Timpani Software - BuildBeat - Build Management System and Continuous Integration Server

BuildBeat supports Microsoft Windows-based systems (Windows 2003 Server, Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Vista), as well as most Unix/Linux-based systems.

The web reporting service of BuildBeat may be installed on a Windows 2003 Server running IIS 6.0 (recommended), on a Windows XP system running IIS 5.0 or later, or on Unix/Linux-based systems using the Apache web server.

The Administrator component of BuildBeat requires a Windows-based PC to run (Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows 2003, etc.).

The BuildBeat command line utility runs on all platforms and can be used to perform administration activities in lieu of using the Windows-based Administrator.

Unix/Linux-based users will also appreciate BuildBeat 2007's support for MySQL databases.

Why does BuildBeat rely on a back-end database?

BuildBeat uses a back-end database for three purposes:

Project Configuration - Storing configuration information for projects, including version control integration information, build tasks, unit test information, etc.
User Information - BuildBeat is a multi-user system. The back-end database is used to store user information along with access control information.
Logging - BuildBeat automatically captures all task log information and makes it available via a web-based reporting system. All build log information is stored in the database.

We could have opted to store this information in other ways. For example, configuration information could be stored in an XML file, and logging information could be stored in text-based files.

However, because all of the information used by BuildBeat is inherently relational, and requires random-access updating, we opted for relational database storage. The advantages are centralized administration, better security, and higher performance.

Do I need to purchase Microsoft SQL Server in order to use BuildBeat?

No. As of the BuildBeat 2007.R1 release, BuildBeat now supports both Microsoft SQL Server and MySQL databases. BuildBeat no longer gives you the option of automatically installing MSDE. You must download and install at database server in order to use BuildBeat.

If you wish to use Microsoft SQL Server but do not need to purchase the full version, BuildBeat can be used with MS SQL Server 2000 Desktop Edition (MSDE) or MS SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, which can be downloaded for free from Microsoft. Visit http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/sql/ to download SQL Server 2005 Express Edition.

The community version of MySQL can also be downloaded and used free of charge. Visit http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/ to download MySQL.

What version control systems do you support?

BuildBeat currently supports CVS, Microsoft SourceSafe, Microsoft Team Foundation Server, Perforce, PVCS Version Manager, and Subversion.

We are currently working on integrations with Serena Dimensions and Rational ClearCase, among others. Please ask a Timpani Software associate for more information on availability.

What build scripting tools do you support?

BuildBeat can launch any external command line tool, and as such, can support any open source or commercial build scripting tool. We currently have native support for NAnt, MSBuild, Make, and the Visual Studio command line compiler.

We're a pure Linux development shop. Can we utilize BuildBeat in our environment?

Yes.

BuildBeat 2007 now provides full support for operating in Unix/Linux environments.

How can we utilize continuous integration on a very large project? Our builds take a long time to run.

You can accelerate your build using distributed building. Distributed building involves dividing your build tasks onto multiple computers, reducing the overall time it takes for the build to complete. BuildBeat provides direct support for distributed building, and is easy to use and configure.