How do I implement canary releases for Blue/Green deployments?

Canary releases are a vital technique in deployment strategies, especially in Blue/Green deployments. They allow for testing new features with a small subset of users before rolling them out to the entire user base, minimizing risk and ensuring stability.

Understanding Blue/Green Deployments

Blue/Green deployment is a strategy that involves two identical environments, known as Blue and Green. While one environment (let's say Blue) serves the production traffic, the other (Green) can be used for staging the new application version. After validating the new features in the Green environment, traffic can be switched from Blue to Green seamlessly.

How to Implement Canary Releases with Blue/Green Deployments

Implementing canary releases within a Blue/Green deployment involves deploying the new version (Green) to a small percentage of users before a full rollout.

Example Implementation

<?php // Example logic for handling traffic splitting $isCanaryUser = rand(1, 100) <= 10; // 10% of users for canary $currentVersion = $isCanaryUser ? 'Green' : 'Blue'; // Decide which version to serve // Serve the user based on the determined version if ($currentVersion === 'Green') { // Serve new canary version include 'green_app/index.php'; } else { // Serve the stable version include 'blue_app/index.php'; } ?>

This PHP example randomly determines whether a user should receive the new version (Green) or the stable version (Blue). By adjusting the percentage in the random function, you can control the rollout process further.


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