Build stacks

The build stack indicates the virtual machine version that we will use to run your build. We have three main stack types:

Xcode stacks: These stacks run on a macOS operating system and each one includes a specific Xcode version. Ideal for building iOS apps. They also have Android tools installed if you want to use them to build a cross-platform app.
The Android & Docker stack: These stacks run on Linux operating system in a Docker environment. They have all Android tools installed and they are ideal for building native Android apps.
The Visual Studio for Mac stacks run on a macOS operating system. They include a periodically upgraded Xcode version, as well as all Android tools. They are perfect for cross-platform apps that don't require a specific Xcode version.

After adding your app to Bitrise we will select an appropriate Stack for it. You can change the stack at any time on the Stacks tab of the Workflow Editor.

After selecting the Stack you want to use, you’ll see a short description of the stack with an additional link to learn more about that specific one (for example, to see what tools are preinstalled, and which versions, on the selected Stack).

Table 1. Stack status types

Type	Description
Stable	Generally available and expected to be supported for the foreseeable future. Updated when an update for the Stack’s primary tool is available. Example: when Xcode 7.3.1 was released, the Xcode 7.3 stack was updated to have 7.3.1 instead of 7.3(.0). In case of Xamarin stacks, the Xamarin updates are applied weekly, during the weekends.
LTS (Long Term Support)	No changes (updates) will be made to the stack, except for absolutely crucial changes (for example which affect security), and Bitrise CLI tool updates. Preinstalled tool versions will remain the same, until the Stack is removed from our collection.

Table 2. Stack prepare types

Type	Description
Pre-Booted	If a Stack is available as pre-booted, and there’s enough pre-booted machines with that Stack configuration, your build can start right away, without waiting for the build environment to boot. In case there’s no more available pre-booted machine with that Stack configuration, your build will start on an On-Demand configuration.
On-Demand	If a Stack is available as on-demand configuration and there’s no (available) pre-booted configuration for the Stack, our system will have to create a virtual machine for your selected configuration when your build starts. This means that your build will be in preparing environment state while the related Virtual Machine is created & booted. For a macOS configuration the boot process usually takes about 1 - 1.5 minutes. The prepare time (of course) is not counted into the build time, it won’t affect how long your build can run.

Type

Description

Pre-Booted

If a Stack is available as pre-booted, and there’s enough pre-booted machines with that Stack configuration, your build can start right away, without waiting for the build environment to boot. In case there’s no more available pre-booted machine with that Stack configuration, your build will start on an On-Demand configuration.

On-Demand

If a Stack is available as on-demand configuration and there’s no (available) pre-booted configuration for the Stack, our system will have to create a virtual machine for your selected configuration when your build starts. This means that your build will be in preparing environment state while the related Virtual Machine is created & booted. For a macOS configuration the boot process usually takes about 1 - 1.5 minutes. The prepare time (of course) is not counted into the build time, it won’t affect how long your build can run.

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Build stacks

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