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.

Related Terms

Kubernetes ConfigMap

A Kubernetes object that stores non-sensitive configuration data as key-value pairs, injected into pods as environment variables or files.

A communication mechanism that enables asynchronous message passing between services, decoupling producers from consumers.

Blue-Green Deployment

A deployment strategy using two identical environments where traffic is switched from the old version to the new one instantly.

A deployment strategy that gradually replaces old application instances with new ones, maintaining availability throughout.

A file containing build rules and commands that automates compilation and common project tasks using the make utility.

Service Discovery

A mechanism that automatically detects and tracks the network locations of service instances in distributed systems.

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