Architecture & DesignUsing Jenkins on Google Container Engine

Using Jenkins on Google Container Engine

Developer.com content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

Jenkins is an automation server used to build and test applications automatically. Jenkins provides a download for Windows and several Linux distributions. Jenkins also provides a Docker image for running Jenkins in a Docker container. In an earlier article, “Getting Started with Kubernetes on Amazon Web Services (AWS),” we discussed installing Kubernetes cluster on AWS using a CloudFormation stack. In this article, we shall run Jenkins using the Docker image “Jenkins” on the Kubernetes cluster. This article has the following sections:

Setting the Environment

As a pre-requisite, we need to create a Kubernetes cluster on AWS EC2. The procedure to create a production-grade Kubernetes cluster on AWS using CloudFormation is discussed in an earlier article, “Getting Started with Kubernetes on Amazon Web Services (AWS).”

Starting Jenkins

Having installed a Kubernetes cluster, next we shall run Jenkins on the cluster. We shall be using the Docker image “jenkins,” which is available on the Docker Hub. Two options are available to run Jenkins on Kubernetes:

  • Using Imperative Syntax on the Command Line
  • Using Declarative Configuration Files

We shall discuss each of these approaches.

Starting Jenkins with Imperative Syntax

To run a Docker image on Kubernetes cluster using imperative syntax, use the kubectl run command:

./kubectl run Jenkins --image=Jenkins --replicas=3 --port=8080

A Kubernetes deployment called “jenkins” gets created, as shown in Figure 1. List the Kubernetes Pods cluster wide with the following command:

./kubectl get pods -o wide

The three Pods get listed. One Pod is running on one worker node and two Pods are running on another worker node. Initially, the Pods could be created as indicated by the ContainerCreating status in Figure 1.

Creating a Kubernetes Deployment for Jenkins
Figure 1: Creating a Kubernetes Deployment for Jenkins

After a while (1-2 minutes or sooner), the three Pods are listed as Running, as shown in Figure 2.

Pods in Kubernetes Cluster Running
Figure 2: Pods in Kubernetes Cluster Running

Next, expose a Kubernetes service of type LoadBalancer on port 8080. A LoadBalancer type service creates an AWS EC2 LoadBalancer to distribute client load across the cluster.

./kubectl expose deployment Jenkins --port --type=LoadBalancer

Subsequently, list the services.

./kubectl get services

The “Jenkins” service gets created and listed, as shown in Figure 3.

Creating and listing a Kubernetes Service for Jenkins
Figure 3: Creating and listing a Kubernetes Service for Jenkins

Describe the “jenkins” service.

./kubectl describe svc Jenkins

The service description lists the service labels, selector, type, and endpoints, as shown in Figure 4. The load balancer could be created initially, as indicated by the “creating load balancer” message.

Describing the Jenkins Service
Figure 4: Describing the Jenkins Service

The LoadBalancer is shown in Figure 5 and should be InService.

LoadBalancer InService
Figure 5: LoadBalancer InService

The Jenkins Dashboard may be accessed at the URL <public dns of load balancer>:8080, as we shall discuss in a later section.

Starting Jenkins Declaratively

In this section, we shall use a declarative approach to running Jenkins on Kubernetes. For this, we need to create two configuration files:

  • The jenkins-rc.yaml file for the Kuebrnetes replication controller
  • The jenkins-service.yaml file for the Kubernetes service

The jenkins-rc.yaml file specifies the replication controller for Jenkins and includes the labels, the number of replicas to create, the Docker image to use, and the ports for the application. The jenkins-rc.yaml file is listed here:

---
apiVersion: v1
kind: ReplicationController
metadata:
   labels:
      app: jenkinsapp
   name: jenkins-rc
spec:
   replicas: 3
   selector:
      app: jenkinsapp
   template:
      metadata:
         labels:
            app: jenkinsapp
      spec:
         containers:
            -
               image: jenkins
               name: jenkins
               ports:
                  -
                     containerPort: 50000
                  -
                     containerPort: 8080

The jenkins-service.yaml file specifies the Jenkins service to create, including the ports where the service is exposed. The service selector expression app: jenkinsapp, which translates to app=jenkinsapp when the service is created, must be the same as one of the labels in the replication controller spec template. The app: jenkinsapp label is included in the spec>template>metadata>labels field of the jenkins-rc.yaml file. The jenkins-service.yaml file is listed next:

---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
   labels:
      app: jenkinsapp
   name: jenkins
spec:
   ports:
      -
         port: 50000
         name: api
      -
         port: 8080
         name: web
   selector:
      app: jenkinsapp

The jenkins-rc.yaml file and the jenkins-service.yaml file must be valid YAML and the formatting may be validated in a YAML Lint. Additionally, the syntax of the configuration files must conform to the schema for the replication controller and the service, respectively. The jenkins-service.yaml file is shown in vi in Figure 6.

The jenkins-service.yaml file in vi
Figure 6: The jenkins-service.yaml file in vi

The jenkins-service.yaml file and the jenkins-rc.yaml file need to be created in or copied to the Kuebrnetes controller instance. Run the following command to create a replication controller:

./kubectl create -f  jenkins-rc.yaml

The replication controller gets created, as indicated by a message in Figure 7. List the cluster-wide Pods:

./kubectl get pods -o wide

The three Pods, one on each node, get listed (see Figure 7).

Creating Replication Controller and listing Pods
Figure 7: Creating Replication Controller and listing Pods

Next, create a Kubernetes service:

./kubectl create -f  jenkins-service.yaml

The “Jenkins” service gets created, as shown in Figure 8. List the services.

./kubectl get services

The “Jenkins” service gets listed, as shown in Figure 10 also.

Creating and listing Kubernetes Service for Jenkins
Figure 8: Creating and listing Kubernetes Service for Jenkins

An EC2 LoadBalancer for the Jenkins service gets created, as shown in the AWS Management console in Figure 9.

LoadBalancer for the Kubernetes Service
Figure 9: LoadBalancer for the Kubernetes Service

Select the Listeners tab and TCP listeners for Load Balancer Ports 8080 and 50000 should be available, as shown in Figure 10.

LoadBalancer Listeners
Figure 10: LoadBalancer Listeners

The LoadBalancer status should be InService for all the instances, as shown in Figure 11.

Instances InService
Figure 11: Instances InService

List the replication controller:

./kubectl get rc

The jenkins-rc replication controller should get listed, as shown in Figure 12.

Listing the Replication Controller
Figure 12: Listing the Replication Controller

An issue presently with the Docker image “jenkins” is that it generates a different password for each of the Pods. To avoid generating multiple passwords that would make it infeasible to log in to the Jenkins Dashboard, scale the Kubernetes replication controller to one replica.

./kubectl scale jenkins-rc --replicas=1

The replication controller gets scaled down to one replica, as shown in Figure 13. Subsequently, one Pod gets listed with the ./kubectl get pods command.

Scaling down the Replication Controller
Figure 13: Scaling down the Replication Controller

Accessing Jenkins Dashboard

To access the Jenkins Dashboard, we need to find the password that is automatically generated when the Kuebrnetes replication controller is created. The password may be found from the logs of a Pod by using the following command in which <pod> is the Pod name.

./kubectl logs <pod>

As listed in the logs in Figure 14, an “admin” user has been created and a password generated. Copy the password.

Obtaining the password from the Pod logs
Figure 14: Obtaining the password from the Pod logs

The Jenkins Dashboard may be accessed at URL http://<lb dns>:8080, in which <lb dns> is the DNS of the LoadBalancer for the Jenkins Kubernetes service. Obtain the Public DNS from the AWS Management Console, as shown in Figure 15.

Obtaining the DNS name of the load balancer Figure 15: Obtaining the DNS name of the load balancer

Open the URL in a browser to display the Getting Started page, as shown in Figure 16. Specify the Administrator password and click Continue.

Starting Jenkins Dashboard
Figure 16: Starting Jenkins Dashboard

In Customize Jenkins, click Install suggested plugins, as shown in Figure 17.

Install suggested plugins
Figure 17: Install suggested plugins

In Create First Admin User, an admin user may be created (optionally), as shown in Figure 18. Alternatively, click Continue as admin to skip creating an Admin user.

Creating or skipping creating first admin user
Figure 18: Creating or skipping creating first admin user

If creating the first admin user is skipped, the username “admin” and the automatically generated password must be used to log in to Jenkins Dashboard. Click Start using Jenkins, as shown in Figure 19.

Start Using Jenkins
Figure 19: Start Using Jenkins

The Jenkins Dashboard gets displayed, as shown in Figure 20.

Jenkins Dashboard
Figure 20: Jenkins Dashboard

Conclusion

In this article, we discussed using the Docker image “jenkins” to create a Kubernetes service and replication controller for a Jenkins automation server. This article concludes a two-article tutorial on using Jenkins on a Kubernetes cluster.

Get the Free Newsletter!

Subscribe to Developer Insider for top news, trends & analysis

Latest Posts

Related Stories