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Modeling software deployment
Modeling software deployment in HCL Launch includes configuring components and component processes and adding those components to applications. Then, you use processes to deploy the components to environments.
Properties
Properties are variables that store information about many different elements, including components, environments, processes, and applications. You can also set global properties for the system.
Property availability
The properties that are available to you depends on the context. For example, in a component process, you can access the component properties of the current component. In an application process, you can access the application properties and environment properties, but not any component properties. The following table shows the processes in which each type of property is available.

Modeling software deployment
Modeling software deployment in HCL Launch includes configuring components and component processes and adding those components to applications. Then, you use processes to deploy the components to environments.
- Components
  Components represent deployable items along with user-defined processes that operate on them, usually by deploying them.
- Resources
  A resource is a logical deployment target that typically resolves to an agent and a user-defined construct that is based on the architectural model of HCL Launch.
- Applications
  Applications are responsible for bringing together all the components that must be deployed together.
- Application environments
  An environment is a user-defined collection of resources that hosts an application.
- Application templates
  With an application template, you can save and reuse a collection of resources, environments, processes, and tagged components or component templates to create a standardized application.
- Application processes
  Application processes, like component processes, are created with the process editor. You use application processes to deploy or to roll back components.
- Application blueprints
  An application blueprint maps application components to a resource template. When you create an environment or provision one from the cloud, you can use the blueprint as a model.
- Snapshots
  A snapshot is a collection of specific versions of components and processes. Typically, a snapshot represents a set of component versions that are known to work together. In most cases, snapshots include all of the components in an application.
- Creating manual application tasks
  A manual application task interrupts an application process until manual intervention is done. To create a manual task, add a manual step to an application process and select a notification template.
- Approval process
  You can add approval requirements to deployments. Deployments with approvals cannot be completed until all approvers respond. Approvers can respond to requests on the Work Items tab, or by email.
- Inventories
  You use different inventories to track installed components and properties in HCL Launch elements.
- Processes
  Processes are automated tasks that run on agents.
- Statuses
  Create and apply statuses to track component inventory states or to track component versions in environments and resources.
- Properties
  Properties are variables that store information about many different elements, including components, environments, processes, and applications. You can also set global properties for the system.
  - Creating, setting, and editing properties
    Properties can be created for most elements, including components, resources, applications, and agents. You can set and change properties in many different ways.
  - Property contexts
    Properties are available in various contexts. Not all properties are available for all contexts. To plan and set properties, you must know where to access properties and how that setting behaves in context.
  - Referring to properties
    HCL Launch provides several ways to refer to properties.
  - Default properties
    Many default properties are available for use while a process runs. These properties provide information about the process and the elements that are involved in the process, such as applications, components, and resources.
  - Output properties
    Output properties are specialized properties that process steps generate. You use output properties to pass parameters to subsequent steps in a process.
  - System properties
    System properties are global variables for the server.
  - Property availability
    The properties that are available to you depends on the context. For example, in a component process, you can access the component properties of the current component. In an application process, you can access the application properties and environment properties, but not any component properties. The following table shows the processes in which each type of property is available.
- Tags
  A tag is a user-defined, shared, short label that you use to classify, view, and conduct operations on objects such as applications, components, agents, and resources.
- Webhooks
  Using the webhooks, you can send text-based responses to users in messaging platform such as MS Teams and Slack when a specific event occurs during deployment process.
- Secret Stores
  Allows HCL Launch to retrieve credentials of individual servers from the Vault and authenticates a plug-in step in the deployment process.

Property availability

The properties that are available to you depends on the context. For example, in a component process, you can access the component properties of the current component. In an application process, you can access the application properties and environment properties, but not any component properties. The following table shows the processes in which each type of property is available.

To see the properties that are available to a process, run the process. When the process is finished, go to the Properties tab of the process request. This tab lists all the properties that are available to the process. The following table lists types of properties that are available to processes and which processes have access to each type of property.


Property type	Processes that can access the property	Sample syntax
Generic process properties	Generic processes	`${p:ProcessProp1}`
Application process properties	Application processes and component processes	`${p:ProcessProp1}`
Component process properties	Component processes	`${p:ProcessProp1}`
Component version properties	Component processes types that include versions, such as Deployment and Operational (with version)	`${p:version/VersionProp1}`
Resource properties	Component processes and generic processes	`${p:resource/ResourceProp1}`
Environment properties	Component processes and application processes	`${p:environment/EnvProp1}`
Application properties	Application processes and component processes	`${p:application/AppProp1}`
System properties	All processes	`${p:system/SystemProp1}`
Request properties	All processes	`${p:request.user.id}`, `${p:request.user.displayName}`, `${p:request.user.name}`
Iteration properties	Processes in the For Each Agent step context	`${p:iteration/agent.name}`, `${p:iteration/agent/AGENT_HOME}`
Agent properties	Generic processes and component processes	`${p:agent/PropName}`
External approval properties	Application processes	`${p:ext/PropName}`