Install BuildBot with Perforce

on Windows
Patrick Tsai
http://baby.homeip.net/patrick/
 BuildBot
• The BuildBot is a system to automate the
compile/test cycle required by most
software projects to validate code changes.
• buildbot-0.7.5
(http://buildbot.sourceforge.net)
 Two Options
• Win32
– Python win32 (http://www.python.org/)
– Pywin32 (http://www.python.org/)
– Twisted 2.5 Win32 Installer for Python2.5
(http://twistedmatrix.com)
• Cygwin
– Cygwin Installation (http://www.cygwin.com)
– Python 2.5
– Twisted 2.5 tarball
 Win32 Installation
• Run the installers of Python, pywin32,
Twisted in order.
• Add c:\python25;c:\python25\scripts to
%PATH.
• buildbot-0.7.5> python setup.py install
 Cygwin Installation
• Install python and gcc in Cygwin installer.
• Install Twisted
– Twisted-2.5.0/zope.interface-3.3.0$ python
setup.py install
– Twisted-2.5.0$ python setup.py install
• buildbot-0.7.5$ python setup.py install
 BuildBot Setup
• Create one master and one slave (check
BuildBot README for details):
– buildbot create-master <basedir>
– buildbot create-slave <basedir> <master>
<name> <passwd>
• Edit master.cfg
 Master.cfg #1:
Version Control System
• I am using Perforce
(http://www.perforce.com) as version
control system.
– Create a P4 user for buildbot.
– Add the P4 common settings to the beginning
of master.cfg:
p4env = {
'port': 'localhost:1666',
'user': 'buildbot',
'passwd': ‘your password here',
}
 Master.cfg #2:
P4 Source
• Remember to specify p4bin otherwise the master will fail
to start in Native Win32 installation.
• You don’t need p4bin for Cygwin installation. Just ensure
p4.exe is in the PATH.
from buildbot.changes.p4poller import P4Source
c['sources'].append(
P4Source(
p4base='//depot/',
p4port = p4env['port'],
p4user = p4env['user],
p4passwd = p4env['passwd'],
pollinterval = 60,
p4bin = 'd:/p4d/p4.exe',
split_file = lambda branchfile: branchfile.split('/', 1)))
 Master.cfg #3:
Schedulers
from buildbot.scheduler import Scheduler
• I’ve three folders: c['schedulers'] = []
c['schedulers'].append(
main, development, Scheduler(
name = "main",
and release under branch = 'main',
treeStableTimer = 2*60,
builderNames=["main"]))
Perforce depot.
c['schedulers'].append(
• Therefore, I Scheduler(
name = "development",
branch = 'development',
created three treeStableTimer = 2*60,
builderNames=["development"]))
schedulers for c['schedulers'].append(
them. Scheduler(
name = "release",
branch = 'release',
treeStableTimer = 2*60,
builderNames=["release"]))
 Master.cfg #4:
Builders
f1 = factory.BuildFactory()
• Create three f1.addStep(
builders for each P4,
p4port = p4env['port'],
schedulers. p4user = p4env['user'],
p4passwd = p4env['passwd'],
• Create one P4 p4client = 'buildbot-main',
p4base = '//depot/',
client for each mode = "copy")
b1 = {
builder. 'name': "main",
'slavename': "bot-blackbox",
'builddir': "main",
'factory': f1
}
…
c['builders'] = [b1, b2, b3]
 Final Step?
• Run build master:
– buildbot start <master_dir>
• Run build slave
– buildbot start <slave_dir>
• If you are as unlucky as me, you may
encounter the following problems…
 Problem #1
• Win32: “buildbot start …” throws exception
• Remedy:
 Problem #2
• Cygwin & Win32: the slave cannot run
because of some exception related to
‘LOGNAME’.
• Remedy: patch
buildbot\slave\commands.py
– Native Win32:
replace LOGNAME to USERNAME
– Cygwin:
replace LOGNAME to USER
 Problem #3
• Win32: The web page shows garbage
characters in UTF-8 encoding
• Remedy: patch buildbot\status\html.py
 Problem #4
• Cygwin: P4poller cannot detect P4 changes
• Remedy: patch twisted\internet\posixbase.py (It
works but I am not sure whether it’s correct)
 Problem #5
• Cygwin: the slave will hang when executing ‘p4 …
client –i’
• Remedy: replace the action with dummy one. However,
you need to configure the root for each P4 client
manually.
Finally BuildBot Can Run
 Conclusion
• Both installations cannot run perfectly with
patches.
• Cygwin installation is more problematic
than Win32 one
• BuildBot is good and still worths the effort.