New GitWorkflow Adoption and Infrastructure Automation
Implemented a new Git workflow with automated infrastructure provisioning and deprovisioning based on feature and release branches, significantly improving development efficiency and resource utilization.
The Challenge
The client was using an outdated Git workflow that led to frequent merge conflicts, deployment issues, and inefficient use of infrastructure resources. Development environments were manually provisioned and often left running when not in use, resulting in unnecessary costs. They needed a modern Git workflow that would streamline development, improve collaboration, and automate the provisioning and deprovisioning of infrastructure resources based on the lifecycle of feature and release branches.
The Solution
I designed and implemented a new Git workflow based on GitFlow principles, with automated infrastructure provisioning. The solution included branch-specific environment creation using infrastructure as code, with automatic cleanup when branches were merged or deleted. I integrated this workflow with their CI/CD pipeline to automate testing and deployment. The system was designed to create isolated environments for feature branches, consolidated environments for release branches, and to automatically clean up resources when they were no longer needed.
Results & Impact
- Reduced merge conflicts by 70% through improved branch management
- Decreased infrastructure costs by 45% through automatic deprovisioning of unused resources
- Improved developer productivity with on-demand, isolated environments
- Reduced time to market for new features by streamlining the development and testing process
- Enhanced collaboration between development teams with clear branch strategies
- Improved code quality through consistent testing in isolated environments
GitWorkflow Implementation
The new Git workflow and infrastructure automation included the following components:
- Branch Strategy: Implemented a modified GitFlow workflow with main, develop, feature, release, and hotfix branches, each with specific purposes and lifecycles.
- Automated Environment Provisioning: Created automation that detected new feature branches and automatically provisioned isolated environments using infrastructure as code.
- Dynamic DNS and Routing: Implemented dynamic DNS entries and routing rules to make feature environments accessible via predictable URLs.
- Resource Tagging: Implemented comprehensive resource tagging to track which resources were associated with which branches.
- Cleanup Automation: Created automated processes to detect merged or deleted branches and deprovision the associated infrastructure.
- Cost Optimization: Implemented scheduled scaling or shutdown of non-production environments during off-hours to reduce costs.