cuirass/doc/cuirass.texi

\input texinfo
@setfilename cuirass.info
@documentencoding UTF-8
@include version.texi
@settitle Cuirass Reference Manual
@setchapternewpage odd

@copying

This manual is for Cuirass version @value{VERSION}, a build automation
server.

Copyright @copyright{} 2016, 2017 Mathieu Lirzin

@quotation
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.  A
copy of the license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free
Documentation License''.
@end quotation
@end copying

@dircategory Software development
@direntry
* Cuirass: (cuirass).       Build automation server.
@end direntry

@titlepage
@title Cuirass Reference Manual
@subtitle Build automation server
@subtitle for version @value{VERSION}, @value{UPDATED}
@author by Mathieu Lirzin

@page
@vskip 0pt plus 1filll
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@end titlepage

@contents

@ifnottex
@node Top
@top Cuirass
@insertcopying
@end ifnottex

@c *********************************************************************
@menu
* Introduction::                What is Cuirass about?

Tutorial sections:
* Overview::                    A quick tour of Cuirass

Reference sections:
* Invocation::                  How to run Cuirass.

* Contributing::                Your help needed!
* GNU Free Documentation License::  The license of this manual.
* Concept Index::               Concepts.

@end menu

@c *********************************************************************
@node Introduction
@unnumbered Introduction
@cindex introduction

@dfn{Cuirass} is a general-purpose build automation server that checks
out source files from @acronym{VCS, Version Control System}
repositories, executes a @dfn{build job}, and notifies the results of
that job.  A build job consists of a combinaison of tasks such as
compiling source code to binary code and running automated tests.
Notification is achieved by using a database that stores the build
results associated with an HTTP server that provides a convenient way to
access them.

Cuirass is inspired by the @url{https://nixos.org/hydra/, Hydra}
continuous build system. Unlike Hydra, it is built on top of the
@url{https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/, GNU Guix} functional package
manager.

The goal of Cuirass is to provide both on-demand, scheduled, and
triggered builds.  A Build server is an important tool in the software
development process, because it allows modifying the source code while
ensuring the portability and robustness of those changes.  It is the
basis of the @dfn{Continuous integration} practice.

@menu
* Continuous Integration::      A Software development practice
@end menu

@c *********************************************************************
@node Continuous Integration
@unnumberedsec Continuous Integration

@c *********************************************************************
@node Overview
@chapter Overview

@command{cuirass} acts as a daemon polling @acronym{VCS, version control
system} repositories for changes, and evaluating a derivation when
something has changed (@pxref{Derivations, Derivations,, guix, Guix}).
As a final step the derivation is realised and the result of that build
allows you to know if the job succeed or not.

What is actually done by @command{cuirass} is specified in a @dfn{job
specification} which is represented as an association list which is a
basic and traditional Scheme data structure.  Here is an example of what
a specification might look like:

@lisp
 `((#:name . "hello")
   (#:url . "git://git.savannah.gnu.org/guix.git")
   (#:branch . "master")
   (#:no-compile? . #t)
   (#:load-path . ".")
   (#:proc . cuirass-jobs)
   (#:file . "/tmp/drv-file.scm")
   (#:arguments (subset . "hello")))
@end lisp

In this specification the keys are Scheme keywords which have the nice
property of being self evaluating.  This means that they can't refer to
another value like symbols do.

Currently the only way to add those specifications to cuirass is to put
a list of them in a file and set the @code{--specifications} command
line option argument with the file name when launching the daemon
(@pxref{Invocation}).  The specifications are persistent (they are kept
in a SQLite database) so the next time @command{cuirass} is run the
previously added specifications will remain active even if you don't
keep the @code{--specifications} option.

@c *********************************************************************
@node Invocation
@chapter Invoking cuirass
@cindex invoking cuirass
@cindex cuirass invocation
@cindex options for invoking cuirass

The usual way to invoke @code{cuirass} is as follows:

@example
cuirass --specifications @var{specs}
@end example

Additionally the following options can be used.

@table @code
@item --one-shot
Instead of executing @code{cuirass} as a daemon looping over the jobs.
Only evaluate and build the specifications once.

@item --cache-directory=@var{directory}
@var{directory} is the place where the VCS repositories used by the jobs
are stored.

@item --specifications=@var{specifications-file}
@itemx -S @var{specifications-file}
Add the specifications defined in @var{specifications-file} in the job
database before launching the evaluation and build processes.

@item --database=@var{database}
@itemx -D @var{database}
Use @var{database} as the database containing the jobs and the past
build results. Since @code{cuirass} uses SQLite as a database engine,
@var{database} must be a file name.  If the file doesn't exist, it will
be created.

@item --port=@var{num}
@itemx -p @var{num}
Make the HTTP interface listen on port @var{num}.  Use port 8080 by
default.

@item --interval=@var{n}
@itemx -I @var{n}
Wait @var{n} seconds between each poll.

@item --use-substitutes
This can be useful when you are not interested in building the
dependencies of a particular job.

@item --version
@itemx -V
Display the actual version of @code{cuirass}.

@item --help
@itemx -h
Display an help message that summarize all the options provided.
@end table

@c *********************************************************************
@node Contributing
@chapter Contributing

Everyone is welcome to contribute to Cuirass.  You can report bugs, send
patches and share your ideas with others by sending emails the
@email{bug-cuirass@@framalistes.org, mailing list}.

Development is done using the Git distributed version control system.
Thus, access to the repository is not strictly necessary.  We welcome
contributions in the form of patches as produced by @code{git
format-patch}.  Please write commit logs in the ChangeLog format
(@pxref{Change Logs,,, standards, GNU Coding Standards}); you can check
the commit history for examples.

When posting a patch to the mailing list, use @samp{[PATCH] @dots{}} as
a subject.  You may use your email client or the @command{git
send-email} command.  We prefer to get patches in plain text messages,
either inline or as MIME attachments.  You are advised to pay attention
if your email client changes anything like line breaks or indentation
which could potentially break the patches.

@c *********************************************************************
@node GNU Free Documentation License
@appendix GNU Free Documentation License
@cindex license, GNU Free Documentation License
@include fdl-1.3.texi

@c *********************************************************************
@node Concept Index
@unnumbered Concept Index
@printindex cp

@bye