Testing New Product Features in the SnapLogic UAT

Overview

The SnapLogic Release process accommodates user testing of new features on the UAT control plane. The UAT control plane is intended exclusively for testing pipelines and tasks with new features and, therefore, is separate from Elastic and EMEA.

In the quarterly release, a version of the software is available in the UAT control plane a week before the GA date of the release. The EMEA control plane is updated the day after the GA date of the release and is a fully supported production environment. The GA version becomes available on the UAT control plane, and Snap Pack updates happen during the release of the patches to that release.

Important: We strongly recommend that you only use the UAT control plane during the UAT period for a specific release. After the GA of a release, the Snaplex versions on the UAT control plane might change.

This topic describes testing new SnapLogic features on the UAT control plane.

All references to Environments (Orgs) also apply to environments in Admin Manager.

Prerequisites

Environment admin privileges are required to perform most of the procedures referenced in this topic.

Workflow

  1. Set up an Environment on UAT.
  2. Update Snap Packs and Snaplexes when new versions are available.
  3. Test new features by running your Pipelines on the UAT control plane.

Set Up an Environment on the UAT Control Plane

Request an Environment

You can request your SnapLogic CSM to provision an Environment on the UAT control plane.

Install a Self-Managed Snaplex (Groundplex)

Once your Environment is provisioned on the UAT control plane, you can create new Project Spaces and Assets for testing your Pipelines and Tasks. Alternatively, you can download your projects and assets and then migrate them to the UAT control plane using the import and export functionalities in SnapLogic Manager.

For your Snaplex, you can deploy a Self-managed Snaplex (Groundplex). If your network is behind a firewall, a Self-managed Snaplex is best suited for the internal testing of new features. You can also request a SnapLogic Managed Snaplex (Cloudplex) for your UAT Environment. However, we recommend that you deploy a Self-managed Snaplex so that you can take advantage of all available features in a release—some of which require a Self-managed Snaplex.

When you deploy a Self-managed Snaplex in your UAT Environment, you need to add those Snaplexes to the IP Allowlist to allow communication outside of your network, if outbound requests are restricted. Contact [email protected] or your CSM for more information about Managed and Self-managed Snaplexes.

Updates

New features are generally available every month. Snaplex updates are available quarterly, and a UAT version of the new Snaplex version is available a week ahead of GA. You can test new features during the months between the quarterly releases without action. Only during quarterly releases do you have to update the Snaplex nodes in your Environment with the new Snaplex version. If you enable the Auto upgrade Snaplexes option in SnapLogic Manager for your UAT Environment, then no action is required to update the Environment.

Test Snaplex Versions and Snap Pack Updates

You can test platform features and updates to Snap Packs in your UAT Environment.

Snaps with Latest Release Version

Snap Pack updates include new Snaps, enhancements to existing Snaps, and new Snap Packs. You can view the Snap Packs available to your Environment in SnapLogic Manager. To view the Snap Pack updates for each release, see the patch information section in the quarterly release notes.

Snaplex with the Latest Version

In the case of the quarterly release, you can upgrade the Snaplexes in the UAT Environment to the latest version. You can administer versions of your Snaplexes in SnapLogic Manager. Testing the latest distributions of a SnapLogic release allows you to try out and test new features.

Test Pipelines in UAT

Follow these steps to test Pipelines in your UAT Environment.

  1. Export your Pipelines from your Environments in Elastic by doing one of the following:
    • If GitHub integration is configured for your Environment, you can use the GitHub sync feature to synchronize your Pipelines and Assets on Elastic and UAT control planes.

    • Export your project from your Production Environment using Importing and Exporting Projects. The project downloads as a zipped file of all the Assets contained within that project. You can then import the project zip file into your UAT Environment.

      Note: You must reconfigure your Accounts once you import them into your Environment on the UAT control plane.
    • Manually migrate your Pipelines using the export and import functions:
      1. Use the export function in SnapLogic Designer to download each Pipeline.
      2. Import each Pipeline into SnapLogic Designer for your Environment.
      3. You can download most files from SnapLogic Manager and upload them to your Environment in UAT.
  2. Update all the SnapLogic Account configuration information in the UAT Environment.
    1. Find all the target Accounts that are required for your UAT Environment.
    2. Create the Accounts in your UAT Environment.
  3. Run and test Pipelines by validating and executing them in SnapLogic Designer.
  4. Run your Tasks and monitor them on SnapLogic Monitor or in the Execution Overview in SnapLogic Designer.