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 eliminate the integration pain that plagues projects developed without a regular build. pulse™ is developed with a few guiding principles in mind:
- Setting up and maintaining a build server should be easy. Nobody wants to waste time wading through documentation to handle common tasks.
- You should not have to change the way you work to use pulse™. Although the interface is simple, the core engine should be flexible enough to adapt to diverse projects and environments.
- Developers should be able to get more out of their build server. They should be able to customise their interface with the server, and should be able to leverage the build cluster to test their changes (even before committing them).
- A build server should be extensible and scriptable on many levels.
These principles have led us to several key features of pulse™, such as a rich user interface, a unique templated configuration model, individual developer preferences, personal builds (test before committing), a simple yet powerful plugin system and a full remote API.
For more details about features in pulse™, including a feature tour, refer to the product page
on our website.
Concepts and Terminology
To get the most out of pulse™ it is worth taking the time to understand a few core concepts, and familiarise yourself with the terms we use. Two topics deserve special attention:
You may also wish to refer to the general Concepts section as you discover new terminology in the pulse™ interface.
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. |
| Server |
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 |
| Built-in Help |
Built-in help is provided for every form in the pulse™ interface, simply hover or click the  icon |
| Online Help |
Context-sensitive help is available by clicking on the  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. |
