Deployments

We use deployments to create, plant and retire seeds

Deployments are the set of instructions that describe the type of and number of seeds you want to use, the location it should be planted into and the time they each will stay there before being retired.

Key terms

When we describe a deployment, there are a couple of terms that you'll want to be aware of:

• Type - We offer a range of different seed types that suit different purposes and use cases. More details on when and how to use each specific type are available in the support pages, and several use-cases are explored within our website and on our blog. This field is mandatory.

• Destination - This informs us where you ultimately want to put the seeds. You have the following choices:

  • Manual Download – Some seed types are only suitable for manual download, so this will be the only option available to you. This is because they require additional configuration in order to work. In such cases, when you run the deployment, we will create the seed and make it available to you for downloading.

  • An existing integration – You may have already created an integration (see Integrations for more information on this). If the seed type supports it, you can choose for seedata.io to automatically plant and retire seeds using this destination. If the integration type supports it, the seedata.io platform will offer further configurations such as which folders to write to.

• Impact - Risk is about impact and likelihood, so here is where we record the potential impact to you if a seed is activated in any way, based upon the location you are planting the seed into. You might choose a low impact for those deployments that will plant seeds on the perimeter of your network (or beyond), because you expect they will get activated frequently, whereas seeds placed in your director’s personal workstation should never get activated so would warrant a very high impact rating. We use this to help assign the priority of any events we raise to you.

• Lifespan - You may choose to plant a seed and leave it in place indefinitely (so leave this set to “No Expiry”), or you may prefer to cycle your seeds on a regular frequency (say, each seed gets swapped after being in place for 7 days). Be aware that you cant automatically expire seeds set to manually download (because we can’t reach them to retire and plant new ones). Different values suit different seed types and different situations, and these are covered in more detail elsewhere, but you’ll not go wrong with anything between 7 days to 90 days.

• Deployment Size - This dictates how many seeds of this description should be running as ‘planted’ at the same time. The deployment will automatically calculate how often it must run to maintain your chosen deployment size and your desired seed lifespan, then plant and retire seeds accordingly. It’s important to note that deployments set to manually download will create their full deployment size every time they are run.

View deployments

Your first view of Deployments will show a table, listing any existing deployments that are already configured

You can query this table using the search box and the filters above it

On the right of each row is an "action" button. Clicking it will show a menu of the actions you can take on that specific deployment.

View a single deployment's details

If you click on any single row in the "view all" table, you will be taken to a more detailed view for that deployment, showing more data.

You will also see an additional table, listing all seeds created by that deployment. Each row on this table will act as a link to the seed details view (read more, here).

Create a new deployment

On the "View All Deployments" page, there is an "Add New" on the upper right corner.

Clicking this will open the form to create a new deployment. You will be asked for your inputs on all key terms described above, plus a few additional items

• Name and description - These are just text fields to help you easily identify each deployment and understand its purpose

• Mute/unmute notifications - You can choose whether you (or at least, the account being used to create the deployment) should receive a notification by email every time the deployment runs (each seed create/retire action). Default is to NOT mure notifactions

• Run on save - You can choose to create a deployment now and have it run immediately when you push save (default), or not.

Manage an existing deployment

All previously created deployments will have an "action" button ( ... ) on their row in the table. If you click on it, you will see a selection of actions available

Delete

If you want to permanently remove the deployment, click on the actions menu on the right of the row, then click Delete.

A new dialog will appear, asking you to confirm this action, or cancel it.

Once you confirm, the deployment will be deleted. No future planting or retiring activity will be instructed, and any seeds previously created by it will require manual management

Run / Stop

if you created a deployment and chose not to set “Run on save”, or you stopped a previously running deployment, you will need to manually run the deployment. Click the actions menu (three dots in a box, on the right side of each row) for the deployment you are interested in, then click Run.

Once launched, you will see the status change to Running, and your seeds will be created

If the deployment was created using an integration, and is already in Running state, you can stop the deployment to prevent future seeds being created.

Mute/unmute

For some deployment, you may not want to receive notifications of each and every interaction. In such cases, you can simply mute (or unmute, if you’ve changed your mind) the notifications.

Click on the actions menu to the right side of the row, and click mute/unmute (note, you will only see the option that changes from the current state).

Once clicked, you will see either the addition or removal of a Mute icon next to the deployment name