Need the same multi-repo build behavior from Bamboo in Bitbucket Pipelines

[Liam]

We are trying to transition from Bamboo to Bitbucket Pipelines as the former is being phased out. In Bamboo, our build plan would check out three git repositories and in a common build container, build multiple artifacts for different deploy scenarios. The repositories often depended on each other and the build summary showing all the ticket from all repositories extremely helpful.

For Pipelines we are currently lacking:

1. intuitive multi repo support

2. unified build summaries (All JIRA tickets associated with a build)

3. Triggering build from more than one repo

Regarding 1), there is a blog post showing how to embed SSH keys in one repo so the pipeline can checkout another repo. Not great, but potentially could work but does this allow 2) and 3)? Are there better options now that it is 5 years after that post?

[Ben]

Hi Liam, 

Transitioning from Bamboo to Bitbucket Pipelines involves addressing the specific challenges you mentioned. Here's a breakdown of your concerns and potential solutions:

1. Multi-Repo Support

• Bitbucket Pipelines does not natively support multi-repo builds in the same way Bamboo does. However, you can use SSH keys to clone additional repositories during a pipeline run, as described in the Cloning another Bitbucket repository in Bitbucket Pipelines - Work Life by Atlassian.

• I've raised a feature request on your behalf to support this, you may Watch this to receive future updates related to this and Vote for it to improve its visibility with regard to customer demand:
  https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/BCLOUD-23643 

• This approach is still valid but has limitations:

  • It requires manual setup for each repository.

• Alternative Options:

  • Use a monorepo structure if feasible, consolidating related repositories into one.

2. Unified Build Summaries

• Bitbucket Pipelines does not provide a direct equivalent to Bamboo's unified build summaries showing all Jira tickets across multiple repositories.

• Workaround:

  • Leverage Bitbucket's integration with Jira to link commits and builds to Jira issues, but this will be repository-specific:
    https://support.atlassian.com/bitbucket-cloud/docs/connect-bitbucket-cloud-to-jira-software-cloud/ 

3. Triggering Builds from Multiple Repositories

• Bitbucket Pipelines has a pipe which supports triggering pipelines from other repositories - you can find it below:
  https://bitbucket.org/atlassian/trigger-pipeline/src/master/

Summary

• Start with a hybrid approach, gradually migrating less critical workflows to Bitbucket Pipelines while maintaining Bamboo for complex multi-repo builds

• Consider restructuring your repositories or workflows to align better with Bitbucket Pipelines' capabilities (ie monorepo structure vs multi-repo builds)

I hope this helps, please let me know if you have further queries.

Cheers!

- Ben (Bitbucket Cloud Support)

[Liam]

General feedback, it sounds like there is a path forward for #1 and #3: however, #2 seems to be the core deficiency. I'd rather see this as a feature request ticket than #1.

Here is your user story:

I have software releases that depends on multiple repositories. There is a change made to a repository not running the bitbucket pipeline between two released versions. How can I quickly see that commit differences in that secondary repository between the two versions?

As a work around:

Is there a way that the Primary Repository can manually tag a commit that ties it to the produced pipeline/build via an API call?

[Ben]

Hi Liam,

I've updated the feature request accordingly with your user story, thank you for providing further clarification.

You can use the API to update the build status of a commit, but you can't manipulate the commit to associate it with a certain build # unfortunately:

• https://developer.atlassian.com/cloud/bitbucket/rest/api-group-commit-statuses/#api-repositories-workspace-repo-slug-commit-commit-statuses-build-post

If you are planning on migrating from Bamboo to Bitbucket Pipelines, it may be worthwhile to look into our Atlassian Partners who can provide specialised migration support:

• https://www.atlassian.com/partners

Cheers!

- Ben (Bitbucket Cloud Support)

[Liam]

Our primary justification of using Atlassian products is to track JIRA tickets to builds. Being unable to do so makes it hard to justify migration effort/cost when there are other products in this space.

[Ben]

Hi Liam,

Build/JIRA linkage is handled by the commit message (known as smart links). If the commit is performed with the JIRA ticket as the commit message at the time the commit is initially made - this will link the commit to the JIRA ticket:

• Use Smart Commits 

If the linkage needs to be made retroactively, I believe the only way around this would be to rebase the commit and modify its commit message after the fact.

Cheers!

- Ben (Bitbucket Cloud Support)