Hephaesteus

The forge

Hephaesteus builds and installs everything the platform runs. An application is registered once, with the repository it comes from and the branch that counts as releasable, and from then on getting a new version onto the host is a mechanical process rather than a careful evening.

What it gives you

One registry of what exists. Every deployable application is listed with its repository, its release branch, the build machine group that is allowed to build it and when it was last built successfully. The question "what is actually running here, and where did it come from?" has one answer in one place.

Installation as a single operation. Installing an application provisions everything it needs in one go: its place on the host, its service definition, its configuration, and the registrations it needs with the other services. If a step fails, the ones already done are undone, so a half installed application is not a state you can end up in.

Releases that cannot collide. A build claims the application it is about to deploy before it starts, which means two releases cannot quietly trample each other, and an artefact is only installed once it has been staged and verified.

Sensitivity where it matters. An application can be marked as sensitive, which changes how carefully its releases are handled, and which build machines are permitted to touch it.

A record of every attempt. Deployments and build jobs are logged, successful or not, with enough detail to answer what happened at four in the afternoon last Tuesday.

Who it is for

Anyone running more than one or two services on their own infrastructure, who wants the convenience of a managed platform without handing the keys to one. It is the difference between deploying and performing a deployment.