Jenkins: How it works and it’s Industry Use Cases

What is Jenkins?

Jenkins is a free and open source automation server. It helps automate the parts of software development related to building, testing, and deploying, facilitating continuous integration and continuous delivery. It is a server-based system that runs in servlet containers such as Apache Tomcat.

Salient Features Of Jenkins

Jenkins is more functionality-driven rather than UI-driven hence, there is a learning curve involved in getting to know what is Jenkins. Here are the powerful developer-centric features offered by Jenkins:

1. Easy Installation & Configuration

Jenkins is a self-contained Java program that is agnostic of the platform on which it is installed. It is available for almost all the popular operating systems such as Windows, different flavors of Unix, and Mac OS.

It is available as a normal installer, as well as a .war file. Once installed, it is easy to configure using its web interface.

2. Open-Source

As it is open-source, it is free for use. There is a strong involvement of the community which makes it a powerful CI/CD tool. You can take support from the Jenkins community, whether it is for extensibility, support, documentation, or any other feature related to Jenkins.

3. Thriving Plugin Ecosystem

The backbone of Jenkins is the community and the community members have been instrumental in the development (and testing) of close to 1500+ plugins available in the Update Center.

4. Easy Distribution

Jenkins is designed in such a manner that makes it relatively easy to distribute work across multiple machines and platforms for accelerated build, testing, and deployment.

Architecture Of Jenkins

These are the series of steps that outlines the interaction between different elements in Jenkins:

• Developers do the necessary modifications in the source code and commit the changes to the repository. A new version of that file will be created in the version control system that is used for maintaining the repository of source code.
• The repository is continuously checked by Jenkins CI server for any changes (either in the form of code or libraries) and changes are pulled by the server.
• In the next step, we ensure that the build with the ‘pulled changes’ is going through or not. The Build server performs a build with the code and an executable is generated if the build process is successful. In case of a build failure, an automated email with a link to build logs and other build artifacts is sent to the developer.
• In case of a successful build, the built application (or executable) is deployed to the test server. This step helps in realizing continuous testing where the newly built executable goes through a series of automated tests. Developers are alerted in case the changes have caused any breakage in functionality.
• If there are no build, integration, and testing issues with the checked-in code, the changes and tested application are automatically deployed to the Prod/Production server.

Here is the diagrammatic representation of the Jenkins architecture:

Why should we use Jenkins?

Listed down here are some of the significant advantages of using Jenkins:

• Jenkins is open-source and free to use. It is a preferred CI/CD tool by early-stage startups as well as large corporations since it has been under development since a long time.
• It is a rich plugin ecosystem. At the time of this article, there were close to 1500+ plugins available for use.
• Jenkins can be integrated with popular cloud platforms such as Amazon EC2, Google Cloud, VMWare vSphere, Digital Ocean, and more.
• Jenkins Pipelines can be extremely useful for realizing CD requirements for large-scale projects.

Use-Cases of Jenkins

Some of the use-cases that can be performed using Jenkins are:

• Software build using build systems such as Gradle, Maven, and more.
• Automation testing using test frameworks such as Nose2, PyTest, Robot, Selenium, and more.
• Execute test scripts (using Windows terminal, Linux shell, etc.
• Achieve test results and perform post actions such as printing test reports, and more.
• Execute test scenarios against different input combinations for obtaining improved test coverage.
• Continuous Integration (CI) where the artifacts are automatically created and tested. This aids in identification of issues in the product at an early stage of development.

List of Best Jenkins CI Solutions Providers

1. SPEC INDIA

SPEC INDIA is an ISO/IEC 27001:2013 company with 30+ years of established experience. We specialize in Custom Software Development, Web & Mobile App Development, BI & Analytics Solutions, Automation & Security Testing, Legacy Software Migration, Product Engineering, and IoT Solutions.

SPEC INDIA has a team of 300+ Consultants, who are committed to delivering Quality Solutions to Global Customers. Our Extended Development Centers and Innovative Onshore/Offshore Models help us service Fortune 500 companies, SME’s and Startups globally.

In our 30 years journey, we have acquired Domain Expertise across Industry Verticals like Retail & FMCG, Sales & Distribution, Manufacturing, Healthcare, Shipping & Logistic, Energy & Utilities, and Real Estate. SPEC’s Vibrant team understands the Global Culture and our Customer-First Approach ensures utmost customer satisfaction.

2. Ulam Labs

Ulam Labs is a software development company made of Python and blockchain experts. We focus on custom software development, DevOps, consulting and outsourcing to ensure the best service and support for our clients.

We deliver software to startups and SMBs from various industries: FinTech, Telecommunication, E-commerce, Banking, Supply chain, Production and Manufacturing, and many more.

We have experience in analyzing complicated business processes and turning them into simple software applications. Our team works in an agile manner and provides exceptional value for money.

3. Kilowott

Kilowott builds interactive experiences and implements goal-oriented disruption by combining strategic vision, product innovation and design, emerging technologies and superior digital marketing.

Simply put we are a digital strategy, design and development agency.

Kilowott has partnered with some amazing brands and F500 companies helping them grow and cement connections with their customers, and convert clicks to customers. We have operations in North America, Norway, Denmark, Holland and India, and have engaged with 2000+ projects globally

Kilowott is an experienced team of designers, technologists, developers and brand experts working in tandem. We create digital interfaces such as websites, applications and portals that help businesses create powerful user experiences. We believe that great brands have the power to change lives, ignite the imagination, affect culture and generate behavior.

Rationalize your software development process with DevOps technology that brings development and operations teams together to build and deliver software in fewer spans of time.

4. Onjection Labs Private Limited

Onjection is a key player in rendering DevOps services globally. Our versatile DevOps developers hasten the software delivery process using best industry practices & render real-time dashboards. Our DevOps consultants have helped a number of stakeholders to implement DevOps technology and deliver IT applications in a fixed time epoch of time.

• High-Quality Build & Clean Code
• Error Free Code Reports
• Reduce data transfer Cost
• Hassle Free Deployment
• Solve Complex Problem
• Secure Migration

5. Mobisoft Infotech

Mobisoft Infotech is a mobile, web and cloud-based solutions provider that brings forth beautiful and innovative mobility solutions to resolve complex business problems of startup, SME’s and Large Enterprises. Our team has an in-depth experience in Android, iPhone & Mobile Application Development along with creative and Market specific product development. It is inclusive of highest caliber software designers and developers versed in development standards, best practice methods and most popular as well as cutting-edge development platforms and technologies.