This lexicon is a collection of terms and definitions used by CloudBees.
Each EFS driver instance is paired with an agent, which is the user-level component running on the machines on which each agent is installed (“agent hosts”). An agent is the intermediary between eMake and EFS. One agent per core is recommended.
Build classes are classifications that you can use to group builds by version or release, product type, development stage, platform, or other criteria to organize your build management process. You use the Cluster Manager Web UI to create build classes. For details about build classes, see Working with builds and build classes.
A cluster is a set of cores in a pool of servers that participate in distributed builds. For details about clusters, see Understanding component interactions.
The Cluster Manager is software that is installed on a server to manage a cluster. The Cluster Manager monitors system activity and manages eMake. The Cluster Manager also hosts the Cluster Manager Web UI. For details about the Cluster Manager, see Understanding component interactions.
Electric File System (EFS) is a special file system driver that monitors every file access on participating machines and provides eMake with complete usage information. EFS collects dependency information, which lets eMake detect and correct out-of-order build steps. For details about the EFS, see Understanding component interactions.
eMake is a new Make version and is the main build application. eMake reads makefiles in several different formats, including gmake and NMAKE. eMake distributes commands to the [Cluster] for remote execution and also services file requests. For details about eMake, see Understanding Component Interactions.
If a participating cluster machine is off the network (such as when it is shut down), CloudBees Build Acceleration reassigns incomplete jobs automatically to the next available participating machine to complete the build.
eMake executes makefiles just like gmake. CloudBees Build Acceleration uses CloudBees’ conflict detection technology to build faster than the gmake parallel make process without the broken builds that commonly occur with gmake.