Deploying with Environments Using the TestStand Deployment Utility

Deploying with Environments

The TestStand Deployment Utility supports using an engine environment file (.tsenv) to deploy files from a custom <TestStand Public> directory or <TestStand Application Data> directory. In addition, the TestStand Deployment Utility allows you to specify an environment file for use on the deployment machine. If you do, files you deploy to the <TestStand Public> directory or <TestStand Application Data> directory will be deployed to the custom locations specified in the environment file. For more information about creating and using environment files, refer to the TestStand Environments topic.

Using Custom Environment Directories on the Development Machine

To use a custom TestStand Public directory and/or Application Data directory on the development machine, specify an environment file in the Engine Environment field of the System Source tab. Once you have specified an environment file, select the From TestStand Public Directories or From TestStand Configuration Directory to deploy files from the directory specified in the environment file. If you create a deployment with these settings, files will be deployed to the default TestStand Public and Application Data directories.

Note   The Users.ini file, which contains TestStand user management settings, always exists in the global location, even if an environment file specifies a different path for the Application Data directory.

Deploying to Custom Environment Directories

To deploy files to your custom TestStand Public directory and/or Application Data directory on the deployment machine, select the Use Environment File To Determine Deployed File Destinations option. After selecting this option, use the Destination View in the Distributed Files tab to preview the destinations for files deployed to the TestStand Public or Application Data destinations. The custom destination path is displayed in parentheses after the destination name.

The TestStand Deployment Utility does not support using absolute paths in the environment file when used to determine file destinations. Paths you specify must be relative to the location of the environment file on the destination machine. The location of the custom directories on the target machine is represented by the following combination:
<destination for environment file> + <custom path specified in environment file>

To access the custom directories on the deployment machine, your deployed User Interface must use the deployed environment file. You can use the command line flag /env <Environment File Path> when launching a user interface executable to configure the environment file it uses upon launch. Follow these steps specify that the deployment utility create a shortcut to a user interface with this flag:

  1. In the Distributed Files tab, select the user interface executable.
  2. Click the Shortcuts button to launch the shortcuts dialog box.
  3. Click Add Shortcut to create a new shortcut.
  4. Set the shortcut base path to the same base path you selected for the environment file.
  5. Set the shortcut relative path to the same relative path of the environment file.
  6. Set the command line arguments to /env <EnvironmentFilename>, where <EnvironmentFilename> is the name of the environment file you selected on the System Source tab.
  7. Ensure that the user interface is deployed to the same destination as the environment file.

Using a Different Environment File on the Deployment Machine

You can configure the TestStand Deployment Utility to use a different environment file to determine the custom locations for the TestStand Public directory and/or Application Data directory.

Follow these steps to configure an environment file for use on the deployment machine:
  1. In the Distributed Files tab, select the environment file you specified in the Active Engine Environment field.
  2. Use the browse button for the Replacement Path field to select a different environment file.
Once the file is replaced, the custom destination paths will update to reflect the paths in the selected file.