Deploying Mods

In PixieBrix, Deployments are the way to automatically provision Mods to Groups of users on your team.

For more information on creating/managing groups, see Access Control.

Create a Deployment

For a Mod to be available for deployment, it must be either: 1. Defined under your team’s @scope, or 2. A public Marketplace Mod See Packaging a Mod for information setting your team’s scope.

1. From the Admin Console, click Deployments in the left side nav:

1. On the Deployments Listing page, click Create Deployment

   
2. In the Create Deployment modal, give your Deployment a Name ⚠️The deployment name will be visible to team members that receive the deployment

3. Select a Mod by searching or scrolling the available options.

   
4. Select the Version (the latest version will default, but you can use the dropdown to select an older version if desired).

5. If required for the mod: provide activation options

6. If required for the mod: select an integration configuration for each integration, such as Google Drive.

Assign a Deployment to a Group(s)

Create a Group with Members

If the Group does not already exist, Create a Group. SeeAccess Control for information on how to create and manage groups.

Assign the Group to the Deployment

1. On the Admin Console Team page, click Deployments in the left side nav:

   
2. Click on the Deployment in the list,

3. On the Deployment detail screen, click on the Groups tab

   
4. At the top of the table, click the “Add Group"

   
5. If the Group does not already have access to the mod, integration configurations, and databases used by the deployment, PixieBrix will prompt you to grant permissions to the group.

Team Member Deployment Activation

⏱️ The PixieBrix Browser Extension checks every 5 min. for new/updated Deployments. Team members can also manually open the Extension Console to activate available deployments

Refer to Productivity Enthusiasts instructions for activating deployments.

Deactivating Deployments

Deleting a Deployment will also delete its configuration and audit history. To temporarily deactivate a deployment, follow the steps below to pause or remove groups from the deployment.

There are two ways to temporarily deactivate a deployment:

• Pause the deployment

• De-provision groups from the deployment

Pausing a Deployment

1. On the Admin Console Team page, click Deployments to go to the Deployments Listing page

2. Select the Deployment you want to deactivate

3. To temporarily pause a deployment, toggle the "Active" state on the deployment detail page

Deployment Pause Toggle

De-provisioning groups from the deployment

1. On the Admin Console Team page, click Deployments to go to the Deployments Listing page

   
2. Select the Deployment you want to deactivate

3. Click on Groups to view the Groups the Deployment is assigned to:

   
4. Click Remove next to the Groups that you want to deactivate the deployment for.

5. To re-activate a Deployment, follow the "Assign the Group to the Deployment" instructions above

OPTIONAL: revoke the group's access to the mod and its resources

1. Click on on Groups in the left nav to open the Groups listing

2. Locate the group and click the group's name to open the Group detail screen

3. Click "Bricks"

4. Locate the row for the mod package id

5. Click the "x" in the Remove column

To revoke access to any integration configurations or databases, use the "Integrations" and "Databases" tab, respectively.

For more information on Group Based Access Control, see Groups

Extension Console: End-User Deployment Deactivation

Restricted members of organizations cannot uninstall deployments. PixieBrix can be configured to send email alerts when an individual team member de-activates a Deployment. To configure this, contact [email protected]

Individual Team Members can de-activate a deployment from the Active Mods screen in the Extension Console

1. Find the Deployment in the Active section

2. Click the 3-dot menu to open the mod actions

3. Click "Deactivate"

4. To re-activate the Deployment, click "Activate" in the banner

   

   The deployment activation banner

Frequently Asked Questions

Under what conditions will PixieBrix automatically open the Extension Console to prompt the user to activate deployed mods?

PixieBrix checks for deployment updates in the background every 5 minutes. If any deployment updates cannot be automatically applied, PixieBrix will open the Extension Console and show the deployment activation banner.

Currently, there are three reasons that PixieBrix would not be able to activate a deployed Mod automatically:

• The deployed Mod requires permissions that are forbidden due to the Enterprise IT administrator's configured installation policy (See Browser Extension Installation Policy).

• The deployed Mod declares a minimum browser extension version that is not satisfied

• The deployed Mod has an unbound OAuth2 PKCE integration, and the user does not have exactly one local configuration for that integration

I removed a group from a deployment. Why is the mod still visible to the group members in the Extension Console?

Deployments control which mods are automatically activated for members of the group. Group Permissions control which mods and packages are available to members of the group.

For instructions on revoking a group's access to a mod, see OPTIONAL: revoke the group's access to the mod and its resources