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Version: Release 24.1

Application Onboarding Overview

Application Onboarding is a modernized control panel for Developers to enable efficient application onboarding in a hybrid or multi-cloud environments. With Digital.ai Release 23.1, we are bringing in new self-service workflows so that Developers can onboard their applications easier with minimum knowledge of tools. Newly introduced workflows guide users through step-by-step execution of tasks, reducing complexity in setting up environments. Application Onboarding leverages cloud benefits such as scalability, availability, and optimizing applications for the cloud for improved performance and reliability. It also helps ensure adherence to cloud security and compliance best practices.

The concept of using workflows is a powerful way to streamline the deployment of applications on Kubernetes using open-source deployment tools like Argo CD.

The workflows are also designed to support deployment to the three major public clouds:

  • AWS
  • Azure
  • GCP

You can create applications in Digital.ai Deploy that are capable of being deployed to AWS Lambda, Azure resource groups, or virtual machine instances in GCP.

Additionally, workflows can also be used to onboard on-prem applications like Tomcat Server, WebSphere Application Server, and other similar applications. By automating the onboarding process, you can save time and ensure that your applications are deployed consistently and reliably, regardless of the environment.

Benefits of Implementing Application Onboarding​

  • Centralized Control: Application Onboarding centralizes all applications in a single control plane, whether public or on-premise. This provides a unified view of all applications and simplifies management.
  • Easy Management: Application Onboarding enables easy management of applications and Kubernetes clusters, allowing for managing monitoring connections from the Application Pipeline view. This streamlines the management process.
  • Empowered Teams: Application Onboarding onboards all organizational teams into Release, empowering them to define their application pipeline and multi-cloud environment. This helps in building an inclusive and collaborative environment.
  • Streamlined Onboarding: Application Onboarding provides multiple self-service workflows for onboarding, which address common challenges in installing deployment tools like Argo CD and Rollouts on Kubernetes clusters. This streamlines application creation and setup, reducing the time and effort involved.

Key concepts​

  • Workflows : Workflows act as a service catalog for the list of workflows that exists in Release for you to select. It helps in choosing the appropriate workflow for the application and environment, making the onboarding process more efficient. In simple terms, a guided step-by-step workflow asking you what you want to do, and then have the tool create all the artifacts needed to orchestrate your release and deploy end-to-end. Workflows make the onboarding process easier and more streamlined.
  • Task: Tasks can be either be user input or automated.
  • Step-by-step : The step-by-step view allows for the automation of the onboarding process, with each step clearly defined. This makes the onboarding process more efficient.
  • Applications: The Applications management page provides a space for users to create and manage new applications, as well as discover existing ones from Digital.ai Deploy and Argo CD. This helps in keeping all applications organized and accessible in one place.
  • Live Deployments : The Live Deployments page gives SRE and DevOps teams the ability to monitor application changes in a hybrid or multi-cloud environment. This provides visibility into all live deployments and helps in identifying issues quickly.