The VMs are per job - once the CI run tests that the orchestration has created the right system config on the VMs, and that basic integration tests work, we destroy the VMs.
I have worked in two companies now with Cloud Foundry distros, and both of them have started using Concourse, and then moved to Jenkins (for non Cloud Foundry projects - I shudder to think what would happen to a distro that attempted to not use Concourse)
I'm still lost. You said at the top that you need the VMs to survive across build steps (I read that as jobs), but now they're per-job?
The Concourse->Jenkins thing will definitely happen without better docs, examples and widespread understanding. Concourse is non-obvious to newbies and the error messages need a lot of love. Or any love.
I don't quite understand the parenthetical, could you elaborate?
I have worked in two companies now with Cloud Foundry distros, and both of them have started using Concourse, and then moved to Jenkins (for non Cloud Foundry projects - I shudder to think what would happen to a distro that attempted to not use Concourse)