VDC Glossary¶
Quick reference guide for VDC terminology, concepts, and technical terms. Use Ctrl+F (Cmd+F on Mac) to search for specific terms.
Core concepts¶
AGS Groups¶
Intel's Active Directory Group System used for access control in VDC. Each project uses three AGS groups: [ProjectName]-Admins, [ProjectName]-PowerUsers, and [ProjectName]-Users.
Baseline¶
A previous ingredient release used as the foundation for building a new release. VDC compares new releases to their baseline to show changes in dependencies and work items.
Build Stage¶
A workflow stage that creates new ingredient releases by combining baselines, dependencies, and build processes. Contains one or more build steps.
Build Step¶
Individual units of work within a build stage, such as IFWI builds or Unified Patch creation. Each step produces a specific type of ingredient release.
Dependencies¶
Other ingredient releases that an ingredient needs to function. For example, an IFWI depends on BIOS, microcode, and other firmware components.
Feed¶
A logical container within a project that organizes related ingredients. Feeds provide namespace separation and can represent different development streams, environments, or organizational boundaries.
HSD¶
Hardware/Software Defect tracking system used at Intel for reporting bugs, requesting enhancements, and getting support for VDC. Users submit HSD tickets with component "VDC" for project creation requests, access issues, and technical support. VDC also integrates with HSD to link work items (bugs, features) to ingredient releases.
Ingredient¶
A versioned component in VDC representing firmware, software, or platform assets. Ingredients contain multiple releases and maintain metadata like type, family, and silicon associations.
Ingredient Family¶
High-level categorization of ingredients (e.g., FIRMWARE, SOFTWARE, PLATFORM) that determines available types and schemas.
Ingredient Release (or Release)¶
A specific version of an ingredient containing packages, metadata, dependencies, and work items. Releases are immutable once published.
Ingredient Type¶
Specific classification within an ingredient family (e.g., IFWI, BIOS, unified-patch) that determines the schema and available properties.
JIRA¶
Project management and issue tracking tool used at Intel. VDC links JIRA tickets to ingredient releases as work items.
Package¶
Files associated with an ingredient release, such as compiled binaries, configuration files, or build outputs. Stored in Azure Blob Storage.
Project¶
Top-level organizational unit in VDC that groups related ingredients, feeds, workflows, and users working toward common goals. Projects provide access control boundaries.
Schema¶
Data structure that defines the properties and metadata available for ingredient releases. Examples include Basic Schema, StarCode Schema, and IFWI Schema.
Silicon Association¶
Optional metadata linking ingredients to specific silicon families, steps, segments, and milestones for better organization and filtering.
Stage¶
Functional blocks within workflows that group related steps. Examples include Build Stage, Deploy Stage (coming soon), and Test Stage.
Used-By¶
Relationship tracking which ingredient releases depend on a specific release. Shows the impact and usage of ingredients across the system.
VDC¶
Validation DevOps Centre - Intel's unified platform for managing validation processes, ingredients, and workflows.
Workflow¶
Automated business process in VDC that combines stages and steps to build, test, or deploy (coming soon) ingredients. Can be triggered manually, by schedules, or by ingredient releases.
Work Items¶
Issues, bugs, features, or tasks (from HSD, JIRA) associated with ingredient releases. Provide traceability between development work and released components.
Technical terms¶
Azure Blob Storage¶
Microsoft Azure cloud storage service used by VDC to store ingredient release packages and artifacts.
CLI¶
Command Line Interface - VDC CLI enables automation and scripting for ingredient management, workflow operations, and system integration.
Workflow terms¶
Build Definition¶
Configuration that specifies how to create new ingredient releases, including baselines, dependencies, and build parameters.
Build Run¶
Execution instance of a build definition, tracking progress, status, and results of the build process.
Dependency Operations¶
Modifications made to ingredient dependencies during builds, such as adding, removing, or changing component versions.
Manual Trigger¶
User-initiated workflow execution, as opposed to automatic triggers from schedules or ingredient releases.
Ingredient Trigger¶
Automatic workflow execution triggered by the submission of new ingredient releases.
Schedule Trigger¶
Time-based workflow execution using cron expressions to define recurring schedules.
Step Run¶
Execution instance of an individual workflow step, containing status, results, and execution details.
Workflow Run¶
Complete execution instance of a workflow, encompassing all stages and steps with overall status and results.
Access control terms¶
Project Admin¶
User with full management permissions within a project, including workflow creation, user management, and project configuration.
Project User¶
Standard project member who can submit releases, and run workflows within the project.
Power User¶
Project role with advanced permissions who can create and edit ingredient and edit workflows
VDC User¶
Basic system access level providing read-only access to all VDC projects through VDC-USERS AGS group membership.
Silicon and validation terms¶
IFWI¶
Integrated Firmware Image - a type of firmware ingredient that combines multiple firmware components.
Milestone¶
Silicon development checkpoint (e.g., A0, B0) used to organize and filter ingredients by development stage.
NGA¶
Next Generation Automation - Intel's test execution platform that integrates with VDC workflows.
Silicon Family¶
Grouping of related silicon designs (e.g., Diamond Rapids, Panter Lake) used for organizing ingredients and workflows.
Silicon Segment¶
Market segment classification (e.g., CLIENT, SERVER) for silicon and associated ingredients.
Silicon Step¶
Development phase of silicon (e.g., A0, B0, C0) indicating maturity and feature completeness.
StarCode (or *code)¶
Various types of microcode and firmware components (acode, pcode, ucode, s3m, etc.) used in Intel platforms.
Unified Patch¶
Collection of firmware patches combined into a single deliverable for platform updates.
Status and state terms¶
Completed¶
Final state indicating that a workflow, stage, or step has finished execution (successfully or with failure).
Failed/Failure¶
Resolution status indicating that execution encountered errors and did not complete successfully.
Pending¶
Intermediate state indicating that work is queued or waiting for resources to become available.
Processing¶
Active state where VDC is working on a task, such as processing an ingredient submission or executing a workflow step.
Queued¶
State indicating that work is scheduled for execution but waiting in line behind other tasks.
Running¶
Active execution state for workflows, stages, or steps currently being processed.
Success/Successful¶
Resolution status indicating that execution completed without errors and achieved its intended result.
UI and navigation terms¶
Dashboard¶
Main VDC web interface showing overview information and navigation to key system features.
Feed View¶
Web interface page displaying all ingredients within a specific feed, with options to browse, search, and create new ingredients.
Global Search¶
VDC search functionality that can find ingredients and releases across all projects and feeds.
Ingredient View¶
Detailed web interface page showing comprehensive information about a specific ingredient, including all releases, submissions, and used-by relationships.
Release View¶
Detailed page showing complete information about a specific ingredient release, including metadata, dependencies, packages, and work items.
Side Panel¶
Expandable interface element in VDC web UI that shows additional details without leaving the current page.