How to test a new build agent without disruptions?
Hello,
We want to create a new build agent and are not sure if everything is installed correctly on this box. What is the easiest and recommended way of rolling this new agent into our builds to test things and easily remove it if there are issues?
Is there a sort of blue green process that can be used for this stuff as well?
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Since all builds are configured specifically for your unique builds, there isn't really an official testing standard other than to try running your builds on it.
Once you have all of your build tools installed, configure the agent to connect to your TeamCity server in the
<build agent home>/conf/buildAgent.propertiesfile, as described in the documentation here: https://www.jetbrains.com/help/teamcity/configure-agent-installation.html#General+Agent+Configuration.When the newly installed agent connects to the server for the first time, it appears on the Agents | Unauthorized agents page visible to administrators/users with the permissions to authorize it. Agents will not run builds until they are authorized in the TeamCity UI.
After authorizing the agent, you can run your builds on the agent using the Custom Run menu, then select the new agent from the drop-down:
If you run into issues with your builds on your new agent, you can use the steps here to help with the troubleshooting: https://www.jetbrains.com/help/teamcity/how-to.html#Debug+a+Build+on+a+Specific+Agent.
Hey Eric,
Thanks for the reply. Say there are certain builds that are working and some that are not. What would be the best way to prevent the agent from running on certain build configurations that are having failures? I would like to go in and slowly add the agent back to the builds has issues get resolved
There is a switch on the main agents UI, disable it, and it won't take any jobs. You can then run jobs manually, even on disabled agents, to test them.
Another option might be to utilize Agent Pools. You can create an agent pool with only your single test agent and assign it to the projects that it is able to run successfully.