TL;DR
The new release of Octopus Deploy steps it up a notch by improving the UI for adding a step template, providing direct access to community step templates from a project's deployment process and improving the management of step templates in the library.
Adding a step template to the deployment process
If you have a lot of step templates then you understand the limitations of the old add step modal. The new UI for adding a step template now has ample amount of space to display the Octopus built-in step templates, your custom step templates, and the step templates from the Community Library. To help navigate the 200+ community step templates, there is a lightning fast search tool.
For more information, see the adding steps documentation.
Community Library integration feature toggle
Another feature introduced in 3.7 is the Community Library integration. This integration allows users to install and add community step templates directly from a project's deployment process and manage updates from the step template library.
The Community Library is a great way to share step templates and can save hours of work. Community step templates can be a starting point for a custom step template, as they can be saved as a copy and edited. Or they can be used as is and receive updates from the author. Keep in mind that if a community step template is saved as a custom step template, it will no longer receive updates from the author.
The Community Library feature is turned on by default and can be disabled. If disabled, users won't be able to take advantage of step template updates or benefit from 200+ community step templates. The library automatically syncs every day and if it fails, a summary is available in the task log and can be synced manually.
If you want to access community step templates and utilise updates, but the feature is disabled, chat to your Octopus Administrator. Alternatively the Community Library is still available online and step templates can be imported into Octopus.
For more information, see the community step templates integration documentation.
Because the Community Library is now integrated into Octopus Deploy, BlueFin users will need to disable the Integrated library step template importer feature.
Step template library
The step template library UI has had some updates to improve step template management. From here you can create custom step templates and upload your own logo, install community step templates and run steps.
When you update to 3.7, Octopus will check existing step templates for matching parameters and link steps to community step templates. This will give you access to updates. So we don't break anything, a link is only created when everything matches. This rule has been slightly relaxed in Octopus 3.7.2. Step templates that link successfully will appear in the community step template column.
For more information, see the step template documentation.
We originally mentioned this release would include a feature to update steps and actions to the latest version of the step template they are based on. Unfortunately, there was a bug that could potentially break deployments and we thought it was best not to release it until we had a solid solution. This feature will be fixed and shipped in the near future. More information is available on our GitHub issue.
Run a step template
If you have ever wanted to test a step template or run a reusable script, now you can! The new run feature in the library allows users to provide parameters and run a script step template in isolation from a project's deployment process. This feature is only available to admin users and does have some limitations, so please read the run step template documentation.
Download the latest release of Octopus Deploy and let us know what you think. We hope that you enjoy the new add step template experience just as much as we do.
Happy deployments!
