Best practices for using branches in Deployment Manager depend on whether you have a single development team or multiple teams in a distributed environment.

In general, perform the following steps when you use branches with Deployment Manager:

1. In Deployment Manager, create a pipeline for the target application. If your application consists of multiple built-on applications, it is recommended that you create separate pipelines for each application.

   By using separate pipelines for built-on applications, you can perform targeted testing of each built-on application, and other developers can independently contribute to application development.

   For more information about multiple built-on applications, see Using multiple built-on applications.

2. Ensure that the target application is password-protected on all your systems in the pipeline.

   1. In Designer Studio (if you are using Deployment Manager 3.4.x) or Dev Studio (if you are using Deployment Manager 4.1.x or later), switch to the target application by clicking the name of the application in the header, clicking Switch Application, and then clicking the target application.

   2. In the Designer Studio or Dev Studio header, click the name of the target application, and then click Definition.

   3. Click Integration & Security.

   4. In the Edit Application form, click the Require password to update application checkbox.

   5. Click Update password.

   6. In the Update password dialog box, enter a password, reenter it to confirm it, and click Submit.

   7. Save the rule form.

3. If you want to create a separate product rule for a test application, create a test application that is built on top of the main target application. For more information, see Using branches and test cases.

4. On the source development system (in a distributed environment) or development system (in a nondistributed environment), create a development application that is built on top of the either the target application (if you are not using a test application) or the test application.

5. Include the PegaDevOpsFoundation application as a built-on application for either the team application or the target application.

   1. In either the development application or target application, in the Dev Studio or Designer Studio header, click the application, and then click Definition.

   2. In the Edit Application form, on the Definition tab, in the Built on applications section, click Add application.

   3. In the Name field, press the down arrow key and select PegaDevOpsFoundation.

   4. In the Version field, press the down arrow key and select the version for the Deployment Manager version that you are using.

   5. Save the rule form.

   6. If you are using a distributed environment, import the application package, including the target, development, and test (if applicable) applications, into the remote development system.

6. Do one of the following actions:

   • If you are using a distributed environment, add branches to the team application on the remote development system. For more information, see Adding branches to your application.

     If you are using multiple built-on applications, maintain separate branches for each target application. For more information, see the Pega Communityarticle Using multiple built-on applications.

   • If you are using a non-distributed environment, create a branch of your production rulesets in the team application. For more information, see Adding branches to your application. You should create separate branches for each target pipeline.

7. Perform all development work in the branch.

8. To merge branches, do one of the following actions:

   • If you are using either a non-distributed network (in any version of Deployment Manager) or a distributed network (in Deployment Manager 4.4.x or later), first lock the branches that you want to validate and merge in the application pipeline and then submit the branches in the Merge Branches wizard.

     For more information, see Submitting a branch into an application by using the Merge Branches wizard.

   • If you are using a distributed network and Deployment Manager 4.4.x or and are publishing branches to a source development system to start a build, do the following actions:

     1. On the remote development system, publish the branch to the repository on the source development system to start the pipeline. For more information, see Publishing a branch to a repository.
     2. If there are merge conflicts, log in to the team application on the source development system, add the branch to the application, resolve the conflict, and then merge the branch.

   • If you using a distributed network and versions of Deployment Manager earlier than 4.4.x with one pipeline per application, do the following steps so that you can merge branches onto the source development system:

     1. On the remote development system, create a Pega repository that points to the target application on the source development system. For more information, see Adding a Pega repository.
     2. On the remote development system, publish the branch to the repository on the source development system to start the pipeline. For more information, see Publishing a branch to a repository.
     3. If there are merge conflicts, log in to the team application on the source development system, add the branch to the application, resolve the conflict, and then merge the branch.
   • If you using a distributed network and versions of Deployment Manager earlier than 4.4.x with multiple pipelines per application and application version:
     1. Package the branch on the remote development system. For more information, see Packaging a branch.
     2. Export the branch.
     3. Import the branch to the source development system and add it to the team application. For more information, see Importing rules and data by using the Import wizard.
     4. Merge branches into the target application to start the pipeline by using the Merge Branches wizard.

        For more information, see Merging branches into target rulesets.