What is Jenkins in DevOps?

Have you come looking for the answer for ‘what is Jenkins?’

Well, Jenkins is an open-source automation server that supports Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD).

It automates different stages of software development, including testing, building, and deployment.

This article explains how Jenkins works, highlights its key features and use cases, and details the functionality of a Jenkins pipeline.

CI/CD serves as the backbone of DevOps trends, enabling software teams to work efficiently while maintaining high-quality standards.

Jenkins is an open-source test automation tool that helps the DevOps team enable CI/CD and automate many aspects of the build of the software.

In DevOps workflows, Jenkins automates tasks such as building, testing, and deploying applications to production environments.

Jenkins In DevOps further assists developers in systematically integrating changes into the software delivery process.

What is Jenkins Tool?

Jenkins is an open-source continuous integration/delivery and deployment automation software written in Java. Developers use it to implement CI/CD workflows called pipelines.

As mentioned earlier, Jenkins helps manage and control several stages in software delivery, such as build, documentation, test automation, packaging, and static code analysis.

Jenkins functions as a server-based solution, relying on web servers like Apache Tomcat.

Jenkins integrates with other DevOps automation tools, including build tools such as Maven and Gradle.

Jenkins combines phases such as building, testing, packaging, deploying, and analyzing to ensure seamless delivery, making it ideal for integrating with cross-platform app development frameworks to streamline app development processes.

Developers can use it with container technologies like Docker and Kubernetes for testing and packaging software releases.

It is easy to install, flexible, and supports multiple plugins.

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What Is Jenkins Used For?

Here is what Jenkins is used for:

1. Code Deployment Into Production

If all the tests created for a feature or release branch are green, Jenkins or another CI system may automatically publish code to staging or production. This process is often referred to as continuous deployment.

One can do this in a dynamic staging environment. Solution architecture ensures that Jenkins propagates the changes seamlessly to a central staging system, pre-production system, or production environment.

Jenkins is also increasingly adopted for its compatibility with the benefits of cloud computing for small businesses, enabling efficient workflows, scalability, and cost-saving benefits tailored to small and mid-sized teams.

2. Automation of Task

Another example where one can use Jenkins is to automate workflows and tasks. If a developer is working on several environments, they would have to install or upgrade something on each of them.

Manual execution becomes error-prone for installations or updates involving numerous steps.

Instead, you can write down all the steps needed to complete the activity in Jenkins. It takes a short period, and you can install or update it easily.

3. Time-Efficient

Jenkins reduces the time required for code reviews as a CI system, which may communicate with other DevOps tools to notify the user when its merge request is ready.

This applies when all tests are passed and all requirements are fulfilled. Moreover, the merge request may also indicate the difference in code coverage.

Jenkins reduces the time it takes to review a merge request by half. The number of lines of code in a component and the proportion executed determine the code coverage.

Jenkins supports a transparent development process among team members by reducing the time it takes to review a code.

Additionally, Maven in DevOps helps improve the build process, further simplifying the time spent on code review and deployment.

4. Driving Continuous Integration (CI)

Before any alteration to the software can be shipped, it must pass through a series of complicated processes.

Jenkins pipelines sequence events and tasks to streamline continuous integration.

It has a collection of plugins that make integrating and implementing pipelines in DevOps for continuous integration and delivery a cakewalk.

A Jenkins pipeline’s primary feature is that each assignment or job depends on another task or job.

Continuous delivery pipelines, on the other hand, have different states, build, release, deploy, and so on. These states are inextricably linked to one another. A CD pipeline is a series of events that allow certain states to function.

5. Increasing Code Coverage

Jenkins and other CI servers can also check code for full test coverage. Tests enhance code coverage, ensuring thorough validation. This makes individual team members open and answerable.

The build pipeline displays test outcomes, ensuring that team members follow the rules.

Just as with code review, full code coverage ensures that each team member understands the open process of testing.

6. Code Productivity Optimization

Jenkins greatly enhances the productivity of development work. For instance, using Jenkins, one can automatically execute commands with a click of a GUI button.

Further, it supports manual testing where necessary without changing environments.

When dealing with web application architecture, Jenkins ensures smoother workflows by enabling testing and deployment processes in production-like environments.

When code is hosted locally, it does not always work well when pushed to a central system on a private or public cloud. This occurs because things change by the time they push.

Continuous integration on Jenkins allows for manual testing that compares code to the current state of a code base in a production-like environment.

7. Simplifying Audits

When you run tasks in Jenkins, it captures console output from stdout and stderr parameters. This makes using Jenkins for debugging very easy.

You can measure the execution time and identify which step took the longest using the time stamper plugin. This way, you can improve each operation separately.

8. Synchronization With Slack

One of the most significant Jenkins use cases is its compatibility with Slack. A unified communication tool is often required for a big team, and one of the most widely used platforms for this is Slack.

With Jenkins, there is a possible connection to Slack, where users are provided with the capacity to share activities triggered, their times, users’ names, and the results with others.

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The Role of Jenkins in DevOps

Jenkins is critical to DevOps due to its ability in CI/CD. Continuous integration is the practice developers have when frequently integrating changes into a central repository.

Continuous delivery helps deliver reliable applications in short cycles anytime.

DevOps teams can speed up their way toward continuous software delivery through a Jenkins pipeline as simple deployment processes are automated.

What Is a Jenkins Pipeline?

Pipelines are required to be run by Jenkins. A pipeline represents the series of activities that the Jenkins server will execute to complete the necessary tasks for the CI/CD process.

About Jenkins, it refers to a set of jobs or events connected in a specific order.

It is a collection of plugins that enable the creation and integration of Continuous Delivery pipelines in Jenkins.

Before constructing a Jenkins pipeline, here are the key terminologies to understand:

1. Multibranch Pipeline

It builds from different branches automatically grouped so that management and organization of branches will be much easier.

Jenkins automatically produces a new project when one new branch is pushed into a source code repository.

Other plugins may specify other branches, such as Git branch, Subversion branch, GitHub Pull Request, etc.

2. Archived Jenkins Pipeline

The file archive is secure; you can clean your workspace and do follow-up builds. Imagine you have made the jar/HTML/js file, which was vital to deploy. Your file has been overwritten or deleted after the next build.

3. Pipeline Speed

It is very important if your pipeline writes huge files or complex data to variables in the script. Jenkins has a “Speed/Durability” label that allows you to keep variables in scope for later use while enabling you to execute steps.

But if your pipelines spend nearly all their time waiting for a few shell/batch scripts to finish, it won’t help. It is not a one-size-fits-all capability.

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Key Features of Jenkins in DevOps

There is also a great support community. Let’s discuss these features in more detail:

1. Various Plugins

Jenkins plugins are add-ons to the Jenkins system. Some of the most common applications of Jenkins plugins include providing integration points for CI/CD tools, sources, and destinations.

They also help in the extension of Jenkins’ capabilities as well as Jenkins integration with other software. Users can download Jenkins plugins through the Jenkins Web UI or CLI from the Jenkins Plugin repository.

Additionally, API development tools can be integrated via plugins to enhance the functionality and flexibility of Jenkins pipelines.

2. Easy Installation and Configuration

Jenkins is very popular, rich in knowledge, well-documented, and highly healthy in community activities. It contains tutorials that make installing, running, and troubleshooting Jenkins installations far easier.

Clear guidelines make setting it up easy. Production in Jenkins is rather hard to implement.

Jenkinsfiles utilize either declarative or scripting languages to implement production pipelines.

3. Open-Source Availability

Jenkins is an open-source project; completely free of charge. Jenkins has a dynamic development community that meets both in person and online.

This makes installation easier, limiting resources to one machine, virtual machine, or container.

Finally, be aware that Jenkins does not support federation between servers, which can cause performance issues.

Ansible in DevOps is often used in conjunction with Jenkins to automate the configuration and management of infrastructure, making the deployment process smoother.

4. Higher Extensibility

For faster development, testing, and deployment, Jenkins is built to be extensible over any environment and platform.

Its extensive plugin library enhances adaptability, enabling automation and deployment across platforms.

Jenkins, as well as its plugins, are written in Java. Java is one of the best corporate programming languages for app development with a large ecosystem.

This gives Jenkins a solid basis for building using simple design patterns and tools and highlights the Importance of Java, providing Jenkins with a solid basis for building using simple design patterns and tools.

5. Server-based Security

Jenkins security is both about the server and the user. A virtual machine or bare metal server is set up to enable as few processes to interface with it as possible.

This is accomplished using a standard server operating system and networking security capabilities.

Additionally, utilizing mechanisms such as multifactor authentication, access via the Jenkins UI is limited to the fewest people possible.

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How Does the Jenkins Tool Support DevOps Teams?

Here is how the Jenkins tool is used for supporting DevOps teams:

1. Building Pipeline Visualization from Code Integration to Deployment

DevOps teams can visualize their software delivery process, from code integration to deployment. It supports testing teams and makes it easier for them to understand and track the process.

This step is customizable, and teams can adjust it to suit their needs. For instance, the visualization process can be customized to show the status of every stage of the delivery process.

There is a dashboard that can monitor HTTP(S) service uptime as well as certificate information.

Teams can visualize the process from code integration to testing and deployment. Teams can identify issues and bottlenecks in the process and address them effectively.

2. Workflow Scripting to Speed Up the Delivery of Software

Workflow scripting on Jenkins will help teams script and standardize their workflows. Every delivery process, therefore, becomes predictable as well as consistent.

Jenkins also supports the Groovy scripting language to script workflow. Teams can thus utilize the power and flexibility of Groovy to script their workflows.

It further provides an easily usable interface for workflow scripting, even for those who need to be more skilled in Groovy.

3. Test Automation

Jenkins plays a crucial role in automating tasks across the system development life cycle, especially in the test automation phase.

It’s triggered by code changes in repositories such as GitHub, Bitbucket, and GitLab can handle several downstream issues at the same time during massive deployment.

4. Plugins

Over a thousand plugins can be used to extend its functionalities to make it user-specific.

For example, the Portal plugin can track the builds of the application, monitor the size of artifacts in DevOps, and track releases and deployments.

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Introducing Jenkins Core Concepts

Here are some of the Jenkins core concepts described below:

1. Jenkins Controller

The Jenkins architecture is distributed and build-friendly. One Jenkins node acts as the organizer, or as called previously, a Jenkins Master.

It governs other nodes that are running the Jenkins Agent. This one can also execute builds, though not as scalable as Jenkins agents.

The ControllerController keeps the central Jenkins configuration. It manages agents and their connections, loads plugins, and coordinates project flow.

2. Jenkins Agent

The Jenkins Agent connects to the Jenkins Controller to run build jobs.

To run it, you’ll need to install Java on a physical machine, virtual machine, cloud compute instance, Docker image vs container, or Kubernetes cluster.

You can use multiple Jenkins Agents to balance build load, improve performance, and create a secure environment independent of the ControllerController.

3. Jenkins Node

A Jenkins node is an umbrella term for Agents and Controllers, irrespective of their actual functions. Developers use a node to build projects and pipelines.

Jenkins continuously monitors the health of all connected nodes and will take the node offline if metrics creep below some threshold.

For organizations, utilizing a cloud application development platform, Jenkins ensures consistent and reliable integration processes that adapt to the dynamic nature of cloud-based environments.

4. Jenkins Project

A Jenkins project or job is an automated process created by a user of Jenkins. The plain Jenkins distribution provides a large set of build tasks that can be used to implement continuous integration workflows.

Many more are available through a large ecosystem of plugins.

5. Jenkins Plugins

You can download community-developed modules to install on a Jenkins server. This adds features that Jenkins doesn’t have by default. You can install/upgrade all available plugins from the Jenkins dashboard.

6. Jenkins Pipeline

A Jenkins Pipeline is a user-created pipeline model. The pipeline contains several plugins that define step-by-step actions for your software. Some of them are below:

👉 Automated Builds.

👉 Multi-step Testing.

👉 Deployment Procedures.

👉 Security Scanning

You can establish pipelines directly in the user interface or a “Jenkinsfile,” an abstraction of a pipeline as code.

Jenkinsfiles uses a Groovy-compatible text-based format for defining pipeline processes and can be either declarative or scripted.

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What is the Jenkins Architecture?

The following sections describe how Jenkins elements interact and collaborate:

When developers commit changes to the source code repository, Jenkins triggers a new build to process the updates.

Jenkins operates in either “push” or “pull” mode. Either an event, such as a code commit, or the Jenkins CI server can constantly poll the repository, checking for differences.

The build server will create the build code and artifact. If there is a failure, the backend developer will get an alert.

Jenkins deploys the built application/executable to the test server, which might run continuous automated tests. If changes affect functionality, Jenkins warns developers.

Jenkins may deploy the changes to the production server if the code has no defects.

The following diagram explains the Jenkins architecture:

How to Create Development and Production Branches in Your Repository?

You should create “development” and production branches of your cloned Git repository before creating your pipeline projects in Jenkins.

Now, what you will be doing is creating a single Jenkinsfile, which targets selectively executed stages based on the branch that Jenkins is building from.

A look within the multi-branch Pipeline project directory:

Step 1: To create the development branch from the master branch’s content, follow the below command:

“git checkout development”

Step 2: Now, push your development branch to track the remote branch:

“git push -u origin development”

Step 3: To create the production branch from the master branch, run the below command:

“git checkout production”

Step 4: Just like before, push the production branch and set it to track the remote branch by:

“git push -u origin production”

Step 5: Go back to the master branch:

“git checkout master”

Step 6: Now, to check if these branches exist, run the command:

“Development

* master

production”

How to Create a Multi-branch Pipeline Project With Jenkins?

Follow these steps to create your multi-branch pipeline project:

Step 1: Open Jenkins at http://localhost:8080/, log in, and click New Item on the left.

Step 2: In the Enter an item name box, type building-a-multibranch-pipeline-project, select Multibranch Pipeline, and click OK.

Step 3: Under the Display Name field, type Building a Multibranch Pipeline Project.

Step 4: In the Branch Sources section, click Add source and select GitHub.

Step 5: In the GitHub section, enter your repository’s HTTPS URL (https://github.com/YOUR-GITHUB-ACCOUNT-NAME/building-a-multibranch-pipeline-project.git) in the Repository HTTPS URL field, then click Validate.

Step 6: Click Save to create your new Pipeline project.

Step 7: Jenkins will scan your GitHub repository for branches and create a Pipeline for each branch that includes a Jenkins file.

Step 8: Jenkins will identify the branches and show that no pull requests exist (for now).

Step 9: Scroll up and click Building a Multibranch Pipeline Project to view your project’s main page.

Step 10: Jenkins will automatically find a Jenkinsfile in each branch and build the respective branches.

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What Is Jenkins X?

Jenkins X is a CI/CD solution that continuously ships applications with Kubernetes. Jenkins X emphasizes on CI/CD automation of the cloud.

It combines Jenkins with open-source tools like Helm, Nexus, KSync, and Docker in DevOps. It automatically installs, configures, and upgrades these tools to integrate them into your CI/CD process.

Jenkins X provides feedback for every pull request, giving previews before you push to the staging and production environments.

It helps you include early authentication and reliability to avoid surprises after deployment. You utilize a higher degree of automation to achieve more frequent, secure, and predictable software releases.

Jenkins X is helpful, no matter your familiarity with Kubernetes. It provides a CI/CD process for cloud migration, which supports bootstrapping onto your selected cloud and is an important requirement for a hybrid setup.

Final Thoughts

So, the answer to ‘What is Jenkins?’ is that Jenkins in DevOps will test all the problems simultaneously at the same time, even if the deployment will be massive.

Jenkins DevOps model facilitates this process because all the pieces of code merge mainly at any moment in the production-ready stage.

This enables resources since it equips them with full workflow control and the ability to manage the CI/CD pipeline perfectly. Along with collaboration enhancement, one of the major goals of DevOps is to shorten SDLC.

Let us remember that manual testing is slow and liable to cause bottlenecks in DevOps, and therefore, there is a need to automate the testing process.

Codeless test automation, integrated with DevOps and Agile, enables continuous testing and swift feedback on application quality.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is Jenkins Used for?

Ans: Jenkins is an open-source automation server that enables developers to automate their build, test, and deployment processes. It is widely used for continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) in software development.

Q. Is Jenkins CI or CD?

Ans: Jenkins is primarily a Continuous Integration (CI) tool. It automates the build, test, and deployment of software projects. While it can be used for Continuous Deployment (CD) pipelines, its core functionality ensures that code changes do not break the build or introduce new issues.

Q. Is Jenkins open-source?

Ans: Yes, Jenkins is an open-source automation server written in Java.

Q. Is Jenkins a build tool?

Ans: Jenkins is a build tool, but its capabilities extend beyond traditional build automation.