OneSAF Test and Distribution Process

1
OneSAF Test and Distribution Process

• Stephen Lopez-Couto
• Session 7.5

2
Discussion Points

• Introduction
• Major and Minor Releases
• The Content of a Release
• Planning for a Major Release
• PM (Internal) Testing
• Assessment Testing
• Miscellaneous Release Preparation Tasks
• Conclusion

3
Introduction

• Prior to any official distribution of OneSAF a
  lot of preparation, coordination and testing
  occurs
• Major X.0 releases
• Process begins approx. ten months prior to the
  release
• Minor X.Y releases
• Process begins approx six months prior to the
  release
• This presentation will discuss all of the tasks
  that lead up to packaged versions of OneSAF being
  shipped to users

4
Major and Minor Releases

• Major Releases
• Generally occur once per year
• Based on a full fiscal years worth of work
• Are subject to the most thorough TE process
• Test is managed by TPO OneSAF
• At a user site
• Release decision falls on TPO OneSAF
• Minor Releases
• Generally occur twice per year
• PM Determines when OneSAF is going to provide a
  useful new capability or set of bug fixes
• Release test managed by PM
• Has TPO and user participation
• Release decision falls on PM OneSAF

5
A Years Releases

• Version 1.x of OneSAF set and followed this
  release formula
• 1.0 The major release for the year
• Very thorough testing and the most new
  capabilities
• In this case it was the first major OneSAF
  release, so it is a slightly different case than
  in future major releases
• 1.1 Completed shortly (3-4 months) after the
  Major release
• Includes mostly non critical bug fixes found
  during Major release testing
• 1.5 Completed approximately 2/3 through the year
• Contains a sampling of the features that will be
  fully available in the next Major release

6
Determination of Version Content

• Two primary sources
• PM OneSAF Developed
• Bi-annual requirements boards meet and determine
  the items that should be developed during the
  year
• Those items are developed based on availability
  of primary program (Army) funding
• Customer Funded
• A customer pays the PM to perform development
  work
• Co-Developers
• Build/Modify OneSAF and handover the code to the
  PM for integration

7
Determination of Version Content

• The years development and integration tasks are
  distributed into the system build schedule

8
Release Process Flow Chart
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Major Release Planning

• TPO and PM OneSAF select an approximate date for
  the major release
• First major task is to plan for the pre-release
  software assessment
• Logistical planning
• Location
• Attendees
• Hardware, Software, Network
• C2 systems
• Assessment content
• Threads
• New and regression
• Domain Events
• Three face to face meetings conducted during the
  year in preparation

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Major Release Planning

• Assessment site selection
• TPO queries various user sites to ascertain
  interest in hosting
• Site must satisfy a number of requirements
• Equipment
• Accessibility
• Availability
• Space
• TPO and PM personnel travel to perform site
  surveys at interested locations
• TPO selects best site for that years assessment

11
Major Release Planning

• Initial / Mid / Final Planning Conferences (IPC /
  MPC / FPC)
• IPC (10 months out)
• Finalize the location for the assessment
• Discuss the general approach that will be taken
  for the assessment
• Examine the previous event and look for changes
• Determine success criteria
• Discuss in general the content of the assessment
• Development is still in the early stages

12
Major Release Planning

• Initial / Mid / Final Planning Conferences
• MPC (6 months out)
• Discuss the technical details of the assessment
• Machine configurations and placement
• Network
• C2
• Finalize the schedule and content
• Begin the development of the test threads and
  larger scenarios
• Agree on each domains involvement
• Assign specific thread and scenarios
• FPC (3 months out)
• Held onsite at the assessment facility
• Finalize all technical details
• Review thread and scenario development
• Cover any remaining details

13
Major Release Planning

• One of the most troublesome areas in selecting a
  site is the availability of tactical C2 systems
• Some have little to no equipment
• Others have incompatible versions
• PEO STRI Digital Integration Lab has assisted in
  the past
• This is not sustainable and will not be the
  approach for the 2.0 assessment

14
PM Testing

• Occurs informally to prepare for both Major and
  Minor releases
• This is more stringent than standard development
  testing
• Status is tracked and reported to the PM
  regularly
• Formally prior to a minor release
• Has TPO and user involvement
• PM Uses the results of the testing as an input to
  his decision as to whether the software should be
  released

15
PM Testing

• Approach
• AI determines a set of threads and vignettes
  that will best test the baseline applying known
  resource constraints
• It is already impossible to test all threads for
  each release
• Thread tests will continue to grow as new
  capabilities are added
• Threads and vignettes primarily test model and
  tool capabilities
• Weekly Wars (large scale distributed tests)
• Run over two days
• OneSAF is supposed to remain executing overnight
• This is the primary test of system stability and
  performance

16
Assessment Testing

• Similar in structure to PM tests, but
• TPO/Users determine the threads that will be run
• PM generally does not review these
• Users create the vignettes and large scale
  distributed exercise

17
Miscellaneous Release Preparation Tasks

• Regardless of the state of the software or
  outcome of the assessments there are other tasks
  that must be completed before OneSAF can be
  distributed
• Security Accreditation
• Disc Layouts
• Installer Creation
• Documentation creation / cleanup
• Packaging preparation
• Media Creation
• All of these tasks are tracked in regularly
  occurring distribution meetings

18
Security Accreditation

• Before any Army information technology system is
  fielded it is supposed to complete a security
  accreditation and receive an Authority to Operate
  (ATO)
• Certifies that the system is generally secure and
  all major vulnerabilities are known and protected
• Lasts for three years or until the system
  undergoes a major change
• OneSAF completed the DoD Information Technology
  Security Certification and Accreditation Process
  (DITSCAP) and received an ATO for version 1.0
• If within the three year timeframe the PM must
  present all system changes to the Designated
  Approving Authority (DAA) to determine if a new
  accreditation is required under the major
  change clause
• At this time it is most likely not required for
  OneSAF 2.0

19
Disc Layouts

• OneSAF contains lots of executable code, data and
  documentation
• 1.5 release encompasses 17CDs or 6 DVDs
• Determining the best layout of the content onto
  optical media helps with
• Lowering media requirements
• Aiding user understanding of content/installation
• Terrain Databases are by far the largest
  consumers of space
• 8/17 CDs, 3/6 DVDs
• Future terrains will far surpass current
  requirements
• We may need to come up with unique distribution
  approaches to handle

20
Installer Creation

• OneSAF 1.0 and 1.1 had very difficult
  installation processes
• The PM received numerous support requests just
  about installation
• The old approach was very generalized and
  required limited work by the development team for
  any single release
• 1.5 has a new unified installer that greatly
  simplifies the process for the end user
• More like commercial software installations
• Much more complex for the development team
• Each release requires rework of the installer to
  handle changes in
• OneSAF code and data
• Java and other 3rd party software

21
Documentation Creation and Cleanup

• Prior to each release a detailed Version
  Description Document (VDD) is created
• Includes input from all task orders and
  Government
• Installation Manuals updated
• Maintenance and Users Manuals are presently
  extracted from the onesaf.net website
• Requires work to ensure that all data is placed
  onto discs properly and links function as
  designed

22
Packaging and Media Creation

• OneSAF is released in commercial grade packaging
  to ensure that media remains organized and
  accessible to end users
• PM provides the PEO STRI graphics office data and
  design ideas for disc labels and case graphics
• Software Distribution and Test (SWDT) Team
• Purchases and prepares media cases and any
  printed documentation
• Coordinates with media duplication vendor to have
  discs created
• Executes final media testing
• Test a random sample of discs after handover from
  duplication vendor

23
Correcting Distribution Problems

• OneSAF 1.1 users experienced numerous problems
  with the DVD version
• Multiple actions to correct this have been
  implemented
• New duplication vendor selected
• PM No longer provides Gold discs
• Everything is kept on hard drives
• More thorough final disc verification will occur

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Conclusion

• Getting a version of OneSAF out the door is not a
  quick or simple process
• The content and quality of the software is of
  most importance
• but without these events occurring the users
  (You) would never get to use it

25
Questions

• Stephen Lopez-Couto
• Stephen.lopezcouto_at_us.army.mil