LabVIEW Jenkins Plugin

Continuous Integration (CI) has been a must in software development at least since the introduction of agile procedures. With this approach, many changes are made to the code base in short iterations. These changes must be tested regularly and integrated into the application. We have been using Jenkins and Azure DevOps as CI servers for several years. They compile, test and distribute our LabVIEW and TestStand applications tirelessly with every new commit to the source code management. In this way we can take care of the code creation at Kubes and a part of the quality control always runs in the background, which significantly increases our efficiency. Because of the many small integration steps of LabVIEW code, errors are localized at a very early stage. They can then be corrected immediately, with manageable costs and time expenditure.

With the introduction of the LabVIEW Command Line Interface by NI, LabVIEW is now even easier to integrate into a CI Server. We have created a Jenkins plugin that interacts directly with LabVIEW through this interface. So it is no longer necessary to write your own LabVIEW code or handle complicated batch files.

 

What does it take to introduce Continuous Integration

In order to implement Continuous Integration you need a Source Code Management System (SCM) as a basis. This can be SVN, git or any other SCM. This serves as a common code base for all developers involved. This can be operated in the company’s own infrastructure or can be obtained as a service from the cloud. Furthermore a CI-Server is required. In this area there is a wide choice, the most widespread CI-Server application is the Open Source Software Jenkins. The platforms Azure DevOps, github and gitlab already have CI servers integrated which can be used free of charge or by payment, depending on the license model.

 

What is the LabVIEW Jenkins Plugin

Our LabVIEW Plugin for Jenkins supports executing build specifications, running the LabVIEW Analyzer, and graphically evaluating results. Furthermore, the revision number of a build specification can be described and any VI can be executed for your own ideas. Our LabVIEW Plugin can manage different LabVIEW versions. The plugin is pipeline compatible, so the CI configuration can be stored in a pipeline script and also set under source code management.

The LabVIEW Plugin for Jenkins is freely available and can be downloaded here.

Support from Kubes

Do you have any questions about Continuous Integration or about the the plugin? We would be happy to support you in introducing a CI process tailored to your needs.