Glossary · Automation software engineering and architecture
Canary deployment
Also known as: Canary release
German: Canary-Bereitstellung
In software engineering, canary deployment is a release technique in which a new version is first rolled out to a small subset of users, devices or sites while the rest keep the current version, and the rollout is widened only if monitoring shows no problems.
- Software engineering
In one sentence
Canary deployment rolls out a new version to a small subset of users or devices first and widens the rollout only if monitoring shows no problems.
Example
A new edge application version is installed on the gateways of one production line first; after a week without errors, it is rolled out to the remaining lines.
How it applies
- Engineering: Canary releases need a way to route part of the traffic or part of the device fleet to the new version, and metrics that reveal problems early, such as error rates, latency or restart counts.
- Operation: In industrial settings, the canary group is often a pilot line, a test cell or one site. Choose it so a failure has limited consequences and can be detected quickly.
- Documentation: Rollout plans should state the canary group, the observation period, the go/no-go criteria and the rollback procedure. Keep a record of which devices ran which version and when, so field issues can be traced.
Canary vs. blue-green deployment
Blue-green deployment switches everything at once between two environments. A canary deployment exposes the new version gradually, limiting the impact of a defect. Canary releases take longer and require both versions to run side by side, so interfaces and data formats must be compatible between them.
Changes to safety-related functions are not a candidate for trial-and-error rollouts; they need verification and validation before release.