Install and Start TeamCity Agents
A TeamCity build agent is a piece of software which listens for the commands from the TeamCity server and starts the actual build processes. A production TeamCity setup requires installing additional build agents on dedicated machines. Before that, make sure to read notes on agent-server communication, system requirements, conflicting software, and security.
If you install TeamCity bundled with a Tomcat servlet container, or use the TeamCity installer for Windows, both the server and one build agent are installed on the same machine. This is not a recommended setup for production purposes because of security concerns. Moreover, the build procedure can slow down the responsiveness of the web UI and overall TeamCity server functioning.
A TeamCity agent connects to the TeamCity server via the URL configured as the serverUrl
agent property. This is called unidirectional agent-to-server connection.
Agents use unidirectional agent-to-server connection via the polling protocol: an agent establishes an HTTP(S) connection to the TeamCity Server, and polls the server periodically for server commands.
warning
It is recommended using HTTPS for agent-to-server communications (check related server configuration notes). If the agents and the server are deployed in a secure environment, agents can be configured to use plain HTTP URL for connections to the server as this reduces transfer overhead. Note that the data travelling through the connection established from an agent to the server includes build settings, repository access credentials and keys, repository sources, build artifacts, build progress messages, and build log. In case of using the HTTP protocol that data can be compromised via the "man in the middle" attack.
After you install a build agent locally, it needs to be configured and connected to your TeamCity server or cloud instance. Watch this video for a quick guide:
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