Set up Environments and Deploy Apps

Create isolated environments for development and testing, configure CloudLinks, and deploy apps between environments

Beta: The environments feature is currently being tested in beta. Not all Elementum customers have access to this functionality.

This guide walks you through creating environments, configuring CloudLink connections, and deploying apps between environments. For what environments are and how deployment works, see Understand Organization Environments.

Prerequisites

Before setting up environments, ensure you have:

• Admin access to your Elementum organization
• Snowflake credentials for the new environment (if using Snowflake-connected apps)
• CloudLink configured in your production environment

Each environment needs its own CloudLink setup; see CloudLink and platform data for what to plan before you begin.

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Create an Environment

Create a new environment from your production organization to start developing and testing in isolation.

1. Go to Organization Settings > Platform > Environments.

   You will see a list of all environments in your organization, with Production marked as the default.

2. Click + Create Environment in the upper right.

   A modal appears with the message: “Create an environment that allows you to safely build, test, and release changes without affecting your live app.”

3. Fill in the required fields:

   Field	Description	Example
   Environment name	A descriptive name for the environment	Development, Testing, Staging
   Subdomain	The URL prefix for this environment	dev, test, staging
   Description	Optional description of the environment’s purpose	For testing new features before production

   The subdomain creates the environment’s URL: [subdomain]-[yourorg].elementum.io

4. Click Create Environment.

   The new environment appears in the list with its own card showing the name, description, and domain.

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Configure CloudLink

After creating an environment, configure CloudLink to connect the environment to your data warehouse.

CloudLink must be configured before you can deploy apps that use Snowflake-connected Tables or Elements. Apps deployed without a valid CloudLink connection cannot access data.

Create dedicated Snowflake users, roles, databases, and schemas per environment before you connect CloudLink. Full isolation rules, examples, and guidance on shared external data are in Isolating platform data.

1. Open Environment Configuration

   From the Environments list, find your new environment and click the Configure button on its card.

   This opens the environment configuration page showing the environment name, status, and domain configuration.

2. Access CloudLink Settings

   Click the Manage CloudLink Credentials button.

   This opens the new environment in a new tab/window, navigating directly to the CloudLinks settings page.

3. Edit CloudLink Connection

   On the CloudLinks page, click the Edit button on the CloudLink entry.

   The Edit CloudLink modal appears with the following fields:

   Connection Settings:

   • Name - Identifier for this CloudLink connection
   • Username - Snowflake service account username
   • URL - Your Snowflake account URL (for example, your-account.snowflakecomputing.com)
   • Authentication Method - Select Password or Key-pair authentication
   • Password - Service account password (if using password authentication)

   Resource Scheduler:

   • Interval - Sync frequency (default: 20 minutes)
   • Time unit - Minutes, Hours, or Days

   The default sync interval is 20 minutes. Shorter intervals provide faster data updates but increase Snowflake credit consumption.

4. Configure Data Connection

   After entering valid credentials, additional fields become available:

   • Role - Select the Snowflake role for this connection
   • Warehouse - Select the Snowflake warehouse to use
   • Database - Select the database where Elementum stores platform data

   The Database field is where Elementum creates its platform tables. Select or create a dedicated schema for Elementum. Do not use your business data schema here.

5. Save Configuration

   Click Save to apply the CloudLink configuration.

   The connection is tested automatically. Once successful, the environment is ready for app deployments.

For detailed Snowflake configuration including IP whitelisting and permissions, see the Connecting Snowflake to Elementum guide.

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Deploy Apps Between Environments

Once your environment has CloudLink configured, you can deploy apps to and from it.

Required Permission:

1. Navigate to the App

   Open the app you want to deploy in its source environment (the environment where the app currently exists).

   For example, to deploy an app from Development to Production, open the app in the Development environment.

2. Open Deployments

   In the app’s left navigation, under the Configuration section, click Deployments.

   The Deployments page shows all available environments with their deployment status.

3. View Environment Status

   Each environment is displayed as a card showing:

   • Environment name and description
   • Status indicator: Deployed (green), Deploying (yellow), Failed (red), or Not Deployed (gray)
   • Deploy button to initiate deployment

   The right panel shows Deployment History. For what each record includes and how to read it, see Deployment history.

4. Initiate Deployment

   Find the target environment (where you want to deploy the app) and click the Deploy button on its card.

   A confirmation modal appears:

   • Title: “Deploy App To Environment”
   • Message: “Deployment will copy all app configurations and associated objects to the target environment.”
   • Visual showing the deployment flow from source to target
   • Summary: “Deploy App from [Source] to [Target]”
5. Confirm and Deploy

   Review the deployment details and click Deploy to proceed.

   The deployment process begins:

   • Status changes to “Deploying” (yellow)
   • Progress bar shows deployment progress
   • Upon completion, status changes to “Deployed” (green)

   Initial vs. subsequent deployments behave differently for some settings (for example AI Search target lag and Access Policies). See Subsequent deployment behavior.

6. Monitor Deployment

   Track deployment progress:

   Status	Description
   Deploying	Deployment is in progress
   Deployed	Deployment completed successfully
   Failed	Deployment encountered an error
   Not Deployed	App has not been deployed to this environment

   View the Deployment History panel for the full deployment log, including outcome and any error details for failed deployments.

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Post-Deployment Configuration

Understand Organization Environments summarizes which apps need follow-up work after deployment. The sections below walk through the UI for apps that use Snowflake-linked Tables or Elements.

Apps Without External Dependencies

For apps that don’t connect to Snowflake data:

• Deployment completes immediately
• Environment card shows green “Deployed” status
• No additional configuration required
• App is ready to use in the target environment

Apps With Snowflake Dependencies

For apps with Tables or Elements linked to Snowflake, configure the data connections in the new environment.

1. Open configuration

   After deployment completes, the Deploy button changes to Configure.

   The card shows:

   • Green “Deployed” status pill
   • “Complete” progress indicator
   • Configure button

   Click Configure to open the target environment.

2. Review Items Needing Configuration

   The Resolve Issues modal appears with the message: “Review and resolve configuration issues before proceeding with deployment.”

   The left panel lists all Datasets (Tables and Elements) that need configuration, each showing:

   • Dataset name
   • Configuration status (“Not configured”)
   • Error count indicating fields needing mapping
3. Select a Dataset

   Click on a Dataset in the left panel to configure it.

   The right panel shows:

   • Dataset name and error count
   • “Configure data source connection and field mappings”
   • Valid fields count and errors count
4. Configure Data Connection

   The CloudLink is pre-selected. Configure the data source:

   1. Database - Select the database from the dropdown
   2. Schema - Select the schema containing your data
   3. Table - Select the table that corresponds to this dataset
5. Map Fields

   After selecting the table, map each field:

   Target Field	Action
   Field from the deployed app	Select the corresponding Source Field from the new environment’s table

   For each Target Field listed:

   • Use the dropdown to select the matching Source Field
   • Ensure data types align (TEXT to TEXT, NUMBER to NUMBER, etc.)
   • Repeat for all fields in the dataset
6. Save Configuration

   After mapping all fields for all datasets:

   1. Click Configure Dataset to save the configurations
   2. Configured items are removed from the list
   3. Continue until all items are configured
   4. When the list is empty, the modal closes

   The app is now fully configured and ready to use in the target environment.

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Troubleshooting

Deployment Fails Immediately

Possible Causes:

• CloudLink not configured in target environment
• CloudLink credentials invalid or expired
• Network connectivity issues

Solutions:

1. Verify CloudLink is configured in the target environment
2. Test CloudLink connection in Organization Settings
3. Check Snowflake service account permissions

Cannot See Target Environment

Possible Causes:

• Environment not yet created
• Insufficient permissions to view environments

Solutions:

1. Verify the environment exists in Organization Settings > Environments
2. Contact your administrator to check access permissions

Field Mapping Errors

Possible Causes:

• Table structure differs between environments
• Missing columns in target environment’s table
• Data type mismatches

Solutions:

1. Verify the target table exists and has the expected columns
2. Check that column names match or can be mapped correctly
3. Ensure data types are compatible between source and target

Configure Button Not Appearing

Possible Causes:

• Deployment still in progress
• App has no external dependencies (no configuration needed)

Solutions:

1. Wait for deployment to complete (status shows “Deployed”)
2. If no Configure button appears after deployment, the app has no Snowflake dependencies and is ready to use

Using the Same Snowflake User Across Environments in Different Organizations

Scenario: You need to use the same Snowflake user account with key-pair authentication for CloudLinks in environments that belong to different organizations.

Solution: Snowflake supports key-pair rotation, which allows you to configure a second public key for the same user account. This enables environments in both organizations to authenticate simultaneously without disrupting existing connections.

Important: Key-pair rotation is only required when using the same Snowflake user across environments in different organizations. If you are using the same Snowflake user across multiple environments within the same organization, key-pair rotation is not necessary because they share the same public key.

Steps:

1. Obtain the Public Key from the Organization You Are Adding the CloudLink To:

   • Navigate to Organization Settings > CloudLinks in the organization where you want to add the CloudLink
   • Start creating a new Snowflake CloudLink
   • Select Key-pair authentication as the authentication method
   • Copy the public key displayed

2. Configure Key-Pair Rotation in Snowflake:

   • Contact your Snowflake administrator to set the RSA_PUBLIC_KEY_2 property for the Snowflake user
   • Provide the public key copied from the organization where you’re adding the CloudLink
   • The Snowflake admin should run:
     ALTER USER <username> SET RSA_PUBLIC_KEY_2='<public_key>';
     

3. Complete CloudLink Setup:

   • After the second public key is configured in Snowflake, complete the CloudLink setup in the organization
   • Both organizations will now be able to authenticate with the same Snowflake user
   • The existing CloudLink in the other organization continues to work without interruption

For detailed information on configuring key-pair rotation in Snowflake, see Snowflake’s key-pair authentication documentation.

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For naming conventions, CloudLink management, deployment strategy, and access control, see Practices to follow.

Next Steps

Understand Organization Environments

Concepts, deployment behavior, CloudLink requirements, and deployment history

CloudLink Setup

Detailed CloudLink configuration options

Snowflake Connection

Complete Snowflake setup guide with scripts

Apps Overview

Understanding apps and their components