BuildMaster is an application release automation tool, designed by the software development team, Inedo. It combines build management and ARA capabilities to manage and automate processes primarily related to continuous integration, database change scripts, and production deployments, overall releasing applications reliably. The tool is browser-based and able to be used “out-of-the-box”. Its feature set and scope puts it in line with the DevOps movement, and is marketed as “more than a release automation tool. It brings together the people, processes, and practices that allow teams to deliver software rapidly, reliably, and responsibly.” It’s a tool that embodies incremental DevOps adoption. BuildMaster is configured entirely through its UI, as opposed to scripts or XML-based configuration files. Although the primary web application is Windows-only, BuildMaster orchestrates Windows or Linux-based servers to perform various build-release-deploy actions. BuildMaster also has a tight integration with PowerShell and is often used along with other DevOps tools.
Main features
The main features of BuildMaster are:
Pipelines as Code – Pivot between Visual mode and the JSON Text editor
Global Pipeline – Reusability across releases and applications
Pipeline Gates – Mix of manual and automated approvals that unless approved prevent advancement to next pipeline stage
Deployment Plans – Drag-and –drop visual user interface that may also be edited in text mode
PowerShell Integration – First class integration with PowerShell and Shell for support of both Windows and Linux.
Event Listener – Useful for monitoring action and operations
Configuration Variables – Add flexibility when modeling deployment plans
Release Packages – Flexibility by uploading manually, pushed from CI server such as TeamCity or TFS, created within BuildMaster or Pushed from ProGet
Configuration File Management - enables configuration files to be defined with multiple instances in a version-controlled manner with file deployments logged
Continuous Integration - support for CI tools including Jenkins, TFS, and TeamCity
Infrastructure Configuration Sync - visualize the infrastructure that pipelines target
Resource Credentials - manage, store, and control access to tokens, passwords, and API Key that are involved in deployments
Highlights
Highlights include:
A simple, plan editor that allows for code or drag and drop interface
Of interest also is the corporate culture where BuildMaster was developed. Its producer Inedo were cited in the creation of the software development card game Release!, and have been cited in several sources that their products are developed as much by the coding work that went into them, as the sense of community that an office gaming culture has established.
