Entering the wrong URL for custom builds shouldn't change slave status

[pitrou]

At python.org, we sometimes get such builds:  http://www.python.org/dev/buildbot/all/builders/i386%20Ubuntu%203.x/builds/490

As far as I know, this is because some web bots or crawlers sometimes push the "force build" button without any branch info, triggering a new build which fails immediately on SVN. It happens irregularly but is quite annoying when it happens, since lots of builders then become in the "mauve" state (what's the name for it?). It would be nice if entering the wrong SVN branch or URL when filling these forms didn't produce such a status change.

[dustin]

I think that the appropriate solution is to put some authentication on the force-build button, rather than try to detect the problem after the fact. How do you detect a "wrong" SVN branch? Matching it against spam databases? :)

Recent versions of Buildbot do support authenticating all web-based actions.

[pitrou]

Replying to dustin:

I think that the appropriate solution is to put some authentication on the force-build button, rather than try to detect the problem after the fact. How do you detect a "wrong" SVN branch?

The fact that the SVN step fails would be good enough for us, IMO.

Recent versions of Buildbot do support authenticating all web-based actions.

Sure, but we don't have site-wide authentication and we don't want people to enter yet another login just to push the build button.

[dustin]

We use a single username/password for the metabuildbot, which is well-known to the devs who care to use the force system. That may be an option.

The SVN step can fail for a number of reasons - you don't want them all to be considered "OK", do you?

[pitrou]

Replying to dustin:

The SVN step can fail for a number of reasons - you don't want them all to be considered "OK", do you?

Indeed. However, when it's a blank branch entry (as seems to be the case here), perhaps it should be detected early?

[dustin]

You might want to consider a ChangeFilter that filters out such changes. A blank 'branch' is valid for lots of Buildbot configs.

[pitrou]

Replying to dustin:

You might want to consider a ChangeFilter that filters out such changes.

Apparently not:

RuntimeError: cannot specify both change_filter and either branch or categories

The thing is, our schedulers are branch specific (because the builders are), but they can also be used for any custom build (I'm not sure why it works currently but it does).