With the AnthillPro Plugin system, you can write your own integration with third-party tools (e.g., home-grown, testing, SCM, source-code analytic, etc.) and then add them to your AnthillPro processes. In addition, most new integrations written by Urbancode will be Plugins and included when you install a new server (see Activating and Deactivating Plugins).
| It is possible to add a Plugin without having to upgrade the server. For example, if Urbancode writes a new Plugin, you can download it from Supportal and then follow the steps below to add it to your AnthillPro server. |
Once a Plugin has been written (to write your own Plugin, see Developing Plugins), upload it to the AnthillPro server on the System page. A copy of the zipped Plugin will then be stored in the server's /plugin directory. Upon successful upload, configure most Plugins on the System page (e.g., if you are using an SCM Plugin, it will need to be configured by going to the Repositories page; or if the Plugin is a testing tool, configure it on the Integration page, etc.). Then, add the integration (Plugin) to your projects (see Adding a Plugin to a Project).
To begin using an existing Plugin, see Uploading a Plugin.
You must have permissions to the System page to upload and configure the Plugin.
To add the Plugin to existing projects, you will need permissions to the Administration page.
Once a Plugin has been written (to write your own Plugin, see Developing Plugins), upload it to the AnthillPro server on the System page. A copy of the zipped Plugin will then be stored in the server's /plugin directory.
Go to System > Plugins under the Server menu.
Load a Plugin. Select the Browse button and upload the Plugin. The Plugin must be contained in a .zip file. Click Load.
When the upload is complete, you can view the details of the Plugin be either selecting the magnifying glass under the Operations menu or selecting the Plugin's name.
To delete an existing Plugin, click the Delete icon under the Operations menu. If you get a warning when attempting to delete a Plugin, that means it is in use by at least one project. To delete a Plugin that is in use, you must remove it from all existing job configurations.
Click Done. See Configuring a Plugin.
Once the Plugin has been successfully uploaded (see Uploading a Plugin), you will need to configure it on the System page before it is available to your AnthillPro projects (see Adding a Plugin to a Project). Typically, once the Plugin upload is complete, it will appear under either the Integration or Repositories menu on the System page. To configure the Plugin integration, select it from the menu and then give the necessary information.
If you are familiar with existing AnthillPro integrations, most of the information required to complete the configuration will be similar. However, because each Plugin is different, complete configuration instructions are not possible. If you are having trouble configuring the Plugin, please contact the author for assistance.
Once the configuration is complete, see Adding a Plugin to a Project to begin using the new integration.
Typically, a Plugin is added to a project as a job step, similar to traditional AnthillPro job configuration. If you are moving from a current integration to a Plugin version, you may need to reconfigure jobs.
AnthillPro ships with pre-configured integrations that are written as Plugins. During installation, the user was asked which Plugins (i.e., integrations) to deactivate. If you want to use a deactivated Plugin, you will need to activate it first. Assuming you have administrative permissions, simply click the brown icon.
You can deactivate a Plugin by clicking on the green active icon. Once you confirm that you want to deactivate it, the Plugin will not be available. If the Plugin is in use by any project, AnthillPro will notify you. If you elect to deactivate a Plugin that is in use, the steps that use the Plugin will be disabled.
If you reactivate a Plugin that is in use, you will need to manually enable any job steps that use the Plugin.