As I announced last week, the coolest addition in Octopus 2.4 is the ability to create reusable deployment steps that can be shared between projects.
Octopus 2.4 graduated to a stable release today, so you can get it from the downloads page. This means that you can now start to create and use step templates yourself, as well as to export them to share with others, or import steps made by others.
To make it easier to share step templates, we've created a new site, called the Library. At the time of writing, it contains 11 templates that you can import into your Octopus 2.4+ server and start using today, including:
- Install Chocolatey packages
- Push to Azure web sites or AppHarbor with Git
- Run a SQL script
- Find and replace in files
- Start and stop a Windows Service
I'm really, really excited about this feature, for two reasons:
- It means we'll be able to add capabilities to the product, without having to change the product
- It means that you can share what you've built with others, and benefit from what they've built
Imagine an open repository where any common Windows/.NET deployment task that you might encounter has already been scripted, packaged and is ready to use. That would be an incredibly useful resource.
Help us stock the library!
We'd love your help to grow the library and fill it with useful, reusable scripts and steps. The library website is a GitHub repository: if you have an idea, and can turn it into a reusable step, just export it and send us a pull request!
And if making the world a better place by sharing your scripts isn't motivation enough, we'll be running a little competition:
That's right: you could win your very own super-stylish Octopus Deploy mug! :-) All you have to do is submit a pull request for a step template, and if it's accepted, you'll go into the draw. At the end of June I'll pick 3 winners at random, and we'll mail a mug to you.
Instructions on how to contribute your templates are on the GitHub readme. Happy scripting!
