support automated testing (buildbot)

[Timothy Stebbing]

11:35 <tjs> Is there any chance that launchpad will at some point in the future provide
            a buildbot facility for projects? Understandably its a large security issue
            and would require probably a bunch of VMs or something but it would be a
            fantastic addition
11:35 <Hobbsee> tjs: build bot?
11:36 <tjs> considering automated testing is one of the final stumbling blocks for
            opensource projects trying to find totally free hosting
11:36 <tjs> Hobbsee: automated unit testing
11:36 <Hobbsee> there's personal package archives in the works - mostly exists now.
                that would be similar.
11:38 <tjs> similar in requiring a jail for security reasons?
11:38 <spiv> tjs: right, because it too would be running arbitrary code to build
             packages.
11:40 <tjs> obviously it would install build-deps to build a package, there would need
            to be a similar concept for unit tests
11:47 <spiv> tjs: file a bug, and/or mail the launchpad-users list, so the idea gets a
             bit more visibility than just irc scrollback :)

suggestion:

   consider offering buildbot facilities for projects, using whatever jail the package builder implements. There would need to be some way to define build-deps to be installed in the same way packages do.

purpose:
  one more step toward launchpad being an end to end solution for opensource projects, as it stands projects need to find hosting to run automated testing.

[Diogo Matsubara (matsubara)]

Setting to incomplete and linking to spec: branch-merge-bot. Michael or Tim, please set this to confirmed if the branch-merge-bot spec is going to implement the requested feature. Please set the importance and milestone accordingly to. Thanks.

[Tim Penhey (thumper)]

The branch-merge-bot spec does not cover this. The merge bot is almost certainly going to be a PQM instance configured to talk to Launchpad.

Also the PQM instance would be hosted externally, although internal PQMs are obviously an area that would need thought by the commercialisation team.

The additions of build-bot style tests across multiple operating systems is out of scope for the initial work.

[Robert Collins (lifeless)]

I'm going to mark this fix released: the PPA recipe system allows auto-built builds of packages which come out of a VCS and run on the package builders, using Ubuntu packages as build-deps. This meets the core criteria for a CI system; its not the same as a full blown buildbot or jenkins or whatever, but it is a free end to end automated testing facility.