Build stacks

Abstract

The Bitrise build stack defines the virtual machine version used to run your builds. The main types are macOS stacks and Android & Docker stacks.

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

macOS stacks: These stacks run on a macOS operating system and each one includes multiple Xcode versions. 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.

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 & Machines 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).

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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