Deploy the Updated Project in the Green Environment

Info: This guide applies to Bloomreach Content versions 14, 15, and 16. If you use an earlier version, some steps may differ.

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This guide describes how to use Mission Control to create the green environment, deploy and test your updated project, and route production traffic from the blue to the green environment.

Upload the Distribution

1. Log in to Mission Control.
2. Go to the Distributions tab on the Files screen.
3. Click the + icon in the bottom right corner.
4. Select the distribution file you created in the previous step and upload it.

The upload may take several minutes, depending on your network speed. The distribution file is typically over 100 MB.

Create the Green Environment

1. In Mission Control, open the environments overview.
2. Click the red + icon in the bottom right corner to create a new environment.
3. Enter "green" as the environment name and click Save.

Announce a Content Freeze

Before backing up the blue environment's CMS data, notify all CMS users of a content freeze. No content changes should occur from the time you create the backup until production traffic is routed to the green environment.

Any write operations performed by the website during the content freeze—including visitor data collected by the Relevance Module—will be lost unless manually recovered. If you expect essential data to be written during this period, plan for data recovery.

Copy the Blue Environment's CMS Data to the Green Environment

1. Select the blue environment and open the Backups tab.
2. Click the + icon in the bottom right corner to create a new backup.

3. Select the green environment, open the Backups tab, and click Other available environments.
4. Expand the 'blue' group to view available backups.
5. Select the backup you just created and restore it to the green environment.

6. In the confirmation dialog, click Restore.

Restoring the backup takes a few minutes. After completion, the green environment contains an exact copy of the blue environment's CMS data.

Deploy the Distribution in the Green Environment

1. Select the green environment and open the Deployment tab.
2. Locate the distribution file (for example, myproject-1.0.1-distribution.tar.gz) and deploy it.

Deployment typically takes a few minutes.

Configure the Application for the Green Environment

1. In the Details tab of the green environment, click the Console button to open the Console application in a new browser tab.
2. Log in as admin.
3. Navigate to /hst:myproject/hst:hosts.
4. Add an hst:virtualhostgroup node named green and configure the following virtual host structure. Replace green-mycloud.bloomreach.cloud with your green environment's domain name.

/hst:myproject/hst:hosts:
  /green:
    jcr:primaryType: hst:virtualhostgroup
    /cloud:
      jcr:primaryType: hst:virtualhost
      /bloomreach:
        jcr:primaryType: hst:virtualhost
        /green-dev-doc:
          jcr:primaryType: hst:virtualhost
          /hst:root:
            jcr:primaryType: hst:mount
            hst:mountpoint: /hst:myproject/hst:sites/myhippoproject
            hst:scheme: https
            hst:showcontextpath: true
            hst:showport: false
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5. Navigate to /hst:platform/hst:hosts.
6. Add an hst:virtualhostgroup node named green and configure the following structure. Replace green-mycloud.bloomreach.cloud with your green environment's domain name.

/hst:platform/hst:hosts:
  /green:
    jcr:primaryType: hst:virtualhostgroup
    /cloud:
      jcr:primaryType: hst:virtualhost
      hst:scheme: https
      hst:showcontextpath: true
      hst:showport: false
      /bloomreach:
        jcr:primaryType: hst:virtualhost
        /green-mycloud:
          jcr:primaryType: hst:virtualhost
          /hst:root:
            jcr:primaryType: hst:mount
            hst:ismapped: false
            hst:namedpipeline: WebApplicationInvokingPipeline
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You can duplicate the 'blue' virtual host group and update node names and property values from 'blue' to 'green' as needed.

7. Click Write changes to the repository to save your changes.

Verify the Release in the Green Environment

Test the release in the green environment to confirm correct operation.

Limit repository and database changes during this verification. Perform extensive acceptance testing in a dedicated acceptance environment before executing the blue-green deployment.

If the release functions as expected, proceed to switch production traffic to the green environment.

Route Production Traffic to the Green Environment

1. In Mission Control, open the environments overview.
2. Click Set Production Environment.
3. In the Set production environment dropdown, select the green environment.
4. Check the Switch domain rules checkbox.
5. Click Set.

6. Open your website at the production URL (www.yourcompany.com) and verify that it operates as expected.

After confirming successful operation, announce the end of the content freeze.

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