{"id":56,"date":"2026-10-14T13:21:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T13:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scmgalaxy.com\/tutorials\/2015\/11\/21\/ibm-rational-build-forge-training\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T13:21:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T13:21:14","slug":"ibm-rational-build-forge-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/ibm-rational-build-forge-training\/","title":{"rendered":"IBM Rational Build Forge Training Guide: Curriculum, Workflow, and Hands-On Labs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Originally published on 2015-11-21; fully revised and updated.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">IBM Rational Build Forge is an enterprise build and release orchestration platform often used in large, process-heavy environments. This page is for DevOps engineers, build and release managers, and corporate training coordinators who need a structured training path: what to teach, in what order, and what hands-on exercises should look like.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/ibm-rational-build-forge-tr.png\" alt=\"IBM Rational Build Forge training\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What a complete Build Forge training should cover<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A solid Build Forge course should move from fundamentals to repeatable project delivery, then into administration and operational controls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Foundations:<\/strong> projects, steps, environments, servers, selectors, collectors.<\/li><li><strong>Execution:<\/strong> running builds, scheduling jobs, viewing results, and understanding BOM outputs.<\/li><li><strong>Scale and reuse:<\/strong> libraries, project copy patterns, and pass\/fail flow design.<\/li><li><strong>Operations:<\/strong> user\/group access control, log filtering for Ant builds, and environment-variable strategy.<\/li><li><strong>Advanced controls:<\/strong> practical use of Build Forge dot commands.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Build Forge workflow used in training labs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"mermaid\">\nflowchart TD\n    A[Define servers and selectors] --> B[Create project and steps]\n    B --> C[Add environment variables]\n    C --> D[Configure adaptors and tools]\n    D --> E[Run project on demand]\n    E --> F{Run succeeds}\n    F -- No --> G[Inspect logs and filters]\n    G --> B\n    F -- Yes --> H[Schedule recurring runs]\n    H --> I[Review results and BOM]\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is the core lifecycle trainees should practice repeatedly: define infrastructure targets, model the project, execute, troubleshoot, and automate with scheduling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Core Build Forge objects and how they differ<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Object<\/th><th>Purpose<\/th><th>Typical training exercise<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Project<\/td><td>Main build or deployment workflow container<\/td><td>Create a multi-step project and run it manually<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Environment<\/td><td>Runtime variables and context for execution<\/td><td>Run same project with different variable values<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Server<\/td><td>Execution endpoint where steps run<\/td><td>Register a server and test connectivity<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Selector<\/td><td>Rule-based target selection for servers<\/td><td>Bind a project to one or more execution targets<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Collector<\/td><td>Captures and stores build artifacts or outputs<\/td><td>Collect logs or generated binaries from runs<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Library<\/td><td>Reusable shared logic across projects<\/td><td>Create a library and inline it in another project<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Adaptor<\/td><td>Integration bridge to external tools\/systems<\/td><td>Configure an adaptor as part of project execution<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Expanded training agenda<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1) Introduction and project fundamentals<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Build Forge architecture and terminology.<\/li><li>Creating projects, environments, and steps.<\/li><li>Configuring servers, selectors, and collectors.<\/li><li>Optimizing project flow with chaining and threading.<\/li><li>Using IDE plug-ins and Quick Report basics.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2) Creating, running, and scheduling projects<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Create server authentication and target selector setup.<\/li><li>Create and execute a project run.<\/li><li>Configure scheduling for periodic execution.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3) Reuse with Build Forge libraries<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Create and maintain libraries.<\/li><li>Copy projects safely for team reuse.<\/li><li>Inline library content and use it in pass\/fail chains.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4) Administration and access control<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Create users and access groups.<\/li><li>Separate notification groups from project-edit groups.<\/li><li>Use subgroup hierarchies for layered permissions.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5) Log filters and environment strategies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Create and apply log filters for Ant builds.<\/li><li>Define standard environment variables.<\/li><li>Run the same project with different environment profiles, including pulldown-style variable choices.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">6) Dot command usage<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Retagging and metadata handling.<\/li><li>System information commands.<\/li><li>File movement commands and selector changes.<\/li><li>Project export and sourcing command content from variables.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hands-on lab command examples<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The original post references Ant builds and command-based execution. The examples below are realistic step-level commands trainees can use in labs.<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-1\" data-shcb-language-name=\"JavaScript\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"javascript\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-javascript language-bash\"><span class=\"hljs-meta\">#!\/usr\/bin\/env bash<\/span>\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">set<\/span> -euo pipefail\n\nexport APP_ENV=qa\nexport BUILD_TAG=release_candidate\n\nant -f build.xml clean compile package 2&gt;&amp;1 | tee build.log\nmkdir -p artifacts\ncp dist\/*.zip artifacts\/<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-1\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">JavaScript<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">javascript<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Build Forge dot commands, verify exact syntax against the version running in your environment before production use.<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-2\" data-shcb-language-name=\"CSS\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"css\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-css language-text\"># <span class=\"hljs-selector-tag\">Common<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-selector-tag\">dot<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-selector-tag\">commands<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-selector-tag\">mentioned<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-selector-tag\">in<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-selector-tag\">training<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-selector-tag\">agendas<\/span>\n<span class=\"hljs-selector-class\">.date<\/span>\n<span class=\"hljs-selector-class\">.retag<\/span>\n<span class=\"hljs-selector-class\">.put<\/span>\n<span class=\"hljs-selector-class\">.get<\/span>\n<span class=\"hljs-selector-class\">.bset<\/span>\n<span class=\"hljs-selector-class\">.export<\/span>\n<span class=\"hljs-selector-class\">.source<\/span><\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-2\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">CSS<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">css<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Execution options compared: chaining, threading, and scheduling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Option<\/th><th>Best use case<\/th><th>Trade-off to teach<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Chaining<\/td><td>Dependent steps where one result gates the next<\/td><td>Slower overall flow but clearer control and recovery<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Threading<\/td><td>Parallelizable tasks across multiple targets<\/td><td>Faster throughput but more complex troubleshooting<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Scheduling<\/td><td>Regular runs for nightly integration or compliance checks<\/td><td>Can hide failures if alerting and reporting are weak<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Best practices and common pitfalls<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Start with one simple project and make it stable before adding threading or complex chains.<\/li><li>Standardize environment variable naming early to avoid drift across teams.<\/li><li>Treat libraries as versioned shared assets, not ad-hoc snippets.<\/li><li>Separate operator, editor, and notification permissions to reduce accidental changes.<\/li><li>Make log filtering part of project design, not a post-failure cleanup step.<\/li><li>Document every dot command used in production projects with purpose and rollback guidance.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Legacy registration link from the original post: <a href=\"events\/register\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">DevOps Training Registration<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This revised guide turns a brief course outline into a practical IBM Rational Build Forge training reference. It covers the core objects, execution workflow, admin topics, and realistic lab commands teams can use in corporate training.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[448,1356,1353,883,1350,1354,150,1351,1355,1352,96],"class_list":["post-56","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-training","tag-build-forge","tag-build-forge-course","tag-build-forge-training","tag-course","tag-ibm-rational-build-forge","tag-ibm-rational-build-forge-course","tag-ibm-rational-build-forge-training","tag-rational-build-forge","tag-rational-build-forge-course","tag-rational-build-forge-training","tag-training"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79336,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56\/revisions\/79336"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}