Runs_on

The runs_on field in the pipeline defines the platform of execution and currently the latest version of the pipeline syntax supports the below:

machine
container
ssh connection

Machine platform

Supported in pipeline versions: version 1, version 2

The machine platform indicates that all commands will be executed directly on the host machine. The bld runtime will also create a temporary directory in .bld/tmp path with a unique Uuid as a directory that can be used for the run which will be cleaned up afterwards.

To use the machine platform simply use the below top level statement.

runs_on: machine

Container platform

The container platform is used so that commands defined in the pipeline are executed inside a docker container using an exec instance. The container platform supports various types of configuration.

Run commands on existing docker images

Supported in pipeline versions: version 1, version 2

To run commands on existing docker images. This option simply will try to create a new container at the start of the run based on the name of the provided image, if the image doesn't exist then the container won't be created. The user is responsible for maintaining the docker images in this case. As an example below we define this type of container platform for the latest ubuntu image.

runs_on: ubuntu

Run commands on existing or missing docker images

Supported in pipeline versions: version 2

This type of the container platform is similar to the previous one but it can define the option to pull the docker image when the run starts. If the pull option is active then the run will look up the image, pull it if neccessary and then start the run on the created container. As an example to define such platform for the ubuntu image you can use the below top level statement.

runs_on:
    image: ubuntu
    pull: true

To pull a specific image tag you can use the : notation similar to the example below.

runs_on:
    image: ubuntu:20.04
    pull: true

Run commands on images built from a Dockerfile

Supported in pipeline versions: version 2

This type of container platform leverages a Dockerfile to build an image based on specified configuration and then run the provided commands on a new container created with this image. As an example to create such a platform use the below top level statement.

runs_on:
    dockerfile: /path/to/dockerfile
    name: custom-image
    tag: latest

Ssh platform

Supported in pipeline versions: version 2

The ssh platform exists in order to make the execution of multiple commands over an ssh connection easier. A user could always directly use the ssh binary in a command that is executed in a diffferent platform.

An example of using this platform is shown below:

runs_on:
    host: 127.0.0.1
    port: 22
    user: some_user
    userauth:
        type: password
        password: the_user_password

Additionally you can define a global configuration for ssh connections in the .bld/config.yaml file and use the name of the configuration in the runs_on field as show below. See the Server > SSH section for more information on the global configuration.

runs_on:
    ssh_config: my_global_ssh_config_key

Note here that this platform always expects the host, user and userauth fields with the port field being optional having a default value of port: 22 if not provided. Additionally the userauth field has 3 types of authentication that can be defined.

Password user authentication

The password authentication type for the ssh platform uses a password directly that is passed to the ssh connection when that is established. To define such user authentication you can use the below statement:

userauth:
    type: password
    password: the_user_password

Keys user authentication

The keys authentication type uses a private and a public key when establishing the ssh connection, and such a configuration can be done using the below statement:

userauth:
    type: keys
    public_key: /path/to/public_key
    private_key: /path/to/private_key

The private_key field is mandatory but the public_key is optional.

Agent user authentication

This type attemps to perform ssh agent authentication and can be configured using the below statement:

userauth:
    type: agent

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