Here are my slides from LNUG 08/2014 covering the basics tenets of setting up a continuous deployment pipeline and outlining some of the challenges.
To paraphrase the steps:
- Start with tests
- Build a pipeline that's reliable
- Deploy to an environment
- Monitor everything
- Use KPIs for a cluster immune system
- Roll back if KPIs exceed tolerances
- Halt the pipeline, analysis/5 whys?
- Write a failing test case before fixing it
- Re-enable the pipeline
- Sleep well at night