Jenkins X on Kubernetes

Last updated on Sep 11, 2023 5 min read kubernetes, devops, jenkins

Jenkins is one of the earliest open source antomation server and remains the most common option in use today. Over the years, Jenkins has evolved into a powerful and flexible framework with hundreds of plugins to support automation for any project.

Jenkins X, on the other hand, is a CI/CD platform (Jenkins Platform) for modern cloud applications on Kubernetes.

Here we talk about some basic concepts about Jenkins X and provide a hand-to-hand guide to deploy jenkins-x on Kubernetes.

Architecture of Jenkins X
Install Jenkins with jx
Create a Pipeline with jx
Develope with jx client

For more information about jx itself, check Jenkins-X Github Repo

Architecture

Check this beautiful diagram.

Install

Create GKE cluster & Get Credentials

gcloud init
gcloud components update

CLUSTER_NAME=jenkins-server
#CLUSTER_NAME=jenkins-serverless

gcloud container clusters create ${CLUSTER_NAME} \
  --num-nodes 1 \
  --machine-type n1-standard-4 \
  --enable-autoscaling \
  --min-nodes 1 \
  --max-nodes 2 \
  --zone asia-east1-b \
  --preemptible

# After cluster initialization, get credentials to access cluster with kubectl
gcloud container clusters get-credentials ${CLUSTER_NAME}

# Check cluster stats.
kubectl get nodes

Install jx on Local Machine

[Jenkins X Release](https://github.com/jenkins-x/jx/releases](https://github.com/jenkins-x/jx/releases)

JX_VERSION=v2.0.2
OS_ARCH=darwin-amd64
#OS_ARCH=linux-amd64
curl -L https://github.com/jenkins-x/jx/releases/download/"${JX_VERSION}"/jx-"${OS_ARCH}".tar.gz | tar xzv
sudo mv jx /usr/local/bin
jx version

NAME               VERSION
jx                 2.0.2
Kubernetes cluster v1.11.7-gke.12
kubectl            v1.11.9-dispatcher
helm client        v2.11.0+g2e55dbe
helm server        v2.11.0+g2e55dbe
git                git version 2.20.1
Operating System   Mac OS X 10.14.4 build 18E226

(Option 1) Install Serverless Jenkins Pipeline

DEFAULT_PASSWORD=mySecretPassWord123
jx install \
  --default-admin-password=${DEFAULT_PASSWORD} \
  --provider='gke'

Options:

Enter Github user name
Enter Github personal api token for CI/CD
Enable Github as Git pipeline server
Select Jenkins installation type:
- Serverless Jenkins X Pipelines with Tekon
- Static Master Jenkins
Pick default workload build pack
- Kubernetes Workloads: Automated CI+CD with GitOps Promotion
- Library Workloads: CI+Release but no CD
Select the organization where you want to create the environment repository:
- chechiachang

Your Kubernetes context is now set to the namespace: jx
INFO[0231] To switch back to your original namespace use: jx namespace jx
INFO[0231] Or to use this context/namespace in just one terminal use: jx shell
INFO[0231] For help on switching contexts see: https://jenkins-x.io/developing/kube-context/
INFO[0231] To import existing projects into Jenkins:       jx import
INFO[0231] To create a new Spring Boot microservice:       jx create spring -d web -d actuator
INFO[0231] To create a new microservice from a quickstart: jx create quickstart

(Option 2) Install Static Jenkins Server

DEFAULT_PASSWORD=mySecretPassWord123

jx install \
  --default-admin-password=${DEFAULT_PASSWORD} \
  --provider='gke'

Options:

Enter Github user name
Enter Github personal api token for CI/CD
Enable Github as Git pipeline server
Select Jenkins installation type:
- Serverless Jenkins X Pipelines with Tekon
- Static Master Jenkins
Pick default workload build pack
- Kubernetes Workloads: Automated CI+CD with GitOps Promotion
- Library Workloads: CI+Release but no CD
Select the organization where you want to create the environment repository:
- chechiachang

INFO[0465]Your Kubernetes context is now set to the namespace: jx
INFO[0465] To switch back to your original namespace use: jx namespace default
INFO[0465] Or to use this context/namespace in just one terminal use: jx shell
INFO[0465] For help on switching contexts see: https://jenkins-x.io/developing/kube-context/
INFO[0465] To import existing projects into Jenkins:       jx import
INFO[0465] To create a new Spring Boot microservice:       jx create spring -d web -d actuator
INFO[0465] To create a new microservice from a quickstart: jx create quickstart

Access Static Jenkins Server through Domain with username and password Domain http://jenkins.jx.11.22.33.44.nip.io/

Uninstall

jx uninstall
# rm -rf ~/.jx

Setup CI/CD Pipeline

Create Quickstart Repository

kubectl get pods --namespace jx --watch

# cd workspace
jx create quickstart

Options:

Which organisation do you want to use? chechiachang
Enter the new repository name: serverless-jenkins-quickstart
select the quickstart you wish to create [Use arrows to move, type to filter] angular-io-quickstart aspnet-app dlang-http

golang-http jenkins-cwp-quickstart jenkins-quickstart node-http

INFO[0121] Watch pipeline activity via:    jx get activity -f serverless-jenkins-quickstart -w
INFO[0121] Browse the pipeline log via:    jx get build logs chechiachang/serverless-jenkins-quickstart/master
INFO[0121] Open the Jenkins console via    jx console
INFO[0121] You can list the pipelines via: jx get pipelines
INFO[0121] Open the Jenkins console via    jx console
INFO[0121] You can list the pipelines via: jx get pipelines
INFO[0121] When the pipeline is complete:  jx get applications

Check log of the first run

jx logs pipeline

Add Step to Pipeline

Add a setup step for pullrequest

cd serverless-jenkins-quickstart
jx create step --pipeline pullrequest \
  --lifecycle setup \
  --mode replace \
  --sh "echo hello world"

Validate pipeline step for each modification

jx step validate

A build-pack pod started after git push. Watch pod status with kubectl.

kubectl get pods --namespace jx --watch

Check Build Status on Prow (Serverless)

http://deck.jx.130.211.245.13.nip.io/ Login with username and password

Import Existing Repository

In source code repository:

Import jx to remote jenkins-server. This will apply a Jenkinsfile to repository by default

jx import --url git@github.com:chechiachang/serverless-jenkins-quickstart.git

Update jenkins-x.yml

jx create step

git commit & push

Trouble Shooting

Failed to get jx resources

jx get pipelines

Make sure your jx (or kubectl) context is with the correct GKE and namespace

kc config set-context gke_my-project_asia-east1-b_jenkins \
  --namespace=jx

Why not use helm chart?

It’s readlly depend on what we need in CI/CD automation.

Jenkins Helm Chart create Jenkins master and slave cluster on Kubernetes utilizing the Jenkins Kubernetes plugin. Jenkin Platform with jx is Jenkins Platform native to Kubernetes. It comes with powerful cloud native components like Prow automation, Nexus, Docker Registry, Tekton Pipeline, …

Check jenkins-x examples

https://github.com/jenkins-x-buildpacks/jenkins-x-kubernetes/tree/master/packs

Client

jx get urls
Name                      URL
jenkins                   http://jenkins.jx.11.22.33.44.nip.io
jenkins-x-chartmuseum     http://chartmuseum.jx.11.22.33.44.nip.io
jenkins-x-docker-registry http://docker-registry.jx.11.22.33.44.nip.io
jenkins-x-monocular-api   http://monocular.jx.11.22.33.44.nip.io
jenkins-x-monocular-ui    http://monocular.jx.11.22.33.44.nip.io
nexus                     http://nexus.jx.11.22.33.44.nip.io

Get Cluster Status

jx diagnose

Get Applications & Pipelines

jx get applications
jx get pipelines

Get CI Activities & build log

jx get activities
jx get activities --filter='jenkins-x-on-kubernetes'

jx get build log

INFO[0003] view the log at: http://jenkins.jx.11.22.33.44.nip.io/job/chechiachang/job/jenkins-x-on-kubernetes/job/feature-add-test/3/console
...

Trigger Build & Check Activity

jx start pipeline
jx start pipeline --filter='jenkins-x-on-kubernetes/feature-add-test'

jx get activities --filter='jenkins-x-on-kubernetes'

Create Pull Request

jx create pullrequest

jenkins ci cd kubernetes

Che-Chia Chang

Site Reliability Engineer

My research interests include Site Reliability Engineering, DevOps, Container and Kubernetes.