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<h1><a href="../index.html">Buildbot v0.8.5rc2-29-g80a524b documentation</a></h1>
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<div class="section" id="configuring-buildbot">
<h1>Configuring Buildbot<a class="headerlink" href="#configuring-buildbot" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1>
<p>The buildbot's behavior is defined by the <em>config file</em>, which
normally lives in the <tt class="file docutils literal"><span class="pre">master.cfg</span></tt> file in the buildmaster's base
directory (but this can be changed with an option to the
<strong class="command">buildbot create-master</strong> command). This file completely specifies
which <tt class="xref py py-class docutils literal"><span class="pre">Builder</span></tt>s are to be run, which slaves they should use, how
<tt class="xref py py-class docutils literal"><span class="pre">Change</span></tt>s should be tracked, and where the status information is to be
sent. The buildmaster's <tt class="file docutils literal"><span class="pre">buildbot.tac</span></tt> file names the base
directory; everything else comes from the config file.</p>
<p>A sample config file was installed for you when you created the
buildmaster, but you will need to edit it before your buildbot will do
anything useful.</p>
<p>This chapter gives an overview of the format of this file and the
various sections in it. You will need to read the later chapters to
understand how to fill in each section properly.</p>
<div class="section" id="config-file-format">
<span id="id1"></span><h2>Config File Format<a class="headerlink" href="#config-file-format" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>The config file is, fundamentally, just a piece of Python code which
defines a dictionary named <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">BuildmasterConfig</span></tt>, with a number of
keys that are treated specially. You don't need to know Python to do
basic configuration, though, you can just copy the syntax of the
sample file. If you <em>are</em> comfortable writing Python code,
however, you can use all the power of a full programming language to
achieve more complicated configurations.</p>
<p>The <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">BuildmasterConfig</span></tt> name is the only one which matters: all
other names defined during the execution of the file are discarded.
When parsing the config file, the Buildmaster generally compares the
old configuration with the new one and performs the minimum set of
actions necessary to bring the buildbot up to date: <tt class="xref py py-class docutils literal"><span class="pre">Builder</span></tt>s which are
not changed are left untouched, and <tt class="xref py py-class docutils literal"><span class="pre">Builder</span></tt>s which are modified get to
keep their old event history.</p>
<p>The beginning of the <tt class="file docutils literal"><span class="pre">master.cfg</span></tt> file
typically starts with something like:</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="n">BuildmasterConfig</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">c</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">{}</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Therefore a config key like <a class="reference internal" href="cfg-changesources.html#cfg-change_source" title="change_source"><tt class="xref bb bb-cfg docutils literal"><span class="pre">change_source</span></tt></a> will usually appear in
<tt class="file docutils literal"><span class="pre">master.cfg</span></tt> as <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">c['change_source']</span></tt>.</p>
<p>See <a class="reference internal" href="../bb-cfg.html" title="Buildmaster Configuration Index"><em>Buildmaster Configuration Index</em></a> for a full list of <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">BuildMasterConfig</span></tt> keys.</p>
<div class="section" id="basic-python-syntax">
<h3>Basic Python Syntax<a class="headerlink" href="#basic-python-syntax" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>The master configuration file is interpreted as Python, allowing the full
flexibility of the language. For the configurations described in this section,
a detailed knowledge of Python is not required, but the basic syntax is easily
described.</p>
<p>Python comments start with a hash character <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">#</span></tt>, tuples are defined with
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">(parenthesis,</span> <span class="pre">pairs)</span></tt>, and lists (arrays) are defined with <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">[square,</span>
<span class="pre">brackets]</span></tt>. Tuples and lists are mostly interchangeable. Dictionaries (data
structures which map <em>keys</em> to <em>values</em>) are defined with curly braces:
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">{'key1':</span> <span class="pre">value1,</span> <span class="pre">'key2':</span> <span class="pre">value2}</span></tt>. Function calls (and object
instantiation) can use named parameters, like <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">w</span> <span class="pre">=</span>
<span class="pre">html.Waterfall(http_port=8010)</span></tt>.</p>
<p>The config file starts with a series of <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">import</span></tt> statements, which make
various kinds of <tt class="xref py py-class docutils literal"><span class="pre">Step</span></tt>s and <tt class="xref py py-class docutils literal"><span class="pre">Status</span></tt> targets available for
later use. The main <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">BuildmasterConfig</span></tt> dictionary is created, then it is
populated with a variety of keys, described section-by-section in subsequent
chapters.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="predefined-config-file-symbols">
<span id="id2"></span><h2>Predefined Config File Symbols<a class="headerlink" href="#predefined-config-file-symbols" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>The following symbols are automatically available for use in the configuration
file.</p>
<dl class="docutils">
<dt><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">basedir</span></tt></dt>
<dd><p class="first">the base directory for the buildmaster. This string has not been
expanded, so it may start with a tilde. It needs to be expanded before
use. The config file is located in</p>
<div class="last highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">path</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">expanduser</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">path</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">join</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">basedir</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s">'master.cfg'</span><span class="p">))</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</dd>
<dt><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">__file__</span></tt></dt>
<dd>the absolute path of the config file. The config file's directory is located in
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">os.path.dirname(__file__)</span></tt>.</dd>
</dl>
</div>
<div class="section" id="testing-the-config-file">
<span id="id3"></span><h2>Testing the Config File<a class="headerlink" href="#testing-the-config-file" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>To verify that the config file is well-formed and contains no deprecated or
invalid elements, use the <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">checkconfig</span></tt> command, passing it either a master
directory or a config file.</p>
<div class="highlight-bash"><div class="highlight"><pre>% buildbot checkconfig master.cfg
Config file is good!
<span class="c"># or</span>
% buildbot checkconfig /tmp/masterdir
Config file is good!
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>If the config file has deprecated features (perhaps because you've
upgraded the buildmaster and need to update the config file to match),
they will be announced by checkconfig. In this case, the config file
will work, but you should really remove the deprecated items and use
the recommended replacements instead:</p>
<div class="highlight-none"><div class="highlight"><pre>% buildbot checkconfig master.cfg
/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/buildbot/master.py:559: DeprecationWarning: c['sources'] is
deprecated as of 0.7.6 and will be removed by 0.8.0 . Please use c['change_source'] instead.
warnings.warn(m, DeprecationWarning)
Config file is good!
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>If the config file is simply broken, that will be caught too:</p>
<div class="highlight-none"><div class="highlight"><pre>% buildbot checkconfig master.cfg
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/buildbot/scripts/runner.py", line 834, in doCheckConfig
ConfigLoader(configFile)
File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/buildbot/scripts/checkconfig.py", line 31, in __init__
self.loadConfig(configFile)
File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/buildbot/master.py", line 480, in loadConfig
exec f in localDict
File "/home/warner/BuildBot/master/foolscap/master.cfg", line 90, in ?
c[bogus] = "stuff"
NameError: name 'bogus' is not defined
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="loading-the-config-file">
<h2>Loading the Config File<a class="headerlink" href="#loading-the-config-file" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>The config file is only read at specific points in time. It is first
read when the buildmaster is launched.</p>
<div class="section" id="reloading-the-config-file-reconfig">
<h3>Reloading the Config File (reconfig)<a class="headerlink" href="#reloading-the-config-file-reconfig" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>If you are on the system hosting the buildmaster, you can send a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">SIGHUP</span></tt>
signal to it: the <strong class="command">buildbot</strong> tool has a shortcut for this:</p>
<div class="highlight-none"><div class="highlight"><pre>buildbot reconfig BASEDIR
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>This command will show you all of the lines from <tt class="file docutils literal"><span class="pre">twistd.log</span></tt>
that relate to the reconfiguration. If there are any problems during
the config-file reload, they will be displayed in these lines.</p>
<p>When reloading the config file, the buildmaster will endeavor to
change as little as possible about the running system. For example,
although old status targets may be shut down and new ones started up,
any status targets that were not changed since the last time the
config file was read will be left running and untouched. Likewise any
<tt class="xref py py-class docutils literal"><span class="pre">Builder</span></tt>s which have not been changed will be left running. If a
<tt class="xref py py-class docutils literal"><span class="pre">Builder</span></tt> is modified (say, the build process is changed) while a <tt class="xref py py-class docutils literal"><span class="pre">Build</span></tt>
is currently running, that <tt class="xref py py-class docutils literal"><span class="pre">Build</span></tt> will keep running with the old
process until it completes. Any previously queued <tt class="xref py py-class docutils literal"><span class="pre">Build</span></tt>s (or <tt class="xref py py-class docutils literal"><span class="pre">Build</span></tt>s
which get queued after the reconfig) will use the new process.</p>
<div class="admonition warning">
<p class="first admonition-title">Warning</p>
<p>Buildbot's reconfiguration system is fragile for a few difficult-to-fix
reasons:</p>
<blockquote>
<div><ul class="simple">
<li>Any modules imported by the configuration file are not automatically reloaded.
Python modules such as <a class="reference external" href="http://pypi.python.org/pypi/lazy-reload">http://pypi.python.org/pypi/lazy-reload</a> may help
here, but reloading modules is fraught with subtlties and difficult-to-decipher
failure cases.</li>
<li>During the reconfiguration, active internal objects are divorced from the service
hierarchy, leading to tracebacks in the web interface and other components. These
are ordinarily transient, but with HTTP connection caching (either by the browser or
an intervening proxy) they can last for a long time.</li>
<li>If the new configuration file is invalid, it is possible for Buildbot's
internal state to be corrupted, leading to undefined results. When this
occurs, it is best to restart the master.</li>
<li>For more advanced configurations, it is impossible for Buildbot to tell if the
configuration for a <tt class="xref py py-class docutils literal"><span class="pre">Builder</span></tt> or <tt class="xref py py-class docutils literal"><span class="pre">Scheduler</span></tt> has chanaged, and thus the <tt class="xref py py-class docutils literal"><span class="pre">Builder</span></tt> or
<tt class="xref py py-class docutils literal"><span class="pre">Scheduler</span></tt> will always be reloaded. This occurs most commonly when a callable
is passed as a configuration parameter.</li>
</ul>
</div></blockquote>
<p class="last">The bbproto project (at <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/dabrahams/bbproto">https://github.com/dabrahams/bbproto</a>) may help to
construct large (multi-file) configurations which can be effectively reloaded
and reconfigured.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="reconfig-by-debug-client">
<h3>Reconfig by Debug Client<a class="headerlink" href="#reconfig-by-debug-client" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
<p>The <a class="reference internal" href="cmdline.html#cmdline-debugclient" title="debugclient"><tt class="xref bb bb-cmdline docutils literal"><span class="pre">debug</span> <span class="pre">tool</span></tt></a> (<tt class="samp docutils literal"><span class="pre">buildbot</span> <span class="pre">debugclient</span>
<span class="pre">--master</span> <em><span class="pre">HOST</span></em><span class="pre">:</span><em><span class="pre">PORT</span></em></tt>) has a <em class="guilabel">Reload .cfg</em> button which will also
trigger a reload.</p>
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