Continuous Integration with NimbleApp
By integrating NimbleApp with your CI process, you can automatically measure performance across every CI build, catching performance regressions and tracking improvements.
Install the Gradle Plugin and Integrate with Jenkins
Installation should take less than 5 minutes. You will need to make changes to build.gradle and to have admin access to your Jenkins server. Once installed the Gradle plugin will upload a build's APK file to NimbleApp for profiling, and show results in console output.
1. Add the plugin snippet to build.gradle
build.gradle
plugins {
id "com.nimbledroid.profiler" version "1.2.3"
}
The NimbleApp plugin will automatically be downloaded as a dependency from plugins.gradle.org. This syntax works for Gradle 2.1 and up. For older versions, see https://plugins.gradle.org/plugin/com.nimbledroid.profiler
2. Add config snippet to build.gradle and add a statement to access API key
build.gradle
// config for NimbleDroid Gradle plugin
nimbledroid {
apiKey "replace with statement to access key variable"
}
Most company security policies forbid adding credentials directly to build.gradle. You should set an API key variable elsewhere, this could be in the gradle.properties file, an environment variable, or wherever you securely store credentials.
Replace the instruction string with a reference to that variable.
Optional: Specify which APK to upload
By default the plugin looks for the APK generated by the release variant. You can change the target variant:
nimbledroid {
variant "dev"
You can also specify an actual filename. For filenames without paths we look in [root project dir]/app/build/outputs/apk/. You can also specify an absolute path or a path relative to the project directory.
nimbledroid {
//this will look in
//[root project dir]/app/build/outputs/apk/
apkFilename "app-release.apk"
nimbledroid {
//this will look in [root project dir]/relative/path/to/
apkFilename "relative/path/to/app-release.apk"
nimbledroid {
//this will use an absolute path
apkFilename "/absolute/path/to/app-release.apk"
Optional: Generate custom user flows with Espresso
For instructions on using Espresso to create Scenarios for custom user flows visit http://docs.nimbledroid.com
To upload your test APK, you must specify the filename. For filenames without paths we look in [root project dir]/app/build/outputs/apk/. You can also specify an absolute path or a path relative to the project directory.
nimbledroid {
//this will look in
//[root project dir]/app/build/outputs/apk/
testApkFilename "app-dbg-androidTest.apk"
nimbledroid {
//this will look in [root project dir]/relative/path/to/
testApkFilename "relative/path/to/app-dbg-androidTest.apk"
nimbledroid {
//this will use an absolute path
testApkFilename "/absolute/path/to/app-dbg-androidTest.apk"
Optional: Configure ProGuard mapping file upload
By default the plugin will look to see if your build variant has minifyEnabled set to true. If it is, it will attempt to include the ProGuard mapping file as part of the upload process. You can disable this behavior:
nimbledroid {
mappingUpload false
You can also specify an actual filename. For filenames without paths we look in [root project dir]/app/build/outputs/mapping/release/. You can also specify an absolute path or a path relative to the project directory.
nimbledroid {
//this will look in
//[root project dir]/app/build/outputs/mapping/release/
mappingFilename "mapping.txt"
nimbledroid {
//this will look in [root project dir]/relative/path/to/
mappingFilename "relative/path/to/mapping.txt"
nimbledroid {
//this will use an absolute path
mappingFilename "/absolute/path/to/mapping.txt"
Optional: Pass credentials to your app
You can pass username and password and we will attempt to login to your app when we profile. This will allow us to profile the activity an authenticated user sees.
nimbledroid {
appData {
username "testuser"
password "123"
}
Optional: Label your upload
Instead of using our default label in the UI for each upload, you can choose your own identifying string for each upload.
nimbledroid {
uploadLabel "$committer $branch"
Optional: Specify Android version(s) for profiling
By default we profile your APK on Android KitKat. You can profile on Android 4 KitKat, Android 5 Lollipop or Android 6 Marshmallow, or All.
nimbledroid {
deviceConfig "android4", "android5", "android6"
3. Add ndUpload and ndGetProfile to your Jenkins Gradle tasks
The tasks must be added after the step that produces your APK. For example:
clean assembleRelease ndUpload ndGetProfile
ndUpload will upload the APK file we find (see step 1 for how to customize which APK). ndGetProfile will poll our service until the profile is ready.
Optional: Run tasks while NimbleApp profiles
After the ndUpload task completes, it will be a few minutes before the profile is ready. You can run other tasks like tests in between ndUpload and ndGetProfile.
Optional: Tag uploads with build info
In order to correctly compare builds against each other, we recommend adding branch and flavor tags with each upload. To do this, add these params to your Tasks section:
-Pbranch=branchname -Pflavor=flavorname
Don't forget to save your Jenkins project after making changes
You're done!
Next time a Jenkins build is triggered, you will see performance profiling information in the console output.
Install the Gradle Plugin and Integrate with Jenkins
Installation should take less than 5 minutes. You will need to make changes to build.gradle.kts and to have admin access to your Jenkins server. Once installed the Gradle plugin will upload a build's APK file to NimbleApp for profiling, and show results in console output.
1. Add the plugin snippet to build.gradle.kts
build.gradle.kts
plugins {
id("com.nimbledroid.profiler") version "1.2.3"
}
The NimbleApp plugin will automatically be downloaded as a dependency from plugins.gradle.org. This syntax works for Gradle 2.1 and up. For older versions, see https://plugins.gradle.org/plugin/com.nimbledroid.profiler
2. Add config snippet to build.gradle.kts and add a statement to access API key
build.gradle.kts
// config for NimbleDroid Gradle plugin
nimbledroid {
apiKey = "replace with statement to access key variable"
}
Most company security policies forbid adding credentials directly to build.gradle.kts. You should set an API key variable elsewhere, this could be in the gradle.properties file, an environment variable, or wherever you securely store credentials.
Replace the instruction string with a reference to that variable.
Optional: Specify which APK to upload
By default the plugin looks for the APK generated by the release variant. You can change the target variant:
nimbledroid {
variant = "dev"
You can also specify an actual filename. For filenames without paths we look in [root project dir]/app/build/outputs/apk/. You can also specify an absolute path or a path relative to the project directory.
nimbledroid {
//this will look in
//[root project dir]/app/build/outputs/apk/
apkFilename = "app-release.apk"
nimbledroid {
//this will look in [root project dir]/relative/path/to/
apkFilename = "relative/path/to/app-release.apk"
nimbledroid {
//this will use an absolute path
apkFilename = "/absolute/path/to/app-release.apk"
Optional: Generate custom user flows with Espresso
For instructions on using Espresso to create Scenarios for custom user flows visit http://docs.nimbledroid.com
To upload your test APK, you must specify the filename. For filenames without paths we look in [root project dir]/app/build/outputs/apk/. You can also specify an absolute path or a path relative to the project directory.
nimbledroid {
//this will look in
//[root project dir]/app/build/outputs/apk/
testApkFilename = "app-androidTest.apk"
nimbledroid {
//this will look in [root project dir]/relative/path/to/
testApkFilename = "relative/path/to/app-androidTest.apk"
nimbledroid {
//this will use an absolute path
testApkFilename = "/absolute/path/to/app-androidTest.apk"
Optional: Configure ProGuard mapping file upload
By default the plugin will look to see if your build variant has minifyEnabled set to true. If it is, it will attempt to include the ProGuard mapping file as part of the upload process. You can disable this behavior:
nimbledroid {
mappingUpload = false
You can also specify an actual filename. For filenames without paths we look in [root project dir]/app/build/outputs/mapping/release/. You can also specify an absolute path or a path relative to the project directory.
nimbledroid {
//this will look in
//[root project dir]/app/build/outputs/mapping/release/
mappingFilename = "mapping.txt"
nimbledroid {
//this will look in [root project dir]/relative/path/to/
mappingFilename = "relative/path/to/mapping.txt"
nimbledroid {
//this will use an absolute path
mappingFilename = "/absolute/path/to/mapping.txt"
Optional: Pass credentials to your app
You can pass username and password and we will attempt to login to your app when we profile. This will allow us to profile the activity an authenticated user sees.
nimbledroid {
appData {
username = "testuser"
password = "123"
}
Optional: Label your upload
Instead of using our default label in the UI for each upload, you can choose your own identifying string for each upload.
nimbledroid {
uploadLabel = "$committer $branch"
Optional: Specify Android version(s) for profiling
By default we profile your APK on Android KitKat. You can profile on Android 4 KitKat, Android 5 Lollipop or Android 6 Marshmallow, or All.
nimbledroid {
deviceConfig("android4", "android5", "android6")
3. Add ndUpload and ndGetProfile to your Jenkins Gradle tasks
The tasks must be added after the step that produces your APK. For example:
clean assembleRelease ndUpload ndGetProfile
ndUpload will upload the APK file we find (see step 1 for how to customize which APK). ndGetProfile will poll our service until the profile is ready.
Optional: Run tasks while NimbleApp profiles
After the ndUpload task completes, it will be a few minutes before the profile is ready. You can run other tasks like tests in between ndUpload and ndGetProfile.
Optional: Tag uploads with build info
In order to correctly compare builds against each other, we recommend adding branch and flavor tags with each upload. To do this, add these params to your Tasks section:
-Pbranch=branchname -Pflavor=flavorname
Don't forget to save your Jenkins project after making changes
You're done!
Next time a Jenkins build is triggered, you will see performance profiling information in the console output.
Continuous Integration FAQ
What happens to the APK after uploading?
The APK is only used to generate profiling information which is accessible only to your account. Once profiling is completed, we delete your APK.
I use a CI server other than Jenkins. Can I still integrate with NimbleApp?
Yes! As long as it can integrate with Gradle for builds, the steps should be similar. We plan to add detailed instructions for other CI servers to this page.