What Happens When a Build Runs in a Build Executor?

When VB Studio runs a build, it follows a set order to select a VM executor. You can’t choose or specify a particular VM executor to use for the build. If no VM build executors are found, VB Studio fails the build.

When multiple VM executors are found, VB Studio selects a VM executor to run the build in this order:

• If a VM executor is in the Available state, VB Studio runs a build on it.
• If no VM executors are in the Available state, VB Studio starts a Stopped VM executor, installs the operating system and the executor template’s software packages from the saved boot volume, and then runs the build on it.
• If no VM executors are in the Available or the Stopped state, VB Studio starts a Pending VM executor, installs the operating system and the executor template’s software packages, and then runs the build on it.
• If all VM executors are running builds, VB Studio waits for a VM executor to complete its build, and then runs a build on it.

A VM executor in the Stopped or Pending state will take several minutes to start because VB Studio installs the operating system and the executor template’s software packages before running the build.

The VM executor should start subsequent builds more quickly. You can adjust the sleep timeout to avoid start-up delays.

The steps for a build running in a build executor include:

1. VB Studio checks the job’s build executor template and then finds a VM executor allocated to it.
2. VB Studio checks the job’s configuration and runs the commands in the specified order.
3. After the build is complete, VB Studio copies any generated artifacts to the configured OCI Object Storage bucket.
4. The VM executor waits for some time for any queued builds. If no builds run during the wait time period, the VM executor stops.
   Before stopping the VM executor, VB Studio saves the operating system and software packages to the VM executor’s assigned boot volume.