Gods do I hear you on this, and I'm deaf!!

This is why I always script everything I do. Yes EM is quick and easy, but the wretched thing should be locked down in the live environment!

We follow the following procedures

• Unit test our code
• Script and document the installation procedure
• Get someone else to work throught the script, a curmudgeonly BOFH is best for this.
• Get someone else to test the results, the user from hell is best for this

If neither the BOFH or user smiles at you then your change and installation procedure works and can be applied to the live system.

You would think that this would be fool-proof, but we often deal with 3rd party suppliers. Unless all suppliers buy into this test mechanism then you may still find that even the most carefully planned change can still go wrong.