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This article explains how to configure various components of IBM® Rational Team Concert™ (RTC) to integrate with Rational Build Forge, so you can launch IBM® Rational® Build Forge® projects from RTC Team Build and have information published back into the associated RTC build result. This makes the RTC build result the place of record for builds and build artifacts, but you can still use the automation capabilities of Build Forge, which is a goal of the integration.
You can use Build Forge to break up your larger scripts into smaller steps within a project or to create reusable libraries that can be called from other projects. RTC Team Build has very nice interface for configuring build-specific tools, such as Apache Maven, Apache Ant, and Microsoft Build. Team Build includes a Jazz™ Build Engine that pulls requests from a build definition queue to build these configurations.
Rational Team Concert and Rational Build Forge setup architecture
The diagram in Figure 1 shows the setup used as the basis for this article.
This article is based on these assumptions:
- Rational Build Forge enterprise edition 7.1.2 is installed and that: The server is already configured, and that Build Forge agents are installed on the client machines.
- The required server, selector, administration, and project settings are created to successfully run a project.
- The Rational Team Concert 3.0.1.3 server is already set up, and you have access to the RTC server using the RTC Eclipse client.
Figure 1. Rational Build Forge and Rational Team Concert setup
Configure Rational Team Concert
This section explains how to configure components of Rational Team Concert (RTC) to use the Rational Build Forge Engine so that you will be able to access the Build Forge projects from the RTC Eclipse client.
- Launch the RTC Eclipse client.
- Log in and connect to the existing repository connection, based on your team invitation.
- Create a new project area by using the Scrum template.
- Go to the Create Project Area wizard shown in Figure 2.
- Choose the Scrum template, as Figure 3 shows.
Note:
If you are not the administrator and not able to create the project area, send a request to the RTC project admin to create a project area with the default Scrum template.
Figure 2. Project Area dialog window
Figure 3. Create Project Area view, Choose Process Template screen
- To work on the existing project areas, right-click the repository connection, click Manage Connected Project Areas, select the existing project area, and click Finish.
Figure 4. Manage the project area that you are connected to
- Expand the created project area, and you will be able to view Builds component and Build Engines has sub-component as listed in Figure 5.
Figure 5. Project area expanded to list the Builds component
- Create a new build engine by right-clicking on Build Engines and then selecting New Build Engine.
- In the New Build Engine dialog window (Figure 6), select Create a new build engine if that is what you want to do. If you want to reuse the existing build engine listed in drop-down menu instead, select Create a build engine by copying existing one.
- Click Next.
Figure 6. Creating a new build engine
- From Available Build engine types (Figure 7), choose Rational Build Forge, and then click Finish
Figure 7. Available build engine types
After the build engine is created, it gets displayed under Builds in the Build Engine view of the project area.
- Open the Build Engine, and you will be able see the Overview and Build Forge tabs shown in Figure 8.
- Click the Build Forge tab, and enter the Rational Build Forge server hostname and login details.
- Test the connection to the Build Forge server by clicking Test Connection (see Figure 8).
- When the connection is successful, click Save. For now, ignore the warning that states that the build engine is not running.
Note:
Enter your intranet credentials if Build Forge is LDAP-configured. If you are already connected with the login credentials that you used in RTC, then you are logged out of Build Forge
Figure 8. Testing the Build Forge connection
- To create new build definition, right-click on Builds and select New Build Definition from the context menu. From the available build templates, choose Rational Build Forge, and click Finish.
Figure 9. Creating a build definition with the Rational Build Forge template
- In the Build Definition window (Figure 10), create a new build engine if it is not already created, or use Edit to choose the one that you created earlier. Figure 10 shows using the build engine, which you created earlier in Overview tab.
Figure 10. Overview tab to choose the supporting build engines
Note:
The Properties tab is for defining properties of the build definition that will override the property values of Rational Build Forge if the name of the property is the same. The Schedule tab is to automatically run the build according to a schedule.
- Still in the Build Definition window, click the Build Forge tab, and then click Get Projects button (Figure 11) to filter the available projects created on the configured Build Forge server.
- Under Build Forge Projects, select the one that you want to run, and then click Save.
The build definition is then created automatically.
Note:
Before you click the Get Projects button, the Available Build Projects section will be empty. Get Projects will retrieve all Build Forge projects visible to the configured user.
Figure 11. Build Forge tab view with Build Forge projects list
- To request a build, right-click on the build definition that you created, and select Request Build from the drop-down menu.
Figure 12. Requesting a build
- Choose the supported build engine under Build Options by using the Browse option, as shown in Figure 13.
- Click the Submit button to proceed with the build.
Note:
The build will be executed, using the project environment defined in Build Forge. If you want to customize or override the property values, you need to add build properties with Name and Value accordingly, and submit the request.
Figure 13. Requesting build with a supported build engine
After you click the Submit button, Build Forge starts the build project. You can check the logs and status of the build that was executed.
- Right-click on the Build Result and open it.
When the build is finished, the result will show it as completed, as Figure 14 shows.
Notes:
- Build Forge will generate a detailed log file.
- You can also explore Rational Team Concert features, such as creating a new work item or associating an existing work item, based on the requirement
Figure 14. Rational Team Concert summary of the build status
Check results on the Build Forge management console
You can also view the status of the build that was executed from RTC build definition by logging into the Build Forge management console. To see the results, click the Jobs tab, and filter the tag name, as shown in Figure 15.
Figure 15. Build result displayed in Rational Build Forge
Learn
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- More about Rational Build Forge:
- Check the developerWorks Build Forge page for technical articles, product information, related products, and links to demos and learning resources.
- See the Rational Build Forge information center for complete Build Forge documentation
- Browse the Build Forge page on Jazz.net.
- More about Rational Team Concert:
- Find Rational Team Concert articles and links to many other resources on IBM developerWorks, and check the product overview page, features and benefits, system requirements, and the user information center.
- Check the Rational Team Concert page on Jazz.net.
- Watch the Using Rational Team Concert in a globally distributed team webcast or a demonstration of the Dashboards and reports, or listen to the podcast about IBM Rational Team Concert and Jazz.
- Visit the Rational software area on developerWorks for technical resources and best practices for Rational Software Delivery Platform products.
- Subscribe to the developerWorks weekly email newsletter, and choose the topics to follow.
- Stay current with developerWorks technical events and webcasts focused on a variety of IBM products and IT industry topics.
- Attend a free developerWorks Live! briefing to get up-to-speed quickly on IBM products and tools, as well as IT industry trends.
- Watch developerWorks on-demand demos, ranging from product installation and setup demos for beginners to advanced functionality for experienced developers.
- Improve your skills. Check the Rational training and certification catalog, which includes many types of courses on a wide range of topics. You can take some of them anywhere, any time, and many of the "Getting Started" ones are free.
Get products and technologies
- Download Rational Team Concert from Jazz.net and try it free on up to 10 projects for as long as you want (requires registration).
- Check the Trials and Demos page for Rational software.
- Evaluate IBM software in the way that suits you best: Download it for a trial, try it online, use it in a cloud environment, or spend a few hours in the SOA Sandbox learning how to implement service-oriented architecture efficiently.
Discuss
- Rate or review Rational software products. It's quick and easy.
- Join the Using Rational Build Forge forum on Jazz.net to ask questions and share your experiences with other developers.
- Join the Rational software forums to ask questions and participate in discussions.
- Rate or review Rational software. It's quick and easy.
- Share your knowledge and help others who use Rational software by writing a developerWorks article. Find out what makes a good developerWorks article and how to proceed.
- Follow Rational software on Facebook, Twitter (@ibmrational), and YouTube, and add your comments and requests.
- Ask and answer questions and increase your expertise when you get involved in the Rational forums, cafés, and wikis.
- Get connected. Join the Rational community to share your Rational software expertise and get connected with your peers.
Veena H. Balakrishnaiah is part of the Operations Software Engineering Service team at the IBM Software Labs in India, where works on various product builds. Veena has a master's degree in software systems. She is experienced with SCM and automation tools, including IBM Rational ClearCase. IBM Configuration Management Version Control (CMVC), Rational Team Concert and Rational Build Forge.
