HCL Launch In The Cloud: Automating Continuous Deployment

Since its inception, HCL Launch has been capable of deploying workloads to cloud-based environments. Specifically, HCL Launch excels at deploying hybrid applications which consist of both cloud-native and on-premise components.

We are pleased to announce that HCL Launch is available to deploy in a cloud-based Kubernetes environment. This support includes deployment of the server, agents and relays, and it allows users to take advantage of many Kubernetes benefits. Now users will be able to rapidly scale their server, agents or relays to match fluctuating workloads. Workloads will be automatically scheduled to run with the best quality of service. Upgrading to new versions of the servers, agents and relays will be quick and easy with the use of “helm upgrade” commands.

Figure 1: Running HCL Launch in GKE

HCL Launch supports most Kubernetes-based environments whether they are running in a private cloud on-premise or in a managed environment. The support has been tested on AKS, EKS, GKE, RHOCP and IKS.

This new support offers several topology alternatives for user environments such as:

• Backend database used by Launch running as a service in the cloud or running in a virtual machine accessible from the cloud.
• Agents can run in the cloud or can run on a virtual machine accessible from the cloud. Note that agents can deploy artifacts to other Kubernetes clusters if required network connectivity is available.
• Agent Relays can run in the cloud or can run on a virtual machine accessible from the cloud.

If you are currently running HCL Launch in a non-Kubernetes environment, there is support for migrating to our new cloud solution.

Try HCL Launch by going to the HCL SoFy website and selecting the HCL Launch application from the SoFy catalog. From there you can run the solution in the sandbox that is provided, or you can download the solution and deploy it to your own Kubernetes cluster for a limited time. The trial solution provides an HCL Launch Server, along with a connected agent that can be used for sample deployments.