What changes with containers
The application becomes a package that is built once and runs the same way in every environment. Capacity grows by adding instances instead of hand-editing configuration. A test environment can be created in the morning and deleted at night, and a failed upgrade is undone by returning to the previous version.
What stays the same
The database and the file vaults still need careful, persistent storage, backups and a recovery plan. Licensing and PTC’s support terms still apply. Containers make Windchill easier to run, not exempt from its rules, so we review PTC’s support position for your release with you before we design anything.
How we set it up
- Images built by the pipeline and stored in your own registry
- One set of deployment templates, with different settings per environment
- A managed container platform in the cloud, or your own on-premise cluster
- Durable storage for vaults and shared files, with backups you have tested
- A managed database, kept outside the container platform
- Dashboards and alerts that reach the right person
Clone production in hours
With data and configuration kept separate from the application, we can rebuild a full copy of production for an upgrade rehearsal or a training session in hours, with sensitive data masked where needed.