[Buildbot-devel] Testing a client-server system

[Marcus Lindblom]

Brad Hards wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I've set up a buildbot for the OpenChange project 
> (http://buildbot.openchange.org).
> 
> The basic build and test is all fine. I'm now trying to get a more complex
> test going now, involving client and server tests.

[snip]

> Any suggestions for either fixing this approach, or for an alternative 
> approach?

When I've needed something like this I've tried to put it in my build 
system, instead of buildbot. (A good rule in general,)

With Ant (which we used then) I was able to launch webserver, fastcgi & 
db, then run some tests against that suite, then shut everything down 
(even in case of errors). Then that larger test was just a part of every 
test our buildbot ran every day & night.

The advantages is that I can test exactly the same setup locally. The 
disadvantage is that it requires a powerful build system that can do 
start processes in the backgrounda and clean them up afterwards, with 
some waiting on sockets/ports etc.

OTOH, if you've spent time getting halfway in BuildBot, there might not 
be much left to make it work. But there are other wizards here that know 
much more about the ins and outs of that. ;)

Cheers,
/Marcus