If you are or are considering running an on-prem CI/CD system for CPU architectures different from amd64, we may just have the solution for you. We are introducing the Multi CPU builds into Travis CI Enterprise 3, the on-prem version for Travis CI. Your development teams will now be able to build against amd64 and for IBM PowerPC, Z, and ARM CPU targets over respective infrastructure.

Multi CPU building in Travis CI Enterprise 3

The Multi CPU feature started in Travis CI on https://travis-ci.com in fall 2019. Since this was a hosted solution, the infrastructure layer was delivered to Travis CI thanks to IBM via IBM Cloud and ARM via Equinix Metal (formerly Packet) for open source use only. It is also possible to build commercial projects for IBM PowerPC (ppc64le) and ARM (via AWS Graviton2 infrastructure).

The core solution is based on LXD containers, supported by Canonical Ubuntu versions for different CPU architectures. Thus it was possible to offer it also for an on-prem solution, Travis CI Enterprise 3.

For who is Travis CI Enterprise with Multi CPU support applicable?

Any team or company, which due to various requirements, must have a CI/CD solution in a completely controlled environment. Any team or company, which utilizes IBM PowerPC (ppc64le), IBM Z (s390x), or ARMv8 (arm64) over owned or hired infrastructure to create or test software and wants to use an on-prem solution.

How does the Multi CPU feature work in Travis CI Enterprise 3?

It works exactly as in https://travis-ci.com. Once the on-prem solution is set up: Developers can sign-up with the local deployment of Travis CI and link their repositories to Travis CI. Developers must create a .travis.yml in their repository root directory, containing build or test jobs definition for various CPU architectures. For example:

arch: arm64
	arch: ppc64le
	arch: arm64-graviton2
	arch: s390x
	arch: amd64

Read our documentation https://docs.travis-ci.com/user/enterprise/ for more details.

How to enable Travis CI Enterprise Multi CPU support for your team?

A team or company must have its own or a hired infrastructure for IBM PowerPC, IBM Z, or ARM on top of ‘regular’ amd64. The Multi CPU builds execute in the Ubuntu Linux environment, utilizing the LXD containers. During or after the installation of Travis CI Enterprise, deploy a worker with LXD images for specific CPU architecture in the infrastructure mentioned above. This step is optional, following the same procedure of deploying a basic amd64 based solution.

For more information, take a look at this post from IBM.

Read our Travis CI Enterprise documentation for more details on Travis CI Enterprise installation or respective Worker Deployment.

If you have any questions about Travis CI Enterprise, please contact us.