Project workflows provide versioning and asset locking safeguards that are important for managing deployment to staging and production sites. However, you might also need to evaluate project content before it is ready for workflow deployment. For example, after authoring new content across multiple projects, you might wish to assess its impact on performance, or check graphic design elements before submitting the projects for review. In this case, you can deploy project data to a site that is defined as a one-off target—that is, a target that accepts deployments outside the workflow and versioning safeguards that ATG Content Administration otherwise imposes.
Note: You can also set up a preview server in order to view project assets on a simulated Web application; unlike a one-off target, a preview server is subject to ATG Content Administration controls. For more information on preview servers, see Setting Up Preview in the ATG Business Control Center Administration and Development Guide.
One-off deployments can be launched at any time from an ATG Content Administration project, regardless of that project’s current workflow status. One-off deployments have no effect on that project’s workflow or any target sites that are defined for that workflow. They do not lock project assets, so work on the project can continue unimpeded.
You designate a target site for one-off deployments when you define its site type (see Define the Target Site). In all other respects, you configure the site for ATG Content Administration deployment like any other target site. After you initialize the site, its designation as a one-off target cannot be changed.
Caution: A one-off target site definition must never map its source repositories to destination repositories that are used by a workflow target. One-off deployments to a workflow target prevent ATG Content Administration from managing content of that target, and can yield unpredictable results.
Constraints
The following constraints apply to one-off deployments, and differentiate them from workflow deployments:
A one-off target site is not available for deployment assignments in a workflow. In order to make that site available for workflow deployments, you must delete the target and recreate it.
A full deployment to a one-off target only includes assets from checked-in projects. Assets from deployed but still-active projects are excluded from the deployment.
You cannot roll back deployment on a one-off target; the Admin Console’s Projects tab for a one-off target site is read-only. If you perform a full deployment to a one-off target, the Projects list is emptied when deployment is complete.
