The tool provider JetBrains is best known for development environments such as IntelliJ IDEA, but the Czechs are also active in the field of continuous integration (CI). In the current release 2020. 2 of the CI service TeamCity, JetBrains presents a wealth of new features, above all the support for Python.

Interaction with Python and new log-in The server for Continuous Integration (CI) now supports the Python programming language with the new Python Build Runner, which, according to the blog announcement, works with all operating systems, virtual environments and the most common testing frameworks. Tools for checking the code in Python projects should also be possible. Developers can see the results of Python builds and tests in the TeamCity UI, from where they can control changes and check the code.

The new version integrates pull requests for the Bitbucket Cloud: According to an announcement by JetBrains, developers can now automatically use TeamCity to pick up the pull requests that they have created in their repository in the Bitbucket Cloud. The feature can be used together with the Commit Status Publisher and automatic merge options. The 2019 introduced integrated team environment JetBrains Space (with a Git-based version control and code review) is integrated into TeamCity through the Commit Status Publisher. Another new feature is the ability to authenticate with an existing GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket account at TeamCity. The automatic comparison with the external OAuth accounts then eliminates the need to log in with a password. TeamCity 2020. 2, according to the provider, also supports GitHub (GitHub Enterprise) installed on premises and self-hosted GitLab.

Use external services as required TeamCity now also allows developers to carry out work steps in the CI / CD pipeline (Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery) in an “agentless” mode: Leave it at that Build Agents free themselves to perform other tasks that are queued. The goal is apparently to re-bundle the need for external cloud services for pipeline jobs such as AWS (which can be costly) in a customized manner. In TeamCity, the so-called agentless build steps can be displayed like standard builds with the option of tracking their status, searching logs and viewing their progress.

For administrators, monitoring external storage locations in Disk Usage Monitor of concern, in which the server can now also integrate and display storage locations beyond the local drives, the regular clearing and freeing of storage space can now be planned in a user-defined manner. Further innovations concern the experimental Sakura UI, which now displays the progress of tests on its own page and has a build log search function.

Details on these and other innovations of the release can be found in the announcement in Refer to the JetBrains blog. The blog entry offers further links and a series of demo videos for deeper understanding.

(sih)