Enabling faster ALMA software delivery by using containers

摘要

ALMA hasbeen operating since 2013 and it keeps on adding an ever-growing new set of capabilities. Every new feature implies amongother things a new software release thathasto be implemented, tested and deployed around the world. In this paper we present the new deployment process that allowed ALMA to deliver faster releases to reliable testing and production environments. This was achieved through the use of container-based services, both for applications and data. This implied that tasks that in thepast were done manually, are nowfully automated, in orderto avoid human errors and maintain consistency between what was tested and what is finally installed in production. All this, under a unique and complex operation environment that includes the two main operation facilities in Chile at ALMA Operation Site Facilities (OSF) and Santiago Central Office (SCO), and the different executive headquarters located acrossthe ALMA global network. We also explain how we managed to address the issue of ever-growing observational data, which made it difficult to replicate the production environment data into ourtesting infrastructure. Our solution consisted in using a container-based database that allowed us to create a full copy of the production database in a very short time. All those changes enabled JAO to improve its software testing process allowing a monthly release cycle.