Set up CI/CD integration

Set up the connection between ALM Octane and your CI/CD server.

Overview

Integrating ALM Octane with CI/CD servers lets you do the following:

Type Details
CI

Integration with CI servers is the basis for working with pipelines in ALM Octane, and for integrating ALM Octane with UFT One.
CD

Integration with CD servers helps you automate the deployment of application changes via release process auto actions.
    Caution:

  • The permission mechanism of ALM Octane is not synchronized with the permission mechanism of the CI/CD server. Therefore, ALM Octane users may have access to information from the CI/CD server that they would otherwise not be authorized to access, such as log files and stack traces.

  • All ALM Octane integrations, and particularly CI/CD server integrations, use the SSL protocol.

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Prerequisites

To enable integration with CI/CD tools, the following is required:

Prerequisite Description
API access

Ask your space admin for an API access Client ID and Client secret. The plugin uses these for authentication when communicating with ALM Octane.

The space admin can obtain the Client ID and Client secret in ALM Octane Settings. The access keys must be assigned the CI/CD Integration role in all relevant workspaces. For details, see API access.
CI server access

Obtain access to a CI server that meets the necessary requirements. For the CI servers that are supported by the Application Automation Tools plugins, see Support Matrix.

The following is required to set up an integration with a CI server:

  • Network. The CI integration uses HTTP long polling where the CI Plugin initiates an HTTP request to the server. For the integration to work, the CI server needs to be able to perform HTTPS calls on the ALM Octane server. However, there is no need for the ALM Octane server to be able to perform HTTPS calls on the CI server. ALM Octane does not require you to open an on-premises firewall for CI integration, since there is no direct communication back to the on-premises CI server.

  • Decide which CI server user ALM Octane will use to access the CI server and execute job. For Azure DevOps Server (TFS) this is the Personal Access Token (PAT). For details, see CI server user or PAT permissions.

Install the Application Automation Tools plugin on your CI server

Download, install, and configure the Application Automation Tools plugin that enables ALM Octane to integrate with your CI server. The plugin enables ALM Octane to retrieve and display your CI server's build pipelines, synchronize test run results with the CI server, and trigger pipeline runs on the CI server.

For Jenkins CI servers, see Jenkins integration.

For all other supported CI servers, see Install and configure the plugin on your CI server.

CI server user or PAT permissions

The CI server user or PAT must have the following permissions:

CI server Permissions
On Bamboo: Build plan
On Jenkins, for working with pipelines: Job Build

On Jenkins, for ALM Octane-UFT One integration without pipelines:

Job Create, Delete, and Read

If your SCM repository requires credentials, Credentials create and update permissions are also required. This is so that ALM Octane can save the SCM access credentials you provide on the Jenkins server.
On Azure DevOps Server (TFS):

Read permissions for: Build, Code, Project and team, Test management

Execute permissions for Build
On GoCD: View permissions, and permissions to run a pipeline.
On Azure:

Read and Execute permissions for Build

Caution: We strongly recommend limiting this user’s permissions to the minimum required for this integration.

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Add CI/CD servers on ALM Octane

For ALM Octane to integrate with CI/CD servers, the servers and their URLs must be added in ALM Octane.

To add a CI/CD server to ALM Octane:

  1. In Settings > Spaces, select a workspace.

  2. Go to the DevOps tab, and on the left pane, select the server type: CI Servers or CD Servers.

  3. Add a server and provide server details:

    4. Type Details
    CI server

    Click + CI Server, and then define the following fields:

    • Name: Enter a name for the CI server.

    • URL: Select the URL from the list of servers.

      Note the following:

      The list displays all servers that meet the following conditions:

      • The server has the Application Automation Tools plugin installed and configured to access your ALM Octane.

      • The API Access keys that the plugin is using are assigned the CI/CD Integration role in the current workspace.

    Click Add.
    CD server

    Click + Deployment Automation Server, and then define the following fields:

    • Name: Enter a name for the CD server.
    • URL: Enter the CD server URL.

    • User name and Password: Provide credentials you use to access the CD server.

      Note: Ensure that a server user whose credentials you enter has permissions to run processes on the CD server.

    Click Test Connection. If the connection is successful, click Add.

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Manage your CI/CD servers

In the list of servers, you can add or remove CI/CD servers, view information about each server, and suspend or resume the connection between ALM Octane and the server.

Open the list of servers

This list provides information about the servers' status, type, URL, and more.

  1. In Settings > Spaces, select a workspace.

  2. Click the DevOps tab. On the left pane, select CI Servers or CD Servers.

    The list displays all servers that were previously connected to ALM Octane.

  3. Select the columns that you want displayed. For example, for each CI server, you can see:

    • Whether the server is currently connected.

    • The server type.

    • The version of the plugin installed on the server, or the SDK version used to develop the plugin.

      Keep your plugin up-to-date to benefit from all the latest enhancements and functionality. If your SDK version is outdated, a red status icon is displayed, and functionality is impaired.

    • A link to the server's URL.

      For this link to work properly, your server must have its Site URL properly configured.

    Note: When the URL of a CI server changes, the change is reflected in ALM Octane automatically after a slight delay. You do not need to update the URL directly in ALM Octane.

Suspend and resume data transfer from Jenkins to ALM Octane

Instruct a selected Jenkins CI server to stop sending information to ALM Octane. This includes information such as pipeline runs, test runs, SCM commits, and code coverage data.

A suspension may be useful, for example, in the following situations:

  • Your CI server is undergoing maintenance and you don't want experimental data to be sent to ALM Octane.

  • You are investigating unexpected behavior on your CI server and you want to isolate the server.

  • The network between your CI server and ALM Octane is going to be disconnected for maintenance and you want to reduce overload on the CI server during that time.

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Next steps: