| Artifact | Output of the generation process. The artifacts are the input for the provisioning process that transfers the artifacts to a specific set of [infrastructure nodes] that need to be transferred to a specific location. | |
| Generation | The process by which [artifacts] elements. | Generation and deployment are two discrete steps. First, nevisAdmin 4 generates the artifacts and instructions. The user can review the result and choose to continue with deployment. |
| Generation Engine | A standalone command line program that generates and deploys a configuration. | |
| Provisioning | Provisioning is transferring [artifacts]. It is part of deployment. | |
| Branch | A sequence of [committed] domain. | |
| Commit | Operation of the [version control]. A commit cannot be undone.When publishing changes to Git, nevisAdmin 4 runs git commit immediately followed by git push to the remote version control repository. | |
| Running Configuration | The current configuration of a [host] managed by nevisAdmin. | |
| Configuration | Consists of [pattern]. | |
| Deployable PatternInstance Pattern | A [pattern]. | |
| Deployment | The process of updating the running configuration on one or multiple [host]. | |
| Deployment target | The service, host, or group of hosts onto which a deployment is executed. | |
| Filter | A concept for narrowing the number of elements to those that meet specified criteria. | |
| Generation Context | The context in which [instructions]. | |
| Host | An entity to which configuration can be deployed. Similar to "server" and "hostname". | Also known as (virtual) machine, VM, server, or hostname. |
| Host Group | A container for hosts. A host can be in zero, one or multiple groups. The group contains hosts with similar function.Purposes of groups: A host group can act as the deployment target within a [deployable pattern]. A host group can specify values for variables which apply only within that group. * A host group can be used to restrict deployment only to those hosts. | |
| Infrastructure | All [inventories] within nevisAdmin 4. | |
| Instruction | A UNIX command that is executed on a target host during [deployment]. | |
| Inventory | A list of hosts, groups and host and group variables. A [tenant] can have multiple inventories. | |
| Pattern Category | The classification of a [pattern]. Purely for helping users navigate/find related patterns or related pattern types. | |
| Pattern (Class) | Serves as a reusable template to define processes and use cases in [configuration]. | Pattern classes are written in the Groovy scripting language. |
| Pattern Library | A collection of plug-in bundles containing, mainly, pattern types. Standard Pattern Library = all patterns shipped with the product and officially supported. Custom Pattern Library = a set of patterns developed by or for a specific customer, normally for non-standard use cases. | |
| Pattern (Instance) | A concrete pattern instance (object) containing user-provided configuration settings. Pattern instances can be stored in version control in the context of the project.Each pattern instance is associated with one pattern class: the class contains a script that validates the settings and generates instructions and artifacts based on the settings. | Each pattern instance is stored in a separate YAML file. This includes all property values. |
| Pattern Reference | Link from one pattern to another pattern. A property of the type "pattern reference", which can be one of the properties in a pattern, allows the referencing pattern to utilize the referenced pattern during the generation process. | |
| Plug-in | Extension of the nevisAdmin 4 platform. The following object types are realized as plug-ins: Pattern types Property types Generators Reports A plug-in is identified by its class name. It is a Groovy or Java class provided by a [plug-in bundle]. | |
| Plug-in Bundle | A set of plug-ins and their resources packaged as a JAR file. It can be dynamically uploaded, activated and deactivated at runtime. Plug-in bundles have a version number. | In the nevisAdmin 4 user interface, the plug-in bundles (JAR files) appear as (pattern) libraries. |
| Project | Collection of patterns and variables definitions belonging to the same [configuration] which projects exist and which version control system and branch to load them from. | |
| Property (Instance) | Based on a certain property type. The user can then either set a value or use a [variable]. | |
| Property Type | Basic building block of [patterns]. Each property type has its own representation on the UI. Each pattern type is composed of a set of property names and property types. | Some examples: SimpleTextProperty, SelectionProperty, ReferenceProperty and AttachmentProperty. |
| Orchestration | Orchestration solution like Ansible, Puppet, Salt, Shell. | |
| Stage | A server environment where configuration is deployed to.Often, customers have sequences of stages through which configurations move from testing towards production (for example, TEST, INTEGRATION, ACCEPTANCE, PRODUCTION). | Within nevisAdmin 4, stages are modeled as [inventories]. |
| Issue | An event that happened during one of the processes, such as generation, validation, deployment, etc, and which is communicated to the user.Issues have a severity like ERROR, WARNING, or NOTICE. | |
| Tenant | A single nevisAdmin instance is able to manage multiple dedicated configuration subdivisions, called tenants. Each tenant has its own projects and inventories, and supports tenant-level permissions. | |
| Variable | A property can use a variable instead of having a fixed value.The property will use the value assigned to that variable in a specific context, for example a hostname that depends on the actual generation / deployment context. | |
| YAML | "YAML Ain't a Markup Language". The formatting language (comparable to JSON and XML) used by nevisAdmin 4 to store, export and import various kinds of data. Benefits of this format include: It is optimized to be both machine-readable/editable and human-readable/editable (unlike XML and JSON). It is loosely typed (unlike XML). * It is commonly used for managing configuration and deployment. | `http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YAML |