N1 Service Provisioning System 4.1 User's Guide

Managing Applications

The table below lists the questions you should ask when developing a strategy for managing applications.

Table 2–5 Managing Applications.


Question	Action
For each application you want to manage, determine its source: is it a gold server or a source code control system? Where is it?	Install a Remote Agent on the gold server or the server with source code control system. See the N1 Service Provisioning System 4.1 Installation Guide.
What are the components that make up this application?	Using the CLI `cdb.c.ci` and `cdb.rsrc.ci` or the Components pages in the HTML user interface, check each application component into the repository.
Do you want to extend the component with additional information and controls? These can include: · configuration variables · dependencies among components · information about content to include or exclude in comparisons	Use an XML editor to add component schema tags to the component. Then check the extended version of the component back into the repository. See The Component Schema for an overview of component schema tags. See the N1 Service Provisioning System 4.1 Reference Guide for details about component schema tags.
Do you want to install the component on a single set of target hosts? Can this component be installed directly without the need for coordinating activities with other components and hosts?	Install the component using the direct run controls in the HTML user interface.
Do you want to automate the installation of this component on more than one set of hosts? Do you want to manage this installation as part of larger process?	Use an XML editor to author a plan for the component. See Chapter 6, Plans for an overview of plans. See the N1 Service Provisioning System 4.1 Reference Guide for details about plan schema tags.
When you perform an operation such as an installation, do you want to notify specific users when procedures complete or if exceptions occur?	Use the `rule.add` CLI command to add a notification rule, to edit the XML tags for the component, or to plan to add a `sendCustomEvent` tag. See Chapter 8, Configuring Notifications.
Do you want to compare one application component to another?	Run a model-to-model (M-M) comparison. See Model to Model Comparisons.
Do you want to compare an application component to an installed instance of the application?	Run a model-to-install (M-I) comparison. See Model-to-Install Comparisons.
Do you want to compare two installed instances of the same component?	Run an install-to-install (I-I) comparison. See Install-to-Install Comparisons.