Operational Standards¶

This page documents the operational standards, maintenance procedures, and governance processes for the WebGrip platform and its documentation.

Documentation Maintenance¶

TechDocs Maintenance¶

Responsibility: Infrastructure Team Review Schedule: Quarterly or after major platform changes Update Triggers: Infrastructure changes, new component deployments, architectural decisions

Maintenance Process¶

1. Content Review:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

# Review all documentation links
find docs/techdocs/docs -name "*.md" -exec grep -l "https\|http\|\./" {} \;

# Check for broken internal links
# Use markdown link checker or manual verification

# Validate external references
# Ensure all repository links point to existing files

2. Information Architecture Updates: - Review IA for new platform components - Add new sections for major architectural changes - Update navigation in mkdocs.yml for new content - Ensure cross-references remain accurate

3. Content Accuracy Validation: - Verify configuration examples against actual repository files - Update version numbers and tool versions - Validate command examples and procedures - Test deployment procedures in staging environment

4. Repository Alignment: - Ensure documentation structure mirrors repository organization - Update file paths when repository structure changes - Maintain assumption blocks for inferred behavior - Add new ADRs for significant architectural decisions

TechDocs Publishing Process¶

Automated Publishing: .github/workflows/on_docs_change.yml

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19

# Automatic publishing workflow
name: '[Workflow] On Documentation Change'
on:
  push:
    branches: ['main']
    paths: ['docs/techdocs/**']
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  generate-documentation:
    name: 'Generate'
    uses: webgrip/workflows/.github/workflows/techdocs-generate.yml@main
    with:
      source-dir: 'docs/techdocs'

  deploy-documentation:
    name: 'Deploy'
    uses: webgrip/workflows/.github/workflows/techdocs-deploy-gh-pages.yml@main
    needs: generate-documentation

Manual Publishing (if needed):

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

# Local TechDocs generation and testing
cd docs/techdocs
mkdocs serve

# Build for production
mkdocs build

# Verify build output
ls -la site/

Content Update Guidelines¶

Adding New Platform Components: 1. Create Component Page: Add page in platform-components/ directory 2. Update Navigation: Add entry to mkdocs.yml navigation 3. Cross-Reference: Link from related pages (architecture, runbooks) 4. Backstage Integration: Update component catalog entries 5. Review Process: Technical review before publishing

Updating Existing Content: 1. Identify Impact: Assess which pages need updates 2. Maintain Links: Ensure all links remain valid 3. Update Assumptions: Review and update assumption blocks 4. Version Tracking: Note significant changes in commit messages

Backstage Maintenance¶

Entity Definition Updates: - Quarterly Review: Verify all entity definitions are accurate - Ownership Updates: Update component ownership when teams change - Lifecycle Management: Promote experimental → production, mark deprecated - Relationship Mapping: Ensure component dependencies are current

Catalog Hygiene:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

# Validate catalog entities
cd catalog/
find . -name "*.yaml" -exec yamllint {} \;

# Check for orphaned entities
# Verify all referenced entities exist

# Update entity metadata
# Ensure annotations and links are current

Platform Maintenance¶

Infrastructure Maintenance¶

Regular Maintenance Tasks: | Task | Frequency | Responsibility | Documentation | |------|-----------|----------------|---------------| | Cluster Updates | Monthly | Infrastructure Team | Infrastructure Overview | | Certificate Monitoring | Weekly | Platform Team | Certificate Management | | Secret Rotation | Quarterly | Security Team | Security Model | | Backup Verification | Monthly | Infrastructure Team | Backup Procedures | | Monitoring Review | Bi-weekly | Platform Team | Monitoring & Observability |

Component Lifecycle Management¶

Component Status Tracking:

Lifecycle Management Process: 1. Component Assessment: Regular review of component status and health 2. Promotion Criteria: Define criteria for experimental → production 3. Deprecation Planning: Plan migration path for deprecated components 4. Documentation Updates: Update component status in documentation and catalog

Security Maintenance¶

Security Review Schedule: - Monthly: Vulnerability scanning and patching - Quarterly: Access review and privilege audit - Annually: Security policy review and updates - As Needed: Incident response and security updates

Security Maintenance Tasks:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

# Regular security tasks
kubectl get pods -A --field-selector=status.phase!=Running
kubectl get certificates -A --field-selector=spec.issuerRef.name=expired

# Audit RBAC permissions
kubectl auth can-i --list --as=user@example.com

# Review network policies
kubectl get networkpolicies -A

Change Management¶

Documentation Change Process¶

Change Types: | Change Type | Approval Required | Review Process | |-------------|------------------|----------------| | Content Updates | Technical Review | Peer review + platform team | | Structure Changes | Architecture Review | Technical lead + stakeholder review | | Navigation Changes | UX Review | User experience validation | | Tool Updates | Platform Review | Infrastructure team approval |

Change Workflow:

Platform Change Management¶

Change Categories: - Emergency Changes: Critical security or availability fixes - Standard Changes: Regular updates and improvements - Major Changes: Architectural changes requiring ADR

Change Approval Matrix: | Change Impact | Approver | Documentation Required | |---------------|----------|----------------------| | Low Impact | Platform Engineer | Update existing docs | | Medium Impact | Technical Lead | ADR + documentation update | | High Impact | Architecture Review Board | ADR + stakeholder review | | Emergency | On-call Engineer | Post-change documentation |

Quality Assurance¶

Documentation Quality Standards¶

Content Quality Checklist: - [ ] Clear purpose statement for each page - [ ] Target audience identified - [ ] Step-by-step procedures where applicable - [ ] Links to source files and configurations - [ ] Assumption blocks for inferred behavior - [ ] Cross-references to related content - [ ] Diagrams for complex relationships - [ ] Examples and code snippets - [ ] Troubleshooting guidance - [ ] Next steps and related resources

Technical Accuracy Validation: - [ ] All links resolve correctly - [ ] Command examples tested and verified - [ ] Configuration snippets accurate - [ ] Version numbers current - [ ] Repository paths correct - [ ] Assumptions validated where possible

Platform Quality Standards¶

Infrastructure Quality Gates: - [ ] All components have health checks - [ ] Resource limits defined - [ ] Security contexts applied - [ ] Monitoring configured - [ ] Backup procedures tested - [ ] Disaster recovery validated - [ ] Documentation current - [ ] ADRs documented for major decisions

Team Structure and Responsibilities¶

Team Organization¶

Responsibility Matrix¶

On-Call Responsibilities¶

On-Call Rotation: - Primary: Platform Engineer (24/7 coverage) - Secondary: Infrastructure Team Lead - Escalation: Engineering Manager → CTO

On-Call Duties: - Respond to critical platform alerts - Perform emergency maintenance - Coordinate incident response - Document incidents and resolutions - Update runbooks based on incidents

Compliance and Governance¶

Governance Framework¶

Decision Making: - Technical Decisions: Technical leads with peer review - Architectural Decisions: Architecture Review Board - Security Decisions: Security team with compliance review - Business Decisions: Engineering management with stakeholder input

Architecture Review Board: - Members: Senior engineers, technical leads, security representative - Meeting Schedule: Bi-weekly or as needed for major decisions - Scope: Platform architecture, technology choices, major changes - Output: ADRs documenting decisions and rationale

Compliance Requirements¶

Documentation Compliance: - [ ] All architectural decisions documented in ADRs - [ ] Security procedures documented and reviewed - [ ] Access controls documented and audited - [ ] Change management processes followed - [ ] Incident response procedures current

Platform Compliance: - [ ] Security scanning integrated in CI/CD - [ ] Access controls regularly audited - [ ] Data protection measures implemented - [ ] Backup and recovery procedures tested - [ ] Vulnerability management process active

Metrics and Monitoring¶

Documentation Metrics¶

Usage Metrics: - Page views and engagement analytics - Search queries and results - User feedback and satisfaction scores - Link click-through rates

Quality Metrics: - Documentation freshness (last updated) - Link health (broken link detection) - Content completeness scores - User journey completion rates

Platform Metrics¶

Operational Metrics: - Platform uptime and availability - Deployment frequency and success rate - Mean time to recovery (MTTR) - Change failure rate

Usage Metrics: - Active users and applications - Resource utilization trends - Cost per application - Developer productivity metrics

Continuous Improvement¶

Improvement Process¶

Quarterly Reviews: 1. Metrics Analysis: Review platform and documentation metrics 2. User Feedback: Collect and analyze user feedback 3. Gap Analysis: Identify documentation and platform gaps 4. Improvement Planning: Plan improvements for next quarter 5. Process Updates: Update procedures based on lessons learned

Feedback Channels: - Documentation: GitHub issues and pull requests - Platform: Slack channels and team meetings - Formal: Quarterly surveys and reviews - Incident-Driven: Post-incident reviews and improvements

Innovation and Experimentation¶

Technology Evaluation: - Regular assessment of new tools and technologies - Proof-of-concept development for promising solutions - Community engagement and open source contributions - Knowledge sharing through documentation and presentations

Continuous Learning: - Team training and certification programs - Conference attendance and knowledge sharing - Internal lunch-and-learns and tech talks - Documentation of lessons learned and best practices

Next Steps¶

Immediate Actions¶

For New Team Members: 1. Review Documentation: Read through platform documentation 2. Access Setup: Ensure appropriate access and permissions 3. Tool Installation: Install required development tools 4. First Deployment: Complete onboarding guide exercises 5. Team Integration: Join relevant Slack channels and meetings

For Platform Updates: 1. Documentation Review: Assess impact on documentation 2. ADR Creation: Document significant architectural decisions 3. Stakeholder Communication: Notify affected teams 4. Monitoring Setup: Ensure appropriate monitoring and alerting 5. Rollback Planning: Prepare rollback procedures

Long-term Planning¶

Platform Evolution: - Roadmap for major platform enhancements - Technology refresh and modernization plans - Capacity planning and scaling strategies - Security enhancement initiatives

Documentation Evolution: - Information architecture improvements - User experience enhancements - Automation and tooling improvements - Community contribution processes

📋 Operational Excellence: These standards ensure the platform remains reliable, secure, and well-documented. Regular review and updates keep our operations aligned with best practices and organizational needs.