Planning for the base ClearCase integration with Rational ClearQuest

After you successfully install both DevOps Code ClearCase® and Rational® ClearQuest® products, you should establish a test environment in which to evaluate what works well in your organization. Establishing a test environment requires someone who has DevOps Code ClearCase administrator rights (for example, to create and own a VOB) and someone who has Rational ClearQuest administrator rights (for example, to create a user database and install packages and upgrade schemas). The evaluation can involve the following activities:

• Establish in a test environment a VOB that is like your production VOB and install the triggers to become familiar with the way the integration works. Ensure that the VOB is not UCM (that is, it will not contain UCM components).
• Create a production user database for testing purposes.
• Use the procedures and the tasks defined in the online help to set up the Rational ClearQuest user database that you created for testing purposes, to configure the base ClearCase integration with Rational ClearQuest, and to connect the environments.
• Try different policies, performance options, and configuration options to see what works best.
• Use the test VOB to confirm that the configuration and options work.

An important deployment decision is whether to use a local or a central configuration. By default, the configuration file and trigger source files reside on each client machine. Because this arrangement is difficult to maintain, it is better to define a central location on which you maintain one copy of the configuration file and trigger source files. In the central arrangement, any changes are made in only one location and the one location is more easily made secure.

When you settle on an environment that works, communicate to developers how to work with the integration and publicize the policies that are to be in effect in the production VOBs. Then, install the triggers in a production VOB, apply the same configuration information that you established in the tested configuration, and perform the same basic tests again.