• Status: Accepted
• Date: 2025-12-19
• Author: Vasu Grover
• Context: The Yocto Build Farm

Context and Problem Statement

I need a Continuous Integration (CI) system capable of building large Embedded Linux (Yocto/QNX) images.

• Yocto Reality: A single build requires 50GB+ of disk space, 4-8+ CPU cores, and 16GB+ RAM.
• Cloud Constraints: Renting a cloud server with these specs costs hundreds of dollars per month. Free tier runners (GitHub Actions) time out after 6 hours and lack disk space.

Decision Drivers

• Cost Efficiency: Minimize recurring cloud costs.
• Performance: maximize CPU availability for BitBake.
• Security: Expose the UI securely without port forwarding.

The Decision

I will implement a Hybrid Cloud Architecture:

1. The "Brain" (Cloud): A lightweight Jenkins Master on a cheap Cloud VPS (Coolify). Handles orchestration/webhooks.
2. The "Muscle" (Local): A high-performance Home PC acting as a Permanent Jenkins Agent.
3. Connectivity: Connected via Cloudflare Zero Trust Tunnel (outbound WebSocket).

Consequences

• Positive: Utilizing owned hardware ($0/month) for compute. High performance.
• Negative: Dependency on home power/internet availability.

Contributors: Vasu Grover

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