Deployment approach
Legacy development pipeline to AWS
Move a development pipeline from 1990s-era hardware to AWS compute while keeping builds, access and recovery under control.
← All stories and scenariosThe challenge
Build around the work.
A development pipeline built around hardware from the 1990s needs a maintainable place to run. The move must account for the build tools, scripts, licenses and local dependencies that make the existing workflow useful, while giving developers a reliable way to produce and recover their work.
How the solution fits together
Documented build workflow → compatible Amazon EC2 environment → controlled developer access, storage and tested recovery
Products and software
- Amazon EC2 ↗
- Provide the compute environment. Select the instance architecture, operating system and capacity after checking the existing tools and their licensing requirements.
- Amazon EBS ↗
- Provide persistent block storage for the selected EC2 environment. Include volume snapshots in a recovery plan with appropriate write coordination and a tested restore.
- Existing compilers, scripts and build tools
- Preserve the dependencies needed to reproduce the build. Separate components that can move to cloud compute from those that need a supported replacement or access to physical hardware.
How we deliver it
- Capture the working pipeline — Record source inputs, compilers, runtimes, scripts, scheduled jobs, file locations and licenses. Identify physical-device dependencies. Choose representative builds and retain their expected results as the comparison for the move.
- Rehearse on AWS compute — Check operating-system and processor compatibility, recreate the required dependencies and test developer access in an isolated EC2 pilot. Run the reference builds and investigate differences before moving production jobs. Keep any toolchain redesign as a separately agreed change.
- Move the work in stages — Agree the change window, acceptance criteria and recovery decision with the pipeline owner. Protect the source environment and coordinate writes before the final transfer. Move approved jobs and access in a controlled sequence, checking that the old and new environments cannot produce competing releases.
- Establish routine operation — Test a fresh start, recurring jobs, monitoring and recovery from the retained backups. Document how the team changes the environment, patches supported components and reviews compute, storage and licensing costs. Set the original environment's retention period with its owner.
Why it matters
Reduce dependence on aging hardware and make the development environment easier to reproduce and support. Evaluate cloud usage and support effort against the real workload, while keeping a clear owner for the pipeline and its recovery.
What you receive
A dependency and compatibility record, versioned build instructions, access boundaries, migration and rollback steps, test results and an operating handover with named responsibilities.
L8DT services behind the solution
How we verify it
Run representative builds from known inputs, compare the expected outputs and test the developer's normal workflow. Check permissions, required device or file connections, recurring jobs and restart behavior. Restore the agreed files and environment to isolated compute and demonstrate a usable build. Record observed usage and costs against the planning assumptions.
Rollback and recovery
Retain a protected, recoverable copy of the original environment until acceptance. Define when to pause jobs and return to it, including how to reconcile files or changes made after the move. Coordinate writes when capturing EBS snapshots and keep the build inputs, configuration and other required backups together in the recovery procedure.