for more control on promotion behavior for traget the environment
  • Multi-environment promotion
    Designed for promotion across multiple environments through predefined flows, with the promote product via Promotion Flow flow, and the option to trigger a promotion for any product directly from within a Promotion Flow.

The quick reference for manual promotion triggers provides details on the different options, where you can find them, and potential use cases for each. How-to details are in the sections that follow the quick reference.

Manual promotion triggers: quick reference

The table below lists the different methods to manually trigger promotions.

NOTE
Each method is available only if your account administrator has assigned permissions for the same.

Manual trigger type Method Available in Control & flexibility Potential use case
Single environment Drag-and-drop Environment dashboard Enforces global Policy settings if defined or allows you to set Policy behavior, including Promotion Action and Promotion Workflows. Test changes in selected environment with desired promotion method.
  Promote product Product dashboard
Environments dashboard		 Identical to drag-and-drop Identical to drag-and-drop
Multiple environments Promote product Product dashboard
Environments dashboard		 Automated promotion across multiple environments according to predefined flow. Promote changes for product across all environments without further commits.
  Trigger Promotion Flow Select product to promote with Promotion Flow Test newly designed Promotion Flow

Manually trigger promotions through drag-n-drop

Drag-and-drop the product to the target environment to promote changes, and customize the Promotion Settings to control promotion behavior for the environment.
This method is useful to test changes within a specific environment. For example, QA teams wanting to test changes in staging or other internal environments.

Before you begin
  • Verify that you have permission to trigger promotions in the Environments dashboard
How to
  1. From the sidebar in the Codefresh UI, select Environments, and then select the environment with the product to promote.
  2. Drag the product to the desired target environment. On the left, the Promotion Settings are either populated from global Policy settings that match the product, or left empty for you to define.
    On the right, you can see the Compact diff view, displaying the files with the changes and the changes to be promoted.

Promote app through drag-and-drop

Promote app through drag-and-drop
  1. Review the files with the changes.
  2. Add information on the commit or PR.
  3. Click Promote.

A release is created for the Product and the Release tab displays the ongoing deployment.

Manually promote products to specific environments

Manually trigger promotion for a product to a specific target environment, and customize the Promotion Settings to control promotion behavior for the environment.
This method is useful to test changes within a specific environment. For example, QA teams wanting to test changes in staging or other internal environments.

Before you begin
  • Make sure you have permissions to promote in the Product or Environment dashboards
How to
  1. From the sidebar in the Codefresh UI, do one of the following:
    • To promote from the Product dashboard, select Products, and then select the product with the application to promote.
    • To promote from the Environments dashboard, select Environments.
  2. Click the context menu of the product to promote and select Promote.

Promote option in context menu

Promote option in context menu
  1. Select the target environment to promote to and click Next.
  2. In the Commit Changes page, if needed, define the Promotion Settings:
    • Select the Promotion Action as Commit (automated) or Pull Request (may require manual approval based on organization policies).
    • Optional. Select the Pre-Action Workflow to run before, and the Post-Action Workflow to run after, the Promotion Action.
  3. Review the files with the changes to be promoted.
  4. Click Promote. A release is created for the Product and the Release tab displays the ongoing deployment.

Manually promote products to multiple environments by Promotion Flow

Manually trigger promotion for a product across all environments as configured in a predefined Promotion Flow.
This method is useful for example to promote changes for product across all environments without further commits.

Before you begin
  • Make sure you have permissions to promote in the Product or Environment dashboards
  • Verify that the selected product has applications in all the environments defined in the Promotion Flow
How to
  1. From the sidebar in the Codefresh UI, do one of the following:
    • To promote from the Product dashboard, select Products, and then select the product with the application to promote.
    • To promote from the Environments dashboard, select Environments.
  2. Click the context menu of the product to promote and select Promote.
  3. Select Trigger Promotion Flow, and click Next.
  4. In the Trigger Promotion Flow page, select the Promotion Flow and then click Trigger.

Select Promotion Flow to promote to multiple environments

Select Promotion Flow to promote to multiple environments

A release is created for the Product and the Release tab displays the ongoing deployment.

Manually trigger Promotion Flows

Manually trigger a predefined or a new Promotion Flow to promote a product.

This method is useful to test newly designed Promotion Flows, and also verify how Promotion Flows work for different products and optimize them accordingly.

Before you begin
  • Make sure you have permissions to trigger Promotion Flows
How to
  1. In the Codefresh UI, on the toolbar, click the Settings icon, and then from the sidebar, select Promotion Flows.
  2. Select the Promotion Flow to trigger manually.
  3. On the toolbar, click Trigger.
  4. From the list of products, select the product for which to trigger the Promotion Flow, and click Next.

Select product for which to trigger Promotion Flow

Select product for which to trigger Promotion Flow
  1. Select the application to promote for the product across the environments defined in the Promotion Flow.

Select application to promote through Promotion Flow

Select application to promote through Promotion Flow
  1. Click Trigger. A notification is displayed that the promotion is triggered and a release is created.

Promotions: End-to-end guide
Promotion building blocks
Configure Promotion Flows