Prologue on

Introduction

Tue, 06 Oct 2020 08:48:57 +0000

Description

Updatecli is a command line tool that applies update strategies described in a manifest. It runs the same way on a local machine and from a CI environment, and it needs no server and no database: the manifest and the files it updates are the only state.

A manifest is a YAML file declaring what to update, where, and under which conditions. Updatecli reads it and executes each pipeline in three stages, always in this order:

Source: Retrieves the value an update is based on, such as the latest release of a dependency. A source never modifies anything.
Condition: Checks that everything required to apply the update holds true. If a condition is not met, the targets of that pipeline are skipped.
Target: Writes the source value where it belongs, such as a key in a YAML file or a line in a Dockerfile.

Two more building blocks turn that into a complete workflow:

SCM: Describes the repository the files live in, so Updatecli can clone it, create a working branch, and commit what it changed. See "SCM" page.
Action: Describes how the change is proposed once it is committed, typically a pull request or a merge request. See "Action" page.

Tip	Stages run per pipeline, and pipelines can be ordered relative to each other. The "Execution order" page explains exactly what runs when.

Installation

Tue, 13 Oct 2020 15:21:01 +0200

Description

Updatecli is a single, statically linked binary with no runtime dependency. Every release publishes archives for Linux, macOS, and Windows, native packages for the common Linux distributions, and container images.

All assets are attached to the GitHub release page.

Note	Of the assets the project publishes itself, only Linux gets native packages (`.deb`, `.rpm`, `.apk`). macOS is covered by Homebrew or a `.tar.gz` archive, Windows by a `.zip` archive. Several distributions and package managers carry Updatecli on their own, see Community packages.

Quick Start

Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:59:39 +0100

Description

Updatecli applies update strategies described in a manifest. This guide builds the smallest useful one: a data file pinning a Docker image tag, and a manifest that keeps that tag in sync with the latest Jenkins weekly release.

Everything happens in a single directory, and nothing is pushed anywhere.