To create a Unix-based slave, click on the New Node button as we mentioned above. This will prompt
you to enter the name of your slave, and its type (see Figure 11.2, “Creating a new slave node”). At the
time of writing, only “dumb slaves” are supported out of the box; “dumb” slaves are passive beasts, that
simply respond to build job requests from the master node. This is the most common way to set up a
distributed build architecture, and the only option available in a default installation.
Figure 11.2. Creating a new slave node
In this screen, you simply need to provide a name for your slave. When you click on OK, Jenkins will
let you provide more specific details about your slave machine (see Figure 11.3, “Creating a Unix slave
node”).
Figure 11.3. Creating a Unix slave node
The name is simply a unique way of identifying your slave machine. It can be anything, but it may help
if the name reminds you of the physical machine it is running on. It also helps if the name is file-system
and URL-friendly. It will work with spaces, but you will make life easier for yourself if you avoid them.
So “Slave-1” is better than “Slave 1”.