Before you can load a baseline for your release, you have to set up a place to put it.   In CA SCM, this is called a Repository.   The definition of Repository in the documentation is very simple:

A repository is a collection of items and item paths

You can think of Items as files and item paths as folders.  In truth, an item is  the information about a single Configuration Item.  The file itself, is always a Version of an Item.   So a repository is a collection of Items and their Versions organized with Item Paths.

An administrator can load files into a repository with the admin tool, but the only way a regular user can affect a repository is through Packages in a Life Cycle. What’s really cool is that a Repository can be associated with one or more Life Cycles.   So you might have different kinds of processes that manage change on the same configuration items.   This way, you don’t have to create one MONSTER process to manage everything.  You can design Life Cycles that manage your various processes from Service Desk, to Release Management, to Maintenance, etc.

Steps to Setting up a Repository:

1. Login to CA SCM Administrator and select the Repositories tab

   

2. Right-click the broker node and select New Repository

   

3. Give your Repository a unique name.   Ok, this is a good time talk about a choice you need to make.  Will your repository be used over and over again for many iterations and have a long trail of versions?  Or will it retain only the development iterations on a single release?  In my case, I’m focused on the development of a single release, so my repository name will be the name of my release.

   

4. Click Apply
5. Setup Access to your repository.  Click the Access tab of the Repository Dialog.   Note that there are three Access Types in the drop-down field:  Secure Access, Update Access, and View Access.  I’m not sure what Secure Access is.  I just set it to the Administrator group.  Update Access needs to go to your developers.  View Access needs to go to your developers and any other group that needs to view the code.
6. Click Ok.  Congratulations, you have a place to put your crap.
7. Load your Baseline into the repository.   If you’re using Eclipse and the CA SCM Plugin, it’s important that you load each entire Eclipse project that you are using to work with your software.  Right-click your Repository node and select Load Repository.  This will bring up the Load Repository Dialog

   

   Browse out to your local machine to find the files that will make your baseline.  Check Recursive so that you can get all the files and folders in you projects.  Use “*” in the Files field to get all file types.  If you set up some subfolders in your Repository for this project or that, your can specify them in your Repository Path field.

   NOTE:  You can create a repository by duplicating another repository, so the files from your last release are already loaded.

8. Click Load and watch it go!

CRUCIAL STEP

Just because you have a place to put your crap, doesn’t mean you have access to it from your Life Cycle.   The key to CA SCM is Association.  This is what gives the tool it’s flexibility.  You must add your repository to the Baseline of your Life Cycle.

1. Navigate to the Baseline node of your Life Cycle

   

2. Right-click node and select Configure Baseline
   
3. Add one or more Repositories from the Available Repository/View List

   

Woo Hoo!   Now, this is where it gets fun!