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Using Release Tags

Ping Identity uses multiple tags for each released build image. On our Docker Hub site, you can view the available tags for each image.

Multi-product deployment

All product containers in a deployment should use the same release tag.

Tagging Format

To specify a release tag for stacks, use the follow format:

image: pingidentity/<ping-product>:${PING_IDENTITY_DEVOPS_TAG}

Where <ping-product> is the name of the product container and ${PING_IDENTITY_DEVOPS_TAG} is assigned the release tag value. The reference to the file containing the setting for ${PING_IDENTITY_DEVOPS_TAG} is ~/.pingidentity/config by default. You can also specify the release tag explicitly in the YAML file. The release tag must be the same for each container in the stack. For example:

image: pingidentity/<ping-product>:edge

Which Release Tag To Use

Which tag you should use depends on what you want to accomplish.

Production Stability

For customers in production environments, stability is often the most sought after quality. For the least dependencies and the most stability:

  • Use the digest of a full sprint tag that includes the sprint version and product version.

    • For example: pingidentity/pingfederate:2103-10.2.2. To pull its corresponding digest:

      docker pull pingidentity/pingfederate@sha256:cef3a089e941c837aa598739f385722157eae64510108e81b2064953df2e9537

    • Additionally, do not rely on Ping to maintain Docker images on Docker Hub. Instead pull the image of choice and maintain it in your own image registry. Common providers include: JFrog, AWS ECR, Google GCR, Azure ACR.

Latest Image Features

For demonstrations and testing latest features, use an edge based image. Even for demos and testing, it's a good practice to use a full tag variation like pingfederate:10.2.2-edge, rather than pingfederate:edge, to avoid dependency conflicts in server profiles.

Evergreen Bleeding Edge

edge is the absolute latest product version and image features, with zero guarantees for stability. Typically, this is only attractive to Ping employees or partners.

Base Release Tags

The base release tags for a build are:

  • edge
  • latest
  • sprint

edge

The edge release tag refers to "bleeding edge", indicating a build similar to an alpha release. This sliding tag includes the absolute latest hooks and scripts, but is considered highly unstable. The edge release is characterized by:

  • Latest product version
  • Latest build image enhancements and fixes from our current sprint
  • Runs on the Linux Alpine OS

Example: pingidentity/pingfederate:edge, pingidentity/pingfederate:10.2.2-edge.

latest

edgeis tagged as latest at the beginning of each month. The release tag indicates the latest stable release. This is a sliding tag that marks the stable release for the latest sprint. The latest release is characterized by:

  • Latest product version
  • All completed and qualified enhacements and fixes from the prior monthly sprint
  • Runs on the Linux Alpine OS

Example: pingfederate:latest, pingfederate:10.2.2-latest

sprint

In addition to becoming latest, edge also is tagged as a stable sprint each month. The sprint release tag is a build number indicating a stable build that won't change. The sprint number uses the YYMM format. For example, 2201 = January 2022. The latest release is characterized by:

  • Latest product version at the time the sprint ended.
  • All completed and qualified enhacements and fixes from the specified monthly sprint. The Docker images are generated at the end of the specified monthly sprint.
  • Runs on the Linux Alpine OS.

Example: pingfederate:2103, pingidentity/pingfederate:2103-10.2.2

sprint (point release)

Occasionally, a bug might be found on a stable release. To avoid changing a sprint tag, a point release would be pushed to move latest forward.

Example: pingfederate:2103.1, pingidentity/pingfederate:2103.1-10.2.2

Determine Image Product Version

If you're unsure of the product version for the container you are running, shell into the container, then echo the $IMAGE_VERSION environment variable. For example:

docker container exec -it <container id> sh
echo $IMAGE_VERSION

The IMAGE_VERSION variable returns the version in this format:

[product]-[container OS]-[jdk]-[product version]-[build date]-[git revision]

For example:

IMAGE_VERSION=pingcentral-alpine-az11-1.3.0-200629-bc33

Where:

Key Value
Product pingcentral
Container OS alpine
JDK az11
Product Version 1.3.0
Build Date 200629
Git Revision bc33

Date Format

Date is in YYMMDD format