Legacy is a Frame of Mind

A presentation at DeliveryConf 2019 in January 2020 in Seattle, WA, USA by Laura Santamaria

@nimbinatus | #DeliveryConf Unmaintained WHAT IS LEGACY Outdated Unstable? Lost Old Hidden

@nimbinatus | #DeliveryConf THE FIRST TIME IT BROKE Photo by Sebastian Herrmann on Unsplash

@nimbinatus | #DeliveryConf THE FIRST TIME WE DEPLOYED CHANGES Photo by Michelle Tresemer on Unsplash

@nimbinatus | #DeliveryConf IT GOT EASIER… …OR I JUST GOT USED TO IT BREAKING Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash

@nimbinatus | #DeliveryConf GOOD IDEAS Photo by Callum Shaw on Unsplash

@nimbinatus | #DeliveryConf CHECK ANYTHING WRITTEN DOWN

@nimbinatus | #DeliveryConf BUILD A SAMPLE PIPELINE… …THEN KNOCK IT OVER Photo by Marco Lermer on Unsplash

@nimbinatus | #DeliveryConf FIND DEPENDENCIES

@nimbinatus | #DeliveryConf RESURRECTION AND MODERNIZATION

@nimbinatus | #DeliveryConf PRIORITIZE STABILITY

@nimbinatus | #DeliveryConf IS MODERNIZING WORTH IT?

@nimbinatus | #DeliveryConf ADD COMPONENTS CAREFULLY

@nimbinatus | #DeliveryConf THINK ABOUT YOUR TOOLS

Photo by Drew Beamer on Unsplash @nimbinatus | #DeliveryConf IN THE END, LEGACY IS JUST A LABEL. (Thanks) https://nimbinatus.com

Laura Santamaria
@nimbinatus

1 / 18

Have you ever been dropped into a legacy application that had some sort of pipeline in the past, but now you have to figure out how it works? I found myself in that situation, so let’s talk about legacy pipelines and puzzling your way through resurrecting them based on what I learned and encountered along the way. We’ll talk about good ideas and bad ideas when handling a legacy application from a CI/CD pipeline standpoint, understanding how a system is put together from logs and other data you (hopefully) can find—and what to do when you don’t have any data at all,—and how to make that legacy application’s pipeline more usable for the next maintainer down the line. And just maybe we’ll unearth how to pull that legacy pipeline from the grave so that, while some people might still call the system legacy because it’s old, the pipeline can show them a thing or two about modern CI/CD strategies.

Video

Buzz and feedback

Here’s what was said about this presentation on social media.

Legacy Is A Frame Of Mind - @nimbinatus https://t.co/tkaaowNVmF
— DeliveryConf (@DeliveryConf) January 24, 2020
Great advice from @nimbinatus on handling a brownfield deployment pipeline: start by making a map, and accept that you’re never going to be done evolving it. #deliveryconf pic.twitter.com/zdEvvSMpw1
— Jez Humble (@jezhumble) January 21, 2020
I was running #docker within #docker. @nimbinatus #deliveryconf pic.twitter.com/1iPb6duDnS
— Cora Fedesna @DeliveryConf (@CorainChicago) January 21, 2020
Look at older components of legacy pipeline when you add new ones. For example, use same version of Python & same architecture as older ones if they are stable. @nimbinatus #deliveryconf
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) January 21, 2020
“One of the great things about CoreOS is that it updates itself. One of the annoying things about CoreOS is that it updates itself.” @nimbinatus #deliveryconf
— Jez Humble (@jezhumble) January 21, 2020
One of the good things about CoreOS, it updates itself.

One of the bad things about CoreOS, it updates itself. @nimbinatus #deliveryconf
— Cora Fedesna @DeliveryConf (@CorainChicago) January 21, 2020
Prioritize stability in your legacy pipeline... user needs to see no difference.@nimbinatus #deliveryconf
— Cora Fedesna @DeliveryConf (@CorainChicago) January 21, 2020
#deliveryconf @nimbinatus pic.twitter.com/5WQGUuxAAR
— Aubrey Chipman (@AubreyChipman) January 21, 2020
Find dependencies in your legacy system. Don't just keep it running - resurrect and modernize it so it can work on newer platforms. @nimbinatus #deliveryconf It's probably been running awhile. Prioritize its stability as you modernize - end user should never know.
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) January 21, 2020
The first deploy of legacy pipeline was scary, but @nimbinatus says it got better. #deliveryconf pic.twitter.com/kLlueFp7EE
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) January 21, 2020
@nimbinatus #deliveryconf pic.twitter.com/N2S2koZhbF
— Cora Fedesna @DeliveryConf (@CorainChicago) January 21, 2020
What is legacy? People associate it with outdated, unstable, the knowledge of how it was built is lost, or hidden under a desk! @nimbinatus #deliveryconf But legacy != old.
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) January 21, 2020
Legacy pipelines aren't OLD, they are outdated. @nimbinatus #deliveryconf
— Cora Fedesna @DeliveryConf (@CorainChicago) January 21, 2020
@nimbinatus #deliveryconf pic.twitter.com/JIwwpYJKjS
— Cora Fedesna @DeliveryConf (@CorainChicago) January 21, 2020
To understand a legacy pipeline, build a sample pipeline...then knock it over.@nimbinatus #deliveryconf
— Cora Fedesna @DeliveryConf (@CorainChicago) January 21, 2020
Build a sample pipeline to understand how it works - and then knock it over. Have to understand what will make it fail to make a good map of it. @nimbinatus #deliveryconf Example: Disconnect the db & see what happens. Compare those logs with prod logs. Update maps.
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) January 21, 2020
Check anything that's been written down in GitHub issues, doc for legacy pipeline - it may not be up to date but it's a great way to start mapping out your pipeline. @nimbinatus #deliveryconf
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) January 21, 2020

Legacy is a Frame of Mind

Link for this presentation:

HTML code for embedding:

Share on social media:

Video

Buzz and feedback