[users at bb.net] Separating buildbot build machines from Test Machines

[Randy D. Smith]

I've been waiting for someone more knowledgeable to respond to you, but
I've seen nothing yet... and I know that feeling where you're trying to
make progress but can't get over a hump, so let me suggest one possibility
to you for one piece of your problem.

I, too, like the idea of splitting builds and tests. We do the following:
- Builds do their thing, then store there results in a "known place"
(NFS-mounted share drive, in our case), then Trigger the test runs (see
http://docs.buildbot.net/latest/manual/cfg-schedulers.html#sched-Triggerable
);
- Tests then start-up, pull in the newly-built stuff, and test away.

There are lots more ways to do this, I'm sure... but this simple approach
fits well with the idea that we want to archive our build results anyway...


Sorry, can't help you with the VM spin-up, because our testing requires
physical systems (quite separate, distinct, and *way *more diverse than our
build systems!). Hopefully someone else can share some insights there.
Bottom line, I think the answer to your last question should be "Yes!"
--
   RDS


On Tue, May 29, 2018 at 11:39 PM, honas grael <honasgraeymael at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hello, I am not sure if I managed to send this to the mailing list before.
> If I have my apologies for asking again. I have asked it on SO
> <https://stackoverflow.com/questions/50592498/separating-buildbot-build-machines-from-test-machines>
>
> I am new to using buildbot, I have figured out how to get the buildmaster
> and a couple of build workers running, in a setup much like below
> [image: buildbot_deploy.png]
>
> Essentially the build master polls the mercurial repo for changes and then
> tasks the build workers to do a build as per the build steps. Each of these
> is a separate windows Virtual Machine(VM). The bits with a green tick I
> think I've got a handle on.
>
> I would like to deploy the built applications onto separate VMs for
> testing. Basically the Worker VMs that do the build should not run tests.
>
> I guess the first question is how can I split build from test execution?
>
> Is there a way for the worker VM to transfer the built application (and
> any supporting files) as well as all the appropriate tests to one or more
> test VMs so that all the tests can be run on a different VM?
>
> In addition would it be possible for the Buildbot Worker to:
>
>    - Spin up a test VM
>    - Transfer all the files (application and tests) to the test VM
>    - Trigger the running of the tests in that target test VM.
>
> *Note: The test VM would already be pre-configured with the appropriate
> OS, and relevant setup, so no need to create the test VM each time. Also
> the test VM would shut-itself down once the tests have all been run. So no
> need for the Worker VM to check-up later.*
>
> I've read that Buildbot supports libvirt, but I am not familiar with
> libvirt, or how to use it. I do have some experience with python though.
>
> Can I achieve all this using buildbot?
> Regards
>
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>
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