How to: Call a TeamCity build from OctopusDeploy

We have an OctopusDeploy deployment that deploys our code to an automated acceptance test environment. And we have a TeamCity build that executes our automated acceptance tests.

The challenge is: the TeamCity build kicked off after our code was merged, not after the deployment was finished. We wanted the tests to kick off only after the environment was ready.

Solution

I created an OctopusDeploy step template to kick off a TeamCity build, and then utilized that step template in the Octopus deployment.

It works via crafting an HTTP POST request against the TeamCity API.

Step Template Contents

I created a PowerShell script that utilizes some parameters

$parsedUrlString = "$TeamCityServerURL" + "/app/rest/buildQueue" $parsedXmlBody = '<build><buildType id="' + $TeamCityBuildConfigID + '"/></build>'

$HeaderFields = @{} $HeaderFields.add("Authorization", "Bearer $TeamCityAccessToken")
$HeaderFields.add("Origin", "$TeamCityServerURL")

Write-Host "Attempting to run the $TeamCityBuildConfigID build" Write-Host "Connecting to $parsedUrlString"

Invoke-WebRequest -UseBasicParsing $parsedUrlString -ContentType "application/xml" -Method POST -Body $parsedXmlBody -Headers $HeaderFields

The Parameters

From the variables in the script, Octopus will generate step templates:

Generating the TeamCity Access Token

• Open TeamCity and head to the settings menu:

• Click to create the access token:

• Give the access token a name:

• Copy the access token

Adding the build step

• In OctopusDeploy, open the deployment in question
• Add a deployment step, and select the step template
• Add the applicable parameters

The Result

Now, when we commit code:

• The build finishes
• The Octopus deployment kicks off
• After the deployment, the last step calls the other TeamCity build
• The TeamCity build kicks off to run our automated acceptance tests

Happy deploying!