Continuous Deployment - AL-Go for GitHub

Continuous Deployment (CD) in AL-Go for GitHub automates the process of deploying your Business Central applications to various environments whenever changes are pushed to specified branches. This enables rapid iteration, consistent deployments, and reduced manual intervention.

Overview

AL-Go for GitHub supports multiple deployment strategies:

Environment-based deployment: Automatic deployment to Business Central environments
Package-based deployment: Delivery to NuGet feeds and GitHub Packages
Storage-based deployment: Publishing artifacts to Azure Storage
AppSource deployment: Submission to Microsoft AppSource

Continuous Deployment is automatically triggered by the CI/CD workflow on successful builds. Production environments tagged with (Production) are excluded from automatic deployments.

Environment Deployment

Basic Configuration

Configure environments in your AL-Go settings to enable automatic deployment:

{
  "environments": [
    "DEV",
    "QA",
    "UAT"
  ]
}

With this configuration:

Successful builds automatically deploy to DEV, QA, and UAT environments
Each environment requires an AUTHCONTEXT secret
Deployments use Service-to-Service (S2S) authentication

Branch-Specific Deployment

Control which branches deploy to which environments:

{
  "DeployToDEV": {
    "ContinuousDeployment": true,
    "Branches": ["main", "develop", "feature/*"]
  },
  "DeployToQA": {
    "ContinuousDeployment": true,
    "Branches": ["main", "release/*"]
  },
  "DeployToUAT": {
    "ContinuousDeployment": true,
    "Branches": ["main"]
  }
}

Deployment flow:

feature/* branches → DEV only
develop branch → DEV only
release/* branches → DEV and QA
main branch → DEV, QA, and UAT

Advanced Environment Configuration

Environment Naming

Map GitHub environment names to Business Central environment names:

{
  "DeployToQA": {
    "EnvironmentName": "Quality Assurance",
    "ContinuousDeployment": true
  }
}

This is useful when:

BC environment names contain spaces
BC environment names have special characters
You want different naming conventions

Deployment Timing

Control when deployments occur:

{
  "DeployToUAT": {
    "ContinuousDeployment": true,
    "ScheduleOnly": true,
    "Schedule": "0 2 * * 1-5"
  }
}

This configuration deploys to UAT only during scheduled times (2 AM on weekdays).

Selective App Deployment

Deploy specific apps to specific environments:

{
  "DeployToDEV": {
    "ContinuousDeployment": true,
    "Apps": ["*.app"],
    "TestApps": ["*.app"]
  },
  "DeployToQA": {
    "ContinuousDeployment": true,
    "Apps": ["*.app"],
    "TestApps": []
  }
}

DEV receives both apps and test apps
QA receives only production apps

Deployment Workflows

CI/CD Workflow

The primary workflow for continuous deployment: Trigger conditions:

Push to repository branches
Pull request creation/updates
Manual workflow dispatch
Scheduled runs

Workflow stages:

Analyze

Identifies changed projects
Determines target environments
Filters out production environments
Sets up build matrix

Build

Compiles AL applications
Runs tests
Generates artifacts (.app files)
Creates build output

Deploy

Authenticates to environments
Publishes apps to Business Central
Verifies deployment success
Logs deployment details

Deliver

Packages artifacts for delivery targets
Publishes to NuGet feeds
Uploads to storage accounts
Updates package registries

Publish to Environment Workflow

Manual deployment workflow for controlled releases: Use cases:

Deploy to production environments
Deploy specific versions
Re-deploy after configuration changes
Emergency hotfix deployments

Workflow inputs:

App version: latest, current, or specific version tag
Environment name: Target environment or * for all

name: Publish To Environment

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      appVersion:
        description: 'App version to deploy'
        required: false
        default: 'current'
      environmentName:
        description: 'Environment to deploy to'
        required: false
        default: '*'

Authentication Methods

Service-to-Service (S2S) Authentication

The recommended authentication method for automated deployments: AUTHCONTEXT secret format:

{"TenantID":"<TenantID>","ClientID":"<ClientID>","ClientSecret":"<ClientSecret>"}

Setup requirements:

Create Microsoft Entra app registration
Configure API permissions for Business Central
Generate client secret
Add app to BC environment
Create GitHub secret

Always use compressed JSON format (single line) with no newlines. Multi-line JSON will cause authentication failures.

Azure Key Vault Integration

For enhanced security, store authentication secrets in Azure Key Vault:

{
  "keyVaultName": "MyCompanyVault",
  "environments": ["QA", "UAT"]
}

Benefits:

Centralized secret management
Automatic secret rotation
Enhanced audit logging
Compliance with security policies

Delivery Targets

Continuous delivery to package repositories and storage:

NuGet/GitHub Packages

Automatically publish apps to package feeds:

{
  "DeliverToGitHubPackages": {
    "ContinuousDelivery": true,
    "Branches": ["main", "develop"]
  },
  "DeliverToNuGet": {
    "ContinuousDelivery": true,
    "Branches": ["main"]
  }
}

Required secrets:

GitHubPackagesContext: For GitHub Packages
NuGetContext: For custom NuGet feeds

See Delivery Targets for detailed configuration.

Azure Storage

Publish artifacts to Azure Storage accounts:

{
  "DeliverToStorage": {
    "ContinuousDelivery": true,
    "Branches": ["main"]
  }
}

StorageContext secret:

{"StorageAccountName":"<AccountName>","ContainerName":"<Container>","BlobName":"<Path>","StorageAccountKey":"<Key>"}

Deployment Strategies

Trunk-Based Development

Single main branch with feature flags:

{
  "DeployToDEV": {
    "ContinuousDeployment": true,
    "Branches": ["main"]
  },
  "DeployToQA": {
    "ContinuousDeployment": true,
    "Branches": ["main"]
  }
}

Workflow:

Develop features with feature flags
Merge to main frequently
Automatic deployment to DEV and QA
Manual promotion to production

GitFlow

Multiple long-lived branches:

{
  "DeployToDEV": {
    "ContinuousDeployment": true,
    "Branches": ["develop", "feature/*"]
  },
  "DeployToQA": {
    "ContinuousDeployment": true,
    "Branches": ["release/*"]
  },
  "DeployToUAT": {
    "ContinuousDeployment": true,
    "Branches": ["main"]
  }
}

Workflow:

Feature development in feature/* branches → DEV
Integration in develop branch → DEV
Release branches release/* → QA
Production releases in main → UAT
Manual deployment to production

Environment Promotion

Progressive deployment through environments:

Development

Automatic deployment on every commit:

Branch: develop
Environment: DEV
Frequency: Every push

Testing

Deployment after DEV validation:

Branch: develop (after approval)
Environment: QA
Frequency: Daily or on-demand

Staging

Pre-production validation:

Branch: main
Environment: UAT
Frequency: Per release candidate

Production

Manual deployment of approved releases:

Branch: main
Environment: PROD (Production)
Frequency: Scheduled releases

Monitoring and Observability

Deployment Metrics

Track key deployment indicators:

Deployment Frequency: How often deployments occur
Lead Time: Time from commit to deployment
Failure Rate: Percentage of failed deployments
Recovery Time: Time to recover from failures

Workflow Logging

AL-Go workflows provide detailed logging:

# View recent workflow runs
gh run list --workflow=CICD.yaml

# View specific run details
gh run view <run-id> --log

# View deployment logs
gh run view <run-id> --log | grep -A 20 "Deploy to"

Telemetry Integration

Enable AL-Go telemetry for deployment tracking:

{
  "enableTelemetry": true,
  "doNotPublishAppsTelemetry": false
}

Collected metrics:

Deployment duration
Success/failure rates
Environment targets
App versions deployed

Best Practices

Small, Frequent Deployments

Recommendations:

Deploy multiple times per day to DEV
Keep changes small and focused
Use feature flags for incomplete features
Enable quick rollback capabilities

Benefits:

Reduced deployment risk
Faster feedback loops
Easier troubleshooting
Improved team velocity

Automated Testing

Test pyramid:

Unit tests (fast, many)
Integration tests (moderate)
End-to-end tests (slow, few)

CI/CD integration:

Run tests before deployment
Block deployment on test failures
Generate test reports
Track test coverage

Environment Parity

Maintain consistency:

Use same BC version across environments
Match configuration settings
Replicate data structures
Mirror security settings

Configuration as code:

Store environment configs in Git
Use AL-Go settings for consistency
Document environment differences
Automate environment setup

Rollback Preparation

Rollback strategy:

Tag all production deployments
Keep previous versions accessible
Test rollback procedures regularly
Document rollback steps

Quick rollback:

Use Publish To Environment workflow
Deploy previous version tag
Verify functionality
Communicate to stakeholders

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Deployment Not Triggered

Possible causes:

Branch not configured for environment
Environment filtered in Analyze phase
CI/CD workflow disabled
Missing authentication secret

Debug steps:

Check DeployTo<Env> settings
Verify branch patterns
Review workflow logs
Confirm secret exists

Authentication Failures

Symptoms:

401 Unauthorized errors
Invalid client secret
Tenant not found

Solutions:

Regenerate client secret
Verify TenantID, ClientID
Check API permissions
Ensure JSON is compressed

Deployment Timeout

Causes:

Large app size
Environment performance
Network connectivity
Concurrent deployments

Remediation:

Optimize app size
Scale BC environment
Check network status
Stagger deployments

Version Conflicts

Scenarios:

Dependency version mismatch
App already installed
Schema changes required

Resolution:

Update dependencies
Force-sync environment
Plan schema migrations
Use upgrade codeunits

Security Considerations

Secret Management

Use Environment Secrets

Store sensitive data in GitHub environment secrets:

Isolated per environment
Protected by branch policies
Audited access

Implement Least Privilege

Grant minimum necessary permissions:

Service principal per environment
Read-only for non-deployment workflows
Time-limited credentials

Enable Audit Logging

Track all deployment activities:

GitHub Actions logs
Azure AD sign-in logs
BC telemetry

Regular Secret Rotation

Rotate credentials periodically:

Client secrets: 90 days
Access tokens: 30 days
Review service principals: Quarterly

Compliance

Ensure continuous deployment meets compliance requirements:

Change Management: Document all deployments
Approval Gates: Require manual approval for sensitive environments
Audit Trail: Maintain deployment history
Separation of Duties: Different teams for dev and production

Next Steps

Sandbox Environment

Set up sandbox environments for automated deployment

Production Environment

Configure production environments for controlled releases

Delivery Targets

Publish packages to NuGet feeds and GitHub Packages

AL-Go Settings

Explore all available configuration options

Getting Started

Setup & Configuration

Core Workflows

Development

Deployment

AppSource Publishing

Advanced Topics

Migration

​Overview

​Environment Deployment

​Basic Configuration

​Branch-Specific Deployment

​Advanced Environment Configuration

​Deployment Workflows

​CI/CD Workflow

​Publish to Environment Workflow

​Authentication Methods

​Service-to-Service (S2S) Authentication

​Azure Key Vault Integration

​Delivery Targets

​NuGet/GitHub Packages

​Azure Storage

​Deployment Strategies

​Trunk-Based Development

​GitFlow

​Environment Promotion

​Monitoring and Observability

​Deployment Metrics

​Workflow Logging

​Telemetry Integration

​Best Practices

Small, Frequent Deployments

Automated Testing

Environment Parity

Rollback Preparation

​Troubleshooting

​Common Issues

Deployment Not Triggered

Authentication Failures

Deployment Timeout

Version Conflicts

​Security Considerations

​Secret Management

​Compliance

​Next Steps

Sandbox Environment

Production Environment

Delivery Targets

AL-Go Settings

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Environment Deployment

Basic Configuration

Branch-Specific Deployment

Advanced Environment Configuration

Deployment Workflows

CI/CD Workflow

Publish to Environment Workflow

Authentication Methods

Service-to-Service (S2S) Authentication

Azure Key Vault Integration

Delivery Targets

NuGet/GitHub Packages

Azure Storage

Deployment Strategies

Trunk-Based Development

GitFlow

Environment Promotion

Monitoring and Observability

Deployment Metrics

Workflow Logging

Telemetry Integration

Best Practices

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Security Considerations

Secret Management

Compliance

Next Steps