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Release Manager

Overview

Release Manager enables controlled and alternative rollouts of new application versions on an ongoing basis. By routing a configurable percentage of traffic to a separate destination, you can safely monitor performance and stability before a full deployment. The entire process is managed through a simple interface with no custom code required.

Configuration Parameters

To enable Release Manager, you must configure the following parameters in your FastEdge application. At a minimum, ORIGIN_A and ORIGIN_B are required.

ParameterDescriptionExample
ORIGIN_A(Required) The hostname of the release manager origin (the new version).new-version.myapp.com
ORIGIN_B(Required) The hostname of the Stable origin (the current, default version).stable.myapp.com
PERCENTAGE_TO_A(Optional) The percentage of users (from 0 to 100) to be routed to ORIGIN_A. If not set or invalid, it defaults to 0.15 (for 15%)
FILTER_TYPEThe type of filter you want to use. It can be one of the value (COUNTRY,ASN,DEVICE).COUNTRY for filter by countrie
FILTER_LISTA comma-separated list of filter according the FILTER_TYPE value. If FILTER_TYPE value is COUNTRY, it will contain a list of list of ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes. If FILTER_TYPE value is ASN, it will contain a list of ASN number. If FILTER_TYPE value is DEVICE, it will contain a list of devices.Mobile,Tablet,Desktop for FILTER_TYPE = DEVICE
SCHEME_A(Optional) The URL scheme for ORIGIN_A. Can be http or https. Defaults to https.http
SCHEME_B(Optional) The URL scheme for ORIGIN_B. Can be http or https. Defaults to https.https

Decision Logic & Request Workflow

The system follows a specific sequence of rules to determine whether a user should be routed to the release manager origin (ORIGIN_A) or the Stable origin (ORIGIN_B).

  1. Prerequisite Checks:

    • The system first retrieves the user's IP address (from the X-Real-IP header) and and one of these values (country code, asn, device)
    • It also verifies that ORIGIN_A and ORIGIN_B are configured.

    • Note: If any of these prerequisites are missing, the release manager logic is skipped, and the request proceeds to the default route.

  2. Filtering by type:

    • The system checks the FILTER_TYPE value configured.
    • If COUNTRY is set the filter will be by country. ACCEPTABLE COUNTRY FOR release manager will be country code in FILTER_LIST, others will be routed on the default route.
    • If ASN is set the filter will be by asn. ACCEPTABLE ASN FOR release manager will be asn number in FILTER_LIST, others will be routed on the default route.
    • If DEVICE is set the filter will be by device. ACCEPTABLE DEVICE FOR release manager will be device type in FILTER_LIST, others will be routed on the default route.

  3. Percentage-Based Routing:

    • The system uses the PERCENTAGE_TO_A value to decide if the user should be part of the phased release.
    • A deterministic hash is calculated based on the user's IP address, resulting in a number between 0 and 99.
    • If this number is equal to or less than the PERCENTAGE_TO_A value, the user is routed to the release manager origin (ORIGIN_A).
    • Otherwise, the user is routed to the Stable origin (ORIGIN_B).

Why use IP Hashing? Hashing the IP address ensures that a specific user will consistently be sent to the same origin on every request. This prevents a jarring experience where they might see the old version on one page load and the new version on the next.

How to Implement Release Manager

  1. Create an application FastEdge: release manager (seee picture below). a. Upload your binary (see picture below) b. Enter your application name and create your env variables (see picture below)
  2. Create an origin group (seee picture below).
  3. Create a CDN resource, and don't forget to select your origin group created. (seee picture below).
  4. Link your CDN resource to your FastEdge application. (seee picture below).

Prerequisite: CDB Edge Compute must be activated for your customer.

How to Manage your Release Manager application

  1. Click on the FastEdge icon on the left to switch to FastEdge management.

  2. Select CDN Applications then Applications.

  3. Click Create new application on the top right.

  4. Select Your release manager Application from the list of available applications.

  5. Enter your application settings and go to Environment variables tab, to manage your environment variables.

  6. Click on Save changes .