[FF] learn_gitlab_redesign -- new design for get started changes

Summary

This issue is to roll out the feature on production, that is currently behind the learn_gitlab_redesign feature flag.

Owners

  • Most appropriate Slack channel to reach out to: #g_activation
  • Best individual to reach out to: @dstull

Expectations

What are we expecting to happen?

New users that register with a trial will have the new learn gitlab redesign.

What can go wrong and how would we detect it?

Users will not experience the new trial redesign page.

Detect by validating experience.

Rollout Steps

Note: Please make sure to run the chatops commands in the Slack channel that gets impacted by the command.

Rollout on non-production environments

  • Verify the MR with the feature flag is merged to master and has been deployed to non-production environments with /chatops run auto_deploy status https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/189668
  • Enable the feature globally on non-production environments with /chatops run feature set learn_gitlab_redesign true --dev --pre --staging --staging-ref
  • Verify that the feature works as expected. The best environment to validate the feature in is staging.
    • New user registers as a trial and lands in newly redesigned page with expected functionality for learn gitlab.
  • If the feature flag causes end-to-end tests to fail, disable the feature flag on staging to avoid blocking deployments.
    • See #e2e-run-staging Slack channel and look for the following messages:
      • test kicked off: Feature flag learn_gitlab_redesign has been set to true on **gstg**
      • test result: This pipeline was triggered due to toggling of learn_gitlab_redesign feature flag

If you encounter end-to-end test failures and are unable to diagnose them, you may reach out to the #s_developer_experience Slack channel for assistance. Note that end-to-end test failures on staging-ref don't block deployments.

Specific rollout on production

For visibility, all /chatops commands that target production must be executed in the #production Slack channel and cross-posted (with the command results) to the responsible team's Slack channel.

  • Ensure that the feature MRs have been deployed to both production and canary with /chatops run auto_deploy status https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/189668
    • note: the MR for status above will/should change for production to be the last MR for this feature.
  • Enable the feature flag in production:
    • /chatops run feature set learn_gitlab_redesign true
      • note: we can enable per group in production if desired, but not during registration as it determines where to go after group creation and we won't know the group in time... or maybe we can just set the path correctly matching the ff, not sure.
  • Verify that the feature works.

Preparation before global rollout

  • Set a milestone to this rollout issue to signal for enabling and removing the feature flag when it is stable.
  • Ensure that you or a representative in development can be available for at least 2 hours after feature flag updates in production. If a different developer will be covering, or an exception is needed, please inform the oncall SRE by using the @sre-oncall Slack alias.
  • Notify the #support_gitlab-com Slack channel and your team channel (more guidance when this is necessary in the dev docs).

Release the feature

After the feature has been deemed stable, the clean up should be done as soon as possible to permanently enable the feature and reduce complexity in the codebase.

You can either create a follow-up issue for Feature Flag Cleanup or use the checklist below in this same issue.

  • Create a merge request to remove the learn_gitlab_redesign feature flag. Ask for review/approval/merge as usual. The MR should include the following changes:
    • Remove all references to the feature flag from the codebase.
    • Remove the YAML definitions for the feature from the repository.
  • Close the feature issue to indicate the feature will be released in the current milestone.
  • Once the cleanup MR has been deployed to production, clean up the feature flag from all environments by running these chatops command in #production channel: /chatops run feature delete learn_gitlab_redesign --dev --pre --staging --staging-ref --production
  • Close this rollout issue.

Rollback Steps

  • This feature can be disabled on production by running the following Chatops command:
/chatops run feature set learn_gitlab_redesign false
  • Disable the feature flag on non-production environments:
/chatops run feature set learn_gitlab_redesign false --dev --pre --staging --staging-ref
  • Delete feature flag from all environments:
/chatops run feature delete learn_gitlab_redesign --dev --pre --staging --staging-ref --production
Edited by Doug Stull