In this tutorial series we will explore a rarely discussed (but highly valuable) process of developing software that is disappointingly absent in the iOS and mobile world: Continuous Integration.

Tutorial Teaser

Where We Left Off

In part 1, we discussed the concept of Continuous Integration and how it can assist us in developing software faster. In part 2, we demonstrated how to install “Apache Tomcat”, which is the web server that will host our CI software.

Introducing Hudson

Hudson is an open-source Continuous Integration server written in Java. It is one of the more popular CI servers used alongside Jenkins and Atlassian’s Bamboo. We’re using Hudson because:

• It’s easy to install and configure.
• It’s easy to use.
• Robust plugin support is available.
• It’s free!

Hudson is currently maintained by Oracle, who has stated that they intend to continue support and development for Hudson with the community.

What Does Hudson Do?

Hudson plays an important part of the CI process. It monitors the code repository and continually checks for updates. Once it determines there has been an update, it will do an update/pull and start the build. It is important to note that Hudson is not responsible for the build action itself. It can only call a script (which we will write) that will do the building and archiving. Once the script has started, Hudson will monitor the script. If it fails, it will report a broken build.

Step 1: Download And Install Hudson

Setting up Hudson is very easy. First, navigate to Hudson’s website at http://hudson-ci.org/, and then click the download link for the latest production version (2.1.2 at the time of writing) this will download a *.war file.

mv hudson.war /usr/local/tomcat/webapps/

http://localhost:8080/hudson

Hudson will tell you that it’s setting up. Once it’s done, you’ll see the main screen of Hudson.

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