Solutions

A Solution is a top-level deployment package that bundles multiple Sequences together for coordinated execution across environments. Solutions are the primary unit for promoting deployments through your release pipeline.

What is a Solution?

Solutions represent complete, deployable applications or services. They sit at the top of the Mantis deployment hierarchy:

Each solution is:

• Versioned - Track releases with semantic versioning
• Promotable - Move through environments (Dev -> Staging -> Prod)
• Configurable - Define variables that can be customized per environment
• Auditable - Complete history of where and when deployed

Solution Structure

Component	Description
Name	Solution identifier (e.g., “My Web Application”)
Versions	Semantic versions with sequence configurations
Sequences	Ordered list of sequences with version requirements
Variable Templates	Configurable parameters for deployments

Environment Lifecycle

Solutions progress through environments in a controlled promotion flow:

Each environment tracks:

• Current Version - What’s deployed now
• Deployment Time - When it was deployed
• Deployed By - Who triggered the deployment
• Target Count - How many machines are running this version

Variable Templates

Solutions support variable templates for configuration that varies by environment:

Template Properties

Property	Description	Example
Name	Variable identifier	database_host
Label	Display name	”Database Hostname”
Help Text	Guidance for users	”Enter the database server address”
Control Type	Input type	text, multiline, select, checkbox, sensitive
Default Value	Optional default	localhost
Required	Must have a value	true or false

Control Types

Type	Use Case
text	Single-line text input
multiline	Multi-line text or JSON
select	Dropdown selection
checkbox	Boolean toggle
sensitive	Passwords, API keys (encrypted)

Environment-Specific Values

Variables can have different values per environment:

Variable	Development	Staging	Production
database_host	dev-db.local	staging-db.company.com	prod-db.company.com
log_level	debug	info	warn
replica_count	1	2	5

Tip

Use sensitive variables for passwords and API keys. Mantis encrypts these values and never displays them in logs or UI.

Creating a Solution

Step 1: Basic Information

1. Navigate to Solutions in the sidebar
2. Click New Solution
3. Enter a name (e.g., “Customer Portal”)
4. Specify the initial version (e.g., “1.0.0”)

Step 2: Add Sequences

1. Click Add Sequence
2. Select a sequence from the dropdown
3. Specify the version requirement (e.g., ^1.0.0)
4. Repeat for additional sequences
5. Reorder sequences as needed

Step 3: Configure Variable Templates

1. Navigate to the Variables tab
2. Click Add Variable Template
3. Configure the template properties
4. Save the template

Step 4: Set Environment Values

1. Navigate to an environment detail page
2. Find the solution in the list
3. Click Configure Variables
4. Enter values for each template
5. Save

Viewing Environment State

The solution detail page shows deployment status across all environments:

Environment	Version	Deployed	By	Targets
Development	1.2.0	2 hours ago	alice	2
Test	1.1.0	1 day ago	bob	4
Staging	1.0.0	3 days ago	alice	4
Production	1.0.0	5 days ago	admin	12

From here you can:

• Promote - Move to the next environment
• Rollback - Revert to a previous version
• View Logs - See deployment history
• Configure Targets - Manage which machines receive deployments

Promotion Workflow

Prerequisites for Promotion

Before promoting, ensure:

1. Successful Deployment - Current environment deployment succeeded
2. Soak Time (optional) - Minimum time in current environment met
3. Approval (optional) - Required approvers have signed off
4. No Freeze - No deployment freeze is active

Performing a Promotion

1. Navigate to the solution detail page
2. Find the source environment row
3. Click the Promote button
4. Select the target environment
5. Review the promotion summary
6. Click Confirm Promotion

Mantis will:

1. Resolve the target environment’s targets
2. Create a promotion deployment record (deployment type “promotion”)
3. Execute sequences on each target
4. Update the environment state

Rollback

If a deployment causes issues, you can rollback:

1. Navigate to the solution detail page
2. Find the environment to rollback
3. Click the Rollback button
4. Select the target version
5. Confirm the rollback

Rollback Types

Type	Description
Standard	Rollback to a specific previous version
Point-in-Time	Rollback to a specific timestamp

Caution

Rollbacks re-execute the solution at the target version. Ensure your actions are idempotent to avoid data issues.

Best Practices

Solution Scope

Keep solutions focused on a single deployable unit:

Good	Bad
”Customer Portal API"	"All Backend Services"
"Payment Processing Service"	"Everything"
"Mobile App Backend"	"Q4 Release”

Version Strategy

Use semantic versioning consistently:

• Major (1.0.0 -> 2.0.0): Breaking changes, major features
• Minor (1.0.0 -> 1.1.0): New features, backward compatible
• Patch (1.0.0 -> 1.0.1): Bug fixes only

Variable Organization

Group related variables with naming conventions:

database_host
database_port
database_name
database_user
database_password

cache_host
cache_port
cache_ttl

Next Steps

• Creating Solutions - Detailed creation guide
• Variables - Variable template configuration
• Promotion Lifecycle - Environment progression
• Versioning - Version management strategies