Build a package from Version Control

The CI JOBS screen is best viewed when the zoom setting is set to 80% on your chrome/firefox browser.

Overview

Convert and package your version control files to Salesforce Metadata components based on a "Start Revision". Additionally, configure an ALM Project and Sprint to only include revisions based on a user story and its status.

Procedure

  1. Login to your ARM account.

  2. From the top navigation pane, navigate to Create New > New CI Job.

  3. Choose the tile: Package from Version Control

  4. On the next screen, give the job a descriptive name in the Job Name field.

  5. Add a brief description of the current CI job.

  6. To group your CI job for easier identification, choose the group from the dropdown. You can create a new group using the "+" symbol and assign your current and further CI jobs to such a group.

  7. Here, the user interface is separated into different sections, we will cover each one of them separately.

Build

  1. The first step is to choose your Version Control Systems. Currently, ARM supports Version Control Systems like GIT, SVN, and TFS.

  2. Select the Repository and the Branch.

  3. Under the 'Build Using' dropdown, there are two different options to choose from:

Important Note:

  1. For the first CI Job to run, you need to choose the Baseline Revision of your selected Version Control Repository.

  2. Get Latest HEAD points out the last commit in the current checkout branch.

  1. Time Range: This option allows you to create a CI job using a timeline. You need to specify the time period from where the revisions will get fetched. This improves the usability of our CI server and helps build a package based on time rather than commits.

Additional options in the 'Build' section

  1. Status Check API: This allows you to check the statuses of the APIs being run for the CI job.

  2. Pull Request: Creates a pull request for the current CI job if opted.

  3. Merge Request: Creates a merge request for the current CI job if opted.

  4. Map ALM Project (Ex: Jira): Configure work item type status in ALM type to include in the build (under the ALM section).Important Note:Build Using- Baseline Revision/Time Range and Trigger Build on Commit will not be available for the users if the 'Map ALM Project' option is chosen.

  5. Trigger Build on commit: A new build is triggered when changes are committed to the mapped version control system.

    1. Process commit revision via hook only: This option is visible only for Version Control as GIT (Enterprise BITBUCKET, BITBUCKET, VSGIT, GITLAB, GITHUB) type. Upon selection, the build agent will read the commit revision number and generate a package from that revision number to the branch head. Let’s take the below scenario: Two developers (Developer A and Developer B) both working on the same code base.

      1. Developer A has committed some changes to its local repository at 10 AM this morning but did not push the changes to the remote repository.

      2. Developer B has also performed some changes in the code, but he pushed the changes into the remote repository by 10:05 AM this morning. So, when ARM builds get triggered by webhook, Developer B changes will be packaged and deployed and the codes get updated with the latest revision. However, Developer A changes are ahead of Developer B, ARM will show no modifications for the build since the Developer B changes are in the HEAD position. To overcome this scenario, ARM has come with an option to "Process commit revision via hook only". This will prepare the build from the revision of Developer A to the HEAD revision of the branch, therefore no commits are skipped through the ARM cycle.

  6. Incremental Build: Incremental builds are important for managing continuous builds for continuous delivery. Incremental Builds substantially decrease build times by avoiding the execution of previous metadata that is not needed. This will fetch all the metadata changes beyond the selected Baseline Revision till the successfully deployed revision to the destination org. On the next CI Job run, the previous Baseline Revision automatically gets changed to the successfully deployed revision. Hence, there will be a substantial increase in build time performance for large-project incremental builds when a change to a single file or a small number of files is performed.Important Note:Incremental Build also works to validate Deployment Jobs.

  7. Prepare Destructive Changes: Pre-destructive changes option will allow the users to delete unwanted fields or metadata components from their destination Salesforce org before the deployments begin.

  8. Run Static Analysis Report: This will identify potential software quality issues before code moves to production.

    1. For ApexPMD and Checkmarx: ARM allows you to set the criteria for running the ApexPMD SCA tool. This means running for all the apex classes or stating the period from where it will run. Also, you can set the priority, which means if the priority set is not achieved, the current build is unstable. This helps us in reporting the code quality of the developer team.

    2. For CodeScan and SonarQube: Set the criteria for running the CodeScan or SonarQube tool, whether to run on the supported metadata types from the full source or to run on the newly added components. This means running for all the apex classes or stating the period from where it will run. Also, you can set the priority, which means if the priority set is not achieved, the current build is unstable. This helps us in reporting the code quality of the developer team.

      • Run on all supported Metadata types: Analysis is performed on all the supported metadata types. For example, if the build includes 2 classes and 2 triggers, then the analysis will run on all the supported components that are retrieved for these 2 classes and 2 Triggers in the build.

      • Run on Newly added supported Metadata types: Analysis is performed only on those components which are received during build retrieval. For example, if there are added as well as modified components in the build, then the analysis runs on the newly added components, not on the modified components.

      • Run on all supported Metadata types from the Full source: Analysis is performed on the entire branch, including all supported metadata types, regardless of any build changes.

      • For more information on running Static Code Analysis in CI Jobs, refer HERE.

  9. Additional Profile Packaging Options:

    1. Remove login IP Ranges: If you want to log in with a Salesforce org, you have an option to restrict IP ranges. Upon selection, login IP details will not be deployed to Salesforce Org.

    2. Remove System and User Permissions: System permissions control a user’s ability to perform tasks that apply to their VCS or Org. To not deploy this permission, select this option.

  10. Exclude Metadata Types: These exclude the metadata no longer required for build/deployment. To avoid fetching unwanted metadata types during a CI job, ensure that you have excluded them. If the 'Exclude Metadata Types' checkbox is not checked, all metadata types will get chosen. That globally excluded metadata will be auto-populated if you select this option.Important Note:To set this option at a global level, go to the 'My Salesforce Settings' section on the My Account page. Next, select the metadata types to exclude. This reflects in all CI jobs that get created henceforth and across other modules as well.

Notifications

Send email notifications to selected users email on the success or failure of a build.

Schedule

Allows you to schedule the process at which it must run.

  1. Daily: The process will run every day at the scheduled time or time interval set.

  2. Weekly: The process will run weekly on the scheduled day and time.

  3. No schedule: The process will only get saved, and you can run it when required.

For more information on Credential Usage for different types of CI jobs, refer HERE.

What Next?

Once you filled in all the details for your CI job, you will be redirected to the CI Job Results page where you can trigger a build for your CI job.

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