Support-assisted promotions

ForgeRock promotes configuration for the whole environment, so promotions always include all realms and all other static configuration. It is therefore not possible to promote partial configuration of any kind between environments, or promote the configuration for an individual realm between environments.

For the purposes of promotion, ForgeRock draws a clear line between dynamic and static configuration.

Dynamic configuration changes occur automatically when your application end users use Identity Cloud features. For example, when they configure applications or add users in the Identity Cloud admin UI, the changes take effect immediately in the development, staging, or production environments.

Static configuration changes occur only when authorized administrators make changes in the development environment, or when configuration changes get promoted to another environment. Only ForgeRock SREs can promote static configuration from development to staging and production environments.

The following tables summarize the types of configuration changes possible, and whom you can authorize to make changes:

ForgeRock considers all configuration static, except for the two types of config data that may be changed at runtime: applications and access policies. These config data types can be created on the fly, and can be used immediately afterwards.

Applications represented by OAuth2 clients can be registered at runtime through the Dynamic Client Registration Protocol. Access policies are created every time an end user shares access to a resource.

ForgeRock recognizes that other types of applications or access policies might not change at runtime. But ForgeRock products handle each data class consistently, so we can leverage potential usage patterns in the future.

These artifacts are NOT promoted. They remain unchanged during the promotion process:

All other configuration is promoted between environments.

You have the choice of using the Identity Cloud admin UI, or using the REST APIs for configuration.

ForgeRock can roll back static configuration for you. Configuration data is maintained in Git repositories within your environment. So, configuration data can be restored as a whole to previous settings.

When you request a rollback, ForgeRock reverts your development environment to the point in time you specify. ForgeRock can then promote that configuration to staging and production environments when confirmed by you.

Dynamic configuration is not altered when rolling back in this way. Users, applications, and access policies remain as they are.

Follow the instructions to promote configuration changes. In the Request Type dialog box, choose Restore from backup.

Follow the instructions in the section To promote configuration changes.

ForgeRock promotes one step at a time. We’ll ask you to check and confirm the staging environment status before we promote your configuration to the production environment.

Promotions normally take two hours, and are carried out by the end of the next business day. Promotions occur during UK and US business hours Monday-Friday excluding public holidays in Australia, Singapore, France, United Kingdom, United States, and Canada.

You may schedule promotions in advance, with a set window of at least two hours, and with a minimum of two business days notice. Please be aware that while we will aim to complete the promotion within the specified window, this cannot be guaranteed in all cases.

If you require a promotion outside of the hours above, notice is required at least seven business days in advance.

We understand that sometimes you have to use a configuration attribute value that is not identical across development, staging, and production environments. For example, you might need one set of credentials for an external service in the development environment, but a different set of credentials in the production environment.

See Introduction to ESVs for an explanation of how this type of configuration is handled, then follow the process in To promote configuration changes.