CloudBees Unify is a comprehensive DevOps solution designed to simplify cloud-native development and deployment processes. It enhances the developer experience by reducing cognitive load and rendering DevOps processes nearly invisible. Powered by a cloud-native CI/CD engine based on Tekton, CloudBees Unify seamlessly integrates with various DevOps tools and employs a self-service model, allowing platform engineering to tailor workflows and actions for development teams. Additionally, it provides centralized security and compliance, incorporating built-in security features and automated DevSecOps checks throughout the software development lifecycle.
Product Feature Comparison
The following table outlines the primary differences between CloudBees Unify and CodeShip, offering a concise overview of their features and capabilities. Understanding these distinctions is important prior to migration.
| Feature | CloudBees Unify | CloudBees CodeShip Pro | CloudBees CodeShip Basic |
|---|---|---|---|
Pipeline definition and configuration |
Workflows are configurable using YAML-based DSL or a visual editor. |
YAML-based |
UI-defined |
Pipeline customization |
Extensive customization options are available, allowing workflows to be tailored through workflow configurations, built-in CloudBees actions, user-defined actions, or Preconfigured actions. Additional customization can be achieved using properties, secrets, environment variables, and feature flags. |
Full control over Docker environment, custom services and commands. |
Pipelines can run custom steps, scripts and pre-defined deployments. |
Environment Variables |
Defined within Workflows, Configuration as Code (CasC), or Properties. |
Defined in YAML or Dockerfiles |
UI-defined |
Infrastructure |
CloudBees managed Kubernetes-native, elastic infrastructure |
CloudBees-managed Docker build environment |
CloudBees-managed build environment |
Integrations |
Open and extensible, with integration capabilities for a broad array of DevOps tools. |
Basic integration capabilities. |
|
Security features |
Provides centralized security controls, automated compliance enforcement, and built-in DevSecOps capabilities. Also allows fine-grained permission management at the workflow level using the permissions context, which can be defined at both the workflow and job levels. |
Basic security features and settings. |
|
Governance |
Enables centralized policy enforcement, audit trails, and role-based access control (RBAC) for teams, with support for SSO and OIDC integration. |
Limited |
Limited |
Reporting and Analytics |
Delivers advanced workflow analytics such as build history, logs, DORA metrics, and comprehensive workflow visibility. |
Basic build history and logs. |
Basic build history and logs. |
Release Management |
Provides comprehensive release management with orchestration, automation, traceability, and audit capabilities. |
Basic release management capabilities. |
|
Feature Flags |
Feature management allows teams to progressively activate or deactivate features for designated user groups. |
Core Architecture Concepts
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Integrations: Extend functionality and connect to external tools. Integrations to SCM enable the creation of components.
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Components: Are the link between source code and downstream features, enabling secure, robust, and efficient software delivery. Each component is created within an organization and connects to a single code repository through an SCM integration. Automations are created as workflows inside components.
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Workflows: Enable the definition and execution of CI/CD pipelines and other automated processes, using either YAML-based DSLs or visual editors.
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Jobs: Represent distinct activities within a workflow, specified using the jobs keyword. A workflow contains one or more jobs, such as "Build and Unit Test" or "Deploy to Staging." Jobs execute in parallel by default. Sequential execution is achieved by setting dependencies with the
jobs.<job_id>.needskeyword. An unlimited number of jobs can be run, provided workflow usage limits are not exceeded. -
Steps: Function as individual activities within a job, such as "Checkout Code," "Run Tests," or "Deploy to AWS." and can be defined as scripts or rely on actions.
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Actions: Are reusable, pre-defined sets of operations that perform specific tasks within workflows.
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Environments: Serves as the target infrastructure for deploying component artifacts, supporting application user interaction. Workflow jobs may target a specific environment using the environment keyword. Environment bindings enhance job behavior with approval flows or by adding an environment-specific property for job executions.
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Properties (Secrets and environment variables): Provide secure, centralized storage for both sensitive and non-sensitive information, including secrets and environment variables.