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DevOps Intermediate

What is Jenkins?

An open-source automation server for building, testing, and deploying software through configurable CI/CD pipelines.

Jenkins is the most widely used CI/CD server. Pipelines are defined in Jenkinsfiles (Groovy-based DSL) with stages like Build, Test, and Deploy. Jenkins supports thousands of plugins for integration with virtually any tool.

Features include distributed builds (master/agent architecture), pipeline-as-code, Blue Ocean UI, shared libraries, and extensive plugin ecosystem. While newer tools (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI) offer simpler setup, Jenkins remains dominant in enterprise environments.

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