Introduction

pulse™ is an automated build server, sometimes referred to as a continuous integration server. The purpose of pulse™ is to make it easy for you to set up regular, automated builds of your software projects, to ensure the integrity of the product during the development cycle. pulse™ includes features not commonly implemented in home-grown automated build systems, such as:

a full web-based user interface for configuration and reporting
distributed building across multiple remote agents, where a single build can involve multiple agents
visibility and controls over builds (view/pause build queues, trigger builds manually, apply build timeouts)
build history (filter/browse historic builds, flexible cleanup rules for old builds)
integration with source control systems (trigger builds when changes occur, view new changes in each build etc)
customisable post-processing of build command output (find errors without trawling through thousands of lines of output)
testing integration (integrates test results as part of the build reports)
artifact capturing (capture files/directories produced by the build for easy downloading)
email reporting (plain text or HTML format emails)
tool integration (convenient support for common build tools such as ant, make and maven)
plus many more...

In addition, pulse™ has been built from the ground up to be flexible enough to fit in with your existing build system, rather than requiring you to adapt how you build your software. Couple this with the ease of setting up a pulse™ server, and you will never want to write your own automated build system again!

Understanding Builds

The core of pulse™ is the build engine. To understand more about how pulse™ works, refer to the Understanding Builds page.

Overview

This manual provides all the information required to install, configure and use your pulse™ server. Topics are divided into the following broad sections:

Section	Description
Setup and Administration	Describes how to obtain, install and configure a pulse™ server.
Concepts	A high level description of the concepts and terms used by pulse™.
User Interface	Gives an overview of the user interface and navigation.
Projects	Describes how to add, configure and work with projects.
Agents	Describes how to add, configure and manage agents connected to your pulse™ server.
Queues	Describes how to view and control pending and running builds on your pulse™ server.

Other Sources of Information

In addition to this manual, various other sources of information are available to help you get the most out of your pulse™ server:

Source	Description
Online Help	Context-sensitive help is available by clicking on the help icon in the top-right corner of the pulse™ web interface.
Getting Started Guide	A quick-start guide for the impatient that describes how to install a server and add your first project.
Zutubi Forums	Online support forums for pulse™ users.
support@zutubi.com	Fast and friendly email support from the pulse™ development team.