Set up a release

Set up releases in the relevant shared space or workspace, and define its timeline and workforce.

In this topic:

Sharing releases between spaces

Releases can be defined for shared spaces and workspaces. This overview describes how to work with shared and non-shared releases.

Isolated spaces

Releases cannot be defined at the space level when the space is isolated.

Instead, admins can define releases in individual workspaces.

These releases are available in that individual workspace only.

Shared spaces (Enterprise Edition)

This table summarizes the actions admins can perform when defining releases in shared spaces and associated workspaces.

Shared space Associated workspaces

The space admin can add and modify releases defined in the shared space.

The releases are available to all associated workspaces.

  • For releases defined by the space admin in the shared space:

    ALM Octane users working in a specific workspace can access both the releases defined for the corresponding shared space and also the releases defined specifically for that workspace. Shared releases are displayed with the icon.

    Admins for workspaces cannot modify shared releases.

  • For releases defined by the admin in a workspace:

    The admin for the workspace can add and modify these releases.

    The releases are available to that individual workspace only.

Must release names be unique?

Within a shared space or a workspace, release names must be unique.

However a shared release may have the same name as a release defined for an associated workspace.

You can distinguish between the releases because ALM Octane displays the shared icon for the shared releases.

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Add releases

Add the necessary releases before defining the timeline.

To add a release:

  1. For admins: Releases can be defined on a shared space level and a workspace level. If defined on a workspace level, the release is only available for that workspace. In Settings > Spaces, select the shared space or workspace where you want to create a new release.

    For non-admins: In the ALM Octane banner, click the menu button and select Release Management.

  2. In the Releases tab, click Add Release. Non-admins will require permissions to add releases.

  3. Provide an appropriate name for the release. You can also add a description and attach documents.

  4. Select the release type: Scrum or Kanban.

  5. For Scrum releases, define start and end dates for the release and specify the duration of sprints in days or weeks.

  6. Click Add to add the release, and view the Releases grid.

    Click Add & Edit to go directly to the Release setup area, with the Details, Timeline, Teams, and Attachment tabs.

Tip: To set the release as the default release, in the toolbar click the Set as Default Release button .

ALM Octane labels the default release as [Default] next to the release number in Backlog release filters, dashboard grids, and so forth. This lets you set rules to help you fill values according to a default.

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Update release information

After adding releases, edit the details of the release.

To update release details:

  1. For admins: In Settings > Spaces, select a shared space or workspace.

    For non-admins: In the ALM Octane banner, click the menu button and select Release Management.

  2. You can filter the releases grid by various properties, including the Programs field.
  3. Click the release ID link to open the release.

  4. Update the necessary details:

    Edit global release details

    In the Details tab of the release, change any of the following:

    • Start and end dates of the release

    • Programs: Specify which programs will be worked in the selected release.

    • Release descriptions

    If you change the start or end dates of a release, ALM Octane adjust the release's existing sprints. ALM Octane updates sprint dates so the sprints run consecutively from the beginning of the release. ALM Octane also removes extra sprints are removed.
    Add and edit sprints

    In the Timelines tab, update details on the sprints.

    When you open the Timeline tab for the first time, ALM Octane displays sprints based on the sprint length you specified when creating the release.

    • To create another sprint, in the toolbar, click . Then, in the Add Sprint dialog box, provide the sprint name, and start/end dates for the sprint.

      If you are adding another sprint after the end of the release, make sure to select the Add as a last sprint (expand release) check box. This adds the sprint to the end of the timeline and adjusts the release calendar.

    • To edit sprint start and end dates, select a sprint block in the timeline and click . In the Sprint details box, update the name, sprint start/end dates, and the assigned teams for that sprint.
    Add and edit milestones

    A milestone is a significant date that occurs during the release timeline. This can include things such as Code Freeze and Regression End.

    For details, see Define milestones.
    Add and edit teams

    To add or edit a team:

    1. In the Teams tab, click Assign teams.

    2. Select the teams to assign and click Add.

      By default, when you assign a team to a release, ALM Octane assigns the team to all the release's sprints.

    If you later need to update the list of teams assigned to a sprint:

    1. In the Timeline tab, select a sprint and click Edit Sprint in the toolbar.

    2. In the Sprint details dialog box, in the Teams drop-down list, select the teams.

      Note: You can select only teams that are already assigned to this sprint's release.
    Enter the estimated velocity for a team

    For each team, you should enter the estimated velocity. Velocity is the number of story points you expect each team to finish during a sprint.

    1. In the Teams tab of a release, click the numerical ID link for a team. The team details open for that team.

    2. In the Details tab the team, in the estimated velocity field, enter the estimated number of story points.

      Note: This change is reflected for all releases for the team.

    3. Click Save.

    ALM Octane displays the updated velocity in the Estimated velocity column of the Teams tab. ALM Octane also displays the number for the velocity in the Release Expected Capacity table in the Timeline tab.

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Set the current and default releases

In addition to using release names or numbers, you can use the idea of the current or default release.

ALM Octane defines the current release based on the dates you enter for each release.

Set the default release automatically or manually:

  • By default, ALM Octane sets the default release as the current release.

  • To override the default release from the current release, set the default in the release list. For example, if you have a favorite created to monitor all defects from the default release, at the end of a release timeline - when your developers have moved on to working on the next release - you can override the default release to view details from the previous release instead of the current one.

In filters, ALM Octane displays the default release with brackets as [Default release].

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Deactivate a release

When you finish working on a release, you can deactivate it. Deactivated releases no longer appear on lists of data entry, such as assigning content to a release. However they do appear in filters, so you can see which content was assigned to obsolete releases.

Select one or more releases in the Releases grid, and click Deactivate Release .

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See also: