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Get Started as a Deployment Manager in DevOps Center
Promote approved work items through your pipeline stages from development to production. Coordinate releases, review test results, and ensure quality changes reach production safely. You don't require a developer background for this role.
Required Editions
| Available in: Lightning Experience in Professional (API access required), Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer Editions |
| Not available in: Government Cloud Plus. Contact your Salesforce account executive for more details. |
| Not available in: EU Operating Zone. EU Operating zone is a special paid offering that provides an enhanced level of data residency commitment. DevOps Center is supported in orgs in the EU that aren't part of EU OZ, per standard product terms and conditions. |
| User Permissions Needed | |
|---|---|
| To promote work items: | DevOps Center Deployment Manager |
Before you start, make sure that you have these ready:
- Your admin has assigned you the DevOps Center Deployment Manager permission set.
- Your team has a project with an active pipeline.
- You have at least one work item in the Ready to Promote status.
- You have access to all pipeline stage environments.
- You understand your team's quality gate rules and testing requirements.
If you're new to DevOps Center, learn these key terms.
| Term | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Pipeline | The path that changes follow to reach production. |
| Approved Work Items | Work items that have passed team review and are ready to be promoted. |
| Quality Gate | Automated test requirements that must pass before promotion. |
| Promote Stage | Moving all work items from one stage to the next. |
| Merge Conflict | Two team members made different changes to the same code. |
Step 1: Find Approved Work Items
Locate work items that are ready to move through your pipeline.
- From the App Launcher, find and select DevOps Center.
- Go to the DevOps Projects tab, select your project to view the work items and pipeline.
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Look for work items with the status Ready to Promote.
These are approved tasks waiting to be moved through the pipeline.
- Review the list of approved work items.
- Check the subject and assignee of each work item to understand what's included in the release.
Step 2: Promote Work Items to the First Pipeline Stage
Group approved work items together by moving them into the first pipeline stage (typically Integration).
- In the Approved Work Items pane, select the work items to promote.
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Click Promote Selected.
DevOps Center automatically runs the test suites assigned to the target stage. This pre-promotion testing validates that changes meet your quality gate rules before deployment.
- If the tests pass: DevOps Center deploys changes to the target environment automatically. The selected work items move into the first pipeline stage. They're now grouped and ready to move as a unit through the remaining stages.
- If the tests fail: DevOps Center blocks the promotion. See View Test Details for Pre-Promotion Events to troubleshoot.
Step 3: Promote a Stage Through the Pipeline
Move all work items in a stage to the next stage. At each pipeline stage, DevOps Center automatically runs the test suites assigned to the target stage. After the tests pass, DevOps Center deploys changes to the target environment automatically.
See Promote Work Items for detailed steps.
What Happens Next?
Here's what happens after a successful promotion.
- Validate the changes in the new environment.
- Promote the work items to the next pipeline stage.
- After DevOps Center promotes the changes to the final stage (production), work items close automatically.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Common issues and how to resolve them.
| Situation | What to Do? |
|---|---|
| Merge conflict | DevOps Center flags conflicts. Use AI assistance or resolve manually in source control. See Resolve Merge Conflicts. |
| Tests fail during promotion | Review test failures. Coordinate with development team members to fix issues. Run on-demand tests to verify fixes. See Testing Before Promotion to the Next Stage. |
| Promotion is stalled | Check the Activity History tab for error messages. |
| Multiple work items have dependencies | Combine work items to prevent conflicts. See Custom Promotion. |
| Stage is out of sync | Merge external changes directly into source control. Click Complete Promotion to deploy those changes. See External Merges. |
AI-Powered Assistance
Use DevOps Center Model Context Protocol (MCP) tools with natural language prompts to simplify promotion tasks.
- Promote stages: Use a prompt, such as "Promote Integration stage to UAT" to start stage promotion.
- Resolve conflicts: Describe the outcome that you want in natural language, and DevOps MCP Tools help merge changes.
See DevOps Center MCP Tools for setup and examples.
