- AnthillPro
Infobox_Software
name = AnthillPro
caption = Urbancode AnthillPro
developer =Urbancode
latest_release_version = 3.5
latest_release_date = May, 2008
operating_system =Cross-platform
genre =Continuous Integration
license = Proprietary
website = [http://www.urbancode.com/ www.urbancode.com]AnthillPro is a
continuous integration server fromUrbancode .Released in 2001, AnthillPro is one of the original Continuous Integration servers. Currently in its third generation, it supports distributed as well as cross-platform builds in .Net, Java, C/C++ and other languages. Additional information is available on the AnthillPro [http://www.anthillpro.com/ website] .
History
The original Anthill was a simple
continuous integration server released in 2001 and still available today. Along with tools such asCruiseControl it helped provide the tooling backbone of continuous integration practices. In 2002Urbancode released the first commercial edition of AnthillPro. UnlikeCruiseControl which at the time was focused purely on providing developers feedback about the health of their builds, AnthillPro was focused on build management and using the results of one project's build as a dependency for other projects. In 2006, Urbancode released the third generation of AnthillPro. This complete rewrite added support for distributed builds, and control over post build lifecycle. Unlike most CI servers that are build centric, AnthillPro began to use the build only as an initial test and to create binary artifacts that are then tested, deployed and promoted through a lifecycle on their way to production release.Continuous Integration
The practice of
continuous integration is one where developers integrate their changes to a common code line frequently (generally at least once a day) and those integrations are rapidly verified by tests. AnthillPro supports this practice by monitoring (or listening to) the organizations various source control systems and triggering a build when it detects a developer commit. The build provides the first (and usually the most critical) test that verifies the integration. Once the build is complete, AnthillPro captures the build product so that secondary processes like functional tests or deployments to manual QA areas can act on the build. As additional tests are executed, the team can gain greater confidence in the changes.Reporting
AnthillPro can gather any reports generated by build or test process and display them on the AnthillPro server's web interface for review by developers, testers or management.
Deployment Automation
AnthillPro supports automated deployment of a build to a user-configured environment (for example: DEV, QA, STAGE, PROD). Administrators can set up gates between each environment, requiring manual user intervention and providing an audit trail. Role-based security can be set up to control what roles (and thus what users) can deploy to which environment.
Release Management
Release management is the definition, support, and enforcement of processes for preparing software for deployment to production. By providing the tools to automate and secure the testing and deployments of software, AnthillPro facilitates release management. If a process is automated, it is by definition defined, supported and enforced. Audit trails provide basic "who did what" information to not just the technical team that needs to understand what went wrong but also to management and auditors who need to understand the processes in place.
External Links
* [http://www.anthillpro.com/blogs/ AnthillPro Blog]
* [http://www.cmcrossroads.com/content/view/9467/228/ CMCrossroads Review]
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