= Introduction = OpenVPN project uses [http://buildbot.net/trac Buildbot] to help increase code quality and provide snapshot packages. Buildbot is a Python application that can work in either ''master'' or ''slave'' mode. The ''buildmaster'' is the core server which accepts connections from ''buildslaves'' and tells them what they should do. Typically the clients fetch latest sources and report any build problems to buildbot which in turn informs developers via email. In software engineering this is called [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_integration Continous integration] and helps prevent build problems go unnoticed for extended time periods. The clients (buildslaves) can and should run on a variety of hardware / OS platforms. For example, a buildbot setup might look like this: * 1 buildmaster running whatever OS * 1 buildslave running Debian Lenny (i386) * 1 buildslave running Debian Lenny (amd64) * 1 buildslave running Ubuntu 10.04 (i386) * 1 buildslave running Ubuntu 10.04 (amd64) * 1 buildslave running Fedora13 (i386) * 1 buildslave running Fedora13 (amd64) * 1 buildslave running CentOS 5.5 (i386) * 1 buildslave running CentOS 5.5 (amd64) * 1 buildslave running OpenBSD 4.7 (i386) * 1 buildslave running NetBSD (sparc64) This setup allows automatic notifications of build failures on ''any'' of those platforms. As buildbot is a general-purpose (build) automation tool, it can also be used to automatically build packages for each buildslave architecture and then push them to a central repository for users to download. It's also trivial to integrate code checking tools into the build process. As can be seen from the above list, the number of buildslaves can easily get out of hand, so the project can make use of ''your'' help - see below for details. Buildbot is described in more detail in the [http://buildbot.net/buildbot/docs/0.7.12/ Buildbot manual]. = Setting up a buildslave = == Overview == Setting up a buildslave requires a few steps: 1. Make sure you can [wiki:TesterDocumentation build OpenVPN manually] 1. If you want to automatically build packages (e.g. deb/rpm) for your platform, you need to be able to do it manually first. Consult your OS'es documentation for more details. 1. [http://buildbot.net/buildbot/docs/0.7.12/#Requirements Install buildbot requirements]. 1. Download and install buildbot using one of the methods described [http://buildbot.net/trac/wiki/DownloadInstall here]. More instructions are available [http://buildbot.net/buildbot/docs/0.7.12/#Creating-a-buildslave here]. You should install Buildbot 0.7.12 which the ''buildmaster'' is using. 1. Configure buildslave == Installing buildbot== === Installing buildbot using easy_install === Probably easiest way is to install buildbot is by using [http://pypi.python.org/pypi/setuptools easy_install] if that's available on your platform. This will keep buildslave isolated from your OS'es package management and take care of dependencies for you. It is easiest (but [http://peak.telecommunity.com/DevCenter/EasyInstall#custom-installation-locations not necessary) to run ''setuptools'' as root: First switch to root account, e.g. using sudo or su: {{{ $ sudo -s }}} Next test that easy_install should work as expected: {{{ easy_install -n buildbot==0.7.12 }}} If all went well, install buildbot for real: {{{ easy_install buildbot==0.7.12 }}} == Configuring the buildslave == Once buildslave is installed you can and should switch to an ordinary user account. You can then just follow the official buildslave setup instructions: * http://buildbot.net/buildbot/docs/0.7.12/#Creating-a-buildslave