Getting Started

Prerequisites

Before using this template, ensure you have:

  • Copier 9.17.0 or higher (see installation options below)

  • Git with submodule support

  • A Maven-based project with a pom.xml file

Installation

See the Copier Installation Guide for detailed setup instructions including:

  • Python/pip installation

  • Docker wrapper script (no Python required)

  • Maven plugin

  • Trust configuration

Initial Setup

Run Copier from your project’s root directory:

This presumes you have already installed Copier and configured trust for the template repository. If the git repo is not trusted by default, you will have to provide the --trust flag for each command 
copier copy https://coderepo.mobilehealth.va.gov/scm/ckm/ngss-devops-template.git . --trust

Or using Maven filegen 6.x plugin:

mvn filegen:copier-init -Dcopier.template=devops

For local template development:

copier copy path/to/ngss-devops-template . --trust

Interactive Prompts

The template will guide you through configuration. See Configuration for details on each prompt.

Most values are auto-detected from your pom.xml and existing configuration files.

Updating Your Project

To update your project with the latest template changes:

copier update -a .copier-answers/devops.yaml

# or using Maven filegen 6.x plugin
mvn filegen:copier-update -Dcopier.template=devops

Re-prompting Specific Questions

To change specific answers during update:

copier update --ask artifact_id --ask version -a .copier-answers/devops.yaml --skip-answered

Updating Service Dependencies

To update service dependencies without re-running all prompts:

copier update -a .copier-answers/devops.yaml --data-file .copier-answers/service-dependencies.yaml --skip-answered

Checking for Updates

Check if a template update is available:

copier check-update -a .copier-answers/devops.yaml