Feeling dread before a final exam is similar to what software development teams experience when preparing to deploy their software.
Thankfully, software deployment tools help take the pressure off. These tools are DevOps’ best friend, simplifying the distribution process so they can focus on creating great products.
But, the challenge is finding the right open-source tool for your DevOps needs.
In this blog, we’ll give you everything you need to know to find the right tool and a breakdown of the top 10 open-source tools for your DevOps team.
Why are Software Deployment Tools Important?
If software development tools are essential for devs, deployment tools are crucial for DevOps teams. They help rapidly deploy code and manage production environments for efficient software delivery.
Not convinced? Take note of the importance of these tools:
- Automate software deployment processes: speed up manual processes like installing, configuring, and deploying software applications with automated DevOps tools.
- Improve security: software deployment tools have built-in features like automated testing and monitoring to help you spot vulnerabilities early on.
- Reduce errors and costs: deployment tools help you avoid costly mistakes by preventing human errors from doing manual software deployment processes.
- Monitor applications in real-time: get visibility of application performance so your DevOps teams can quickly identify and address any issues before they become major problems.
- Empower collaboration: developers, DevOps engineers, and other stakeholders use deployment tools to help facilitate a streamlined process for managing and sharing code.
Now that you know what makes deployment tools important, let’s discuss what you should look for in a software deployment tool!
Qualities to Look for in a Software Deployment Tool
Here are some qualities to look for in a tool that will make deployment a breeze:
- It should have great automation capabilities that speed up how you deploy software and minimize human error.
- A simple, user-friendly interface is a must-have. You don’t want to waste time trying to figure out how to use a complicated tool.
- Collaboration is key to successful outsourcing software development, so look for a tool that allows multiple users to work on the same project simultaneously.
- Compatibility with various platforms for flexibility to work with multiple operating systems and environments.
- Security features like encryption and authentication capabilities protect your application and data from prying eyes.
Keep these qualities in mind when assessing software deployment tools, and you’ll be on your way to a smoother, faster, and more secure deployment!
Top 10 Automated Software Deployment Tools
Each software deployment tool offers different features and capabilities, so you choose the one that best suits your needs.
But, many organizations lack time to assess each DevOps tool. If this sounds familiar, you might opt for popular tools that may not be the best fit.
To save time and help you make the right choice, we’ve compiled a list of the top 10 open-source deployment tools for your DevOps team.
1. Jenkins
Jenkins is the star of open-source tools for Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment. It’s one of the earliest tools of its kind. That’s why it boasts a large and active community of contributors, so you get extra help, info, and features.
Developed using Java, this tool has over 300 plugins, making it capable of supporting software development and testing for almost any project. For maximum security and ultimate scan speeds, Jenkins users can also integrate with Spectral’s Jenkins security features.
What we like about it:
- Compared to other CI/CD tools, installation is straightforward.
- User interface is intuitive
- Performs rolling updates on Amazon EC2 instances while monitoring application health via configurable rules
To know more details about this continuous integration tool, read this.
2. Octopus Deploy
Octopus Deploy is like your personal genie that grants your wish to automate complex software deployments. It simplifies the deployment of databases, ASP.NET apps, and Windows Services.
With Octopus Deploy, you can arrange your deployments, restrict production deployment, execute custom scripts, and handle sensitive variables. Moreover, its flexibility allows you to deploy in the cloud or on-premise—whatever better suits your preferences!
What we like about it:
- Check deployment statuses on the dashboard
- Highly flexible with multiple deployment processes and “variable” strategies
- Deployments can be done with zero downtime
If you’d like to dive deeper into Octopus Deploy, this starter page supplies an extensive overview of its concepts and connects to the corresponding documents.
3. Bamboo
Bamboo is like your own personal assistant that takes care of all the boring stuff when it comes to releasing and managing your applications and software. With this continuous integration tool, your IT team can easily establish a streamlined pipeline for building and delivering your projects.
This tool lets you automate builds, releases, and testing into one integrated workflow, making your life a whole lot easier. And if you’re a mobile developer, you’ll love the fact that you can automatically deploy your apps to the Apple Store or Google Play.
What we like about it:
- Mobile developers can effortlessly deploy apps to app stores
- Bamboo is compatible with AWS, Docker, Amazon S3, and any programming language
- Easily access and review your release history archives
Although it’s not free, Bamboo is still a great deal, with plans starting as low as $10 for small teams. For more details, be sure to check out the full description.
4. AWS CodeDeploy
AWS Codeplay could be your one-stop shop for all your deployment automation needs!
With AWS CodeDeploy, you can now easily release new features without any downtime or complexity. This Amazon Web Services service automate deployments to all instance and works with applications of any language, platform, or type.
Amazon is pretty famous for releasing features at lightning speed, so once you set up your process, you can use AWS’s unlimited scalability to deploy your software to tons of EC2 instances. It also makes sure your services don’t go down if an update fails, thanks to rolling updates on your nodes. You can even keep an eye on the health of your deployment with some customizable rules.
What we like about it:
- Deploy content directly from GitHub and Bitbucket
- Deploy various application content, including scripts, multimedia, executables, and configuration files
- Seamlessly integrates with various continuous deployment tools
- Enable selection of the number of EC2 instances temporarily offline for updates
CodeDeploy is free of charge, and the only cost associated with it is that of the AWS cloud computing resources needed to deploy your applications.
5. GitLab CI
GitLab CI is a comprehensive open-source DevOps platform that comes as a single application, revolutionizing the way development, security, and operations teams collaborate and create software products.
This amazing tool is embedded in GitLab, a platform that houses the Git repository and other tools. It shortens cycle time from weeks to minutes, cuts development costs, and speeds up product market time—significantly enhancing developer productivity!
What we like about it:
- Builds can be run on various platforms, including OSX, Unix, Windows, and any Go-supported system
- Simple rollback capabilities and manual deployment
- Custom version tests allow you to check individual branches
- Command-line build scripts supporting multiple languages like PHP, Ruby, C, and Java
GitLab CI offers an easily accessible free version for the community, and its Quick Start Guide provides an even easier learning experience.
6. Travis CI
Travis CI is a tool that makes testing and the software deployment process a piece of cake.
By leveraging Travis CI, you can simplify your development process and streamline notifications and deployments. This powerful tool will clone your GitHub repository into a virtual environment to build and test the code for each run. Additionally, it has the capability to automate other components of delivery workflows for even more efficiency!
The popularity of this tool speaks for itself. With over 900k open-source projects on the platform and 600k users, it is no wonder why it’s so widely used. Its free, open-source nature allows you to easily coordinate thousands of commits and contributors with ease.
What we like about it:
- Ability to deploy to S3 and Heroku
- Test watching capability for monitoring tests as they run
- Provision of a fresh VM for each new build
- Support for Linux, Mac, and iOS platforms
Travis CI offers different pricing plans, ranging in cost from $69 to $729+. You can explore these pricing options here and learn more about the product to determine which plan best fits your needs.
7. JFrog
JFrog, formerly known as Shippable, is a powerful continuous integration and continuous delivery tool designed to be used with cloud infrastructure and Docker, making it perfect for modern businesses. It simplifies the process of provisioning, building, and deploying applications to any destination.
JFrog’s security solution enables you to swiftly detect and enforce policies in real time. Plus, its highly flexible platform allows for easy integration with a range of tools, programming languages, and cloud providers so that your scan speeds remain fast. We confidently recommend integrating JFrog’s innovative technology into your system today!
What we like about it:
- Capability to segregate security and compliance duties based on policy-driven permissions
- Docker-friendly, facilitating quick startup
- Ability to customize YML configurations
- Attractive visual reports for test results and code coverage.
You can begin using the platform for a 14-day free trial, with the option to upgrade to a premium subscription starting at $98. For enterprises, you can customize your subscription!
Ready to discover the advantages of automating deployments with JFrog? This introductory documentation is an ideal way for you to get started!
8. DeployBot
Whether you want manual or automated deployments, DeployBot has got you covered.
DeployBot is a deployment tool that simplifies and accelerates the deployment process without the added complexity of a full-fledged continuous integration system. It streamlines the process of deploying code to any integration or open interface protocol, creating a consistent and straightforward process for the entire IT team.
DeployBot saves you time, energy, and stress by executing preset scripts and commands, such as updating assets on a CDN, minifying code, or installing dependencies. Then, with absolute conviction and simplicity, it seamlessly merges the changes into production.
What we like about it:
- Ability to manage multiple environments and repositories in one place
- Quick and easy setup and configuration
- Offers clear deploy status visibility via Slack and email notifications, simplifying failure detection
DeployBot offers three base pricing tiers: a free plan that allows ten application deployments, a Plus plan for $25/month, and a Premium plan for $50/month. Additional plans with more repositories are available for higher prices, and all plans include unlimited deployments and build minutes, as well as email support and a 30-day refund policy.
9. Ansible
Ansible is an open-source, incredibly efficient automation platform used for IT tasks, including configuration management, application deployment, intraservice orchestration, and provisioning. With its unparalleled user experience, it helps you streamline your business operations in a way that’s both reliable and cost-effective.
Being an automated deployment platform that eliminates the need for agents, it provides flexibility in using OpenSSH and WinRM. It also offers centralized automation execution, job scheduling, and a visual dashboard with audit trails to track performance.
What we like about it:
- Written in Python, making it easy to understand
- Agentless to reduce maintenance overheads and performance degradations considerably.
- Playbooks are written in YAML
- Has Ansible Galaxy as a central repository for locating, reusing, and sharing Ansible-related content
Ansible offers two distinct editions with varied support and capabilities. Your cost will depend on the number of nodes that you are managing. Contact them to know.
10. CircleCI
CircleCI is a powerful deployment automation platform that offers a high level of flexibility to software developers. It enables them to work independently on a branch, customize the execution environment, and collaborate seamlessly with the team.
CircleCI can also be easily integrated with various version control tools like GitHub and Bitbucket, making it easy to manage your code and deployment process in one place. With a visual dashboard, you can monitor your builds and receive notifications in case of build failures. This feature is particularly useful for detecting issues early on and preventing them from causing significant delays in the software development process.
What we like about it:
- Flexible and customizable for developers
- Integrations with version control tools like GitHub and Bitbucket
- Monitor build status and receive notifications with a continuous delivery pipeline
CircleCI offers four pricing plans: Free, Performance, Scale, and custom Server. Each offers different features and benefits, so you can choose the one that best suits your needs. Contact them to know more.
Automate, Scale, & Grow with our DevOps Services
At StarTechUP, we understand the importance of deploying applications quickly and efficiently. That’s why our team of experienced DevOps engineers is here to assist you with developing and deploying your projects.
We offer DevOps services to streamline your development process, including automated testing and deployment, orchestration tools integration, and containerized solutions. Our end-to-end services are designed to help you easily automate, scale, and grow your applications.
Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you automate, scale, and grow your projects!
