March 2017 Summaries

At Octopus Deploy, extensive work with IIS has led to over a million deployments of websites and services, providing valuable insights into using PowerShell IIS modules effectively. The article details the evolution of IIS PowerShell modules, from the older WebAdministration module used since Windows Server 2008 to the newer IISAdministration module introduced in Windows Server 2016. It explains how IIS configuration settings are stored in web.config and applicationHost.config files and emphasizes the importance of understanding these files for efficient module usage. The text also explores the differences between the IIS:\ drive provider and task-based cmdlets, highlighting real-world examples of creating sites, applications, and application pools using PowerShell scripts. Additionally, it discusses the challenges of file locking during deployments and the necessity of implementing retry logic. The article aims to equip readers with the knowledge to automate IIS configurations, offering practical examples and insights into managing authentication methods, logging settings, and running application pools as specific users.

In 2017, Octopus set a goal to implement all UserVoice items with over 200 votes, and the project modeling team successfully shipped three notable features to enhance the deployment process. These features include the ability to disable or deactivate steps, which allows users to temporarily remove problematic steps without deleting them; the cloning of steps, a functionality previously available only through a Chrome extension, enabling users to duplicate steps directly within Octopus; and the option to set the run condition of a step based on a variable, allowing for conditional execution of deployment actions depending on the boolean result of an Octopus Variable Expression. These enhancements aim to streamline the deployment configuration process and address customer requests, reflecting Octopus's commitment to improving user experience through community feedback.